***Official*** South Africa in India

[Arjun]

The Australians are coming over after seven months, and they're still the leaders in Tests by a long way, so this series, should be used to prepare for that series. Prepare, not by experimenting heavily, but by making the players (and also combinations and plans) match-ready.
STEP 1: More bite than flat

To begin with, those flat pitches we saw against Pakistan have to be done away with, and replaced by bouncy pitches that offer a little movement. That will help the seamers as well as the quick-scoring batsmen who like the ball coming on the bat fast. The spinners, of course, will have to work a little harder. That may be tough, but the Indians are not that invincible at home now, so a few changes are needed so that that the team can become more versatile. A few pitches that make things difficult for casual strokeplayers will help the Indian team a great deal, and may also snare the South Africans. Basically, prepare pitches that leave VVS Laxman and Ashwell Prince with two left feet.


STEP 2: Steady start, longer duration

Jaffer, not much of a prospect abroad, or in one-dayers, may be replaced by someone more versatile. Of course, things are not helped when Sehwag is out of form, Uthappa's often out of his mind and Karthik is out of his depth, while Tendulkar, the best ODI opener on form, is out of place as Test opener. They need to fix that sooner than later. Opening with pinch-hitters and wicketkeepers is no option. They need to freeze two prospects and one in reserve, starting from here. Gambhir, Uthappa and Sehwag are the best choices. But then, why not Tendulkar? He could handle Lee well, with all those catching fielders around, so he can crush this South African seam attack, even in Tests. To sum it up, freeze an opening combination, even if both signs point to Gambhir.

STEP 3: Seam it up

Since we find three seamers the order of the day when the Indians play abroad, they can start here itself. Of course, that will depend a lot on Step 1. An option would be playing Irfan as the seventh batsman and fifth bowler- while Akram-esque feats may be beyond him, he can handle a dual role which the batsmen have been unable (or reluctant) to perform. With the under-rated Kumble at eight, he has support.

Another option would be to use Ganguly as a full-fledged seamer, but he's been out of practice for years, so he's changed from a competent support act to an innocuous part-timer. A third option would be a spin-bowling batsman as a full-fledged spinner, capable of doing the duty abroad, but Tendulkar is too overworked as a batsman, Sehwag and Yuvraj may not get a game and none of them are even remotely any good, especially when you bench a bowler with over 200 wickets. Ultimately, they have to have five full-time bowlers, even if a batsman has to turn his arm over a lot more.

STEP 4: Keep it Steyn-less

This bowler may be a thorn in the flesh of the Indians, so they have to do what they did with Lee- just see him off, and keep that wickets total at zero. They just have to wear him out by keeping their wickets intact at that end- and results will show. The spinner and the extra seamers may provide scoring opportunities. Keeping wickets in hand helps, after all.

 

[Cevno]

India do have Sehwag back though....he is a far better player in the test game and it wouldn't surprise me if he did damage against RSA.

AGree on Jaffer....always felt that he was avery good domestic player but just lacked that extra bit to cut it at the highest level.

I'm really disappointed that Yuvraj is continually seen as the key player in the future Indian batting lineup because I believe that Badrinath is a far better player than him. In fact I think even Kaif would be a better bet than Yuvi.

Yuvraj is india's gibbs.
A great ODI player but temperament is not test like.

As for the opening situation ,jaffer is pretty good on indian conditions and akash chopra after top scoring in the test domestic season has now scored three back to back centuries in the ranji ODI tournament for delhi.
Akash chopra is in the form of his life and should certainly be picked with sehwag as opener and he has become more aggresive too.

 

[ret]

think India wouldn't mind if Dhoni had to sit out the first test, tbh...


Would help them put Karthik and Sehwag at the top and not disturb the middle order and still allow them to play 3 seamers and two spinners...

I don't know how good Karthik is as a WK in tests .... Dhoni has improved a lot with time, haven't had the opportunity to see Karthik

 

[ret]

It's sad to hear that Zak is still recovering .... which means that RP and Ishant will probably get the new ball

I don't know how the Chennai pitch has become but earlier it used to offer something for everyone .... A'bad and Kanpur would be absolute batting paradise, offering little help to the quicks unless they swing and reverse swing

I think Ind should play the best possible X1 from players available .... the probs arise coz, many believe in playing the big 4 of tests and that too in the positions from 3 to 6, irrespective of anything, which means that Ind has to plug in the other pieces

Hope that the selectors build an X1 with an open mind without the pre-requisites for playing the big 4 and that too in the positions from 3 to 6

As for opening ----> Sehwag, gets my vote. He is my #1 choice. In recent decades, after Gavaskar, Sehwag is probably the best test opener for Ind .... For the 2nd opening position, Ind can try out Gambhir as he has shown good form of late and his record against RSA is good .... Or get Dravid to open. There is no point in having a make-shift opener [if Ind plays a bowling all-rounder], just to see him back in the hut in the Ist 5 overs and Dravid walking in. If Ind is not playing another regular opener then Dravid should just move one place up

Another crutial position is #7 ----> Ind would hv to debate playing a bowling-all-rounder or a regular opener if they want to accomodate the big 4 and play them in positions from 3 to 6

 

[Goughy]

STEP 4: Keep it Steyn-less

This bowler may be a thorn in the flesh of the Indians, so they have to do what they did with Lee- just see him off, and keep that wickets total at zero. They just have to wear him out by keeping their wickets intact at that end- and results will show. The spinner and the extra seamers may provide scoring opportunities. Keeping wickets in hand helps, after all.

If they are typical Indian wickets, I dont see Steyn being much of a threat. In fact Im tempted to say he will go around at close to 4 an over

 

[Cevno]

Just thought should mention this.

Ms dhoni Has been continuosly Playing cricket since november 2005 without a single full month break.The only break he had was before the world cup and during it when india got knocked out early.And with no breaks at all this year he needs to be rested at some point.
And it would most prbably be a test series as he is the ODI captain.

 

[ret]

Just thought should mention this.

Ms dhoni Has been continuosly Playing cricket since november 2005 without a single full month break.The only break he had was before the world cup and during it when india got knocked out early.And with no breaks at all this year he needs to be rested at some point.
And it would most prbably be a test series as he is the ODI captain.

thats a good suggestion but the Q is does Dhoni feel the need of a break himself?

 

[Manee]

STEP 2: Steady start, longer duration

Jaffer, not much of a prospect abroad, or in one-dayers, may be replaced by someone more versatile. Of course, things are not helped when Sehwag is out of form, Uthappa's often out of his mind and Karthik is out of his depth, while Tendulkar, the best ODI opener on form, is out of place as Test opener. They need to fix that sooner than later. Opening with pinch-hitters and wicketkeepers is no option. They need to freeze two prospects and one in reserve, starting from here. Gambhir, Uthappa and Sehwag are the best choices. But then, why not Tendulkar? He could handle Lee well, with all those catching fielders around, so he can crush this South African seam attack, even in Tests. To sum it up, freeze an opening combination, even if both signs point to Gambhir.

You are forgetting Aakash Chopra, who has been in good form this year and seems most capable to be able to negate the threat of Steyn without getting bogged down and trying something silly (cough, Gambhir). Chopra has changed his style of play since his last Test stint and is more willing to score quickly, but I still feel him the best out of the options to be able to negate the threat of a 140kph very agressive bowler.

I think it would be harsh to call Karthik out of his depth since he faced up to strong competition against England, Bangladesh and in one innings, against...South Africa. I would not have him in the starting XI but I'd look to make him a permanent member in the squad as a reserve opener (injury or Jaffer-esque drop in form) and reserve keeper, something that can be vital for away tours, but probably not so much on home tours.

I would not have Uthappa near a Test XI yet. I'd probably like to see him play for India A and have a good Ranji season before playing Test cricket. I think that it will be hasty to consider a few good agressive innings at seven (interspliced with many poor ones) evidence to make someone open in Tests.

 

[NUFAN]

well, you can think that Jaffar is unlucky but for someone like me he was always going to be 'unlucky' if you know what it means

have i stepped on ur tail here? why is it so imp for u as to how i should present my line up? thats the way i present my line ups and thats how it is going to be. if you don't like it then thats perfectly ok with me

did i call Dhoni and Pathan as lower order .... i guess, its quite obvious that it implies that Dhoni and Pathan play in the lower order .... ur comprehension abilities surely beats me

cheers

LOL Just saw this. I still can't believe you think Dhoni and Pathan are lower order... Do you understand that in Cricket numbers 6 and 7 are not considered lower order.. WaCkO

 

[ret]

,

Chopra has changed his style of play since his last Test stint and is more willing to score quickly.

i haven't followed Chopra since a long time .... where did you see his changed style?

 

[Manee]

i haven't followed Chopra since a long time .... where did you see his changed style?

Haven't seen it, but read about his changed minset and read the far increased strike rates.

 

[ret]

the Ind selectors will be picking the squad on this Sunday, if I m not wrong

let me take a shot at the playing X1 for the game at Chennai .... after Sunday, we will building the playing X1 from what the selectors throw at us

Opening ----> Sehwag & Gambhir .... Gambhir has had a good ODI series in OZ, scoring against some of the better bowlers. would like to leverage his form in tests

having two regular openers means that Dravid, the wall, gets his fav #3 position .... Tendulkar at his customary #4 position .... Laxman gets rewarded for some good innings against OZ, so at #5

Dhoni at 6 .... Pathan vs Ganguly was a tough Q [also it means playing a bowling all-rounder vs batsman]. Pathan won us the game at Perth and made some useful contribution with both the bat and the ball in that series, so it's Pathan at #7

Kumble at 8 .... Bhajji vs Chawal vs Other is another tough one. Bhajji hasn't had a good test series of late from what i recall from the top of my head. I can't figure out who the other would be. RSA are not that confident against orthodox leg-spin, so Chawla it is at #9 .... Zak is not available so the last two fast bowling spots are for grabs b/w RP, Sree and Isnant. will take RP at #10 and Isnant at #11 .... Sree will be the 12th man

Summery: Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Dhoni, Pathan, Kumble, Chawla, RP, Ishant


PS if the secectors draft Rohit Sharma in the squad then it will probably increase competition for a spot in the middle order and put pressure on Laxman / Ganguly

 

[honestbharani]

I don't know how good Karthik is as a WK in tests .... Dhoni has improved a lot with time, haven't had the opportunity to see Karthik

DK will always be the more natural keeper of the two.... He is an excellent, excellent keeper, a real natural...



The problem was, the last time he kept for India in a test, he hadn't kept for a number of months and had been working more and more on his batting and fielding, neglecting his keeping a bit, and it was on a shocker of a pitch where almost everything squatted through after the first day... If truth be told, inspite of the HUGE strides made by Dhoni as a keeper recently, I still think DK will be a better keeper, esp. to the spinners. At the very least, I think he will atleast be his equal, as long as he is told that it is his primary job....

 

[masterblaster]

DK will always be the more natural keeper of the two.... He is an excellent, excellent keeper, a real natural...



The problem was, the last time he kept for India in a test, he hadn't kept for a number of months and had been working more and more on his batting and fielding, neglecting his keeping a bit, and it was on a shocker of a pitch where almost everything squatted through after the first day... If truth be told, inspite of the HUGE strides made by Dhoni as a keeper recently, I still think DK will be a better keeper, esp. to the spinners. At the very least, I think he will atleast be his equal, as long as he is told that it is his primary job....

While this was true maybe in 2005, it's not in anyway true now. Maybe I sense a little bit of your Dinesh Karthik appreciation coming out there HB

Dhoni was phenomenal in his wicket keeping in Australia. I was a believer that Karthik was more fluid and natural than Dhoni but it just shows how hard Dhoni has worked on his wicket keeping technique. He kept to Kumble and Harbhajan with ease and looked exceptional during those close stumping chances. He's the best wicket keeper in the country and by a long way the best batsman of all the Indian wicket keepers as well.

I really like Dinesh Karthik and think he's a fine wicket keeper, but to say at the moment that he's better than Dhoni is a bit of a stretch. Dhoni looks to be pretty natural and fluid behind the stumps now and his footwork as of late has been excellent.

 

[masterblaster]

My team for the first test:

1. Sehwag
2. Gambhir
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Laxman
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan
8. Kumble
9. Harbhajan
10. RP Singh
11. Ishant Sharma

I think that's the best balanced side India can put out on the park. If it's a flat deck then we need to play 5 bowlers as South Africa have a solid batting lineup. Ganguly is unlucky to miss out but the way Pathan has been playing he's an important member of the side that can contribute with bat, ball and in the field.

Harbhajan has been bowling much better of late so he gets in, plus he's always a handful in India. I believe Zaheer Khan is in South Africa out injured while RP Singh has recovered so the bowling duo of Ishant and RP select themselves. Ofcourse the selection that I'm probably going to get criticised for is Gautam Gambhir over Wasim Jaffer.

No secret to anyone on these boards that I'm a Gambhir fan. He's had a wonderful domestic season and did so well out in Australia. India have to capitalise on his good form at the moment and I always thought he'd make a better test match batsman. If he get selected, hopefully he'll continue on with his good form.

 

[honestbharani]

While this was true maybe in 2005, it's not in anyway true now. Maybe I sense a little bit of your Dinesh Karthik appreciation coming out there HB

Dhoni was phenomenal in his wicket keeping in Australia. I was a believer that Karthik was more fluid and natural than Dhoni but it just shows how hard Dhoni has worked on his wicket keeping technique. He kept to Kumble and Harbhajan with ease and looked exceptional during those close stumping chances. He's the best wicket keeper in the country and by a long way the best batsman of all the Indian wicket keepers as well.

I really like Dinesh Karthik and think he's a fine wicket keeper, but to say at the moment that he's better than Dhoni is a bit of a stretch. Dhoni looks to be pretty natural and fluid behind the stumps now and his footwork as of late has been excellent.

not really... If you look at his wicket-keeping closely, you will see that he is still moving late... His hands have gotten better and his fluidity and diving are also better, he still is getting to the ball late. As a wicket keeper myself (although it was a million levels lower), I feel I can confidently pick out when a keeper is moving well. The one thing he is doing better is that he seems to be able to follow the line and swing (or spin) of the ball a lot better than earlier. Because of this and the fact that he seems to be a lot more fluid in diving to the ball, and because his hands are better now (in terms of allowing the ball to seettle than juz grabbing at it), he has improved enormously. And esp. against the spinners, it is less noticable because the movement I am talking about is juz a step or two, generally.


But if you see the no. of balls he tends to miss down the leg side (very very few, have to admit) it is mainly because he is moving late. It is hard to put down to anything... AS a keeper, you juz tend to have a feel for these things. Unless there is a pre-determined strategy of bowling over the wicket (for a left armer) or around the wicket (for a right armer), you never really expect the ball down the leg side. It was something that caught the eye of not just me, but several other forummers here and also a no. of experts about DK. I am not sure if he is still that good, but the thing about being a natural is, once you go back to the nets and start working on your basics again, you WILL be back to your best.


And the last thing is, as you said right now, Dhoni does LOOK natural as a keeper. But the key word there is LOOK because we have seen in the past that he is not. He is very much a manufactured keeper and this is no criticism of him. In fact, I think it juz shows how good he is that he has risen to this level as a keeper now inspite of him not being a natural.


PS: I do appreciate DK as a keeper, but I am not saying he is a good keeper because I am a fan of his. It is the opposite. I only became a fan of his because he was such a good keeper.

 

[honestbharani]

juz to clarify, even in my original post, I didn't state that DK will necessarily keep better than MSD... But if given the time to get back to his keeping practice, I do think he will be at least as good as MSD, if not better, as a keeper.

 

[Prince EWS]

Just thought should mention this.

Ms dhoni Has been continuosly Playing cricket since november 2005 without a single full month break.The only break he had was before the world cup and during it when india got knocked out early.And with no breaks at all this year he needs to be rested at some point.
And it would most prbably be a test series as he is the ODI captain.

Resting a player from a serious Test series would be insane beyond comprehension.

 

[adharcric]

He's the best wicket keeper in the country and by a long way the best batsman of all the Indian wicket keepers as well.

Exactly how many current Indian keepers have you seen? Besides, Dhoni has improved dramatically and was excellent in Australia but I'd agree with HB that Karthik is still better overall. That doesn't really matter though - as long as Dhoni is doing a good (enough) job with the gloves, he's secured the spot.

 

[honestbharani]

Exactly how many current Indian keepers have you seen? Besides, Dhoni has improved dramatically and was excellent in Australia but I'd agree with HB that Karthik is still better overall. That doesn't really matter though - as long as Dhoni is doing a good (enough) job with the gloves, he's secured the spot.

The thing is, if Dhoni has to be rested, it has to be now.. Can't imagine Chennai Super Kings resting him after having forked out that kind of money.....


Not the greatest fan of resting ppl from test series, but if he is indeed carrying niggles (as he himself stated), then it would make sense to rest him for the first test, at least.