New BCCI selectors ready to act tough against Team India

Tough times call for tough decision-making, and with the fate of the Indian team plunging downwards with every passing match, it's time for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to sit down and take a strong stand.

The current selection committee - appointed by the BCCI on September 27 - comprising of Sandeep Patil ( chairman, West Zone), Roger Binny (South Zone), Saba Karim (East Zone), Vikram Rathour (North Zone) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central Zone) is looking to do just that.

Speaking to Mail Today, one of the selectors made it clear that they are looking to call a spade a spade.

"It is obvious that the team is going through a tough phase and we need to sit down and take some strong calls and we will do just that. You either perform or perish, that will be our mantra. The new committee hasn't had an official meeting yet, but we are looking to meet after the Duleep Trophy and chalk out our future plan of action.

"We have been appointed as selectors for a reason and we need to be honest to not only the country but also to ourselves when we pick a team. Personal prejudice and liking will have to take a back seat if we want to see the team doing well. We have to call on our experience in a few cases and decide accordingly," he said on the condition of anonymity.

It has been more than 18 months since the Indian cricket team last achieved a major success - the ICC World Cup. Since then, the graph of the Indian team has gone from bad to worse.

If losing the No. 1 Test spot to England in August 2011 wasn't enough, they went on to suffer losses in the limitedover format of the game as well and the ouster in the Super Eights stage of the World Twenty20 once again brings to the fore the need for some hard decisions.

With the game getting more fast paced by the day and agility becoming an integral part of every player's selection, the Indian team has no fresh faces in the squad and has been persisting with almost half- a- dozen 30- plus players.

But the selector believes that fresh faces alone can't change the fortunes of the team.

"Bringing in new faces alone won't help. There are many areas we need to look into, not just the age of the eleven taking the field. Also, one can never discount the experience factor that the senior players bring into the team. So it needs to be a calculated risk. You can't take a tough call just for the sake of it. One wouldn't want to look like a fool after taking a decision," he added.

Although the very reason for Mohinder Amarnath's ouster as national selector after just one year was his tendency to shoot from the hip and a no-nonsense policy when it came to assessing performance, another selector believes it's up to the individual to decide whether he wants to take things lying down.

"It is every individual's choice whether or not the person wants to crack the whip or quietly see things happening around them. I, for one, believe that we have been appointed selectors to ensure we pick the best possible players for the country, and it is our moral duty to do that, even if that leads to standing on the other side of the boat," he said.

Commenting on the idea of having different captains for different formats, one of the new selectors said: "We could well go ahead with the idea of separate captains and that is definitely high on the list of issues to be discussed. But then such a call needs to be well thought out. We have to tread cautiously."

Idea of multiple captains could be implemented.

ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Brilliant Samuels guides Windies to world title after 33 years

Colombo: An inspired West Indies tonight clinched the ICC World Twenty20 crown with a comfortable 36-run victory over Sri Lanka, riding on Marlon Samuels` brilliant counter-attacking knock to win a major global title after over three decades.

Scorecard »I As it happened »

Batting first in front a 35,000 partisan crowd, Samuels held his nerve as he smashed a heroic 78 off 56 balls to steer West Indies to 137 for six and then the Caribbeans shot out out the hosts for 101 in 18.4 overs.

It is the West Indies` first world title after a gap of 33 years having won the ODI World Cup back in 1979. They did triumph in the Champions Trophy in 2004, but that is not considered a World Cup.

For Sri Lanka and Mahela Jayawardene, it was another case of `so-near-yet-so-far` having now lost four World Cup finals (two 50 overs and two T20s) across two categories.

After Lasith Malinga was caught in the deep, Darren Sammy and his bunch of dedicated soldiers broke into an impromptu Gangnam dance as there was a deathly silence at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Samuels played one of the most memorable innings under pressure as he thumped five of his half a dozen of sixes off T20 specialist Lasith Malinga`s bowling, making batting look easy on a pitch where almost every other batsmen struggled.

A wicket was like icing on the cake as he deservedly won the Man-of-the-Match award. The win was more creditable as Chris Gayle, who has been in marauding form prior to the title clash, failed.

Samuels alone spoiled Malinga`s figures as he went for 54 off four overs after Ajantha Mendis took 4/12.

While only 32 runs came off the first 10 overs, the Caribbeans, courtesy Samuels and skipper Darren Sammy (26 no, 15 balls, 3x4) managed 106 in the back 10.

The total might not have been a challenging one but the manner in which Samuels batted, having scored more than half the runs, the innings will be remembered for a long time to come especially as other West Indian batsmen looked like lambs ready to be slaughtered.

Defending a small but competitive total, Ravi Rampaul bowled a beauty to dismiss Tillekaratne Dilshan. The ball pitched in line and then moved a shade to knock back the off-stump.

Samuels could have removed Jayawardene who swept uppishly but Bravo, covering a lot of ground from the deep, couldn't latch onto the difficult chance.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara steadied the ship, adding 42 runs for the second wicket, although they were not able to give the bowlers a charge.

Finally, Sangakkara ran out of patience as he rocked on to the backfoot to pull leg-break bowler Samuel Badree as Kieron Pollard, stationed at deep mid-wicket, held on to an easy catch. He managed 22.

Angelo Mathews tried a needless lap-shot of a straight delivery from Sammy, which hit the middle stump, as Sri Lanka were reduced to 51 for three.

The situation demanded a special innings from the Sri Lankan captain but he tried an ambitious reverse sweep off Sunil Narine, which gently lobbed to Sammy who took an easy catch at backward point, as the match decisively tilted in favour of the West Indies. Jayawardene managed 33.

Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera were run-out due to enormous pressure and after Lahiru Thirimanne holed out in the deep, the writing was clear on the wall.

Earlier, the pressure of playing a World Cup final was telling on Johnson Charles as he offered a simple catch to Nuwan Kulasekara at mid-off in Mathews' opening over which was a wicket maiden.

The first run for West Indies came when Kulasekara bowled a wide after three dot balls in the second over. The first run off the bat came off the 17th legal delivery and the first boundary in the next over when Samuels punched one through covers.

Gayle, who has been predicting results like 'Paul the Octopus' in the last few days was strangled by the Lankan bowlers and finally Mendis got him with a straighter one that looked like hitting the leg-stump.

The Powerplay yielded only 14 runs for West Indies and Sri Lanka had already got the opposition match-winner out of the equation.

There were not many demons in the pitch and the ball was coming onto the bat but Sri Lankan bowlers maintained discipline during the initial phase as West Indies managed only 32 for two in the first 10 overs.

The 13th over saw Samuels finally breaking the shackles as he hit Malinga for three sixes with 21 runs coming off that over. The first six was hit over mid-wicket when Malinga, watching Samuels move towards leg-stump, fired one into the block hole and the batsman flicked it into the stands.

The second one was also bowled in the block hole and this time it was spanked over extra cover. The third one was a length delivery that was hit over long-on.

The 50-partnership came off 43 balls while Samuels completed a well-deserved half century with a six off leggie Jeevan Mendis.

Bravo (19) was wrongly adjudged leg-before off Mendis by umpire Simon Taufel, standing in his last international game.

Kieron Pollard chased a wide delivery to be caught at short third man while Andre Russell tried a sweep shot and was adjudged leg before.

There was no stopping Samuels who hit another couple of sixes ? a hook and one over long-on as the 100 came up in the 17th over. Samuels' bravado came to an end when he holed out in the deep mid-wicket region.

However, that Sammy lifted the trophy in the end, was due to the coolheaded Jamaican.

All-round Watson decimates India

COLOMBO: It was less a win and more a statement of intent. Often branded a pushover in the shortest format, Australia steamrolled alleged title favourites India by nine wickets on the back of Shane Watson's all-round performance in a Super Eights Group 2 match, on Friday.

The Aussie all-rounder claimed 3-34 to restrict India to 140-7 after MS Dhoni elected to bat, and then smashed seven sixes in a 42-ball 72 as the target was achieved with 31 balls to spare. Watson and David Warner (63*) added 133 for the opening wicket in under 14 overs, taking the game away from India. 

It was a day when all of Dhoni's ploys failed spectacularly. India succumbed to Australia's pace battery to set a middling target as young quick Pat Cummins used the short delivery to superb effect, picking up the prized scalps of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, while giving away just 16 runs in his four overs. India then watched helplessly as their five-strong, triple spinner-loaded bowling outfit was taken to the cleaners by the Aussie openers. 

Only Zaheer Khan (three overs for 18) bowled well and had several leg-before shouts against both the openers, including a particularly close call against Warner in the sixth over of the chase. 

Australia blaze away

The chase began with a boundary off Ashwin, who opened the bowling for India. Three balls into Ashwin's over, the rain came down and warranted a ten-minute delay. How much of an effect the drizzle had on the conditions is open to debate, but the ball appeared to grip far less after resumption than it had in the previous match between Pakistan and South Africa, or even in the first innings when India had batted.

Warner helped himself to another boundary when Ashwin resumed his first over, but the real carnage began when the off-spinner returned for his third over - the fifth of the innings - as Watson smacked a couple of sixes. Piyush Chawla too was greeted with two hits - both by Watson - over the boundary and in the next over Warner went after Harbhajan to biff two of his own.

India's three frontline spinners all leaking sixes did not bode well for the team. And it got worse when Irfan Pathan was introduced. The southpaw, who had opened the batting for India and scratched out a painful thirty-odd, came on to bowl the 10th over and leaked 19, as Watson reached his fifty in 28 balls and Australia 100 for no loss. 

It was all but done by then. Warner brought up his half-century in 37 balls, and then creamed a six off Yuvraj, who got rid of Watson when the Aussie hit to substitute Manoj Tiwary at extra cover. By then a huge win was within touching distance and the tournament's ninth-ranked side came out well on top against its third-ranked outfit.