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A new dawn?

So finally some real cricket has picked up again after the 50 day bore that was IPL 2011 (Pak vs. WI in their current states is not real cricket ;-)). And what a beginning! If India needed any further confirmation that this upcoming tour of Eng is going to be one of their toughest (even tougher than SA last year) in a while, Cardiff provided that. Granted this Sri Lankan team is not one of the toughest going around but to blow them away in less than half the length of an ODI innings without their premier strike bowler is testament to how strong this English team has become. And the key difference between SA and Eng is Graeme Swann, who at the moment is clearly the best spinner in the world by a mile. India have been served their warning and will hopefully take the WI tour seriously enough to toughen themselves up for the English summer.

The WI tour itself should be exciting, primarily because it will give a glimpse of the future of Indian cricket particularly in the limited overs formats. Six of the most experienced members of the XI who led the charge on April 2 are not going to be around and only Dhoni and Zaheer will be back for the Test leg of the tour. Its going to be fascinating to see how Raina and Kohli cope with being the batting seniors and whether Harbhajan can truly become an attack leader. Without Sehwag, Gambhir, and Tendulkar its going to be a Test for the batsmen even against the WI and I'm really keen to see if a) the all TN opening pair can bloom, and b) if Dhoni is courageous enough to play five bowlers. All in all, should be an exciting few months on this front!

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