Why are India ignoring Sehwag for test matches ?

[SJS]

I love it how Ian Chappell chips in with his useless opinion, stating the Australians would 'fear' him because of the last tour. I don't believe they'd 'fear' anyone but certainly not Sehwag and certainly not because of one rather streaky, if brilliant, 195. Not to mention the fact it was four years ago and he's been out of form and fitness for a while. Yet on the basis of that innings Chappell says pick him? Just stay out of it old man.

I dont know how streaky that innings was. He got his first 24 runs in 60 deliveries and that contained a few streaky boundaries but after that he scored another 169 runs in at a run a ball with another 21 boundaries and four huge sixes. There was nothing streaky in that.

As far as why he should be in the Indian side and why Chappell think he should be there I think the reason is obvious. India has a huge problem in the opener slot. With no one standing out amongst the various contenders for the position as a cert for Jaffer's partner, having Sehwag in the squad (squad mind you) as one of the three openers gives the skipper some piece of mind for Sehwag IS India's most successful test opener after Gavaskar by far. He does have a very good record in Australia. He does have the experience to be just an innings away from getting back to form.

India has already seen what getting Ganguly into the side (irrespective of NO first class cricket whatsoever to commend his case) can do to a player with class and experience. There is no reason to think that the same may not be the case with Sehwag. And, I repeat, we are talking of him as one of three openers in THE TOURING PARTY.

Chappelll is talking eminent sense.

 

[gettingbetter]

As far as why he should be in the Indian side and why Chappell think he should be there I think the reason is obvious. India has a huge problem in the opener slot. With no one standing out amongst the various contenders for the position as a cert for Jaffer's partner, having Sehwag in the squad (squad mind you) as one of the three openers gives the skipper some piece of mind for Sehwag IS India's most successful test opener after Gavaskar by far. He does have a very good record in Australia. He does have the experience to be just an innings away from getting back to form.

Bit harsh on Dinesh, other than the last two Tests, he has been looking quite good.

 

[SJS]

As far as why he should be in the Indian side and why Chappell think he should be there I think the reason is obvious. India has a huge problem in the opener slot. With no one standing out amongst the various contenders for the position as a cert for Jaffer's partner, having Sehwag in the squad (squad mind you) as one of the three openers gives the skipper some piece of mind for Sehwag IS India's most successful test opener after Gavaskar by far. He does have a very good record in Australia. He does have the experience to be just an innings away from getting back to form.

Bit harsh on Dinesh, other than the last two Tests, he has been looking quite good.

Well yes as far as getting runs are concerned but does he really have the game for a test opener. See whats happening to him in this series. The guy has a problem leaving the ball outside the off stump - an absolute must for a successful opener. He just gets drawn to it. He has done well mainly because of his determination and also not facing a really fast bowler attacking his weakness. That would be exposed in Australia.

I know Sehwag also does not show the game of a test opener as defined above but he does not go forward poking at those balls outside the off stump. He goes after them hammer and tongs when he does which is a completely different game and works for some like him and Jayasuriya for example. They both have had the hand eye co-ordination and the power to carry that off. - not same with Karthik.

India missed an opportunity by not trying out Chopra in this series. We would have known where exactly he stands at this level. Indian domestic cricket is not great to show how good a batsman is playing. The huge scores may or may not mean anything. Its sad but thats how it is.

I would take Jaffer and Sehwag with one out of Karthik and Gambhir. I dont mind if they take just one keeper in Dhoni.

People are suggesting Dravid to open and Mohinder also suggested Dhoni should open in Australia. Surely this is an indication of a HUGE problem at the top of the order. How can we have Dhoni opening the innings unleaa the only purpose behind selecting a side is how to ensure Yuvraj has a permanent spot in the side.

We should have the guts to put Yuvraj in the side at the expense of one of the middle order batsmen if we think he is a better test batsman than them not do this sneaky meddling with the order.

 

[gettingbetter]

That seems to be the general argument to drop Karthik - he doesn't have the technique etc etc, but until it is totally proven, which I bleieve after two poor Tests it hasn't been proofed, there is no reason to drop him. I don't really see much difference in poking at one outside off and slashing at one and get caught on both, the result is the same.

As bizzare as it may sound, about 2-3 years ago I actually suggested/condoned that Pathan should open the batting. Bare in mind, this is when India had real opening problems, not now where an over-analysis has been conducted into one of the openers. Would be fun to see though.

I don't really want to get into the Chopra argument, I've had it with SJS before, but simply, and this isn't going back to my disdain for the mentioning of Chopra's name as a probable opener - how many openers do you want to try?

People are suggesting Dravid to open and Mohinder also suggested Dhoni should open in Australia. Surely this is an indication of a HUGE problem at the top of the order. How can we have Dhoni opening the innings unleaa the only purpose behind selecting a side is how to ensure Yuvraj has a permanent spot in the side.

Over-analysis once again. Also this issue above is more concerend with the team make up rather than the opener 'dilemma'.

Edit: it wasn't you I had the discussion about Chopra, can't remeber who it was exactly, I'm not good at rememebring user names on here.

 

[SJS]

That seems to be the general argument to drop Karthik - he doesn't have the technique etc etc, but until it is totally proven, which I bleieve after two poor Tests it hasn't been proofed, there is no reason to drop him. I don't really see much difference in poking at one outside off and slashing at one and get caught on both, the result is the same.

As bizzare as it may sound, about 2-3 years ago I actually suggested/condoned that Pathan should open the batting. Bare in mind, this is when India had real opening problems, not now where an over-analysis has been conducted into one of the openers. Would be fun to see though.

I don't really want to get into the Chopra argument, I've had it with SJS before, but simply, and this isn't going back to my disdain for the mentioning of Chopra's name as a probable opener - how many openers do you want to try?

Over-analysis once again. Also this issue above is more concerend with the team make up rather than the opener 'dilemma'.

Edit: it wasn't you I had the discussion about Chopra, can't remeber who it was exactly, I'm not good at rememebring user names on here.

No. I am not for taking Chopra. It must have been someone else. I mentiuoned him since Indian selectors chose to put him in the 24. I dont know why ? If they think he is a possibility they should have tried him in this, the third test , thats what I meant there.

As far as Karthik's technique is concerned, I have no problem with his batting technique. Its as an opener that he seems to have problem deciding which ball to leave.

In fact, I am a great supporter of Karthik. I think he should be India's first choice wicket keeper for test matches and Dhoni should be fighting for a place as a batsman in the middle order. Karthik is head and shoulders above anyone else as a keeper in India - the record extras on this joke of a wicket (from bounce point of view) not withstanding.

My personal choice for the Australian tour would be

Openers

1. Jaffer
2. Sehwag
3. Gambhir

Middle Order

1. Dravid
2. Tendulkar
3. Ganguly
4. Laxman
5. Yuvraj

Keepers

1. Dhoni
2. Karthik

Pacers

1. Zaheer
2. RP Singh
3. Pathan
4. Ishant Sharma

Spinners

1. Kumble
2. Harbhajan
3. Murali Karthik

PS : I suspect, however, that Murali Karthik wont go and Munaf or Agarkar will go in his place. Karthik will probably open in the first game and maybe will score a hundred

 

[social]

Correct, past performance in Australia cant be the basis of selection (for Sehwag). Agarkar example was to illustrate exactly that. Sehwag as a batsman was/is better than Agarkar was/is as a bowler. That's why he's been given special chances (selected for Pakistan ODIs) which an ordinary player doesnt get - even when there is a mini-crisis in that department. He didnt take them. Nor the domestic FC ones (in which he is doing poorly).

He needs to do something at this point in time to merit selection, and it is not obvious to select him ahead of , say Chopra. There are sufficient recent examples (Ganguly, especially Zaheer, even perhaps Pathan) on what to do to earn your spot back.

ps last series, Sehwag too had one noteworthy scorecard entry.

I was under the impression that all Ganguly did was whinge, refuse to train and play matches

 

[Richard]

Sorry about the 'Clarke', I meant Glen Chapple - I don't know how that happened. Either way, the bowlers you mentioned, don't you think they are past it?

Yes, I do, I said that - but it disappointed me that they were, because they shouldn't have been IMO. Caddick's case has never been helped by playing at stupidly small, non-seaming Taunton, mind, and Cork didn't help his by leaving seam-friendly Derby and joining the much less seam-friendly club at Old Trafford. Gough and White both suffered from injuries at the wrong times, too.

As for Flintoff, I agree that he doesn't really impress as often as he should with the bat, but his bowling isn't all that as what people say it is. I don't know how you are analysing him, but are you removing the first 20 or so Tests of his career? In saying that though, he has come along better around 2005-2006, but thats not enough for me to call him, I don't exactly know the word - but a wicket-taking/intimidating bowler.

Harmison better than Flintoff? I don't really want to debate that, but what is your critical reasoning for him have a lower average than Flintoff (I know that you don't care all that much for averages though). I've been generally more impressed with Harmison than Flintoff, take away the last year or two though.

Harmison has 7 Tests on which for anyone to argue that he's anything other than a useless waste of space, and he didn't even bowl that well in them. Nor, as I said, did Flintoff in these games. Until Edgbaston 2005, I never even especially rated Flintoff as a bowler. In these matches, where ironically his average is worse, I'd say he generally bowled better.

As I said - Harmison aside from these 7 games has been nothing, absolutely nothing, other than useless.

The reason I'd have Flintoff ahead of Harmison, by miles, is that Harmison never, ever looks like offering a threat. He does nothing with the ball, almost always bowls too short, is usually wayward, sometimes to horrible extents, and only ever gets wickets through poor strokes (so therefore unsurprisingly that mostly means he gets not-many for plenty in most Tests). Flintoff since August 2005 has offered the whole lot - reverse-swing, conventional-swing to a small extent, seam-movement and leg-cutters. Added to which he's way, way more accurate. I'm astonished anyone - who'd watched them both extensively rather than read the false legends that abound about Harmison - would even countenance Harmison > Flintoff.

 

[Richard]

I was under the impression that all Ganguly did was whinge, refuse to train and play matches

Possibly because that's the impression certain people like to be under?

 

[Richard]

I dont know how streaky that innings was. He got his first 24 runs in 60 deliveries and that contained a few streaky boundaries but after that he scored another 169 runs in at a run a ball with another 21 boundaries and four huge sixes. There was nothing streaky in that.

That's not why it was streaky - it was streaky because he was dropped, off an absolute sitter, on 47, and could have been out several times besides, details of which I forget.

 

[adharcric]

Because there are at least four better options?

 

[Richard]

I do love an on-topic post at 70.

 

[adharcric]

India missed an opportunity by not trying out Chopra in this series.

Jaffer and Karthik came in as an established, successful pair from England. Hardly expected them to try out a reserve opener during this series.

We would have known where exactly he stands at this level. Indian domestic cricket is not great to show how good a batsman is playing. The huge scores may or may not mean anything. Its sad but thats how it is.

Unbeaten double ton versus South Africa A.

 

[social]

Possibly because that's the impression certain people like to be under?

Sorry but that is exactly what he did.

He refused to play for his Indian domestic side and "earned" his recall on the basis of averaging 4.8 (that's right - 24 runs from 5 innings) for Northamptonshire.

Political decision? No, never!

 

[Dasa]

Sorry but that is exactly what he did.

He refused to play for his Indian domestic side and "earned" his recall on the basis of averaging 4.8 (that's right - 24 runs from 5 innings) for Northamptonshire.

Political decision? No, never!

Umm no. Ganguly played for East Zone (in the Duleep Trophy) and Bengal (in the Ranji Trophy) and did well to earn his recall.

 

[SJS]

Umm no. Ganguly played for East Zone (in the Duleep Trophy) and Bengal (in the Ranji Trophy) and did well to earn his recall.

No he didnt. He failed in FC games almost entirely in India as well as in England - all bar one game I think.

He was recalled due to pressure and thank God for that

 

[SJS]

OK. Sehwag is in.

BREAKING NEWS

India's Test squad for Australia

1. Wasim Jaffer,
2. Virender Sehwag,
3. Dinesh Karthik,
4. Rahul Dravid,
5. Sachin Tendulkar,
6. Sourav Ganguly,
7. VVS Laxman,
8. Yuvraj Singh,
9. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk),
10. Anil Kumble (capt),
11. Harbhajan Singh,
12. Zaheer Khan,
13. RP Singh,
14. Irfan Pathan,
15. Ishant Sharma,
16. Pankaj Singh.

 

[SJS]

Hmm. Pankaj Singh in place of Murali Karthik otherwise its the side I wanted so I am happy.

 

[Pratters]

Why are India ignoring Sehwag for test matches ?

Because Indian selectors led by Shri Dilip Vengsarkar are a bunch of nincompoops.

Vengsarkar is highly opinionated and, having taken a particular stance, will go to great lengths to prove that his thinking is correct. Team India be damned.

Bah. Easy to bash the selectors when they don't select a team you like. Given that he has selected Sehwag now, maybe you should accept that you were wrong, at least here.

 

[SJS]

Bah. Easy to bash the selectors when they don't select a team you like. Given that he has selected Sehwag now, maybe you should accept that you were wrong, at least here.

Raving and ranting as usual Pratyush

No I wasnt wrong. The selectors were in keeping Sehwag out and by including him for Australia without even a game in this series they have only admitted that.

Cheerio

 

[Dasa]

No he didnt. He failed in FC games almost entirely in India as well as in England - all bar one game I think.

He was recalled due to pressure and thank God for that

Averaging over 50 with a couple of hundreds is not a failure in my book.