Last stop before World Cup

The youngsters in the ODI side for the five-match tour of South Africa may have earned their stripes by surviving the cruel axe over time. But starting Wednesday,the squad will test its final Darwinian exam on South African soil,before the 2011 World Cup unfolds.

Over the course of the 29 one-day internationals that India competed in the year gone by,the selectorial thought process was unanimous unearth 15 players to form the core unit for the upcoming World Cup.Fielding as many as 33 different players in 2010 through fluctuating parameters and varying litmus tests,the only constant in Team Indias playing XIs was change.

Squads were mixed and matched,while teams were chopped and re-arranged,resulting in various metaphorical deaths. But,finally,the unit has taken an iron-like mould.

Preparing for the upcoming series against South Africa in Kingsmead the last tournament before the Cup India flaunts not 15,but 18 players ready to take the fight for the country at the managements beck and call.

Such is the bench strength that even though India has lost the services of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir the Test openers have flown back to India for a quick recuperation before the big day on February 19th due to injuries,the side has more than enough options to fill their big shoes.

In a year that Sachin Tendulkar,Indias master batsman for the last 21 years,played just two games in the blue jersey one of which he scored the landmark double-century,India won 17 out of 29 matches,while two were abandoned. But it was during the 10 losses that the real process of learning occurred.

Rise and fall

Some youngsters such as Virat Kohli,Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin injected their veins with the drug of confidence to become big-match players,while many others with gaping holes in their mental fabrics fell by the way side. The numbers some staggering,others not so speaks for itself.

Out of the 12 centuries forged from Indian blades last year,Kohli scored three of them,peppering his 995 calendar-runs to become an irreplaceable part of the Indian middle-order.

It didnt happen overnight,for the vision to construct an indelible reserve pool forced the selectors to send a side led by Raina to face Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in June. In Zimbabwe,India lost thrice twice to the restructuring hosts and once to Lanka but it was all part of the learning curve. For it was during that series that Rohit Sharma came into his own in international cricket,cracking back-to-back centuries against both the opponents.

While players like Kohli and Rohit succeeded,Ravindra Jadeja who was given an extended run by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the all-rounders slot fell out of favour. As Jadejas slack was cut to size he isnt even on this tour,Yusuf Pathan made a dramatic re-entry with a smashing century 123 not out against New Zealand in the five-match ODI series that India played just before this tour. It was a watershed series for Indian cricket,for out-of-form players like Yuvraj Singh found their touch to crush Daniel Vettoris side 5-0.

It wasnt too different with the bowlers. Praveen Kumar,Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel backed their cause of shouldering the attack with wickets,even as bowling kingpin Zaheer Khan missed 19 matches played last year. Zaheer though did turn Indias tide in the Test series with a win in Durban during his comeback.

Theres nothing quite like starting a series on a positive note. If Durban continues to be a good hunting ground for the Indian youngsters on Wednesday,itll be an unprecedented clean sweep across formats in this city and half the battle will be won.

But while the Indians sharpen their knives,the process of natural selection will once again unleash itself one last time in SA before the World Cup.