***Official England in India***

[honestbharani]

Oh yes. I never said we are in serious trouble as a cricketing nation. We do have a large pool of cricketers to chose from and with the good bowling attack we have assembled and the opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir give us two strengths we have lacked almost throughout the period when the "fab four" were at their prime. If our opening bowlers and opening batsmen conundrum was resolved around 2000, we would have had a great chance to be world number one. Unfortunately, we seem to have resolved both those major issues when these guys are past their best or in the process of hanging up their boots.

Its quite possible that a less than great middle order PLUS a great opening pair and a balanced attack will mean a stronger overall side than we have had in the last 15 years. With the decline in Australia at the same time, we may remain high in the rankings list and will, I thinkl. But that is not something I have ever denied.

I think we will have a very good Test side if we start inducting the youngsters today with a clear idea as to who is the "lambi race ka ghoda" and persist with them. Hopefully by the time these three hang up their boots, the others will, one by one, have strengthened their places in the side.

As I see it, we should induct Rohit Sharma immediately as a replacement for Ganguly and tell him he is going to play the entire series (or two). Drop Dravid if he does not score real big runs in the domestic season while the ODI's against England are on and replace him with Yuvraj or Viraat Kohli or Badrinath (whosoever seems to be in better form).

That will bring two guys, one for a longer period and the other depending upon his performance and that of Dravid.

Within the next year, we should have a good idea which two (between Yuvraj, Kohli, Badri, Rohit and even Murali Vijay) should be considered near fixtures in the side.

This will also give exposure to the others and the selectors a better idea of their suitability at this level in the longer version. It will also give time to prepare two more in 2010-11 time frame. It can be done and I think thats the way it probably will be.

But my point remains, we will get a good Test side but we wont have, two years from now a middle order of the claliber we have had in the last fifteen years. Thats all I was saying to start with.

By the way, probably our strongest and yet balanced side of all time will be seen in the coming year. If Rohit Sharma comes good and Rahul strikes form (or whoever replaces him we could have a very impressive side for two years or so. Here is a squad for South Africa

1. Sehwag
2. Gambhir
3. Laxman
4. Tendulkar
5. Dravid
6. Rohit
7. Dhoni
8. Harbhajan
9. Zaheer
10. Mishra
11. Ishant
12. Yuvraj/Badrinath
13. Viraat Kohli/M. Vijay
14. Sreesanth
15. Munaf Patel
16. RP Singh

Looks impressive. Then after a year or so, you could have lost at least two more seniors and the two batsmen who are sharing the reserves spots could be in. It can be done.

BUT Yuvraj, Rohit, Badri and Kohil do not sound like they are going to be like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Saurav

so what did you make of Vijay? I unfortunately missed most of his batting...

 

[SJS]

so what did you make of Vijay? I unfortunately missed most of his batting...

Very impressive indeed. I would not mind if they played him in the very first Test against England at number three. Very good.

Reminds me a lot of Wasim Jaffer but with a more solid defense and a very good idea of where his off stump lies. The most impressive thing was his composure. He genuinely looked as if he belonged there.

 

[honestbharani]

Very impressive indeed. I would not mind if they played him in the very first Test against England at number three. Very good.

Reminds me a lot of Wasim Jaffer but with a more solid defense and a very good idea of where his off stump lies. The most impressive thing was his composure. He genuinely looked as if he belonged there.

yeah... I guess he has earned himself the chance to fail... Fielding will always be a plus too..


As someone said in the Australia tour thread, it is good that most of the new contenders for batting spots seem to be decent fielders..

 

[Richard]

Why not? Instead of being thrust into top-pressure Tests, he can be given a dose of it in the ODIs.

Playing players in ODIs who are not good OD players just "to give them a taste of the top level" is the worst idea. So often you see players get wrongly written-off as "not able to hack the pressure" or some crap like that simply because they're not good enough at the form of the game they've been picked for.

If they're good OD players, pick them for ODIs. If they're not, don't. And the same applies to First-Class and Test cricket. Blurring the two game-forms together in any way shape or form is always a recipe for disaster.

 

[Richard]

The 12-a-side game is not much different from the (rather pathetic) super-sub rule that was going around for a while. Whilst it is not as official as a 11-a-side game, its nowhere near as bad as 13- and 14-a-side games.

No, and with hindsight and foresight (I was willing to try it at the time but hated the idea when it was first announced and have thought it would've been so much better without since it was scrapped) I think the Supersub rule was a shocking one. And yep, 13\14-a-side games are wastes of time, there's barely even any point in playing when you're out you're out or keeping score.

 

[Richard]

For Uk Guys

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/the-ashes--how-they-might-line-up-1010910.html?ino=19

The Independent is leading newspaper rite ....they dont have a picture of Haddin(have look at the link)

and thier austrlian ashes side of 2009 is a joke

Other thread, methinks, would be better.

 

[Precambrian]

Playing players in ODIs who are not good OD players just "to give them a taste of the top level" is the worst idea. So often you see players get wrongly written-off as "not able to hack the pressure" or some crap like that simply because they're not good enough at the form of the game they've been picked for.

If they're good OD players, pick them for ODIs. If they're not, don't. And the same applies to First-Class and Test cricket. Blurring the two game-forms together in any way shape or form is always a recipe for disaster.

Worse than pushing them directly into the middle of a test match?

Here, Pujara, has a decent OD record also.

 

[Richard]

Worse than pushing them directly into the middle of a test match?

Much better than not picking them for a Test at all because you've misjudged their ability based on looking at them playing a game they're not suited to.

Prospective Test players have to play Test cricket eventually. If they're good enough, they'll succeed. If they're not, having played a few ODIs beforehand (whether they've done well or poorly in those) will not alter a thing.

Here, Pujara, has a decent OD record also.

In which case, that's all well and good (though he should be being picked for ODIs because he can succeed there, not as some sort of grounding for a Test). However, the general premise is a poor one.

 

[Uppercut]

For Uk Guys

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/the-ashes--how-they-might-line-up-1010910.html?ino=19

The Independent is leading newspaper rite ....they dont have a picture of Haddin(have look at the link)

and thier austrlian ashes side of 2009 is a joke

Best newspaper here IMO. Not sure about their cricket coverage though, so i wouldn't expect much more.

 

[GIMH]

Best newspaper here IMO. Not sure about their cricket coverage though, so i wouldn't expect much more.

If by best you meant worst then that was a good post

 

[andruid]

Best newspaper here IMO. Not sure about their cricket coverage though, so i wouldn't expect much more.

The Guardian rules all plust their cricket coverage is probably second only to the Telegraph

 

[Uppercut]

If by best you meant worst then that was a good post

A reasonable opinion as long as you consider the Mail, Express, News of the World, Star, Sun and Sport as comics rather than newspapers. TBH, i read no paper, just find the independent considerably less offensively stupid than most others.

 

[SJS]

BREAKING NEWS

Ishant Sharma not able to play in the first ODI. Minor ankle injury. Not known yet whether he wil be fit for the second one.

 

[Precambrian]

I hope it's not serious. Let him miss the entire ODI series and come back fit and primed for the England series.

 

[Richard]

Thought he was being rested?

And thought "quite damn right he should be too" when I read it.

 

[Jono]

Eh, its all precaution. He'll be right. Hopefully he doesn't play the first two. We don't need to wear him down for useless games.

I think the BCCI actually realise, thank God, how valuable he is.

He's a gem, don't **** him up BCCI! Doing the right thing so far.

 

[silentstriker]

BREAKING NEWS

Ishant Sharma not able to play in the first ODI. Minor ankle injury. Not known yet whether he wil be fit for the second one.

Eh, its all precaution. He'll be right. Hopefully he doesn't play the first two. We don't need to wear him down for useless games.

I think the BCCI actually realise, thank God, how valuable he is.

He's a gem, don't **** him up BCCI! Doing the right thing so far.

AWTA. Rest him for the whole series IMO.

His next game should be the Test against England. Or maybe the last ODI just to get some match bowling.

 

[Jono]

Nah don't rest him for all 7 ODIs. Fast bowlers need to keep their rhythm, particularly through match practice.

I'm happy with him returning when Sachin does, so from the 4th ODI onwards.

 

[Raghav]

BREAKING NEWS

Ishant Sharma not able to play in the first ODI. Minor ankle injury. Not known yet whether he wil be fit for the second one.

Best chance for England to start-off the series with a win!

 

[Lambu]

SJS i'm surprised at your reasoning on these issues of Indian batting and Aus bowling stocks..and i have to say i'm not convinced.

As far as i know,the emergence of talent, be it batting or bowling is entirely a random process.Therefore i don't understand how you could record the previous trends and just on the basis a few periodic repetition conclude that it is a periodic process?

Also one more thing(slightly irrelevent)..i notice that you have made no mention of Suresh Raina anywhere in your list of future aspects..why is that?Is it because you don't rate him?If yes..why?Have you noticed a technical flaw or something..because i think he is a real talent(infact a very major talent like Sharma).

Also lets not forget that most of major talents also weren't that flash when they first came on the scene..with the exception of Azhar and Sachin most of them took a couple(possibly more) of seasons before being rated by people outside India.Case in point being Rahul,Sourav,Laxman.Infact if anything at the age of 21 when you compare Rohit and Raina to to Rahul and Sourav the former pair is more talented..yes i'm aware they may not exactly justify the talent but i'm just trying to say you can't say we don't have the players.

Its imortant to note here that Sachin is an exception..i mean he was introduced at 16.Sure lack of any real talents might have motivated the selectors to do so and also since the enire output of the team wasn't necessarily great in terms of result..people were willing to wait it out for him get adjusted to international level(basically he was being spoonfed)..I think the introduction of 16 year old prodigies,however talented they maybe, simply won't happen in this time and age..yes even in India as unprofessional as the BCCI are!!