Indian One-Day Opener in Sachin's Absence?

[Arjun]

I am not sure if the problem lies with the players themselves..... I think, India, as a team lacks the right strategy and the right plans and no matter who is picked, will continue to languish at the bottom unless those plans and strategies are changed.

Exactly, but the people that matter don't seem to agree. Far too many players have been under-utilisted in this side. For instance, you have Zaheer, one of the better swing bowlers to play for India, who can hit the deck real hard and even bowl in the 140's, taking the old ball! He's bowled rather well when the ball is fresh and new, so why put him in a role where he can contribute barely 50%?

The same can be said of Yuvraj and Kaif, who have not got enough opportnities to play to their roles as specialist batsmen- that has affected their batting. While Yuvraj lacks shot-selection and staying power, Kaif has been found woefully short of big-hitting ability. Both have played their best innings when they have had the time to accumulate runs, such as in the Natwest final (2002) or the VB Series (2004, Sydney).

Harbhajan Singh is a bowler who likes taking wickets in bulk, especially in Tests. Why does he have to bowl to save his ER in every ODI? When you have a packed off-side field, why does Nehra have to bowl wide off the leg-stump? The last two, particularly Nehra's, are cases of the players themselves not playing to their full potential. Maybe "The Chappell Way" will change that.

 

[Arjun]

im not referring to his India form - you said he "has had a less than ordinary season for Surrey" and he's only played a game and a half

The problem is that he may not get too many games for Surrey.

 

[godofcricket]

Ganguly himself has appeared weak at the top of the order. The weaknesses he has had in Tests all these years are now being exploited even in ODI's, particularly since the one-bouncer-an-over rule was brought in. On present form, he doesn't even deserve to be in the ODI side- he's in dreadful form, occasionally ambles between wickets and is dreadful on the field. If they choose a fresh, new opener, they won't lose anything- their tried and tested formula has failed.

Most of what u have said is true.....he is probably on the worst form of his career, but i feel he should be given a couple of more chances becuase i still believe he might just get his form back which would make him even more effective as his captaincy is a big factor.

There's Gautam Gambhir, who has done very well for India A, is very good on the field and opens the batting- he's a hard hitter of the ball, an aggressive runner between the wickets. There's Dheeraj Jadhav, a very stodgy opening batsman who can last very long, and is also very effective on the field. One of these two should make the side, particularly Gambhir, given how batting-friendly the pitches are these days, and he's a Test regular

Gautam Gambir hasnt impressed me much, he isnt that type of player who can open an innings and consistently play attacking cricket.......seriously it wouldnt get better than ganguly back in the side.

 

[adharcric]

I can see Ganguly continuing to perform well for Glamorgan and then keeping his spot in the team, as an opener. Until his suspension is fully served, Gambhir (or Jadhav) should be tried as Sehwag's partner. I'm not sure if including both Powar AND Yadav would be a good idea. The team might then look something like this:
Sehwag, Ganguly/Gambhir, Dhoni, Dravid, Laxman/Kaif, Kaif/Yuvraj, Yadav, Powar, Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer ... how's that?

 

[Anil]

ganguly as long as he is in the team would be best used as the one day opener...he could be a liability lower down the order against top teams...

 

[honestbharani]

ganguly as long as he is in the team would be best used as the one day opener...he could be a liability lower down the order against top teams...

Exactly. I honestly feel Sachin should step up and volunteer to move down the order to no.4, where he can control the innings in case of a bad start, or keep the momentum going with careful accumulation of runs without getting bogged down. Ideally, this line up would be the best for India...


Ganguly
Sehwag
Kaif
Sachin
Dravid
Yuvraj
Dhoni
bowlers.

 

[Arjun]

Exactly. I honestly feel Sachin should step up and volunteer to move down the order to no.4, where he can control the innings in case of a bad start, or keep the momentum going with careful accumulation of runs without getting bogged down. Ideally, this line up would be the best for India...


Ganguly
Sehwag
Kaif
Sachin
Dravid
Yuvraj
Dhoni
bowlers.

Your lineup has a weak bowling attack. Even if the four bowlers are bowling well, that rag-tag combination will always spoil things, as seen repeatedly against Pakistan. That puts extra pressure on the bowlers. You can drop one of Yuvraj or Kaif, and let the other play to his selection fully. Let the positions seven and eight be taken by bowlers who can hit the ball hard and score very quickly. Now that Sachin is likely to miss this series, you can play both Yuvraj and Kaif in the XI. And of course, Zaheer should take the first new ball- not an old, battered one. The sneaky Amit Bhandari can open the attack with him, then JP Yadav to follow. Then Powar and one of Harbhajan (preferred) and RV Pawar as spinners. Let Sehwag/Sachin come only when needed.

 

[C_C]

Yuvraj is extremely overrated. If it wasnt for his stellar fielding, i wouldnt want him in an ODI team.......he is dodgy against spin and a sitting duck against a McGrath-Pollock type bowler who can silence him for a while....
I think the best option would be for someone decent paced with authentic shots to partner sehwag along with an excellent technique.
I would lean for Rahul Dravid.

My ODI team for IND would look something like this(in absence of tendulkar):

Sehwag
Dravid
Dhoni
Kaif
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Joginder Sharma
Pathan
Harbhajan
Balaji
Nehra/Karthik/Khan


What India badly needs is an Abdul Razzaq/Dwayne Bravo/etc. type of allrounder for ODIs- one who can bowl 10 overs for 45-50 runs and 1-2 wickets and score 20-30 runs consistently at an 80+ strike rate.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

What India badly needs is an Abdul Razzaq/Dwayne Bravo/etc. type of allrounder for ODIs- one who can bowl 10 overs for 45-50 runs and 1-2 wickets and score 20-30 runs consistently at an 80+ strike rate.

What about Yadav? I've seen absolutely 0 of him, but he does have a pretty phenomenal record, and was in great form last season.

 

[C_C]

I wasnt particularly impressed with JP yadav's bowling....i think he is the abdul razzaq of FC cricket......what IND needs is an allrounder who can bowl well and can slog around for 20-30 runs consistently....
Ifran Pathan might fulfill the role but that guy has an awesome orthodox technique with the bat and i fear putting him at #7 might ruin his technique.....so far, Joginder Sharma looks like the brightest prospect for this sorta position.

 

[godofcricket]

Sehwag
Dravid
Dhoni
Kaif
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Joginder Sharma
Pathan
Harbhajan
Balaji
Nehra/Karthik/Khan
.

You have completely messed up the batting order.....u cant have ur best middle-order batsman as an opener, how can u see a stable batting line-up now ??? Secondly Dravid isnt an attacking player, he cant score runs at a rate which is required as an opener.

 

[C_C]

Umm.
Why would you move the best ODI opener in history of cricket to the middle order ?

Dravid currently isnt reflected by his career strike rate, as he used to be very slow early on. But in the last 3-4 years, he has been scoring at a 75-80 strike rate in the middle order- that is sufficient for an opener with a blaster like Sehwag at the other end.
With Ganguly in a funk and Tendulkar sidelined, Dravid is the best IND batsman in the team for ODIs- and i believe in giving your best ODI batsman the most opportunity- ie, opens the batting. Kaif is being wasted down the order - he is in the Dravid mould- a stabilizer and can be better utilised to pace the innings.
Ganguly being in a funk, needs to bat lower down the order and hit a few lusty blows near the end.
In essence,with tendulkar absent, i've slotted in Dravid to fulfill Tendy's role and Kaif to take over from Dravid's role.

 

[godofcricket]

Umm.
Why would you move the best ODI opener in history of cricket to the middle order ?

Dravid currently isnt reflected by his career strike rate, as he used to be very slow early on. But in the last 3-4 years, he has been scoring at a 75-80 strike rate in the middle order- that is sufficient for an opener with a blaster like Sehwag at the other end.
.

If u look at ur team after the 2 openers, u would actually know how instable the batting line-up is, if the oppostion gets the 2 openers out of the way, then u can hardly expect 100 runs from the rest....thats where i thought u went wrong. And dravid has been very consistent at that slot, so i dont see any reason to move him from his original place.

There are a couple of reasons why i wanted tendulkar to move down the order, 1) i felt the only way ganguly can come back to form is by opening the batting with sehwag 2) If u look at tendulkars last 24 games he has only scored 2 centuries and 3 fifties, he hasnt scored much runs purely becuase he cant attack the way he used to, so i felt it might be better to move him down the order.

 

[adharcric]

lets make a few things clear ...
as nice as it might sound to experiment with sehwag (to the middle order) and dravid (as an opener), that is certainly not happening as those are the only two in the indian team that have performed consistently well as of late. that locks up two spots. tendulkar, when he returns, should occupy the middle-order with dravid, and ganguly should return as an opener. as of now, lets exclude sachin from the plans. that leaves kaif, yuvraj and laxman to fight for 2 spots, with another one reserved for a powar/yadav type.

ganguly, sehwag, kaif/laxman, dravid, yuvraj/kaif, dhoni, yadav/powar, pathan, harbhajan/powar, zaheer, nehra/balaji/agarkar/newpacer

 

[Arjun]

Joginder Sharma- One more Parthiv Patel/Irfan Pathan type. He's young, talented and can play a very improtant role in the Indian side, but he's not yet seasoned. Let him finish a full season for Haryana and then three A-team series- then the selectors will have a clear idea of how useful he will be. His stock delivery is the outswinger, just like Balaji, but he adds more variations, bowls wicket-to-wicket and makes the batsman play. His weaknesses are the lack of pace (hopefully he'll gain some as he plays more) and one pull-shot target, short of a length, pad-height. He's struggled with the old ball, especially in OD matches with the white ball and under lights, so he'll have to wait before he makes his ODI comeback. As a batsman, he's not an explosive hitter of the ball, but a sneaky gap-pincher and a fast runner between wickets. His choice of role models- Abdul Razzaq and Jacques Kallis- shows he's more likely to be a batting all-rounder, while the team needs one who can play as a strike bowler.

Yadav- Flip a page back and you'll know a little better. Don't take his debut seriously- he just bowled six bad overs in two matches, while Srinath, Nehra and Agarkar bowled far more terrible overs throughout that series. He's reinvented himself as a strike bowler now. He'll only be a stop-gap arrangement, until the Pathan brothers and Joginder Sharma get more experience.

lets make a few things clear ...
as nice as it might sound to experiment with sehwag (to the middle order) and dravid (as an opener), that is certainly not happening as those are the only two in the indian team that have performed consistently well as of late. that locks up two spots. tendulkar, when he returns, should occupy the middle-order with dravid, and ganguly should return as an opener. as of now, lets exclude sachin from the plans. that leaves kaif, yuvraj and laxman to fight for 2 spots, with another one reserved for a powar/yadav type.

ganguly, sehwag, kaif/laxman, dravid, yuvraj/kaif, dhoni, yadav/powar, pathan, harbhajan/powar, zaheer, nehra/balaji/agarkar/newpacer

Frankly, the whole team should be open for changes, except Sehwag, Dravid and Dhoni. For instance-

• They can open with their Test opener- Gambhir this time.
• Dhoni can go to number five, as a hitter in the middle-overs.
• Zaheer should bowl with the new ball, not an old, worn out one.
• One of Yuvraj and Kaif must bat through the middle-oves and build partnerships, rather than slog in the final overs.
• Let that job be for non-batsmen like Yadav and Powar.
• Harbhajan needs a spin partner- a genuine one, at that. Let it be Powar, or maybe Baroda's Rajesh Pawar, though Mumbai's Powerman is a better batsman.
• They can try out Bhandari or a fresh, new pacer- maybe VR Singh.
• All bowlers must bowl to a plan- when you have off-side fields, bowl on the off-side only, and likewise leg-side.
• They can try out a fully functional fielding unit- even if it means keeping Ganguly out- watch the effect on bowling averages.
• The sum total of all contributions- fielding, running between wickets, bowlers hitting big shots and bowling to a line and length rather than roulette rubbish from part-timers- needs to be boosted on all fronts. That can go a long way in changing the team's ODI fortunes

 

[Arjun]

Sehwag
Dravid
Dhoni
Kaif
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Joginder Sharma
Pathan
Harbhajan
Balaji
Nehra/Karthik/Khan

Karthik- Please NO! And would you have FOUR seamers? Frankly, Zaheer has either been underused or dropped like a hot potato- the selectors need to get their strike bowler selection right, and he's their best choice.

 

[godofcricket]

My top 6 would look something like this:

1: Virender sehwag
2: Ganguly
3: Dhoni
4: Rahul Dravid
5: Kaif
6: Yuvraj

 

[Arjun]

Ifran Pathan might fulfill the role but that guy has an awesome orthodox technique with the bat and i fear putting him at #7 might ruin his technique.....

What do you want him to do? Since he's primarily a bowler, he should stick to big shots (and more singles) at whatever position he gets, and should bat within the final overs- exactly what specialists like Yuvraj and Kaif had to do so often.

 

[marc71178]

It's obvious.

AA should open

 

[ramkumar_gr]

My choice of Indian Line-up

My top 6 would look something like this:

1: Virender sehwag
2: Ganguly
3: Dhoni
4: Rahul Dravid
5: Kaif
6: Yuvraj

Ganguly
Sehwag
Dhoni
Laxman/D Mongia
Dravid
Yuvraj
Sriram
Pathan
Balaji
Harbajan
Zaheer/Nehra/Powar/Agarkar