For the World Cup, you need a tight...

... game plan?

I think India's biggest problems are in trying to strike a balance between batting and bowling, if the last two one-day tournaments are anything to go by. In South Africa, the bowling was unexpectedly a saving grace of sorts, while the batting was pretty meek. In this last series, the batting was good, except for a blip in Cuttack and a late implosion at Chennai.

The batting order looks okay for the time being. Uthappa has done well in the two opportunities he has been given. Ganguly has made an unbelievable comeback, and it is certain that his prophetic declaration of playing the World Cup after being dumped last year will be realized. Dravid, with three fifties in the last series, seems to have regained the touch he lost in South Africa.

Lost somewhere at the top and early middle is Sachin. If he's comfortable batting at the number 4 position, then I guess it's fine, else he should assert himself, seeing as he's the seniormost member of the team, and its vice captain. It will most certainly be his last Cup too.

Yuvraj and Dhoni will look to provide the acceleration at the end, and as far as I'm concerned, they'll play at numbers 6 and 7, unless the situation demands otherwise. For example, if we're 250/1 after 40 overs, it'll make more sense to send Dhoni to the middle than Dravid. Yuvraj bowls, and is arguably one of the best fielders going around at the moment.

This also leaves a question about Sehwag, who has now got to battle for a place in the team two months after being its vice captain. This is where it gets complicated, for there are two issues - should we play him? and if so, where should we play him? Aside from a good performance in the Caribbean last summer, Sehwag's advantage lies in the fact that he bowls spin too, which will prove handy on slow tracks. But he just cannot field, and in today's day and age, it all comes down to those extra runs saved. It remains to be seen whether his attitude towards batting will change after being stripped of the vice captaincy and subsequently being dropped.

Kaif is Sehwag's complement - though he doesn't bowl, he brings a lot of energy on the field. He may be out of touch, but he's still good enough to play. I don't think he'll play all the games though.

Dinesh Kartik played well in the Cape Town test, and it was his knock that won us the game in Cuttack, but I don't see the wisdom behind his inclusion. Reserve keeper?, one might argue, but we have Dravid too. In a similar vein, Gambhir may miss out. He's not out of form or anything; I think it's a matter of waiting for a opening in the team. Subtle pun there.

Now for the bowlers. Three spinners - Kumble, Harbhajan and Powar four pacemen - Pathan, Agarkar and Sreesanth and Zaheer should suffice. Powar may find a place in the playing XI difficult, and Kumble may suffer because of his fielding. To the fast men - Pathan needs to prove a point here. His bowling is suffering at the hands of his batting, and he'd do well to remember that his primary role will be to pick up wickets, not score runs. Agarkar, in his third World Cup, may finally play more than he did the last two times (thrice and not even once). Sreesanth will like returning to the Caribbean after the successful outing last summer, and Zaheer seems to be improving too, although he should work on his fielding.

You may be wondering where Munaf Patel stands in all this. Not on the field, for with his fielding, he may as well not be there.

So there's my 15 member squad (in no particular order): Uthappa, Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag, Dhoni, Kumble, Harbhajan, Pathan, Powar, Sreesanth, Agarkar and Zaheer Khan.

It's the right mix of experience and youth too, with as many as ten players who played the last World Cup, and five the one before that. If you'd like me to go further back, only Kumble and Tendulkar played the '96 edition (highest wicket taker and run scorer respectively) and Tendulkar played his first in '92.

Failure in the World Cup will signal the axe for a lot of players. And with the number waiting to get in, the axed may find themselves vying for a place in much the same manner Miandad was looking for his pepsi.