India's starting line up for MCG test ?

[Pratters]

That was a very, very different situation.

Dravid is not in form. He remains a vital member of the side. I don't see how any one who didn't want him opening back then could want him opening now.

 

[SJS]

Dravid is not in form. He remains a vital member of the side. I don't see how any one who didn't want him opening back then could want him opening now.

Raving and ranting again Pratyush

When did I say I want Dravid to open ? Its an old disease to read into posts what you want to. Not good my dear, not good. Must take something for it you know.

 

[Richard]

FWIW I'd say Dravid opening right now could be disastrous for everyone concerned.

 

[Manee]

FWIW I'd say Dravid opening right now could be disastrous for everyone concerned.

I agree. The fact that people want to shift around this very successful Indian middle order for Yuvraj who scored a hundred on a reasonably flat track against a joke of a bowling attack boggles the mind.

 

[funnygirl]

well i can't see the difference between Karthik opens and Dravid opens .Even if Kathik opens eventually makes Dravid an opener .

 

[Manee]

well i can't see the difference between Karthik opens and Dravid opens .Even if Kathik opens eventually makes Dravid an opener .

Karthik will not open in the first Test at the MCG, it will be Sehwag. I think that the actions of the selectors in dropping Karthik down the order to seven to act as keeper batsmen as well as his poor form signals an immenant intent to have him in the squad as a reserve wicket keeper batsman.

Your last post is awfully short sighted too. Have you forgotten the South Africa, Bangladesh and England series' already?

 

[Pratters]

When did I say I want Dravid to open

Righto... fair enough.

 

[funnygirl]

Karthik will not open in the first Test at the MCG, it will be Sehwag. I think that the actions of the selectors in dropping Karthik down the order to seven to act as keeper batsmen as well as his poor form signals an immenant intent to have him in the squad as a reserve wicket keeper batsman.

Your last post is awfully short sighted too. Have you forgotten the South Africa, Bangladesh and England series' already?

Bowling attack ?

 

[neutralguy]

There are two things here.
1. Kumble is a conservative captain
2. But he wants to show aggressive intent and set the tone for the series for india.
Considering both the aspects, its reasonable to assume that Sehwag will open at MCG, which is team 4. If laxman is still injured, then he may go with team 5 having yuvraj in place of laxman.Also Sehwag has a good record at MCG which will prompt kumble to make the choice of team 4 .
If Sehwag fails at MCG, then dinesh karthik may open in test 2 and 3 and if dinesh karthik fails, then only we might see a new opener for test 4.
So realistically we are not going to see yuvraj in the team unless there is more injuries or somebody is going to fail for 3 consecutive tests.

 

[neutralguy]

Yuvraj to open? Ugh. Sehwag is a middle order batsman by trade as well, but at least he has had success at the Test level opening. There is nothing that gets me as annoyed as a make shift opener. It's a specialist position, damn it.

Absolutely right. That we manage to draw last test series in australia is also because of the great opening starts we had . 50 + runs without loosing any wickets.
Its really important that we get a great opening start this series which means specialists.
If india do not have specialist openers who can do the job well in this series, i see them only playing catch up the whole series.

 

[Arjun]

The right start:

Jaffer's sealed his place in the team as a frontline opener, having had success against bowling attacks getting stronger with every series. His feats against a bowling attack with Shoaib Akhtar make him a serious contender. However, the bowlers in Australia (who don't get injured so often, so soon) and also the flat, hard pitches there are a totally different story, and he may stick out not so much for technique as lack of urgency, compared to the rapid, rollicking starts by Aussie openers.

Of all the available options, he and Sehwag are the best bets man for man, but a no-show when together. Never have they had good starts together. Hopefully that will reverse here. With Sehwag, the on-his-day factor puts him way ahead of the rest. Wicketkeepers cannot open, and a dreadful series against an Akhtar-led Pakistan team proves that. If Karthik can't score against Akhtar and Arafat in India, how can he score against Lee, Mitch and Tait abroad? He's no better than Irfan Pathan, more a wicket-taking pick than a run-scorer. Even Gilchrist, the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman, doesn't open a Test innings!

Rahul Dravid opening is dreadful- he's in dreadful form, he's a crucial player and the opening slot is crucial. Tendulkar to open would free up a middle-order slot, and is worth a try, when he's opened for over a decade, even if it is ODI cricket. Yuvraj at the top is a gamble, and consequences of failure are disastrous. So that would leave us with Jaffer and Sehwag to open. If not too confident, open with Tendulkar, and if not confident at all, open with Irfan. The last two options leave you with a place for Yuvraj, which is obviously not at the top.

 

[SJS]

So it does look like Dravid will open and Yuvi will play. Thats what I had voted for here, though elsewhere, I was equally inclined to Karthik opening and Yuvi being dropped.

Now who will be the bowlers for India.

Zaheer, RP and Kumble are almost certain. Who will be the fourth bowler ?

• Harbhajan
• Pathan
• Ishant
• or the dark horse - P Kumar.

I would go for Harbhajan or Pathan (depending on pitch conditions) because of the lack of experience of Ishant. If we play Ishant, Australia could kill him and his career

 

[Dasa]

I'm confident they'll go for Pathan. The most sensible choice really, I don't expect Harbhajan could have much of an impact.

 

[Richard]

Would pick Pathan easily myself. Three left-armers always has that rarity value too.

 

[gettingbetter]

Cricinfo think that the last bowling position will be between Harbhajan and Sharma, with Khan, Kumble and RP taking the other positions. I personally would like to see Pathan, but his speed does concern me, but I think we will see Harbhajan feature in the four Tests.

 

[Richard]

The prospect of Sharma being humiliated worries me far more than Pathan's lack of speed.

 

[Jono]

Fact is, Pathan is a decent bat, and when you have a number 8 that can score 70s and 80s on the odd occasion at test level, its very handy.

That's not akin to choosing Giles over Monty, or anything of the sort. Irfan is probably at this stage the better choice to Sharma anyway as a bowler alone, and his batting just makes his case even stronger.

My gut says Harbhajan will play though ahead of Irfan. Not sure why.

 

[Dasa]

Fact is, Pathan is a decent bat, and when you have a number 8 that can score 70s and 80s on the odd occasion at test level, its very handy.

That's not akin to choosing Giles over Monty, or anything of the sort. Irfan is probably at this stage the better choice to Sharma anyway as a bowler alone, and his batting just makes his case even stronger.

My gut says Harbhajan will play though ahead of Irfan. Not sure why.

Good call, but I was way off.

 

[Richard]

I don't expect Harbhajan could have much of an impact.

Well not too far off to date.

 

[Salamuddin]

My gut says Harbhajan will play though ahead of Irfan. Not sure why.

Take a bow Mr Augustus.......