**Official** India in Bangladesh Thread

[Deja moo]

Dhoni in ! Dhoni in ! Dhoni in !

 

[Arjun]

Dhoni in ! Dhoni in ! Dhoni in !

Good to see Gambhir, Dhoni and Sharma in the side- you'll now have some hard hitting options in the side, and that's any day more relieving than the pinch-blockers. The performance of Joginder Sharma will be interesting- look at his stats page, and his performances in Ranji so far, and if he can keep up his impressive batting and bowling, he can get ahead of some regular Indian pace bowlers (particularly Nehra) under pressure to stay in the side. Hard on Dinesh Karthik, but Dhoni's been getting runs at a good strike rate, but he's not as fast as Ratra, nor the cleanest behind the stumps. Hopefully he's better than McCullum and Sangakkara with the gloves.

 

[Dasa]

For a change, Sehwag should play as an extra off-spinner and not as a batsman. He is quite a good bowler and should be considered for ten overs, especially in ODI's. It's better than giving the ball to Sachin for two overs which go for 16, then Saurav for 1 over that goes for 14, then Yuvraj for 3 overs that go for 28. The more Sehwag bowls, the better he'll get, and more effective than the bits-and-pieces combination.

Let me get this right. Tendulkar, Ganguly and Yuvraj are 'bits and pieces' bowlers, but Sehwag isn't?

 

[Arjun]

Let me get this right. Tendulkar, Ganguly and Yuvraj are 'bits and pieces' bowlers, but Sehwag isn't?

I have already made a correction.

Tendulkar should not bowl more than one over- he can be very good in one over, and terrible in another. Moreover, he's had these injuries which may get aggravated if he continues to bowl his legspin. He needs to stay fresh so that he can bat a long innings. Ganguly is another injury worry, if he bowls more overs, and he too is VERY inconsistent. Yuvraj and Dinesh just dish out pies and neither should ever be give the ball. One of them has to bowl 10 overs regularly, and the best choice is Sehwag.

 

[SJS]

Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kaif, Irfan, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Agarkar or Joginder

I think this is the side they will play.

 

[masterblaster]

I hope Murali Kartik gets a game or two.

 

[Deja moo]

Why ? Better try out the new "all-rounder" Joginder Sharma . Although if Karthik were to be played, he could replace Harbhajan.

 

[duffer]

Joginder's stats look pretty mint, but has anyone actually seen him bowl?

What type of paceman is he? I hear SS Paul is a bit of the hurly burly honest tryer, so how does Sharma fit into the side? Could his style compliment Pathan and Zaheer?

 

[Arjun]

Joginder's stats look pretty mint, but has anyone actually seen him bowl?

What type of paceman is he? I hear SS Paul is a bit of the hurly burly honest tryer, so how does Sharma fit into the side? Could his style compliment Pathan and Zaheer?

I have seen him bowl a little in a Duleep Trophy match (I was out the whole day when he was in action). He gets movement off the pitch and can get some swing with the new ball. He doesn't have much pace, but makes up for it in swing. He's as good as some of India's starting lineup seamers, and better than a few others. His batting is more interesting, given how good a bowler he is. He's just scored two centuries, one at a strike rate of 80 and in another match, he got a 100 as well as 6 wickets in an innings. Maybe that's why he was considered. He's performed better than Irfan Pathan at more or less the same stage.

Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kaif, Irfan, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Agarkar or Joginder

Or Sachin/Sehwag, Gambhir, Kaif, Ganguly, Dravid/Yuvraj/Joginder, Sriram, Dhoni, Pathan, Harbhajan, Karthik/Paul, Zaheer. Try some fresh faces, and let there be at least 5 experienced players, but DON'T play the same team that played the Aussies (or would usually play). Player burnout should be checked, particularly for Rahul Dravid. Of all the newbies, Gambhir, Joginder and Dhoni should play the full series.

Why ? Better try out the new "all-rounder" Joginder Sharma . Although if Karthik were to be played, he could replace Harbhajan.

Or give Pathan valuable batting practice, especially the big shots in the first 15 overs or the last 10.

 

[Arjun]

About SteamShip, he's quite slow and relies more on line and length. He can swing the ball a little, and has had some success when it's slightly old, but isn't in the same form as he was when in Nairobi, at present. Not so sure about complimenting- Pathan swings the ball in the air, while Zaheer hits the deck hard, so one who can stick to a line and length may add a little variety, plus he's a right-armer.

 

[Arjun]

By the way, Dinesh "Kaarthick" is another classic example of how counterproductive numerology can sometimes be, along with Annu Mallik and some other Bollywood personalities.

 

[Richard]

Dhoni in ! Dhoni in ! Dhoni in !

Excellent indeed.
Right form of the game, too.

 

[Richard]

Well, the ODI side has been picked, here's my report for CW:

http://www.cricketweb.net/articles/EEpkpFVuyulnCRyqwG.shtml

Dinesh Mongia again...

 

[marc71178]

For a change, Sehwag should play as an extra off-spinner and not as a batsman.

Why stop at that?

Have Ganguly and Tendulkar opening the bowling, and Laxman and Pathan open the batting as well...

 

[marc71178]

Or give Pathan valuable batting practice, especially the big shots in the first 15 overs or the last 10.

He needs bowling practise first.

 

[Deja moo]

Apparently the Hyderabad Cricket Board is miffed at Laxmans exclusion from the One day team. The Tabloid of India reported that Ganguly fought hard for Laxmans inclusion in the squad for the ODIs, but the selectors would have none of it. They argued that Laxman could not field well, and his batting had gone awry as well recently. Ganguly had no counter for that line of reasoning and had to give in.

This means that laxman has been dropped from the OD team, and "rested" is just an euphemism in his case .

 

[Deja moo]

Excellent indeed.
Right form of the game, too.

Yes, its good to see them pick the right players for the right format of the game.

Except for Sriram. He should have had his opportunity in the tests, not the one dayers. I cannot help but think that he has been kept out of the test squad just so the current middle order players do not feel threatened. So they select him in the One day squad where he is sure to remain on the bench for all the fixtures. This is pathetic on the part of the selectors.

 

[masterblaster]

Yes, its good to see them pick the right players for the right format of the game.

Except for Sriram. He should have had his opportunity in the tests, not the one dayers. I cannot help but think that he has been kept out of the test squad just so the current middle order players do not feel threatened. So they select him in the One day squad where he is sure to remain on the bench for all the fixtures. This is pathetic on the part of the selectors.

Spot On.

 

[Arjun]

Excellent indeed.
Right form of the game, too.

I won't be surprised if Geoffrey Boycott, who's an in-house expert for a television channel covering the series in India, will complain endlessly about Dhoni's batting technique. Sandeep Patil had a hard time convincing him about Dhoni's batting in the NCA. Not to mention, his wicketkeeping is also the cleanest.

Except for Sriram. He should have had his opportunity in the tests, not the one dayers. I cannot help but think that he has been kept out of the test squad just so the current middle order players do not feel threatened. So they select him in the One day squad where he is sure to remain on the bench for all the fixtures. This is pathetic on the part of the selectors.

Sriram should walk into an Indian ODI side. He has displayed very good application in Nairobi, as he ran singles off nearly every ball and made up for dot balls with the odd boundary.

Did anyone read the article on the sports pages of the Times of India? Written by Nitin Naik, it exlpains why the selectors picked a full lineup for such a tour, when there was no need, with a few comments from Sandeep Patil.

 

[Richard]

Yes, its good to see them pick the right players for the right format of the game.

Except for Sriram. He should have had his opportunity in the tests, not the one dayers. I cannot help but think that he has been kept out of the test squad just so the current middle order players do not feel threatened. So they select him in the One day squad where he is sure to remain on the bench for all the fixtures. This is pathetic on the part of the selectors.

And if he comes off the bench past experiences suggest he won't do all that much, because he's never looked like that good a one-day player, at domestic or international level.