***Official*** Australia A and New Zealand A in India

[adharcric]

Fixtures

This should be a real cracker ahead of the real deal with a few blokes looking to make a case for selection.

Australia A
Simon Katich (c), Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Marcus North, George Bailey, Peter Forrest, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ashley Noffke, Beau Casson, Ryan Harris, Jason Krejza, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain, Doug Bollinger

Obviously the spotlight will be on McGain, Krejza and Casson as they look to seize the spin opening, but how about Bollinger or one of the other seamers putting some pressure on Mitchell Johnson?

India A
Subramaniam Badrinath (capt), Parthiv Patel (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Kaif, Cheteshwar Pujara, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, Vinay Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohnish Parmar, Sahil Kukreja, Amit Mishra

Looks like Badrinath will go in as a middle-order reserve against Australia unless he really screws this up. Sreesanth would really bolster an attack already including Zaheer and Ishant, while Chawla and Mishra will gun it out to become India's third spinner and potentially Kumble's successor.

 

[alvarez]

That Australia A squad looks really good. Young Phil Hughes is flying through the ranks.

 

[andruid]

What hapenned to Agarkar?

 

[Prince EWS]

That Australia A squad looks really good. Young Phil Hughes is flying through the ranks.

Forrest too.

 

[Arjun]

From the Australian A team, Ronchi is a player of interest. I've heard a lot about Marcus North over the years, way back in 2003-04.

From India A:

Amit Mishra: This young leggie is surely an India prospect, especially after he took a hat-trick in a T20 match, where bowlers are just there to be hit. Tipped as an understudy and future replacement for Kumble, he can turn the ball significantly, and possesses a lot of variations. Very effective on the field and has eight FC half-enturies, so he's a multi-purpose player to choose for ODIs. His experience (relative to Ojha and Chawla) should help him get an edge. His main weakness is lack of defensive techniques.

Piyush Chawla: Dropped from the ODI team after batting sides hammered him ample times, he has a point to prove. He doesn't have too much variation, and may struggle when batsmen are set. He is, however, quite smart, which is an essential factor. Like Mishra, he too is a multi-purpose player, with ten golden jubilee scores- easily the best batsman among bowlers after Irfan.

Sreesanth: Out due to injury, he too has a point to prove. A power-packed performance will see him back in the team really soon. Very effective (ahem, Munaf) on the field. He can see himself back sooner if bowling at serious pace.

Pujara: Promising young batsman. Opens the batting, but has been slotted in the middle order at times.

Vinay Kumar: The joker in the pack, he's a short medium-pacer from Karnataka. His bowling won't run through teams, but lower-order runs can make an impact.

Tyagi: Frontline bowler in the U-19 team that won the World Cup. Also a leading wicket taker in the last Ranji season. He's left-arm medium-pace.

 

[Arjun]

Then there's Mohnish Parmar. Wonder how he got in. He's been called for chucking once, can't bat and there are better choices in Rajesh Pawar, Yusuf Pathan and Ravi Jadeja.

 

[adharcric]

I'd replace Vinay Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohnish Parmar and Sahil Kukreja with VRV Singh, Pankaj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Akash Chopra.

 

[bryce]

What a series this will be, of higher standard than the majority of international fixtures you would think...

 

[Burgey]

Interest for me here is primarily on Bollinger - the third seamer role is the most important one for Australia in the medium-long term.

He bowled really well in Pakistan on the flat pitches there - if he does the same in India, Johnson would have to be under a fair bit of pressure I'd imagine.

 

[duffer]

Cracking teams for mine, shame it won't be televised anywhere in Australia. Lots of players with something to prove, and with our middle order like it is a huge opprotunity for them

 

[honestbharani]

Why is there no Shaun Marsh?

 

[honestbharani]

Also, damn.. 3 ODs in Chennai but can't go for anyone.. all on week days..

 

[Mister Wright]

Was wondering how Geeves got selected ahead of Noffke for the Bangladesh series, but it makes more sense for Noffke to be playing in India.

Pretty big kick in the teeth for Cullen, having Krezja selected ahead of him.

 

[Prince EWS]

Was wondering how Geeves got selected ahead of Noffke for the Bangladesh series, but it makes more sense for Noffke to be playing in India.

Pretty big kick in the teeth for Cullen, having Krezja selected ahead of him.

Krezja is someone I've always had a lot of time for. He's certainly the most attacking-minded off spinner in Australian FC cricket and he turns the ball appreciably more than Cullen, Hauritz, Heal etc as well. Unfortunately, this means he can absolutely smashed around the ground when the pitch isn't condusive for spin (ie. all the pitches in Australia ATM) and as such he's never been given a real extended run for either NSW or Tasmania. He's a capable lower middle order batsman too.

I think he's an excellent choice for a tour like this as he'll be able to stake his claim as an option for pitches on which finger spin is a main attacking weapon.

 

[Manee]

Tyagi: Frontline bowler in the U-19 team that won the World Cup. Also a leading wicket taker in the last Ranji season. He's left-arm medium-pace.

I think you are confusing him with Sangwan.

 

[Manee]

Interestingly enough, the bowling seems to be heavily statistic based - specifically wickets taken last season. Vinay Kumar, Mohnish Parmar and Tyagi's selections have come purely from their performances this season and India 'A' stalwarts like Yo Mahesh and Pankaj Singh have been discarded - while VRV Singh still fails to find a place in the side despite a very strong domestic season - has he simply jumped straight into the Test squad? The inclusion of Uthappa and Kukreja ahead of Chopra is baffling to say the least and perhaps suggest that Chopra's India career is over as the selectors feel that he cannot 'handle' Australia, as shown in his tour to Australia in 2003/4 and that improvement has not been sufficient to warrent changing this opinion - a sad state of affairs. Someone like Uthappa who is only an average FC player should really not be anywhere near the Test team and it is a travesty that he is - heck, he didn't even have a good FC season this year! Dhawal Kulkarni has not even a FC game under his belt and they put him in the squad? On what basis? On his IPL performances?! Please don't say on his U19 performances?!

 

[pasag]

Loving both these teams, pity it won't be televised.

 

[pasag]

Krezja is someone I've always had a lot of time for. He's certainly the most attacking-minded off spinner in Australian FC cricket and he turns the ball appreciably more than Cullen, Hauritz, Heal etc as well. Unfortunately, this means he can absolutely smashed around the ground when the pitch isn't condusive for spin (ie. all the pitches in Australia ATM) and as such he's never been given a real extended run for either NSW or Tasmania. He's a capable lower middle order batsman too.

I think he's an excellent choice for a tour like this as he'll be able to stake his claim as an option for pitches on which finger spin is a main attacking weapon.

Not a whole lot of chance of him getting a game in the FC matches though is there?

 

[Woodster]

Even as a neutral, am really looking forward to this contest and to see which of these fringe international players can really stake a claim for the full national sides. So disappointed these games are not televised anywhere (certainly not in the UK), as this type of fixture where all the players hoping to gain full international recognition sometime in the future makes for very interesting watching.

 

[Perm]

Excellent chance for some of the Indian players to push for Test spots, Badrinath and Mishra in particular. Sreesanth could also do with some more bowling against quality batting line-ups.