India makes a quick change

Elbow injury cuts short Praveen Kumars World Cup dream,Sreesanth hopes to make the most of second opportunity

When the World Cup was still a couple of months away and things not yet settled,Kerala speedster Shanthakumaran Sreesanth had two goals in mind. The first was pretty obvious getting picked in the final 15-member squad for the quadrennial event but he had another wish,that the song he had composed specially for the 50-over extravaganza would be considered to be the official theme song of the event.

Sreesanths song didnt quite make the cut,and when he was left out of the final squad,it seemed his other wish would also go unfulfilled. That was before things changed over the course of a couple of weeks,and with original team pacer Praveen Kumar failing to recover from an elbow injury,the temperamental 28-year-old made it to his second World Cup after being officially named the replacement on Tuesday.

And while he is clearly excited about the last-minute call-up to the Indian team,Sreesanth is sympathetic towards Praveen. I really feel bad for Praveen. It is unfortunate when injury keeps you out of the game. I hope he recovers fast, he said.

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But,apart from bowling fast and having a history of throwing temper-tantrums,there is nothing common between Sreesanth and the man he will replace. Praveen,who has 57 scalps in 48 matches to date,has transformed from being an out-and-out swing bowler with the ability to move the ball prodigiously in both directions to a more well-rounded performer with the ball and a regular India member in one-day cricket.

Leaking runs
On the other hand,Sreesanth,who has struggled with his economy-rate and was being considered a liability in limited-overs cricket till recently,still depends mainly on getting movement off the wicket,by landing the ball on the seam on a consistent basis. And with World Cup pitches expected to have little on offer,his tendency to leak runs might well be seen as a gamble and propel Munaf Patel ahead of him.

I was worried about that aspect of my game but in the last couple of years,whatever chances I have got,I have showed a lot of improvement. With age and experience you learn a lot. I am still learning and hopefully will do a good job, said Sreesanth,who has an economy rate of 6.01 in 51 ODIs.

And if India will miss Praveens accuracy and threat with the new-ball,they will be helped by Sreesanths aggression and an innate wicket-taking ability. He also possesses a lethal yorker,which he has used with success,in the death overs,and a well-publicised ability to get under the skin of the opposition. Praveens absence may also lead to slight alterations in the roles of other fast bowlers,especially left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra,who was originally expected to be the first-change bowler.

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Zaheer Khan,however,will continue to be the leader of the pack and Sreesanth is looking forward to picking up tips. He is a class act and knows his stuff very well. You can learn a lot from him by just observing his bowling, he said.