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Laxman to lead India 'A' in WI

Top_Cat

Top_Cat

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I still say Laxman should be opening with Sehwag. I've been saying it all along and I personally don't care if he doesn't particularly want to; he bats best in the top-three at least.

Maybe have Laxman opening, Dravid at 3, Sachin at 4, Ganguly at 5 and a young'un at 6? Batting Laxman any lower than 4 is criminal in my opinion as he has SO much talent in shot-playing and defense. He has so much to offer and whilst Ganguly would prefer to bat higher, he's just not performing as well as we know he can and with the added responsibility of being captain, should probably bat in a less responsible batting position.
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Top_Cat said:
I still say Laxman should be opening with Sehwag. I've been saying it all along and I personally don't care if he doesn't particularly want to; he bats best in the top-three at least.

Maybe have Laxman opening, Dravid at 3, Sachin at 4, Ganguly at 5 and a young'un at 6? Batting Laxman any lower than 4 is criminal in my opinion as he has SO much talent in shot-playing and defense. He has so much to offer and whilst Ganguly would prefer to bat higher, he's just not performing as well as we know he can and with the added responsibility of being captain, should probably bat in a less responsible batting position.
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Whilst the idea of Laxman opening is a nice idea, it's just an idea. Laxman has a poor record opening and he has said he doesn't enjoy it. The problem is with Dravid at 3 and Sachin at 4 where can he bat? Well I know Dravid hasn't had much success opening but then he hasn't had many oppertunities and he was in poor form then anyway. I'm not sure if Sehwag is best opening, in ODIs yes but not in Tests, he would be better off at 5 or 6 where he would be allowed to play his shots and pummel the opposition even further a la Gilchrist. The rate at which he scores would help too as the Indian batsmen ahead of him in the order are not noted for fast scoring. So I would go with:

SS Das
Dravid
Laxman
Tendulkar
Sehwag
Ganguly

Ganguly would be better off at 6 because at 5 he's keeping Laxman behind him who isn't given much of a chance to play the way he wants to as he's batting with the tail, and Ganguly has to accept he is just not as good as the other players in the team. There was talk that he was willing to open but with that problem against fast short-pitched bowling he had that would not be a good idea.
 
Tim

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
I doubt they'll pick Das..

Bangar has done a reasonably good job for India at the top of the order and considering he wasn't the only Indian batsman to fail in NZ he'll get another couple of lives yet.
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Why not Das? When he came over to England with India he scored 250 but they persisted with Bangar and Sehwag after Jaffer had failed. Das has done nothing wrong since being dropped, he has scored quite a lot of runs. Bangar is a drab batsman more likely to help the team draw a test when in a winning situation and with his lack of shots in Tests I don't think he is a great solution. I wouldn't mind seeing Ramesh back, he still averages 37 in Tests or around that, and he actually scores quite quickly...
 
V Reddy

V Reddy

International Debutant
Rik said:
Why not Das? When he came over to England with India he scored 250 but they persisted with Bangar and Sehwag after Jaffer had failed. Das has done nothing wrong since being dropped, he has scored quite a lot of runs. Bangar is a drab batsman more likely to help the team draw a test when in a winning situation and with his lack of shots in Tests I don't think he is a great solution. I wouldn't mind seeing Ramesh back, he still averages 37 in Tests or around that, and he actually scores quite quickly...
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Yes he was a very good batsman. His last series for India was a good one but he had an injury and since then he hasn't been making any runs in this season.
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
It's a shame as he was one of the few positive Indian opening batsmen I've seen. Sehwag is not an opener in my opinion and Bangar will never win a Test for India if his strike rate stays around his current rate of 32.48 runs per 100 balls faced...
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Neil Pickup said:
He's not in the side to win Tests, he's in it to prevent them from losing them
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And we wonder why India haven't won a Test Series overseas for so long...:rolleyes:
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
I just noticed Kallis' strike rate is 39.63 in Tests...no wonder he hasn't scored a double ton yet...it would take him about 500 balls to score one...
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
Not even you can blame Bangar for all of that.
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No, but by picking a middle order player to open (Sehwag) and an overly defensive stopgap because he bowls doesn't seem like the makings of the strongest batting lineup in the world...ok maybe the strongest middle order instead :)

Australia and England and South Africa all have attacking opening partnerships and they have payed dividends. India don't. Therefor India have drawn a lot of games. They will never win a Test series outside India where their spinners get a lot of help, till they try and play positively...
 
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marc71178

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Rik said:
I just noticed Kallis' strike rate is 39.63 in Tests...no wonder he hasn't scored a double ton yet...it would take him about 500 balls to score one...
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For crying out loud - teams need a rock-type player to build around - if they're all shot-players, there's the chance they all fail together, and the result is a nightmare.
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
For crying out loud - teams need a rock-type player to build around - if they're all shot-players, there's the chance they all fail together, and the result is a nightmare.
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Yup I know, but he could speed up a bit don't you think? ;)

Also about Bangar...he's a rock yes but when you have someone in the team who's nicknamed "The Wall" for his defensive ability coming in at 3, why do you need one opening? Also the NZ Pitches required patience, which is Bangar's game, yet he finished at the bottom of the averages with an average of 5...so that just complicates matters...
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
Why should he when he gets such good results batting like he does?
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Well against Zimbabwe, would you rather get 189* or 220 and get out? I would go for the 220. Also he gets stuck in a rut sometimes, a few more shots would not go a miss, I mean he got a 50 off 24 balls in a recent ODI, so he can do it.

So you ask why he should play a bit more positively? Because if he did he would score more, he has the ability, and he could be even better. Just look at what a positive outlook did to Michael Vaughan...
 
marc71178

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Rik said:
So you ask why he should play a bit more positively? Because if he did he would score more
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But would he, or would he lose his wicket trying to attack too soon?

You Rik are a product of one day cricket, where everything has to be scored at breakneck speed.
 
A

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
marc71178 said:
But would he, or would he lose his wicket trying to attack too soon?

You Rik are a product of one day cricket, where everything has to be scored at breakneck speed.
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Kallis is playing his role to perfection for SA. The most dependable batsman, ever dependable bowler and good fielder. What more can you ask of a cricketer? Any team including Australia would jump at the chance of getting such a player into the team.
 
Langeveldt

Langeveldt

Soutie
anilramavarma said:
Kallis is playing his role to perfection for SA. The most dependable batsman, ever dependable bowler and good fielder. What more can you ask of a cricketer? Any team including Australia would jump at the chance of getting such a player into the team.
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I couldnt agree more with you. If Kallis had to score more quickly, he probably wouldnt score the sheer weight of runs that he does. He has stopped SA losing a number of tests, and probably won a few single handed. Then there is his bowling.

But this is a Laxman thread ! :D
 
A

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Langeveldt said:
I couldnt agree more with you. If Kallis had to score more quickly, he probably wouldnt score the sheer weight of runs that he does. He has stopped SA losing a number of tests, and probably won a few single handed. Then there is his bowling.

But this is a Laxman thread ! :D
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So, it is! Anyway, they were dicussing Kallis and as he is a player I admire a lot, just sorta jumped in and defended him.

As far as Laxman is concerned, he is being wasted in the India 'A' side. His replacement Mongia hasn't done anything recently to be considered over him. His fielding and occasional spin is held as advantages over Laxman, but in their primary role ie batting, Laxman is well above him. Anyway, we have enough occasional bowlers in Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag and Yuvraj to really feel the need for another. I just hope Mongia finds some form in SA and justifies his selection.
 
Rik

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
But would he, or would he lose his wicket trying to attack too soon?

You Rik are a product of one day cricket, where everything has to be scored at breakneck speed.
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No I'm a product of 4 hour, 16 overs a side indoor cricket where I have a strike rate of around 170 runs per 100 balls faced...8D I just like seeing shots :D
 
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