India's almost drops the Rajkot Match...400+ is simply inadequate!!

This had to be one of the most ordinary fielding efforts by the present Indian side, under Dhoni, wherein they kept on dropping sitters and their fielding for a major part of the Lankan innings was literally, sub-standard. It will not be an exaggeration to say that they almost lost the match owing to their poor efforts in holding on to simple catches and backing-up the throws to avoid follow-ons.
What is even more strange is that good fielders like Kohli and Raina too kept on missing the ball...it appeared as if the entire squad had a sighting problem where they couldn't get themselves in line with the ball. I would say that India really haven't edged past the Lankans by achieving this Rajkot win simply because they were run ragged until the last ball, where one of India's rare, consistent bowlers in the last few months, Ashish Nehra, ensured that he bowled according to the field and somehow ensured that the batsmen weren't able to get under the ball and ease it through the off-side. What is also worrying is that India during their batting were looking content for a score of around 385, when it was plainly visible that a score of somewhere around 450 was there to get. After the 30-over mark, most of the Indian batsmen fell to careless strokes, just trying to up the run-rate needlessly, as it was already around the 8.00 runs per over mark. It was only Virat Kohli and Jadeja's sensible effort towards the last five overs that ensured that the team managed a score in excess of 400 or else, the match would have been lost even before entering the final over of the match. I can only hope that the Indian team realizes that this is not a comprehensive win by any means and that they drop the habit of taking things easy rather than dropping catches. They have been letting teams come back and steal away wins from them in the last six months or so. The Series against Australia had a semblance of being casual in the field and the series result could have been in India's favour had they shown more intensity and planned their batting in a more structured manner when chasing/setting-up scores. This old habit of just going through the motions simply because a huge score has been put-up and putting in the real effort to field the ball, only in small patches during the match has to go, if India want to become serious contenders for world championship in any format of the game...something the Aussies do very well> no matter what stage of the game it is, they seem so vigilant and enthusiastic.

Any surprises for India ODI team against Lankans?

I am not expecting much in terms of any new faces being inducted in the Indian team that is soon to take upon Lankans in an ODI and T20 series. The fact is that there are some very impressive faces in the domestic scene but it is up to the selectors to be brave enough to try-out some of these. Rajat Bhatia and Virat Kohli's name came to the fore. Both belong to Delhi and bring the same type of street-smart cricket that has been shown by the likes of Gambhir and Sehewag. Hoping that Rohit Sharma does not get another chance simply because he has done anything really impressive when playing in domestic matches. It would be worth a try to give Praveen Kumar more chances to perform as an all-rounder. In terms of spinners, Ojha could be used to give Bhajji a much-needed rest but then Bhajji has been contributing with the bat and Ojha is your typical number 11 who just cannot put bat to ball.

Murali Vijay or Virat Kohli?

Gautam Gambhir has been declared unfit for the last test match between SL and India. It seems that the most probable selection would be Murali Vijay who is reputed to have a decent technique and is a full-time opener. However, it might be a wise idea to try-out Virat Kohli who has been piling on the runs in the domestic games. Yes, he did not do very well in the limited opportunities he got in the recent one-dayers, but he does look like a player who is meant to play international cricket. Just about a season back, he was asked to open in a series against the Lankans, and he adapted to the challenge. He has just scored another double century for Delhi and his current form should not be ignored. This way, the selectors would be preparing one player who could also open in the ODIs in case Sehewag, Sachin or Gambhir get injured.