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Not too happy with the A squad. I think its time to look beyond players like Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Mishra & Mithun. Lets try out new spinners and a couple of new seamers.

Thankfully, the IPL one season wonders are not prominent on either lists :)

Here is the point - BCCI wants most Indian stars to play in IPL unless they are injured; it is a known fact. Why would an established player miss it? It pays almost 4 times what they earn playing for India (Self Interest). It's easy to be a critic; players too have to take care of their families and they do not have the luxury of working till 60.

And it was widely expected that BCCI would rest quite a few players, which did not happen.

I had hoped to see Sanju Samson - but he is absent from both squads. Again, atleast we could have inducted few more emerging players in the A Squad.

Rahane was dropped from the last 2 ODI's against Bangladesh & now suddenly he's good enough to be made Captain. Strange!
Zimbabwe will certainly have more livelier pitches than Bangladesh not sure of their quality of bowling, so we are in for some fun.

Happy to see Sandeep Sharma and Manish Pandey. Sandeep Sharma is anyday better than the likes of Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni in my opinion. Manish Pandey is a match winner and can easily play at number 5 in the Indian team.

I think that is precisely why he has been made the captain. The selectors wanted to tell him that he is an important part of our ODI team. Otherwise he is nowhere near captaincy material. He seems to be too meek, does not have the aggression of someone like Kohli for example.

It was very unprofessional of Dhoni to bash him in the media, saying he cannot rotate strike on slow pitches.

I don't think Samson is ready yet. His List A average is still in the 20s and he did not have a great IPL too this time.

I think Rahane is confused. He look like a player with all the talent and determination, but he needs to be clear about his role in the team. Opening, Middle order or 5-6 - give him a position and stick to it for a while. That should help.

We can look for flexibility later, once he's established himself.

It just shows that there is zero communication between the team management and selectors. The guys who are not good enough to be in the XI according to the team management(Pujara and Rahane) have been picked as captains for their respective sides by the selectors.

I believe Dhoni should have gone for this tour as the next international match he would play is most likely to be in October or November. Since he has retired from Tests, he should play every limited over game as he would get ample rest.

He neither has much captaincy experience in domestic cricket!

You hit the nail on the head there! Now suddenly Dhoni has moved up the order to no.4 in the last series & Rahane isn't as effective in the last 10 overs.

Zimbabwe have been so bad that perhaps an even third string Indian team could be stronger. The fun could start though if India lose. Then people will ask what was the best time to rest. Was it after the World Cup or after the ODI loss to Bangladesh. The resting players could then have some interesting times.

A Bangladesh newspaper has insulted the Indian players by running an advertisement which showed MS Dhoni and others' heads half shaved after their recent loss in the ODI series. It is really in very poor taste.
The fake cutter advertisement in the newspaper shows sensational Bangla pace bowler Mustafizur holding a cutter and under that Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and R Ashwin are seen holding a banner which reads "We've used it. You can use it too."

I think the day Bangladesh people learn to respect the other teams then only their stature in the international cricket scene will improve. Sorry Bangladesh very crude sense of humor.

Unlike the deodorant ads, there is no exaggeration here - it happened :)

Anyone following the 4th innings chase by Pakistan against SL ?

Chasing 370+, Pak were 15/2. Younis Khan & a newcomer Masood are now playing with unbeaten centuries under their belt.

130 more needed with 8 wickets in hand. And it is a series decider.

It's Pakistan, so very difficult to predict - any other team would have won from here :)

^^ Pak won comfortably yesterday.

Now don't tell me that nobody is following the Ashes, beginning today !

Will be following all the matches !. Hope England will not disappoint with pedestrian performance.