Team India leaves for Asia Cup

The Indian squad, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, left here by a morning flight to Bangladesh capital Dhaka to take part in the four-nation 11th Asia Cup starting on Sunday.

Dhoni and his men came back from the disastrous tour of Australia only a few days ago where they were knocked out of the triangular series after having been thrashed 0-4 in the preceding Test series by the home team.

Hosts Bangladesh will take on Pakistan in the opening fixture of the Asia Cup which India have won five times in its history, including on the last occasion two years ago in Sri Lanka.

India open their campaign against Sri Lanka on March 13 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.


The clash between two arch rivals India and Pakistan is set for March 18, which would be the first meeting between the two sides since last March in the World Cup semifinal at Mohali where India won before clinching cricket`s showpiece event for the second time in their history.

The Asia Cup, in which each of the four teams meets every other team once in the league stage, concludes on March 22.


Indian squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virat Kohli (Vice Capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda.

Indian cricket team heads home after demoralising trip Down Under

The vanquished Indian cricket team, barring a couple of players, traced its way back to home on today, drawing curtains on a disastrous Australian tour during which it lost more than it gained.

As soon as Sri Lanka pipped Australia at the post in Melbourne on Friday, the reservation plans were put afoot and the players lost little time in leaving for home on today.

The players with bases in Mumbai and south India -- Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and the entire support staff -- took a morning flight to Singapore where they would board respective connecting flights to Mumbai and Chennai.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and Rahul Sharma left Brisbane this afternoon, again for Singapore where they would take the flight to Delhi.

Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel, with bases in Gujarat, will leave for home on Sunday.

The Indians were not exactly glued in front of their TV screens on Friday to watch the outcome of the Australia-Sri Lanka match which the latter won by nine runs in the final over.

A few wandered around in the market while a small group had dinner together. Only a few hooked themselves in front of television screens last night.

India had raised hopes for making it to the finals of the one-day series with an astonishing chase of 321 in 36.4 overs against Sri Lanka at Bellerive Oval, Hobart earlier this week.

The Indians had finally liberated themselves on an otherwise suffocating three-month trip to Australia during which they were blanked 4-0 in the Test series and claimed just two matches in the triangular series.

Batsmen and bowlers suffered collective failures and only Virat Kohli, and to a lesser extent Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar, redeemed themselves during the debilitating tour.


The Indians, after a few days rest, would head for Bangladesh to play the Asia Cup, due between March 13-22. Post Asia Cup, it would be time for the fifth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), starting April 4.

Hobart exploits leave selectors in a tricky situation

Indian team’s redemption at Hobart against Sri Lanka on Tuesday may have come as a respite for its under fire cricketers but it has left the selectors in a dilemma.

When selectors meet to choose the squad for Asia Cup on Wednesday beginning from March 12 in Bangladesh, the foremost thing in their mind would be to decide whether or not to tinker with the winning combination.

The top order that boasts of names like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag has failed to give a substantial start in the current tri-series barring Tuesday’s clash against Lanka.

MS Dhoni who has continued playing non-stop cricket since India’sWorld Cup triumph last year, might also be rested for the four-nation continental championships to be held in Dhaka.


India are the defending champions and five-time winners of the trophy and a huge alteration in the composition of the squad is unlikely.

But there are going to be changes after the consecutive flop show in England and Australia by the World Cup-winning team.

There are some injury worries too, notably to R Vinay Kumar and Irfan Pathan.

Kumar sat out the team`s penultimate league game against Australia and also missed the last game against Srilanka at Hobart, while Pathan, who collided on the field with Suresh Raina at Sydney, was not fit enough to take the field in their final round-robin match against the Lankans.

The selectors might also take into note the domestic performances when they put on their thinking hats.

Irfan`s brother Yusuf, who has started playing after getting injured in the earlier part of the season, has shown how much of a game-changer he could be when conditions suit his style of batting in the sub-continent by blasting his way to a century against Saurashtra two days ago with the help of 10 sixes and six fours.

With Jadeja being out of sorts and Test specialist Pragyan Ojha also not among the thick of wickets in the one-day domestic event, Yusuf is very likely to be recalled to the squad for his all round abilities as a powerful hitter lower down the order and an economical off-break bowler.


Also in the selectors` radar could be Robin Uthappa, another big-hitting batsman, who is third in the top scorers` list in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 292 runs, including a belligerent century.

The selectors will certainly have to take tough decisions dropping underperforming players and giving a chance to youngsters while also resting overworked skipper Dhoni.