***Official*** New Zealand in India 2012

[Pup Clarke]

Thought Laxman would of been shunted by now. Or done the decent thing for India's sake and retired.

Also Harbhajan in the T20 squad? Seriously?

 

[Bahnz]

Jeets picks up another 8 wickets in presumably his last game for Warwickshire. India must be absolutely ****ting themselves.

 

[Daemon]

His parents should've never gone to NZ

 

[SteveNZ]

Agreed.

I'm a firm believer in picking your keeper based on keeping ability first, not their batting. For a start a good keeper will save you 20 or more extras per innings, not to mention dropped catches or missed stumping opportunities.
You can get away with a part time keeper in limited overs games, but a good specialist keeper is essential in a Test match.

The way we bat, we need all we can get. And his keeping hasn't exactly been flash, either. Remember the edge from Boult (?) off Gayle that he let sail just past his left hand?

It all serves to remind me Reece Young was hard done by, especially by what you said. Best keeper in the country, misses out on runs in one series and is out the door. Next guy comes in, averages probably less than what Reece did, and is seen as a fighter.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Hard to see both Pujara and Rahane getting opportunities as Laxman will retain his place and there will be one vacant spot in playing XI and that will be Dravid's spot which will be awarded to Pujara (Hope so).

Also don't see Raina's place

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli ( IMO he should play at 3)
Tendulkar
Laxman
Pujara
Dhoni
Ashwin
Zaheer
Ojha
Yadav

 

[nsniks]

Also don't see Raina's place

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli ( IMO he should play at 3)
Tendulkar
Laxman
Pujara
Dhoni
Ashwin
Zaheer
Ojha
Yadav

Yup, most probably that will be the playing XI

 

[Hurricane]

Jeets picks up another 8 wickets in presumably his last game for Warwickshire. India must be absolutely ****ting themselves.

 

[Athlai]

Jeets the second highest wicket taker in 1st Division County Cricket, leading his side to the top of the table.

Is no joke.

 

[Days of Grace]

Guptill
Flynn
McCullum
Taylor
Williamson
Franklin
Van Wyk
Bracewell
Patel
Wagner
Boult

??

Good side if at least 2/3rds actually play to their potential

Looks like the main selectorial point will be Southee or Wagner. Who will be better suited to Indian conditions?

 

[straw man]

Jeets the second highest wicket taker in 1st Division County Cricket, leading his side to the top of the table.

Is no joke.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction or Athlai's dreams

 

[straw man]

might as well get out the random number generator to select the side for the first test.

Random number generator sez

Guptill
Flynn
McCullum
Taylor
Williamson
Franklin
Watling +
Wagner
Nethula
Boult
Martin

Random numbers are cleverer than us - Bracewell the only surprise omission but otherwise Southee, Patel and Van Wyk miss out. Seems about as good as any other side we can put on the park

 

[Dan]

How do Watling and van Wyk compare with the gloves?

 

[BeeGee]

The way we bat, we need all we can get. And his keeping hasn't exactly been flash, either. Remember the edge from Boult (?) off Gayle that he let sail just past his left hand?

It all serves to remind me Reece Young was hard done by, especially by what you said. Best keeper in the country, misses out on runs in one series and is out the door. Next guy comes in, averages probably less than what Reece did, and is seen as a fighter.

I believe it was Southee who bowled that ball to Gayle, and KVW also didn't dive for a later catch that Taylor had to take diving towards the keeper, also. Apart from those strange occurrences, I thought he kept reasonably well.

Agree with you on Reece Young. Five Tests is a crazily small sample size to hang a man on.

I don't care if they play Young or van Wyk. I just don't want them to play a batsman who's a part time keeper. Pick the best specialist first class keeper.

As for needing the runs, we need to fix the source of the problem, not try to manipulate the lower order to patch over cracks. The majority of our runs should be coming from our numbers three, four and five. McCullum, Taylor and Williamson under performing is happening too often. These are our most talented batsmen. They're good enough to succeed at this level and they need to perform. A blow torch needs to be lit under their asses.

 

[Hurricane]

I have points to make in favour of your suggestion Beegee and points against and I don't know what the conclusion is -

On one hand yes 3 4 and 5 should be good players and need to perform

On the other hand we will never have 3 batsman averaging over 50 in those positions. So we kind of need to bat deep because we are New Zealand. And unless seriously your 3 4 and 5 are world class players then you do need to bat by committee.

 

[BeeGee]

How do Watling and van Wyk compare with the gloves?

I would rate van Wyk as an average Test keeper.
I would rate Watling as a below average Test keeper.

Both need to improve, but Watling needs to improve a hell of a lot more to be up to Test match quality, imo. The real test for a keeper is standing up to the stumps and Watling struggles standing up. He's a part time keeper and it shows.

 

[BeeGee]

I have points to make in favour of your suggestion Beegee and points against and I don't know what the conclusion is -

On one hand yes 3 4 and 5 should be good players and need to perform

On the other hand we will never have 3 batsman averaging over 50 in those positions. So we kind of need to bat deep because we are New Zealand. And unless seriously your 3 4 and 5 are world class players then you do need to bat by committee.

IMO they don't need to (or are capable of) averaging over 50. I think Taylor is capable of averaging in the high 40s, but he averages in the low 40s. McCullum is capable of averaging in the mid 40s, but averages in the mid - high 30s. Williamson is capable of averaging in the mid 40s, but averages in the low 30s.

If they could up their performance to those levels it would make a significant difference to NZ's batting performances.

 

[Howsie]

I believe it was Southee who bowled that ball to Gayle, and KVW also didn't dive for a later catch that Taylor had to take diving towards the keeper, also. Apart from those strange occurrences, I thought he kept reasonably well.

Dropped Gayle too iirc during the first test off Williamson's bowling.

 

[Bahnz]

Dropped Gayle too iirc during the first test off Williamson's bowling.

While that's true, Taylor dropped the considerably easier rebound opportunity off the same delivery, so I wouldn't single out KvW too much.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Maybe Patel's invented the Jeetsra?

 

[BackFootPunch]

What's the bigger issue:

Guys (McCullum, Taylor, Williamson) who should be averaging mid-to-high 40s not hitting that mark?

or

Guys (Guptill, Flynn, Brownlee, Watling, keeper, Vettori etc) who should be averaging mid-to-high 30s not hitting that mark?


Obviously both happening would be ideal but would we prefer our stars to be better or our average players to be slighter more impressive?