Frankly, I’m baffled at the changes we made to the team for the match against Delhi Daredevils. What was the need to tinker with the opening combination? Manish Pandey must be asking himself what wrong he’s done to sit out, in spite of showing good form and providing impetus every innings as an opener. Sending White as opener is really a perplexing move. He’s perfect for No.3.

We’ve stopped winning matches since the day we started making too many changes to the team. Yesterday’s was a crucial match and the loss last night means we need to win at least 3 out of the remaining 5 matches to make sure we make it to semis. My ideal playing Eleven would be:

1) J.Kallis
2) M.Pandey
3) K.Pietersen
4) R.Uthappa
5) R.Taylor
6) V.Kohli
7) Vinay Kumar
8) P.Kumar
9) A.Mithun
10) D.Steyn
11) A.Kumble

Where is R.Dravid dude?

Dravid doesn’t feature in my playing Eleven bot because he isn’t good enough, but only on the basis that the other players are in great form. Dravid’s a terrific batsman and has already shown his adaptability to 20/20. But on the basis of sheer form, I wouldn’t keep him in the current playing eleven. like I’ve said earlier, for RCB, it’s an embarassment of riches. We have so many players to choose.

Unfortunately, because of this situation, Dravid hasn’t had much time in the middle in edition of the IPL yet. Of course, in case any of the batsmen get injured, Dravid would be my first choice replacement.

Most people won’t agree with me because as Indian cricket fans, we tend to get too emotional and stop being realistic. But hey, that’s my thought!!!

i dont agree with you….
Dravid s got to be there who do you think is goin to play if Kallis gets out fast…
Anyways my changes for next match iis that to drop Kp play Steyn get Pandey to open and replace appana(he wont be effective in blore)
Out of 3 games at home i would like to win atleast 2 ... 3 is great..
Cheers RCB ....
We ll do it in style in BANGALORE…

Considering the kind of batting line up we have, and also considering the fact that we’ll be batting just 20 overs, I think there’s enough batting in the playing eleven i mentioned to hold up one end, while the batsman from the other end try to go for their shots.

In any case, a pattern i’ve noted with RCB right from the 1st IPL is that, the moment we start making too many changes in the team, we tend to lose momentum. We played an unchaed eleven for 4 matches last month, and won all four. I don’t understand why we tinkered with our openeing combination yesterday. 56/1 in 10 overs was unpardonable last night.

Having said that, we need to win at least 3 out of the remaining 5 matches to ensure a semi final berth. Win or loss, I’m with RCB forever!!!!!!!! I only hope we seal our semi-final slot ASAP so that i’ll know if I have to buy the tickets for the 22nd or the 23rd of Apr!!!

Come on dude the team needs to make him to bat in no3 for 2 matches you will see the result

i dont think dravid should be in the squad .  i agree that dravid is a legend he is the wall. but still he is not a t2o kind of player he cant slog like robin uthappa, ross taylor, and others. even if he fires its once in a blue moon

Hello Mr. In what kind Kallis is better than Dravid? Kallis bowling is the worst i have ever seen. Then Why should kallis be in the team and not Dravid. Dravid can adopt well to any situation, but kallis is not. Kallis can only hit poor bowling and he dont make good partnership.

Gibraldarrock - 06 April 2010 01:48 AM

Hello Mr. In what kind Kallis is better than Dravid? Kallis bowling is the worst i have ever seen. Then Why should kallis be in the team and not Dravid. Dravid can adopt well to any situation, but kallis is not. Kallis can only hit poor bowling and he dont make good partnership.

First of all, my man, When you say “what kind Kallis is better than Dravid? Kallis bowling is the worst i have ever seen. Then Why should kallis be in the team and not Dravid” I tend to get confused here. Are we comparing Kallis’ bowling to Dravid’s batting or vice versa. You might want to be a wee bit more clear.

In any case, I’m not discounting Dravid’s talent at all. After Tendulkar, he’s the best batsman that India have in tests currently. In many ways, Dravid’s technique is better than Tendulkar’s. But, in the current situation, where RCB has an abundance of options, I think it’s better to play Kallis than Dravid because of one main reason: Kallis has had a hit in all the matches that RCB has played in IPL-3 and frankly, he mostly done a good job of it. Considering his role in the team is to anchor the innings, a strike rate of 120/125 isn’t bad, when guys at the other end are belting at 150/180.

Don’t forget that after Uthappa acored a quick fire 47 against, Kings XI Punjab, it was Kallis’ sixers that took us home while chasing 203 and brought the momentum into the team, which helped us win 4 staright games.

Again, I’m not disputing Dravid’s legendary status here at all but like I said before, being Indian cricket fans…..we tend to get too emotional and fail to see the rationale side sometimes.

I completely agree with varun. the players shouldn’t be selected by their experience but by talent. rahul is one of the best players India has produced.  But is not a kind of player who can wack the ball hard. he is not a t20 kind of player. well if you notice one more thing dravid’s strike rate is just above 100. which is pathetic in t20’s. van de merwe should be given a chance instead of rahul dravid

Since Kallis got a oppurtunity he has utilized, but the same is not given for Dravid. My question is that, when we have a solid batsman like Dravid, why should we waste him. If thats your argument, please remove him from the team. He can join elsewhere and we all enjoy his game from other teams. Dont forget the earlier seasons of IPL. Since kallis is clicked now, u should not forget the legend.

No one is forgetting the legend. Dravid will be mentioned in cricketing history books as a hero forever.

But, my point is - NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN THE GAME ITSELF. Based on current form and available team options, it’s better if we play the same winning Eleven that’s winning RCB its’ matches. Period!!

Would you rather have Dravid score 50 runs off 30 balls and RCB lose the match or have a Kallis score 65 off 53 balls and RCB win the match? I mean ... c’mon man…look at it realistically!!

Believe me, if only Dravid could answer this question himself, I’m sure he’d say as long as the team has a winning combination and is winning all matches, he’d rather be part of a winning team and not play, than play for the team and impact its’ balance. Get my point?

And yet again….for the 5th time…Dravid is one of my favorite sports persons. I met him when I was in still in school during an India - England test match series. Had the opportunity to shake hands with him. I didn’t wash my hands for about 2-3 days after that just because Dravid had touched it. No Kidding!!!

Point being…...keep the team first, my brother .... ALWAYS ...... then come the soldiers!!!!!!!

@Prometheus you r talking about kallis…you r dumb man…i agree that he played very well in 1st 4 innings…but bcoz of him we lost 4 games..who wants his consistencey,when his strike rate is that low…kallis doen’t know how to bat in critical situations…dravid is 3 times better than kallis..I think its better for rcb management to drop kallis & pietersen,.....mithun is worse than praveen..altleast praveen can bat ..Instead of Kp & kallis mwerve & steyn should be included
Boss Prometheus this is not a one day or test match man..dis is 20-20 format…i think for a betterment of rcb..kallis sholud walk out of the team…why did kp come to ipl..he is just a burden to team.,he dont know how to judge the ball.I think we should appeciate collingwood for his fantaboulus batting..i think kallis should learn from collingwood.
Batting order should be
1)Pandey
2)Kohli
3)Uthappa
4)Ross
5)white
6)Dravid
7)Praveen
8)Merve
9)Vinay
10)Kumble
11)Steyn

rcbrajath - 06 April 2010 04:41 AM

@Prometheus you r talking about kallis…you r dumb man…i agree that he played very well in 1st 4 innings…but bcoz of him we lost 4 games..who wants his consistencey,when his strike rate is that low…kallis doen’t know how to bat in critical situations…dravid is 3 times better than kallis..I think its better for rcb management to drop kallis & pietersen,.....mithun is worse than praveen..altleast praveen can bat ..Instead of Kp & kallis mwerve & steyn should be included
Boss Prometheus this is not a one day or test match man..dis is 20-20 format…i think for a betterment of rcb..kallis sholud walk out of the team…why did kp come to ipl..he is just a burden to team.,he dont know how to judge the ball.I think we should appeciate collingwood for his fantaboulus batting..i think kallis should learn from collingwood.
Batting order should be
1)Pandey
2)Kohli
3)Uthappa
4)Ross
5)white
6)Dravid
7)Praveen
8)Merve
9)Vinay
10)Kumble
11)Steyn

Dude, I can totally understand your mindset ...... after seeing that you’ve selected Van Der Merve. I mean ....... you do have a sense of humour!!!

I still can’t forget the match during Champions League when Van Der Mereve went out to bat, fell all around the pitch for 5 balls, and got out out on the 6th.

As far as Kallis is concerned, you might want to get your facts right, my brother!!! The match that we won against Kings XI….that brough momentum into the team….Kallis sored 89 not out from 55 balls, including 5 sixes and 8 fours.

I mean….look at it this way. His job in the team is clear…he’s got to play the role of an anchor. If he holds up one end for 15-16 overs, scoring runs at a strike rate of 125-130 (this is his current strike rate this IPL), while guys at the other end score at 150-180, then what more can you ask from him???
Tendulkar, the fantastic form that he’s in, himself is scoring consistently at a strike rate of 140, which is not very far ahead of Kallis. If you still haven’t realised this fact, then either you are watching just the highlights of the matches or are aren’t paying enough attention to details.

In any case, I’m guessing your playing Eleven will still win, compared to mine because you’ve chosen a stalwart like Merve in your team. And secondly, you propose to open with Kohli and Pandey…..yet another new (untested) opening partnership for RCB this season after forgetting the fact that most of the times we’ve tinkered with our opening combo, we’ve failed to score runs fast.

I rest my case!!!!