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

[Shri]

Lol Rohit is a piece of **** who doesn't even deserve his spot in the ODI side atm. So yeah lets go ahead and give the **** **** a spot in the test side woohoo. Badrinath should be the quick fix for the moment till Sharma gets ready for tests. If Badri doesn't do well, Yuvraj should get a shot after him(and Rahane after him) and Sharma is the last guy who should be considered. Pujara/Kohli/Badrinath for Ganguly/Dravid/Laxman. We are going to be so ****ed when Tendulkar retires. And Suresh ****ing Raina? After witnessing that atrocity on display during the last SA tour he should never ever play for India till he gets better at dealing with the short stuff.

1. Sehwag
2. Gambhir
3. Kohli
4. Tendulkar
5. Pujara
6. Badrinath
7. Dhoni
8. Ashwin
9. Khan
10. Yadav
11. Do we even have another fast bowler?

 

[Cruxdude]

AWTA.

Would even prefer Rohit over Suresh. Stupid selectors keep selecting based on ODI's.



Both are basically middle order FC batsman who can open. Though Sehwag has established himself there now, and might as well stick with him.

Looking at the recent tours, Sehwag at the top might not be a good choice any more. Rahane is being groomed as an opener and I would rather he is given a chance now to get settled there.

 

[Cruxdude]

Feeling a bit sad at the exit Laxman is getting and Dravid got. Laxman was such an epic fighter. Kept getting dropped at the first hint of a failure and he would just bulldozed his way in to the team with massive scores in Ranji. Would have been so much better if they had retired while the team was still on a high.

 

[Contra]

can someone explain to me why Praveen kumar wasn't picked? Is he still injured?

 

[deerkick]

I think Sehwag should bat at 6. He could play a Gichrist like role there and we may get more out of him when the ball isn't swinging. Plus he's a beast against spinners.

Gambhir
Rahane
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Sehwag
Dhoni
Ashwin
Zaheer
Yadav
???? - Hopefully not Ishant

I'm not sure about Rahane though, he didn't score on the A tour really. Most likley the team is gonna be Sehwag as the opener with Pujara at 3 and Kohli/Raina at 5/6.

 

[Howsie]

McCullum to open, Williamson three and Flynn down to five. Boom, make it happen.

 

[Manee]

People who want Sehwag pushed down the order are wrong. We went through countless individuals to try to open (Das, Ramesh, Laxman, Badani, Karthik, Jaffer) and Sehwag was the one, along with Gambhir, to succeed. We cannot take Sehwag's ability to score off the new ball for granted. He might be inconsistent in certain conditions, but that average he has cannot be taken for granted.

As for fast bowling, I really hope we don't go back to Ishant. I see Ishant (and Sreesanth and RP Singh) as lost causes in Test cricket.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

People who want Sehwag pushed down the order are wrong. We went through countless individuals to try to open (Das, Ramesh, Laxman, Badani, Karthik, Jaffer) and Sehwag was the one, along with Gambhir, to succeed. We cannot take Sehwag's ability to score off the new ball for granted. He might be inconsistent in certain conditions, but that average he has cannot be taken for granted.

Awta Sehwag should open

 

[Cevno]

I think Sehwag should bat at 6. He could play a Gichrist like role there and we may get more out of him when the ball isn't swinging. Plus he's a beast against spinners.

Gambhir
Rahane
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Sehwag
Dhoni
Ashwin
Zaheer
Yadav
???? - Hopefully not Ishant

I'm not sure about Rahane though, he didn't score on the A tour really. Most likley the team is gonna be Sehwag as the opener with Pujara at 3 and Kohli/Raina at 5/6.

In India the new ball hardly swings except for certain conditions. Reverse swing comes into play later on, though Sehwag deals with it very well. Also 6 would be too low for him and he would go into sulk mode.

 

[Cevno]

Btw, would be interesting who bats at 3, Kohli or Pujara. Rahane would be contender if he gets into the team too.

All basically bat 3 / 4 for their domestic teams, which makes me think Raina might get the nod for number 6 with the selectors keen to pick on ODI form.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli
Sachin
Pujara
Raina
Dhoni

This should be the team with Laxman retiring imo; it would be a good test for Raina because expect short ball barrage from Boult, Wagner, Bracewell/Southee; if he doesn't deliver, then bring Rahane into the mixture. Also Gambhir being a good player of spin and old ball, he can move down if required-

Sehwag
Rahane
Kohli
Sachin
Gambhir
Pujara
Dhoni

 

[Athlai]

McCullum to open, Williamson three and Flynn down to five. Boom, make it happen.

This guy knows his stuff ^

(Franklin 6, Jeets 10)

 

[vic_orthdox]

can someone explain to me why Praveen kumar wasn't picked? Is he still injured?

Might be a reflection of Duncan Fletcher's thinking on quick bowlers.

Praveen really only seen as an option in England where the conditions suit his type of bowling, big Dunc doesn't want to play him anywhere else.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Badrinath into the squad for Laxman.

Will be interesting to see if they give him a long term position or are just using him for now because he's somewhat experienced.

 

[Teja.]

So excited for Badri, deserves a place much ahead of any of the youngsters tbh.

It was thoroughly ridiculous that mediocre players like Yuvraj/Raina get picked ahead of him repeatedly (apologies, insensitivity etc.) but good to see the selectors make amends at least now.

It's awesome that the tests are before the LOs as the selectors in their infinite wisdom would decide to play Badri in the two LOs, see him fail and not pick him for the tests otherwise.

 

[Jarquis]

Badri. Badri. Badri. Badri. Badri.

 

[_Ed_]

Oh, see, now I'm torn. 100% behind NZ, but really want Badri to do well and cement a place.

 

[Shri]

Hey lookie! Kris Sri**** doesn't actually have **** for brains.

 

[Prince EWS]

Badrinath won't play anyway; he's just in the squad as backup. There are seven other batsmen in the squad not including Dhoni and if the selectors saw Badrinath ahead of any of them he would've been picked ahead of them in the first place. Even conceding the possibility of Rahane only being in the squad originally as a backup opener, that still leaves a batting lineup of Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Tendulkar, Pujara and Raina.

 

[Cevno]

Yeah, unlikely he gets a go in tests unless for injuries.