India will have to bat to win: Ganguly and Sehwag will open, Uthappa at No 3, Sachin to follow; ‘impact players’ to push team through middle overs.
There may be a shroud of secrecy over Team India’s gameplan for the World Cup, but one peek inside reveals an interesting blueprint — at least for the opening phase. You will come across a final XI packed with batsmen, including a set of “impact players†who will push the team through the crucial middle overs.
On the team sheet, this would mean seven batsmen and four bowlers, with Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni expected to play key roles. Tendulkar, at No 4, is expected to take the scoring reins around the 12-20 overs phase, Yuvraj, at No 5, during the 20-30 overs period, and Dhoni thereafter. Hopefully, holding fort at the other end will be comeback man Sourav Ganguly in the opening overs and skipper Rahul Dravid later. In this blueprint, you will also find Virender Sehwag, struggling for form and focus, slated to get one final shot as opener, with Ganguly.
And then, at No 3, you might just raise your eyebrows again: Robin Uthappa. After that 41-ball 70 against West Indies, and the 37-ball 52 last month at No 3 against India’s Group B rival Sri Lanka, the team thinktank is convinced that Uthappa can shock and shake any opposition, softening them up for the big bats of Tendulkar and Yuvraj. They also expect the 21-year-old Bangalorean to take charge of the early run rate, in case Sehwag fails again.
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