***Official India in New Zealand***

[Cricket_God]

I hate to do this, but I do agree that Balaji has no future in international cricket bowling at 125kph, as he did in the domestic season. The question is whether he can raise his pace to 130kph in international cricket as that is an acceptable pace considering the superb economy rates he maintained last season. Balaji was never and is not an ODI prospect, his potential lies in Test cricket, just to clarify. You talk of bowlers of international level not being selected but the fact is that they have not proved their fitness. Nehra, RP Singh and Sreesanth are constantly breaking down and Praveen Kumar could not string together a strong domestic season this year when he needed it most and his fitness too was under scrutiny, with him missing numerous matches. India's main issue with fast bowlers is not the lack of pace but the lack of consistent fitness; our bowlers are always breaking down and it cuts our talent pool down significantly. Add VRV Singh, who is currently injured, and Munaf Patel, who is always injured, to the list and we have half a dozen international prospects who have been injured constantly throughout the past year or two.


Nehra is not international class he is medicore at tests.Sreesanth and rp were injured but
are now playing in domestic matches

 

[Manee]

Nehra is not international class he is medicore at tests.Sreesanth and rp were injured but
are now playing in domestic matches

Well, RP Singh has strung a few matches together, perhaps, but I can't remember the last domestic match Sreesanth played in. And furthermore, I can't remember the last match he played in and did well in!

 

[Bahnz]

Don't like Franklin batting so high, hopefuly his finest asset (his bowling) is back up to speed. his spell against Brendan Nash was promising. If it swings and he's at full fitness again, then I'd back him to grab a 5-fer.

If Franklin isn't good enough to bat at 7 in tests these days, then it casts a pretty shocking light on our domestic cricket. He's been averaging 158 this season, and his lowest score has been 75. I know state cricket is a long way below test level, but I'm pretty sure that Jimmy's got the class to bat at 7, maybe even higher. I'm more worried about how his bowling will stack up, but he's grabbed a few wickets in his last couple of outings, so hopefully he's coming right there too.

 

[Athlai]

Phlegm underrating our new number 6 a bit you have to reckon.

 

[Bahnz]

btw, interesting that Arnel is 30 and made his FC debut at 27. What's his story? Apparently he was a basketball player of some repute and I suppose this hampered his prospects of taking his cricket too seriously early on.

I've seen him a bit on TV and am not super-stoked by his selection. Kinda reminds me of Michael Mason, tall, high action and a bit ungainly, a very poor man's Glenn McGrath. I expect him to fail basically.

He's been playing cricket for ages, he was in the Northern side for a few super max games back in the late 90's. But when he was at the academy, the medical staff misdiagnosed a mild stress fracture as a case of him needing to harden the **** up, so he wound up bowling himself into an extremely serious injury that kept him out of cricket for 4 years.

 

[Nutter]

The medical staff misdiagnosed a mild stress fracture as a case of him needing to harden the **** up, so he wound up bowling himself into an extremely serious injury that kept him out of cricket for 4 years.

Jeebuz, way to ruin a guy's cricketing career!

Is Jimmy going to get the new ball? Oh and is Mills in the squad?

 

[Bahnz]

Jeebuz, way to ruin a guy's cricketing career!

Is Jimmy going to get the new ball?

I've been wondering about that too. It's unlikely that he'll be that effective at any other stage, but at the same time it's highly uncertain whether he's our best bet with the new ball.

 

[Flem274*]

He's been playing cricket for ages, he was in the Northern side for a few super max games back in the late 90's. But when he was at the academy, the medical staff misdiagnosed a mild stress fracture as a case of him needing to harden the **** up, so he wound up bowling himself into an extremely serious injury that kept him out of cricket for 4 years.

Typical.

On Franklin: The main reason I'm nervous about him batting so high is he looks very tentative against short pitched fast bowling. Not sure he can handle it and not sure its a good idea to put our second best seamer in the line of fire for injury.

Tbh I think he'll one day (if the make up of the side allows it) end up batting at seven consistently, and once Oram stops bowling he'll be the allrounder.

 

[Flem274*]

I've been wondering about that too. It's unlikely that he'll be that effective at any other stage, but at the same time it's highly uncertain whether he's our best bet with the new ball.

Franklin and Mills should get the new ball, otherwise there is no point in having Mills and Franklin loses effectiveness.

Ideally O'Brien would take it but he (and Oram) are better third seamers than Franklin and Mills.

 

[Polo23]

Guptill
McIntosh
Flynn
Taylor
Ryder
McCullum
Franklin
Vettori
Mills
Arnel
O'Brien

Martin could perhaps slot in for Mills, but his form of late has been dire.

 

[Bahnz]

On Franklin: The main reason I'm nervous about him batting so high is he looks very tentative against short pitched fast bowling. Not sure he can handle it and not sure its a good idea to put our second best seamer in the line of fire for injury.

Tbh I think he'll one day (if the make up of the side allows it) end up batting at seven consistently, and once Oram stops bowling he'll be the allrounder.

That's a good point, but it's a weakness that was shown up against the West Indies, a side with three very quick bowlers, two of whom have a penchant for bowling very accurate and very fast bouncers.

I think India only has one bowler, Sharma, who has the pace and bounce to cause serious troubles in that area. And so far Sharma has struggled to adjust to New Zealand conditions, and bowled an awful length at the last ODI in Auckland. If that continues, I don't think Jimmy will have too much to worry about.

 

[Polo23]

To be fair to Franklin, Fidel Edwards does have a very good bouncer, which he bowls quicker than anything else he lets go. Given his batting form this season, and him scoring a test ton in South Africa, I think he'll be ok.

 

[Manee]

To be fair to Franklin, Fidel Edwards does have a very good bouncer, which he bowls quicker than anything else he lets go.

Indeed, whether out of his stride (where he is usually 80-87mph) or in his stride (where he is 87-93mph), his bouncer seems to come out exclusively in the 88-93mph range.

 

[Arjun]

I disagree about your assessment of Kulkarni, I feel he has all the tools to succeed at Test level and possibly ODI level - though he has only played 12 domestic OD matches so a proper judgement cannot be made. 49 FC wickets at 22.02 is a superb effort and shows the potential for Test cricket. Having watched him bowl, he bowls at 130kph and extracts genuine bounce and seam movement - there is nothing there stopping him from converting to Test cricket. The only issue I see is the no ball problem and the lack of experience (just 13 FC games), both of which should be solved quickly.

That's all. Just one season of Indian domestic cricket. We haven't seen much of him in India A, and another season of domestic cricket and regular performnces with the A-team will make him a contender for the national squad. Then again, there seem to be new pace bowlers coming virtually every two years, and not going the distance. We don't know if he will last the next five years. There were better pace bowlers who have been dropped and don't seem to be in the scheme of things, despite their current replacements being so inferior.

Gony looked the part in the IPL and had a strong Deodhar Trophy performance under his belt, it was hard to predict that he'd fail at ODI level. Dinda has not been given an international cap and he has been treated well, being catapulted into the India A team after displaying pace in the IPL and showing some good performances as well as some poor ones. He is raw, but I am sure most people can see the obvious talent there.

Gony was hit for more sixes in the IPL than any other bowler, bar Chawla and the overbowled James Hopes, but that he wasn't much good is proof of one cap too many handed out. Dinda hasn't got an India cap, and another impressive domestic/reserves season may get him noticed, but hang on, we already have Dhawal Kulkarni, and just last year we had Praveen Kumar, and before, RP Singh, so what? None of these bowlers add much value, and no more than the ones they replace. They've already got Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, the two best so far, and they should stick to these two for a long time, and rather than try out a new (and inferior) third seamer, they should get back one of the seamers they've dropped, and get him back in action. What happens to the ones discarded? Frankly, none of the replacements are capable of even replacing Amit Mishra in New Zealand- and that option has to be explored.

 

[Arjun]

Looking at the recent ODI series, we've seen Harbhajan Singh finish with an average a little under 30, and Yusuf Pathan, with a little over ten a wicket. On the other hand, all the seamers went for over 30 a wicket, and except Zaheer, all averaged in the 40s, and Munaf didn't even pick a wicket. The Kiwis may play pace better than spin, so Harbhajan and Mishra in the team will make a good attack. Besides, the third seamer is still undecided.

I have a few things to talk about the ODI team- do I fit them in here or start a new thread?

 

[NZ4life!]

I am not very familiar with what the NZ media writes but I agree with your point entirely. NZL batting has rarely had super stars but with decent batsmen (maybe with the odd one approaching greatness - Crowe), great fielding and a good attack have looked much more likely to win Test matches on the strength of their team's performance rather than rely heavily on external (wicket, whether etc) factors for the odd win at home.

Thats why I mentioned the bits and pieces players policy as flawed. It affects bowling skills in the long run much more. Batting skills just reflect bowling strengths of the times and stats in any event improve for batsmen with declining bowling standards.

I'm of the opinion that Taylor Flynn and Ryder all have the ability to average 40+ in tests, whether they will or not is a different story.

 

[Woodster]

I agree that Franklin's a spot too high. Should Oram return, and replace Franklin with McCullum down to 7, gives the side a much better look.

Also, would be concerned about Guptill and McIntosh opening the innings, only two Test appearances between them, and up against two excellent opening bowlers in Ishant and Zaheer. The NZ top two will be given severe examinations early, and will need to get through the initial bursts, no-one needs telling the importance of your openers setting the tone. Two inexperienced batsmen, at this level, opening up would concern me for this series.

 

[Polo23]

Also, would be concerned about Guptill and McIntosh opening the innings, only two Test appearances between them, and up against two excellent opening bowlers in Ishant and Zaheer. The NZ top two will be given severe examinations early, and will need to get through the initial bursts, no-one needs telling the importance of your openers setting the tone. Two inexperienced batsmen, at this level, opening up would concern me for this series.

The alternatives of course being Matthew Bell, Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Jamie How and Aaron Redmond who are pretty much all just as inexperienced and arent as good.

It's not like we have any Matthew Hayden's or Virender Sehwag's lying around. There really isn't any other option.

 

[Woodster]

The alternatives of course being Matthew Bell, Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Jamie How and Aaron Redmond who are pretty much all just as inexperienced and arent as good.

It's not like we have any Matthew Hayden's or Virender Sehwag's lying around. There really isn't any other option.

No I appreciate the fact there are not exactly any quality experienced openers just floating around in domestic cricket, and consequently you are going to have times when inexperience is virtually the only option. Just some continuity, lost count of the amount of times the selectors have opted to chop and change at the top. If they are given an opportunity, it must last over a number of Tests.

I'm aware Jamie How is struggling, and maybe it is the right time to pull him out of the international game for a while. However, with 54 against the WI in his last innings, thought it may be enough to buy him a little extra time, for the sake of two openers having time to try and forge an understanding. He may only be a three figure score from really pushing his international career on. On the other hand....

 

[Natman20]

Jamie How just scored 195 odd n/o against End A and also just scored a century yesterday or the day before. He looks to be getting back into the frame of things, but Guptill does deserve a go. I'm still not sure about Mcintosh and his potential in the side, may he prove me wrong.