***Official*** India in Pakistan

[billie424]

yasir hameed is the best opener availible for pakistan in my opinion. He has a decent technique and last time he did well against India, but the problem is his temprament he gets a good start and then throws it away...

 

[adharcric]

i think salman butt, yasir hameed and imran farhat are all solid openers ... across the border gautam gambhir and wasim jaffer are openers of similar class, while sehwag is on a whole different level

 

[wahindiawah]

Likely teams

India

Sehwag
Jaffer
Dravid
Tend
Laxman
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Zaheer
Ajit
Kumble.


Pak

Butt
Malik
Younis
Inzi
Yousuf
Afridi
Akmal
Naveed
Akhtar
Sami
Danish.


Indian batting seems to be far superior to Pak with solid batting till number eight.

Bowling wise Indian team are better equipped with spinners while Pace department of both team are more of less of similar level.


I think the very expected Indian test series win will be mainly due to the fact that Indian batsmen will hammer Pak bowlers on all part of the ground and will pile up huge totals.A total of 500+ by Indian team is likely to end in a big defeat for Pak team.

 

[shankar]

...while Pace department of both teams are more of less of similar level.

 

[Jono]

Anyone suggesting Sehwag not open and drop down the order, get those thoughts out of your head immediately He's IMO the best test opener in the world, and loves batting there. There's really no reason at test level to drop him down the order. Our middle order is fine and whilst I think Gavaskar had some innovating thinking by suggesting 3 openers due to a possible green wicket, he is hence saying that Gambhir and Jaffer are all better equipped to handle the seaming conditions than Yuvraj. I don't think Gambhir has particularly proven himself on a greentop yet.

I'd stick to the norm for the first test. Sehwag has a brilliant record against Pakistan. He almost averages 100 against them. He MUST open the batting. I'd have Gambhir play the first test, but if Jaffer plays than I won't be too fussed. 3,4,5 pick themselves and I wany Yuvraj over Ganguly, but hey we'll see what happens. It'll be very interesting. Then I'd still go with Zaheer over Agarkar, but Zaheer's form in the practice match wasn't great. That was a featherbed though, which is unlikely to occur for the first test I'd think.

 

[honestbharani]

Anyone suggesting Sehwag not open and drop down the order, get those thoughts out of your head immediately He's IMO the best test opener in the world, and loves batting there. There's really no reason at test level to drop him down the order. Our middle order is fine and whilst I think Gavaskar had some innovating thinking by suggesting 3 openers due to a possible green wicket, he is hence saying that Gambhir and Jaffer are all better equipped to handle the seaming conditions than Yuvraj. I don't think Gambhir has particularly proven himself on a greentop yet.

I'd stick to the norm for the first test. Sehwag has a brilliant record against Pakistan. He almost averages 100 against them. He MUST open the batting. I'd have Gambhir play the first test, but if Jaffer plays than I won't be too fussed. 3,4,5 pick themselves and I wany Yuvraj over Ganguly, but hey we'll see what happens. It'll be very interesting. Then I'd still go with Zaheer over Agarkar, but Zaheer's form in the practice match wasn't great. That was a featherbed though, which is unlikely to occur for the first test I'd think.

Don't you think there is an even chance of 3 pace bowlers being picked for India, Jono?

 

[Jono]

Oh there's definitely a chance, a very big chance. I'd rather both Kumble and Harbhajan play though, that was just what I'd like my team to be.

 

[honestbharani]

Oh there's definitely a chance, a very big chance. I'd rather both Kumble and Harbhajan play though, that was just what I'd like my team to be.

yeah... esp. if Gavaskar (who should know a thing or two about these pitches) is right. After all, not only are the subcontinental wickets naturally softer than Australian or South African wickets, but given the weather in Lahore right now, they are bound to be damp as well, which means they will be even softer and might help the spinners. Remember how Murali was so succesful in Delhi during the first session? The dampness had a part to play in it, at least in the commentators' opinion.

 

[JustTool]

Telecast for US ?

Who is going to telecast this in the US - DirectTv or DISH ? Or is it not going to be telecast ?

 

[adharcric]

yeah... esp. if Gavaskar (who should know a thing or two about these pitches) is right. After all, not only are the subcontinental wickets naturally softer than Australian or South African wickets, but given the weather in Lahore right now, they are bound to be damp as well, which means they will be even softer and might help the spinners. Remember how Murali was so succesful in Delhi during the first session? The dampness had a part to play in it, at least in the commentators' opinion.

I'd tend to agree. We need to start out with our two most experienced wicket-takers, and that would be Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Besides, Kumble isn't the typical spinner and the bounce of a greentop might actually help him out. Our seam bowlers haven't looked anything close to superb lately, so we should opt for the deadly spin duo, along with Pathan and Zaheer.

 

[SJS]

I think Gavaskar had some innovating thinking by suggesting 3 openers due to a possible green wicket,

Gavaskar is known for his tongue-in-cheek remarks. I dont believe for a second that he was doing anything except fooling around with the reporters who, the quality of rookie reporters being what it is, took him at face value.

If someone asked Gavaskar a question like, " What do you think should be India's strategy Mr Gavaskar now that both Jaffer and Gambhir have got runs ? Who should open the innings with Sehwag ?"

"Let all three of them play" quips Gavaskar.

The reporters who decided to take him seriously should have then asked a follow up question as to what would be the batting order in this case and who would be dropped ?

Gavaskar would have either let it out that he was kidding or would have refused to answer the follow up question.

 

[nehrafan]

I'd tend to agree. We need to start out with our two most experienced wicket-takers, and that would be Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Besides, Kumble isn't the typical spinner and the bounce of a greentop might actually help him out. Our seam bowlers haven't looked anything close to superb lately, so we should opt for the deadly spin duo, along with Pathan and Zaheer.

2 pacers are just not enough on seaming pitches, if 2 spinners are to be played then i would say that India should go in with,

5 batsmen
1 WKBat
1 AR (pathan)
2 Pacers (khan and RPS)
2 Spinners.

 

[nehrafan]

Pak is planning to play with 4 pacers in Akhtar,Sami,Rana and Asif, with NO ROOM for Danish (acording to a report in Times of India)!!!!

Can't remember the last time around any one of either India or Pakistan going into a match with 4 specialist bowlers????

 

[marc71178]

Bowling wise Indian team are better equipped with spinners while Pace department of both team are more of less of similar level.

If they're better equipped, how come Pakistan have 2 and India 1?

And as for pace department being of similar level - Akhtar on his own give Pakistan a vastly better attack.

 

[marc71178]

2 pacers are just not enough on seaming pitches, if 2 spinners are to be played then i would say that India should go in with,

5 batsmen
1 WKBat
1 AR (pathan)
2 Pacers (khan and RPS)
2 Spinners.

That leaves a gaping hole in the batting though - it's the eternal conundrum of how to fit 12 people into 11 spots.

 

[nehrafan]

That leaves a gaping hole in the batting though - it's the eternal conundrum of how to fit 12 people into 11 spots.

Yes it does, but IF the reports of green top wkts are true so much so that Pak are thinking of playing with 4 specialist pacers, then i think going in with just two pacers by Indian team would be suicidal.

 

[marc71178]

If the reports are right, do India really need 2 spinners though?

Especially as the likes of Sehwag and Tendulkar can always fill in if necessary.

 

[SJS]

If the reports are right, do India really need 2 spinners though?
.

I dont think so.

India would be okay playing only one spinner and three medium pacers in the first test.

 

[adharcric]

Pak is planning to play with 4 pacers in Akhtar,Sami,Rana and Asif, with NO ROOM for Danish (acording to a report in Times of India)!!!!

Can't remember the last time around any one of either India or Pakistan going into a match with 4 specialist bowlers????

I'd hope that by now, you'd have figured out that Times of India is often full of a bunch of bull. I read their cricket section too, but only to be informed of the latest crap, gossip and rumor going around. In this case, the 4 pacer idea qualifies as 'crap' ... Kaneria will be there.

 

[adharcric]

I dont think so.

India would be okay playing only one spinner and three medium pacers in the first test.

Do you think Ganguly can contribute as a seam-bowler? I know it sounds like a ridiculous and overused idea, but he's been picking up a good amount of wickets for Bengal lately ... how? Does this mean Ganguly should be in the playing XI ahead of Yuvraj? If he could be of any use, then we could perhaps go in with two spinners and still maintain strong batting depth.