Life without laxman

India’s one-day formula had become stale. They were far too predictable, not good news for a team built around freshness and vibrancy. So a new batsman gets a chance — and, just possibly — it could mean an end to Dravid’s stint as ODI ’keeper. MS Dhoni is a dasher in limited-overs cricket and may be the solution.

POOR FORM

In the last 11 ODIs (since the match and series winning 107 against Pakistan in Lahore), Laxman has scored just 260 runs at an average of 28.88 with just one 50. The main problem was that he was being moved up and down the order, but he did his cause no good by not doing well anywhere. And, compared to most others in the team, he is a very slow mover on the field.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

This signals a return of the core of the Indian ODI batting order till the 2003 World Cup. Comeback man Dinesh Mongia was part of the campaign, as were the rest of the batsmen in the squad. So, despite all the talk of why Laxman wasn’t taken to South Africa and the batsman himself going to town about it being his ‘biggest disappointment’, it appears that Mongia was, and is, the better pick.