Asia Cup Debacle: Indian ODI team needs Experience

After the victories in Twenty20 World Cup and Tri-Series in Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni boasted about the strength of his young players and even went to the extent of saying that senior cricketers were not needed in the team. However, the loss in the final of Tri-Series in Bangladesh and the debacle in Asia Cup, Indian selectors need to think twice before selecting the ODI squad for the forthcoming series.

Irrespective of what Dhoni says, India needs the experience of senior cricketers to taste success in the crunch games. The juniors easily surrender at the death hours due to lack of experience. But seniors understand the need of the hour and how to handle the pressure. The team won't be complete without the senior players like Sachin, Ganguly, Zaheer and Ajit Agarkar.

The presence of seniors in the team will not only boost the morale of young players, but also it will help the team management to rest their key players on a regular basis. The biggest disappointment of tournament were Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan (bowling), Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla. Be the pressure of big games or the exhaustion carried from IPL, they simply failed to perform at a level expected from them.

While Sehwag and Gambhir continue to lead from the front and in-form Raina and Dhoni giving them full support, India needs Ganguly, Sachin and Yuvraj to make it a formidable batting order. In bowling, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma have been doing well. We need Zaheer, Harbhajan and Agarkar to back them up with their experience and expertise. The above players may not be able to play in the same match. But they will encourage each other to perform if they stay as a team. This is the need of the hour if India wants to maintain its good form in ODI cricket.