Tour Matches

[Cevno]

Dhoni =

Hey, if Saha gets a good score, maybe he should play ahead of him.

Stupid Match Referee

 

[Jacknife]

Looks like most of the Indian batsmen have wasted the chance to get some time in the middle.

 

[Anku31]

Mukund
Gambhir
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Laxman

Hmm... I know this is unconventional, but perhaps Mukund deserves another chance here especially since he has had some practice/experience in these conditions this tour. And if Gambhir and Mukund can see off the new ball, play out some overs, Sehwag can become dangerous down the order. Plus, it can't be any worse than what Raina or Kohli look to contribute in these conditions. If an early wicket falls, we can send in Dravid at 3 and move Sehwag further down the order.

It's do or die time now as far as this series is concerned, so hey why not try something that may just work and perhaps even catch England off gaurd.

Interesting.

 

[Anku31]

Dhoni can't score runs to save his life atm

 

[Anku31]

A quite interesting fact.
Shiv Sunder Das scored a brilliant 249 in a tour game in India's tour to England 2002.
And guess what?
He never played a test after that!!

Mukund??

 

[GIMH]

Mukund
Gambhir
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Laxman

Hmm... I know this is unconventional, but perhaps Mukund deserves another chance here especially since he has had some practice/experience in these conditions this tour. And if Gambhir and Mukund can see off the new ball, play out some overs, Sehwag can become dangerous down the order. Plus, it can't be any worse than what Raina or Kohli look to contribute in these conditions. If an early wicket falls, we can send in Dravid at 3 and move Sehwag further down the order.

It's do or die time now as far as this series is concerned, so hey why not try something that may just work and perhaps even catch England off gaurd.

Translation - keep Sehwag away from Anderson and the new ball because he'll average about 6

 

[Cevno]

Mishra has done well with the bat here. Actually he has a better technique than Harbhajan, as i said before.

 

[Furball]

I'm surprised Tendulkar is not playing in this match....

He missed the entire tour of the Caribbean, and must be rusty. He averages less than 30 on this Test tour so far, and could clearly use the practice.

I can't believe Saha is playing in this game instead of Sachin.

Really? I can't believe no-one on this forum has brought that up until now.

 

[Cevno]

Mukund
Gambhir
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Laxman

Hmm... I know this is unconventional, but perhaps Mukund deserves another chance here especially since he has had some practice/experience in these conditions this tour. And if Gambhir and Mukund can see off the new ball, play out some overs, Sehwag can become dangerous down the order. Plus, it can't be any worse than what Raina or Kohli look to contribute in these conditions. If an early wicket falls, we can send in Dravid at 3 and move Sehwag further down the order.

It's do or die time now as far as this series is concerned, so hey why not try something that may just work and perhaps even catch England off gaurd.

Nah no need to upset everybody's postion.

Either of Sehwag or Mukund can come in at 6, where they can take on the second new ball which has been a problem and Sehwag can slaughter Swann.

 

[grecian]

My opinion is this, if the Indian Selectors are reading this, yeah this is a top-class Northants attack, pick Mukund instead of Sehwag, hell even ahead of Dravid, he's not scored runs against this quality.

 

[marc71178]

Translation - keep Sehwag away from Anderson and the new ball because he'll average about 6

If Mukund's opening then you need to bat him lower then.

 

[Anku31]

Mishra>Dhoni ....

 

[GIMH]

I'm surprised Tendulkar is not playing in this match....

He missed the entire tour of the Caribbean, and must be rusty. He averages less than 30 on this Test tour so far, and could clearly use the practice.

I can't believe Saha is playing in this game instead of Sachin.

Breaking news!!

Edit - beaten by Furball

 

[Prince EWS]

Mukund
Gambhir
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Laxman

Hmm... I know this is unconventional, but perhaps Mukund deserves another chance here especially since he has had some practice/experience in these conditions this tour. And if Gambhir and Mukund can see off the new ball, play out some overs, Sehwag can become dangerous down the order. Plus, it can't be any worse than what Raina or Kohli look to contribute in these conditions. If an early wicket falls, we can send in Dravid at 3 and move Sehwag further down the order.

It's do or die time now as far as this series is concerned, so hey why not try something that may just work and perhaps even catch England off gaurd.

Haha I knew people would be trying to come up with a funky batting order once I saw Mukund had tonned up. I didn't think people would be suggesting Dravid bat 5 though given the way he's batted in the top order this series - if anything I'd just put Sehwag at 6.

Realistically though I wouldn't be reading anything into it. Mukund has not been out of form; he's just been struggling a little with the higher mental and technical requirements of Test cricket. Scoring a ton against that attack doesn't really change that - the bloke averages low 60s in Indian domestic cricket and IIRC scored some runs in England in an India A tour, so scoring runs here was expected and doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know. I'd just play Raina at 6.

 

[Howe_zat]

Surely "struggling a little with the higher mental and technical requirements of Test cricket" is the long and short of Raina's problems too?

 

[Prince EWS]

Surely "struggling a little with the higher mental and technical requirements of Test cricket" is the long and short of Raina's problems too?

I think it's more a case of him just not being that good.
He's adjusted to Test cricket, particularly mentally, better than you'd expect of someone with his domestic pedigree IMO. It'll take Mukund longer.

It's not that I necessarily think Raina is better than Mukund (in fact, I don't) but he's done more at Test level so far and, more to the point, playing him doesn't involve a complete reshuffle of the best top five in the world. I think Raina's a better #6 than Mukund and I don't think playing Mukund is at all worth moving Sehwag to 6 or Dravid to 5 or anything like that.

My comment about Mukund wasn't really one in comparing him to Raina, but one in merely pointing out that scoring a ton against that attack doesn't show us anything.

 

[Furball]

Surely "struggling a little with the higher mental and technical requirements of Test cricket" is the long and short of Raina's problems too?

Not mentally. IMO Raina most definitely has the temperament to succeed at Test cricket.

 

[Howe_zat]

He does have a sound temperament, but it looks to me as though his problems against the short ball are becoming as much mental as technical. He's started to actively fear being shown up by bouncers, so he tries to put them away every time, and keeps mucking up his hooks as a result.

 

[Cevno]

Just put Mukund in at 6 if it is a Bouncy and quick pitch. As i said,it will help deal with the second new ball too.
Or if Sehwag is not close to fully ready then playing him at 6 won't be the worst Idea too.

On quicker tracks where there is bounce Raina has been a walking wicket every time in his career so far. He'll do fine on less bouncier and slower surfaces though.

 

[Cevno]

He does have a sound temperament, but it looks to me as though his problems against the short ball are becoming as much mental as technical. He's started to actively fear being shown up by bouncers, so he tries to put them away every time, and keeps mucking up his hooks as a result.

Nah! It's mostly Technical and not enough practice on such pitches. He has done well in the few occasions he has basically because of his temperament.

Read a article about the Indian team practicing ahead of this tour game yesterday. Apparently in the nets he was struggling Practicing against short pitched rubber balls too while Sachin and Sehwag were completely at ease.