Everyone who needed an opportunity to shine got a chance, for some the situations they came in were the best opportunities to do well, others not so well. Who did well and who didn't?
Wicket Keepers
Great bews on this front. All 3 Dhoni, Karthik and Parthiv did well. Make you wonder if two of these need to be picked all the time one of them purely as a bastman.
Dhoni needs a good spot in the current line up where he can get more overs. #4 might be a good option for him IMO.
Patel has florished with the bat ever since his place in the side was in jeopardy and has had good knocks ever since. His record against pace overseas is very good which makes him a strong candidate for a specialist bat. He is aggressive and doesn't get overwhelmed by the situation or go into a shell. Hope to see him back in the team soon. His negative is surely his keeping which needs to improve a lot.
Karthik, did well in both areas as a keeper and a bat, too bad he doesn't fit in. India should look to rotating Karthik and Dhoni in international matches to keep both of them match fit and hungry.
Pacers
This area is pretty decent too with lot of options, thanks mainly to chappell. But what we need is consistency from bowlers and blooding youngsters in the team has made everyone work harder, hope this trickles down to the domestic teams.
Patel, Sreesanth, Agarkar top the list with Zaheer, RP Singh and VRV forming a good bench strength. Balaji and Nehra got a chance but are good enough to work hard and work their way into the team, particularly balaji.
The best of the pack seem to be Patel for now who has been accurate most often than not which the others need to learn. The best show was from the challenger has been that of VRV, hope he can transform his talent into performance very soon.
Spinners
While no one put their hand up to replace Bhajji, Bhajji still needs to pull some new tricks up his sleever. Powar proved again why he is the second best spinner in the country for ODI, we need to play 2 spinners when needed ( surely against the aussies ). Kartik had a good stint and Piyush is the only back up we got, but I am unlikely to want to try Piyush in ODIs. Kartik needs to do more to make a strong case for him.
Batsmen
The most was made by Gambhir who I think should play over Jaffer in tests and needs a ODI spot too. Time to bring him back into the team.
Mongia did he chances no harm by playing some good knocks though the slot he came in has been difficult, should be persisted.
Uthapa and Rao had good knocks too, should be watched.
Other than these lot of other batsmen didn't do very well.
The trio of Raina, Kaif and Badani all similar players showed their inconsistency again and made us wonder if these players are worthy enough to be in the team at all. While they do add variety to the batting, they need to be consistent and score big.
Yuvraj did some, should work hard on his consistency.
The biggest loss was that of Ganguly. Laxman wouldnt mind skipping this tournament as it would have hardly mattered anyway he had played. Maybe 2 centuries in quick pace might have made a difference.
Allrounders
Pathan has picked up wickets which he usually does, but he has to make a move from good to great and be more threatening which is currently isn't. His batting is handy any time.
IMO, Overall who makes the cut into the top 16 with WC in mind:
1. Gambhir
2. Sehwag
3. Sachin
4. Dravid
5. Yuvraj
6. Rao
7. Mongia
8. Raina ( I have to get rid of 2 from Kaif+Badani+Raina )
9. Dhoni
10. Patel
11. Pathan
12. VRV
13. Sreesanth
14. Agarkar
15. Bhajji
16. Powar
Standby: Uthapa, Zaheer, M. Kartik
