Indians get a good workout against the Dutch

Indians should feel reasonably happy following their win against Netherlands in the first warm up game prior to the World cup. It was obvious that the thinking behind the game was to give all batsmen a hit and to search for the third seamer to support Agarkar and Zak (both of whom are sure to start the first game and hence did not figure in the team today). The two spinners also went head-on-head though its not clear how one would be favored over the other based on today's performances.

I guess the people to benefit the most were Sachin and Dravid, who used the game in the exact way it should have been. They spent a decent amount of time and then opened up to score a few runs too. It was unfortunate that the top three did not spend as much time as they would have wanted, but an opening partnership of 60 was pretty good and also it ensured everyone got a hit in the 50 overs. I personally don't both Sehwag and Uthappa will play in the same XI and hence I am sure these games are also a head-on-head clash between those two. Unfortunately, neither put his hand up today.

Other person under the radar today was Pathan and based on what I read, he disappointed again. The ball was apparently swinging and still he did not make much of an impression. I guess 6 overs for 12 runs is pretty good, but from what I read on cricinfo comms, he did not beat the bat much in the spell and lacked penetration. So, its unlikely to see him start ahead of Sreesanth and Munaf. However, there could still also be case to play him as a middle-order all rounder ahead of Karthik and Sehwag/Uthappa. Therefore, all these people should get another game against WI to stake their claims.

So, what would my team for next warm up game be? Assuming you can still play 13 people, I would rest Sachin/Dravid and Dhoni for that game and play the rest of the squad with Karthik keeping wickets. The players sure to start the first game are Gangs, Sachin, Dravid, Yuvi, Dhoni, Zak and Agarkar. The rest of the four slots are going to be a toss up between (i) Bajji and Kumble, (ii) Munaf and Sreesanth, (iii) Sehwag and Uthappa and finally (iv) the one who misses out between Sehwag and Uthappa with Karthik and Pathan. This decision should purely be based on how these people perform in the next warm up game.

Finally, India and Sri Lanka also need to watch out for Bangladesh. They have spent a lot of time in the West Indies playing games against Canada and other teams and hence are much better prepared from rest of the teams, as seen from their win against NZL today. So, it would be very dangerous to under-estimate them.