India A in South Africa

[Arachnodouche]

How is that an India A side, the batting half of it anyway?

 

[Cevno]

Dhawan Wowzers!


Why the **** are they not playing Rahane though ? Made a 50 against Zimbabwe IIRC too.

 

[Cevno]

Shahbaz Nadeem doing well too. Bit of a darter but he has potential..

Rayudu has been impressive as i predicted a while back. Bit like Dhawan good time to call him up now into the India team as well.

Also, though i didn't like the idea of Rohit opening at the start, it seems to be working decently. Can't argue with that.

 

[Cevno]

Arjun, Shami or Kaul aren't doing half as badly as you are making out on these flat pitches. And Ishwar Pandey did well in one match as well.

Also, Umadkat is not better than any of them. Especially as far as FC cricket goes. In OD on flat wickets maybe but then it becomes bit of a lottery.

 

[Arjun]

@Cevno- Figures tell you something, if not everything. Medium-pace Shami and Kaul are being taken apart by the batsmen at a combined economy rate over seven, with three wickets between them- of which Kaul has none. That's disturbing, when these are the same pitches where Indian batsmen score plenty. If they bowled at a 10-15K faster pace, they would be at least as competitive as Umesh Yadav, whose boundary-balls are often edges and nicks, and gets a wicket or two. Already the faster Hazelwood and Coulter-Nile seem competitive, in comparison, with their extra pace.

JDU, on the other hand, is a competent limited-overs bowler, and can establish a place in those formats, if nothing else. Shrikant Wagh, too First-class, on the other hand, will need a different bunch.

A little too much is spoken about Rayudu, who doesn't make too many big scores- in the last season, when we found as many as five centuries scored, he scored just one- although he got plenty of fifties. That he was a weak link in the MI lineup in the IPL didn't help. I say, wait until he's scoring plenty of centuries. Likewise, Rohit Sharma, present form notwithstanding, is a poor choice for an opener- he lacks the technique required to open the batting, and the strike rate needed on a flat deck in the early overs. Rahane as opener is a much better bet, since he has opened a lot more frequently across formats, including in first-class.

 

[Arjun]

If you support India A, how's this for a fright? Amongst the bowlers, the top four in economy rates are Raina, Nadeem, Binny Jr and Dhawan- of which only one is a regular bowler in the series. Too bad all the economy rates (except Raina, a little over five) are over six. Things get worse when you find very few wickets taken, though, to their credit, only Josh Hazelwood and MCH have taken more wickets than India's leading wicket-taker, Nadeem, and there are four bowlers from India A in the top ten.

Pandey and JDU will play the finals, but it may be a toss-up between Shami, Sid Kaul and Binny Jr. Vijay and Rahane will be unlucky to miss out on one of the flattest decks they can get in reserves/futures cricket.

 

[CricAddict]

If you support India A, how's this for a fright? Amongst the bowlers, the top four in economy rates are Raina, Nadeem, Binny Jr and Dhawan- of which only one is a regular bowler in the series. Too bad all the economy rates (except Raina, a little over five) are over six. Things get worse when you find very few wickets taken, though, to their credit, only Josh Hazelwood and MCH have taken more wickets than India's leading wicket-taker, Nadeem, and there are four bowlers from India A in the top ten.

Pandey and JDU will play the finals, but it may be a toss-up between Shami, Sid Kaul and Binny Jr. Vijay and Rahane will be unlucky to miss out on one of the flattest decks they can get in reserves/futures cricket.

On a related note, good article about Rahane..

Ajinkya Rahane retires from Test Cricket, joins TCS bench | Faking News

 

[Jono]

Dhawan is such a beast.

 

[honestbharani]

I notice he has been bowling quite a bit this series.. Last time I saw him bowl, he bowled decent medium seam ups.. It might be a good option for us in those conditions. Wonder if someone can confirm what he was bowling as cricinfo still lists him as an offspinner.

 

[Jono]

The best bit about Dhawan is his aggressive batting style. He'll never Dhawandering.

 

[Arjun]

That some fans think BCCI has denied Dhawan a chance for so many years is silly. The system where he stayed for nearly ten years has made him the superior player he is. This is a proven success over a period of time, and he has earned his India cap at the right time, unlike many Indian players in their early twenties who were gifted their India caps, and clearly appear unworthy. The BCCI have got it wrong when they have backed very young talent, but got it right when they backed a product of the system, so you know what's the way ahead.

 

[Daemon]

Pacers getting wickets for once (Y). Should take this comfortably now that matchwinner glenn maxwell is out.

Have to lol at Raina opening the bowling on an A tour, bit pathetic that he's been one of our best bowlers.

 

[Arjun]

Pacers getting wickets for once (Y). Should take this comfortably now that matchwinner glenn maxwell is out.

Have to lol at Raina opening the bowling on an A tour, bit pathetic that he's been one of our best bowlers.

Food for thought- Ishwar Pandey got as many wickets in fewer matches than either Shami and Binny, the leading wicket-takers amongst the seamers. Started off well as an OD bowler, or rather, got better, with a decent economy and strike rate that can get better.

As for Raina, he's still been poor with the bat- that a non-performing batsman is one of their best bowlers is sad- when a regular bowler could fit in just as well.

In a related comment, I'm a bit surprised that Mohit Sharma was missing from this tour- at least Stuart Binny could make way. Mohit's missing from the other India A squad as well. I will, however, follow that series for Shrikant Wagh, amongst others.

 

[benchmark00]

 

[ajdude]

you realise the picture is of mohammad sami right ****?

 

[benchmark00]

It's almost as if you combined him and a shammy you get an Indian player's name.

 

[MW1304]

Just a picture of that sham of a bowler would have been sufficient tbh.

 

[nsniks]

Ind A won the toss batting first

SA A squad: Ontong,Tsolekile, Hendricks, Elgar,Rossouw,Duminy,Bavuma,Parnell,Harmer,Abbott,Birch,12th Van Jaarsveld

India A squad: Pujara, Sharma, Dhawan, Raina, Rahane,Vijay, Saha, Shami, Nadeem, Pandey, Unadkat, 12th Rayudu

Disappointed that raina is playing. Fletcher and selector Rathoud is with the A team and will closely following the match. So it seems nice opportunity for guys to stake a claim in test squad by performing well.

 

[Maximas]

Dhawan a little slow here, will do his reputation no harm if he can get through to lunch and post a score, pitches are a bit flat though

 

[centurymaker]

I heard they have deliberately prepared really flat/slow pitches so as to prevent the indian players from getting too much out of this A tour. So shouldn't read much at all into the performances of the players.