***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[honestbharani]

I think that keeper who kept for the Kolkata KnightRiders looked very good, purely as a keeper in terms of collecting the ball etc. But then again, it was only the IPL...

 

[silentstriker]

Karthik is a better wicketkeeper, but I have been very impressed by Dhoni's keeping over the last six months. The difference isn't substantial anymore.

 

[Arjun]

AWTA. Are there any really good wicketkeepers (ignoring batting) in India or are Karthik and Dhoni the best?

Sadly, barely one or two. There's Shreevats Goswami, the U-19 wicketkeeper from Assam, who played a few matches for the Royal Challengers of Bangalore. He's looked very fast behind the stumps, but not the most reliable. There's Wriddhiman Saha from Bengal, and he's genuinely a good wicketkeeper, and can also bat a bit, but unfortunately, he (like Goswami) comes from the same zone as Dhoni.

On pure keeping ability, the best in the country is Vinayak Samant from Mumbai. He's kept to as many as three spinners throughout the 2000's, playing for Mumbai, and has played a major role in their (and the team's) success. There's Ajay Ratra from Haryana, now with Goa, once the fastest wicketkeeper in the country, with razor-sharp reflexes. He missed out because of the wicketkeeper-batsman craze, and strangely, was dropped from Haryana because he scored few runs and 'dropped a few catches', even though he captained them to Plate victory and promotion to Elite.

Unfortunately, because of this wicketkeeper-batsman craze, every team wants an Adam Gilchrist, so we've seen several misfits like Maninder Bisla, Naman Ojha, Pinal Shah, Deep Dasgupta (famous for the double century drop of Carl Hooper) and, you guessed it, Parthiv Patel, flourishing. The exception to the list is Mahesh Rawat, but he's only decent with the gloves, and no player to have keeping to Kumble and Harbhajan.

 

[ret]

i think that the batsmen are better off playing Mendis like a mix of slow medium pacer and Chris Harris as the turn is not that pronounced and he looks to ball the quicker one with the ball deviating a little off the pitch

 

[ret]

on the line up,


Option 1
- Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman & Karthik
- Bhajji, Zaheer, Kumble, Ishant

if it's a spin friendly surface then guys like Sehwag and Tendulkar are good bowling options too


Option 2
- Sehwag, Karthik, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly & Laxman
- Bhajji, Zaheer, Kumble, Ishant, Sree/RP

if it's a batting beauty then it would be hard to justify packing the 11 with one more batsmen, esp with the likes of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman in the squad. in this case it would be better, if Kumble backs the batsmen to deliver and chooses a specialist bowler in place of a batsman


Option 3
- Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman & Karthik
- Zaheer, Kumble, Ishant, Sree/RP

if the surface is seamer friendly .... again Sehwag & Tendulkar can roll their arms, if needed

 

[adharcric]

Seems so strange coz our test batting line up, esp. the middle order, is perhaps the best when it comes to facing spin but our ODI middle order is perhaps the worst.

Based on one match? Raina, Yuvraj and Sharma played Murali just fine in the previous match - can we then conclude that our young middle-order is great against spin? I'll give you Yuvraj - his career has revealed a weakness against quality spin, more due to temperament IMO. The verdict is still out on Raina and Sharma - the former is supposedly a solid player of spin on the domestic circuit but I've noticed he tries to sweep too often against quality spinners ... and the latter is an unknown quantity at this level as well.

 

[adharcric]

Sadly, barely one or two. There's Shreevats Goswami, the U-19 wicketkeeper from Assam, who played a few matches for the Royal Challengers of Bangalore. He's looked very fast behind the stumps, but not the most reliable. There's Wriddhiman Saha from Bengal, and he's genuinely a good wicketkeeper, and can also bat a bit, but unfortunately, he (like Goswami) comes from the same zone as Dhoni.

On pure keeping ability, the best in the country is Vinayak Samant from Mumbai. He's kept to as many as three spinners throughout the 2000's, playing for Mumbai, and has played a major role in their (and the team's) success. There's Ajay Ratra from Haryana, now with Goa, once the fastest wicketkeeper in the country, with razor-sharp reflexes. He missed out because of the wicketkeeper-batsman craze, and strangely, was dropped from Haryana because he scored few runs and 'dropped a few catches', even though he captained them to Plate victory and promotion to Elite.

Unfortunately, because of this wicketkeeper-batsman craze, every team wants an Adam Gilchrist, so we've seen several misfits like Maninder Bisla, Naman Ojha, Pinal Shah, Deep Dasgupta (famous for the double century drop of Carl Hooper) and, you guessed it, Parthiv Patel, flourishing. The exception to the list is Mahesh Rawat, but he's only decent with the gloves, and no player to have keeping to Kumble and Harbhajan.

Good summary. Beyond the Bengal boys, Pinal Shah and Uday Kaul are two wicketkeeper-batsmen that may actually amount to something - let's see how Shah goes with the gloves in the Emerging Players Tournament.

 

[adharcric]

Karthik is a better wicketkeeper, but I have been very impressed by Dhoni's keeping over the last six months. The difference isn't substantial anymore.

Yeah, Dhoni has definitely been good enough behind the stumps. It's gotten to the point where his batting will make or break his place in the side.

 

[jeevan]

This is a young, new middle-order and the players have played few matches together. The only veteran, if any, is Yuvraj Singh- but he's so careless, he needs a rap on the knees once too often. They have their problems, but we know what they can do at best, and they need to know what to do- something they'll learn in a match.

Indian ODI middle order consists of Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina. Uthappa, Rohit Sharma. Except for the last one, they've all been around for 3 years and/or 100 ODIs. (Ditto the openers - Sehwag, Gambhir).

 

[Sanz]

Yeah, Dhoni has definitely been good enough behind the stumps. It's gotten to the point where his batting will make or break his place in the side.

PP's batting is better.

 

[adharcric]

Indian ODI middle order consists of Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina. Uthappa, Rohit Sharma. Except for the last one, they've all been around for 3 years and/or 100 ODIs. (Ditto the openers - Sehwag, Gambhir).

Yuvraj, Raina and Sharma are the ones who got owned by Mendis - out of those three, Yuvraj is the only one who has shown a regular weakness against quality spin. That said, I'm not sure if you had a point or were just refuting Arjun's claim.

 

[jeevan]

Yuvraj, Raina and Sharma are the ones who got owned by Mendis - out of those three, Yuvraj is the only one who has shown a regular weakness against quality spin. That said, I'm not sure if you had a point or were just refuting Arjun's claim.

Point, if any, was that this group is seasoned enough by now.

 

[Laurrz]

well it will be interesting how the big 4 tackle Mendis

if they dont do well

what hope do the rest of us have *gulp

 

[adharcric]

Point, if any, was that this group is seasoned enough by now.

Sure. Calling our middle-order pathetic against spin is an overreaction though, IMO.

 

[Nishant]

Sure. Calling our middle-order pathetic against spin is an overreaction though, IMO.

yh good call....they have generally bn ghood against spin....Mendis is a good bowler...bt its harsh to say that the middle order cannot play spin due to one poor performance against spin....we'll c hw they do in the ODIs against spin. Plus...i think the test side is gonna b a lot more capable of facing mendis TBH

 

[chaminda_00]

Haha you guys realise Mendis hasn't played a Test match yet. Would be happy if he just took a couple wickets at a decent rate. I don't think anyone in Sri Lanka, actually expects him to win a Test for us yet.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

This would be a good team for Ist test:-

1.G.Gambhir
2.V.Sehwag
3.R.Dravid
4.S.Tendulkar
5.S.Ganguly
6.V.V.S.Laxman
7.P.Patel
8.A.Kumble
9.H.Singh
10.Z.Khan
11.R.P.Singh

No team will be a good team if P Patel is the WK. :-)

 

[ramkumar_gr]

good to see yuvraj dropped from the test side - he needs to sort himself out. i'm not convinced with including rohit sharma in the squad, he hasn't done anything in FC cricket. would much rather see someone like Mohammed Kaif or Badri included over him. Let rohit play some FC cricket and prove that he can play in the longer form of the game, not to mention his recent form in hte Kitply and Asia Cups has been less than stellar.

I cant agree more... Rohit's selection is just a quota thing.. Rohit for Jaffer, that is it full stop. He has done very little of note in the last season and could not get a run in Ranji/Duleep... The selectors historically are known for mixing ODI performances with test selection, and now T20 as well, even on that front Rohit doesn't have a good record... Can anyone in the world explain why Rohit is preferred over Badrinath? another typical backdoor entry... simply speaking, he doesn't deserve to be in the squad...

 

[Migara]

I am also not having high hopes of Mendis in test matches. But since Indian batsmen gow owned by him, they'll play him safely. That will allow Murali to be deadly dangerous. Especially, when Indian batsmen get in to a run drought, they'll bound to do silly things. (like taking Murali on, which they are capable, but what Murali likes as well). If Mendis gets something like 25-4-65-2 I'll be more than happy.

 

[jeevan]

I am also not having high hopes of Mendis in test matches. But since Indian batsmen gow owned by him, they'll play him safely. That will allow Murali to be deadly dangerous. Especially, when Indian batsmen get in to a run drought, they'll bound to do silly things. (like taking Murali on, which they are capable, but what Murali likes as well). If Mendis gets something like 25-4-65-2 I'll be more than happy.

There is no run rate pressure in tests, no need to slog either Mendis or Murali even if they bowl in tandem for 2/3rd of the day. (Sehwag,Yuvraj,Raina all perished to premediated attacking moves). Waiting for the occasional loose ball is a good plan.