*Official* Australia in India - ODIs

[pasag]

Really thought Siddle would be a limited overs gun, but last over heroics aside he hasn't been very impressive to date. Would like to see the third seamer spot rotated with a few others before the next world cup as he might not be the answer, which is something we don't want to find out to late.

 

[Nate]

Any insight here emerge from the game yet? It's ****ing ridiculous.

He just had one of the biggest matches of his life. Less than a day ago. Obvously didn't want to risk an injury, game one of seven, when it looked won by a long shot.

 

[Manee]

On to the next ODI...(order subject to change)

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Suresh Raina
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. MS Dhoni
7. Virat Kohli
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Amit Mishra
10. Sudeep Tyagi
11. Ashish Nehra

Hmmm, not tremendously happy with that, tbh. I really wish we had an all rounder and that Irfan Pathan could rediscover his bowling ability, but I think that ship has sailed, tbh.

I do not think that Kohli is ideally suited to number 7, he seems like the type who likes to construct an innings and looked most at ease at the top of the order against Sri Lanka. Would love for India to play Yusuf Pathan at seven, but he is not in the squad, atm. I do not feel Ravindra Jadeja's batting is up to seven for India, even though he may have been tight today with his bowling. Perhaps, in the long term, Chawla can fulfil that role, but I am worried that his batting and bowling are not progressing at a sufficient rate in OD cricket. Fully expect him to be in the India number eight and premier spinner within three years though. Perhaps we should pick Laxmi Shukla, his record looks sound and he looked fine in the IPL. Tbh, I think he might just be the best option for number 7 in ODIs that we have.

I was considering Munaf for the second seamers spot, but in the Challenger Trophy, he was not all too magnificant, he was expensive in two games and merely picked the carcus that Tyagi had decimated, in the third. I feel that Tyagi can make inroads with the new ball and have been extremely impressed with Nehra, so he stays in. The fifth bowler may be an issue for India, but I feel that Yuvraj and Sehwag can fulfil that role to sufficient quality. It may seem hasty to discard Ishant after 3/50, but I do not feel that he will ever prove tight in ODIs, with his line and length consistently so poor.

 

[silentstriker]

Ah, wouldn't be an Indian ODI without a 10-77-0 bowling figures from a fast bowler.

In any case, at Watson. If Lee was fit, he needed to bowl, or stay off the field altogether. 10 overs over two spells is not exactly asking for the moon - especially with someone as fit as Lee. Terrible decision.

 

[Manee]

Really thought Siddle would be a limited overs gun, but last over heroics aside he hasn't been very impressive to date. Would like to see the third seamer spot rotated with a few others before the next world cup as he might not be the answer, which is something we don't want to find out to late.

Tbh, he is bowling tremendously quickly and was never the greatest mover of the ball or master of variation, I think that track was as unhelpful as you are likely to find, for Siddle.

 

[ret]

I didn't watch the game but I guess it was the same old story responsible for India loss, i.e. bad bowling, bad fielding [giving away extra runs, missing run outs, sharp catches, etc] and cracking under pressure

I have lost count of the number of games Ind has lost to Aus on the last few balls. The worst being Lee hitting a six of the last ball when Ind was all set to win

And this is not just abt Ind vs Aus but also abt lack of common sense vs common sense and also Individual brilliance vs team effort

Anyways, Ind could win a few games on the basis of good performances by some of its key players

 

[Manee]

Ah, wouldn't be an Indian ODI without a 10-77-0 bowling figures from a fast bowler.

And one of our best, at that. Hope Zaheer can continue the comeback trail and be back by the fourth or fifth ODI. With this crisis in Indian fast bowling, is it time we look back to Agarkar?! I am seriously thinking that it might be a viable option.

 

[ret]

My line up for the 2nd ODI

- Tendulkar
- Sehwag
- Gambhir
- Yuvi [hopefully fit]
- Dhoni
- Kohli
- Raina
- Praveen
- Mishra
- Nehra
- Ishant / Tyagi / Munaf

Usually, I like to go with 4 specialist bowlers + bowling all-rounder but looking at the conditions and options Yuvi, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Raina can combine to form a decent bowling combination .... Someone like Irfan Pathan would have helped though as he has improved a lot as a batsmen and can be used up the order as well

 

[silentstriker]

And one of our best, at that. Hope Zaheer can continue the comeback trail and be back by the fourth or fifth ODI. With this crisis in Indian fast bowling, is it time we look back to Agarkar?! I am seriously thinking that it might be a viable option.

Zaheer needs to keep his ass on the bench and save himself for Tests. Or go play county cricket again.

Let's go with an ODI bowling attack of Nehra, Balaji, Pathan, and Agarkar.

 

[Manee]

Zaheer needs to keep his ass on the bench and save himself for Tests.

Disagree. This is our most important ODI series, behind the major tournaments and we need him to make an impact here. If he is injured by a few ODIs, then he will never be able to last through a Test series.

Let's go with an ODI bowling attack of Nehra, Balaji, Pathan, and Agarkar.

Hmmm, I know this isn't 2003 anymore but you are being sarcastic for sarcasm's sake and it isn't justified. I never mentioned Pathan or Balaji in terms of a recall and Agarkar is a viable option, imo.

 

[Nate]

Is Balaji playing State Cricket atm?

 

[Pratters]

He does have his shockers. For a bowler at 130kph, he is quite inconsistent with his performances, he is often great and he is often terrible.

He has economy rate of 4.8 and is generally very good. Today's performance was an anomaly. I don't think he should be dropped.

 

[Manee]

Is Balaji playing State Cricket atm?

Tamil Nadu has played two T20s in the state T20. The rest of their games have been rained off. He took 3/31 against Goa and 1/21 against Kerala - both of 4 overs. The Ranji Trophy (4 day state competition) starts in a couple weeks and I'm sure he'll do his fair share of bowling there.

I assume you know about his stress fractures and so on, or else I'll elaborate.

 

[Manee]

He has economy rate of 4.8 and is generally very good. Today's performance was an anomaly. I don't think he should be dropped.

To say he is generally very good would be grazing over the fact that he can be very bad too. On his day, which that wrist creating some beautiful swing, he can be magnificant. However, he can be expensive - as shown here.

 

[Pratters]

Harbhajan is towing the line of acceptability, but with 2/14 off 8 in his last ODI before this (and his 5 wicket haul in the Compaq Cup final was not too long ago, either). Sure, it was against West Indies 'B', but we still must have some degree of conservatism with someone who has been one of our top ODI performers. Perhaps he should be given one or two more ODIs to prove himself, hopefully with Mishra in the side to build a frame of comparison.

Apart from those 5 wickets, he hasn't done much. Read my post. Pratosphere: Time To Drop Harbhajan Singh

 

[Pratters]

To say he is generally very good would be grazing over the fact that he can be very bad too. On his day, which that wrist creating some beautiful swing, he can be magnificant. However, he can be expensive - as shown here.

4 performances of economy rate of above 7 in 27-28 matches. That's not bad at all. Generally very good as I said.

 

[Pratters]

Jadeja=ODI misfit

Jadeja can bowl and can bat too. Perfect for this team till Yousuf Pathan learns to bowl. There is no other option we have really.

 

[Manee]

Apart from those 5 wickets, he hasn't done much. Read my post. Pratosphere: Time To Drop Harbhajan Singh

Initially, I must note that I massively disagree with merely removing five wicket hauls - if for no other reason than to make statistics look worse. I feel it is needless and comes without good reason. Merely removing Sri Lanka from procedings does not make too much sense to me, unless there is a rational reason why he only performs against them.

I am leaning towards Mishra and Ojha being better options for India. However, I do feel we must be less hasty when looking to drop our premier ODI spinner for two newcomers. Moreover, the effect of Harbhajan's batting cannot be underestimated. Although he may not score the big scores, he often chips in with a quick 20, 30 or 40 and this can be invaluable down the order, especially when chasing a target, as today and especially when you have a joke of a batsman in at seven (bit harsh, but I'm not happy with how he batted), as today.

 

[Manee]

Jadeja can bowl and can bat too. Perfect for this team till Yousuf Pathan learns to bowl. There is no other option we have really.

Jadeja has not shown he can bat, at international level, yet. He scored 60* in a dead situation against Sri Lanka and then has 0, 7 and 5 other than that.

 

[Pratters]

Is Balaji playing State Cricket atm?

He has been crap with his speed. I wouldn't consider him for international selection as things stand.