***Official*** India in Pakistan

[Pratters]

I am very dissapointed with the selectors.

They in the 2nd test versus Sri Lanka played Ganguly and not Kaif in the XI. Then they dropped Ganguly after a decent performance from the squad entirely. What has Kaif or Ganguly done since then for the pecking order to change?

If the selectors cannot answer this logically why should they remain selectors?

Its very pathetic how players are being treated - whether its Ganguly or Kaif or any one right now. That is the major issue here.

Dinesh Karthik is out of the team why? Dhoni was given a go for tests given his recent performances in the LOIs. So it wasnt actually some thing to do with poor performances of Karthik as we understood.

The management has changed but Tamil Nadu players getting hard done - where is Balaji now for instance. Is Tamil Nadu weak in the vote politics? I really do not know.

These are the stronger points of disgust for me. Many minor points are there but I do not want to address each one of them.

 

[Arjun]

I am very dissapointed with the selectors.

They in the 2nd test versus Sri Lanka played Ganguly and not Kaif in the XI. Then they dropped Ganguly after a decent performance from the squad entirely. What has Kaif or Ganguly done since then for the pecking order to change?

If the selectors cannot answer this logically why should they remain selectors?

Its very pathetic how players are being treated - whether its Ganguly or Kaif or any one right now. That is the major issue here.

Dinesh Karthik is out of the team why? Dhoni was given a go for tests given his recent performances in the LOIs. So it wasnt actually some thing to do with poor performances of Karthik as we understood.

The management has changed but Tamil Nadu players getting hard done - where is Balaji now for instance. Is Tamil Nadu weak in the vote politics? I really do not know.

These are the stronger points of disgust for me. Many minor points are there but I do not want to address each one of them.

I agree, this selection is a disappointment, but then-

• Maybe the people in charge were just trying to save their skins. Frankly, neither Ganguly nor Kaif are double century contenders, and Kaif, a lot less. Not to mention, neither can bowl as much as the strike bowlers– again, one a lot less. Neither really are important in the team, but it's not so much a selection or omission that's a problem, as much as the racket surrounding either.
• The selectors wanted a second wicketkeeper-batsman. That's an astronomical demand. Besides, even if Karthik isn't one, there's not much that Parthiv can do with bat or gloves– as much value addition as Reetinder Sodhi.
• TN players haven't always had it rough, that's how we've seen KKD and Balaji play in Tests together a few times. There's always a bunch from down south, but often dominated by Karnataka. TN players, individually, lack the cutting-edge that the team would need, though they combine well as a team in the domestic scene.
• Central Zone teams are the ones who are hard done. We rarely find players from there getting a regular run in the team. Look at what happened to JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar. Both were useful all-rounders, but were treated like mere extras, while the likes of Parthiv Patel and Ajit Agarkar are regulars.
• The Indians lost an ODI against Bangladesh, and Joginder Sharma, a rookie all-rounder from Haryana, was left out for subsequent series for no fault of his. The latest in this list of rookies cast aside is Sreesanth.

Maybe the love their 'heroes' a little too much. Maybe they're just cowards.

 

[adharcric]

Ganguly was dropped after the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka on grounds that he wouldn't be in the playing XI and a player of his caliber cannot be a reserve. Can someone explain how he is in the team now (as a reserve)? Otherwise, you'd have to be supposing that he's either opening ahead of 2 specialists (gambhir & jaffer) or replacing an in-form #6 batsman (yuvraj). Someone explain this.

 

[Fusion]

Does anyone agree with Inzi's opinion that having Ganguly in the Indian side based on experience alone is worth it?

 

[Jono]

I don't know what to think about this squad. Patel is just so random its unbelevable. I didn't pick that at all. Ganguly back in was predictable but Kaif missing out all together disappoints me. Zaheer back is good, but I think if Agarkar doesn't have a good tour (provided he plays) then its curtains on his test career, or rather should be.

 

[godofcricket]

Does anyone agree with Inzi's opinion that having Ganguly in the Indian side based on experience alone is worth it?

I dont know why they didnt pick him for the last test against S.L. but I think its a pretty good decision to play ganguly, remember Pakistan and India games are about pressure, so experience will definetly count. Secondly they know how important this series is going to be i.e for general public and for teams themselves, so he doesnt want to risk playing someone who isnt that reliable.

 

[Arjun]

How about this Indian team for the practice match?

• Jaffer and Gambhir open, Sehwag sits out.
• Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman make up the middle-order.
• Irfan comes in at six, followed by Dhoni, then Yuvraj
• The bowling plan has Irfan, Zaheer, RP Singh and Harbhajan.
• They can also consider playing a fifth bowler in place of Yuvraj

It's supposed to be a very strong team to cover for a big risk taken in this match. It's a preparation for playing five bowlers in the XI– three seamers to, uhh, exploit the conditions (although they work better in threes than twos) and the two spinners, India's top Test bowlers.

 

[Dasa]

How about this Indian team for the practice match?

• Jaffer and Gambhir open, Sehwag sits out.
• Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman make up the middle-order.
• Irfan comes in at six, followed by Dhoni, then Yuvraj
• The bowling plan has Irfan, Zaheer, RP Singh and Harbhajan.
• They can also consider playing a fifth bowler in place of Yuvraj

It's supposed to be a very strong team to cover for a big risk taken in this match. It's a preparation for playing five bowlers in the XI– three seamers to, uhh, exploit the conditions (although they work better in threes than twos) and the two spinners, India's top Test bowlers.

Laxman has been in good form whereas Sehwag has been in poor form, so sit out Laxman and have Sehwag bat some time (although I doubt he can do that!) to get himself into form. Perhaps Ganguly for Yuvraj. When is this practice match?

 

[Jono]

Yeah I agree with Dasa, Sehwag needs all the match practice he can get. Dravid obviously needs it too after missing the 3rd test, and Tendulkar is still getting back into the groove. Laxman is the best one to sit out, plus he played in the Ranji trophy this week didn't he? So he should be fine. I'd just bat Sehwag at 3 and let Gambhir and Jaffer open.

Gambhir
Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Pathan/Yuvraj/Dhoni
Pathan/Yuvraj/Dhoni
Pathan/Yuvraj/Dhoni
Agarkar
Harbhajan
Zaheer
RP Singh (Not sure of his batting ability so I'll slot him into 11 )

I think Laxman and Kumble can sit this one out.

 

[Pratters]

I wouldnt want Kumble to sit out him being such a crucial member of the test squad. He should get used to whatever variation may be there in Pakistan and playing would definitely aid to that purpose.

With just one FC match before the first test, experimentation, sitting out should not be thought of and the best XI or the team the management feels most likely to play in the first test should play.

 

[honestbharani]

One good trend recently has been that the players who have been dropped have tried to force their way back through strong performances. It happened with Zaheer, Parthiv has been consistently making runs (wicketkeeping cannot be numerised as such), Balaji took wickets whenever he played, Kaif and Ganguly scored runs to get back in, and now Dinesh Kaarthick has played an awesome knock under pressure. Whatever be the selectors folly, at least the players seem to have the right attitude. That is very good to see.

 

[Arjun]

Laxman has been in good form whereas Sehwag has been in poor form, so sit out Laxman and have Sehwag bat some time (although I doubt he can do that!) to get himself into form. Perhaps Ganguly for Yuvraj. When is this practice match?

There are two objectives for this plan I suggested-

1. Get the team ready to have five bowlers in the XI
2. Try out both openers, though the team doesn't need Jaffer in the XI so soon.

With such a big experiment being carried out, I've picked a near-full-strength side as cover. By the way, Ganguly, Sehwag, Parthiv and Kumble have been asked to play Ranji matches. Now all fifteen players have some practice!

Pathan/Yuvraj/Dhoni
Agarkar
Harbhajan

Why Agarkar? We all know he's been useless at Test level so far. Try out young RP Singh instead– at least he's a few inches taller, and decently fast. Of course, three left-arm seamers will make the attack predictable– but there's no point picking a variation just to have one.

 

[adharcric]

There are two objectives for this plan I suggested-

1. Get the team ready to have five bowlers in the XI
2. Try out both openers, though the team doesn't need Jaffer in the XI so soon.

With such a big experiment being carried out, I've picked a near-full-strength side as cover. By the way, Ganguly, Sehwag, Parthiv and Kumble have been asked to play Ranji matches. Now all fifteen players have some practice!Why Agarkar? We all know he's been useless at Test level so far. Try out young RP Singh instead– at least he's a few inches taller, and decently fast. Of course, three left-arm seamers will make the attack predictable– but there's no point picking a variation just to have one.

With those 4 engaged in Ranji matches, the practice match XI is predictable for the most part.

G Gambhir, W Jaffer, R Dravid*, S Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Y Singh, MS Dhoni+, I Pathan, Z Khan, A Agarkar/RP Singh, H Singh

I think they might opt for Agarkar in the practice match. If he performs poorly, they might replace him with RP Singh. Or they could play all 3 lefty seamers and see how RP Singh does. Who knows? I just hope RP Singh plays and takes a 5-wicket haul in every match and forces Agarkar out of the test squad for eternity. PLEASE!

 

[pug]

Kaif and Ganguly scored runs to get back in

Really? And all the bengal fans' ire and politician pressure was not of any importance?

 

[pug]

I am very dissapointed with the selectors.

They in the 2nd test versus Sri Lanka played Ganguly and not Kaif in the XI. Then they dropped Ganguly after a decent performance from the squad entirely. What has Kaif or Ganguly done since then for the pecking order to change?

If the selectors cannot answer this logically why should they remain selectors?

Its very pathetic how players are being treated - whether its Ganguly or Kaif or any one right now. That is the major issue here.

Dinesh Karthik is out of the team why? Dhoni was given a go for tests given his recent performances in the LOIs. So it wasnt actually some thing to do with poor performances of Karthik as we understood.

The management has changed but Tamil Nadu players getting hard done - where is Balaji now for instance. Is Tamil Nadu weak in the vote politics? I really do not know.

These are the stronger points of disgust for me. Many minor points are there but I do not want to address each one of them.

The way I see it about the ganguly-kaif issue, shifting the blame entirely on the selectors' is not right. I don't think they would have included him in the current squad if there weren't pressurized into doing it. So the entire issue remains of their dropping him, which I think was justified.

 

[pug]

Get the team ready to have five bowlers in the XI

Do you reckon that will happen? 5 batsmen, 5 bowlers and a w/k batsman... Even with pathan playing like he is, I think its a bit risky. You can't trust Kumble, Harbhajan, Agarkar to really be consistent. And I don't see any other bowler of Pathan's batting standard. This means a tail that begins from no 8 with Dhoni and Pathan and 6 and 7. I know they have been doing wonders currently, but I still think its too soon to depend on them like we do on other batsmen.

 

[honestbharani]

Really? And all the bengal fans' ire and politician pressure was not of any importance?

That did play A part, but it was not THE reason. If he had scored only 20s and 30s, no matter how many effigies were burnt, he wouldn't have been in the side.

 

[pug]

Ok, I'll take your word for it. But I still think that if the selectors had been isolated in a room with a television only showing cricket - international and domestic, they would have persisted with Kaif over Ganguly.

 

[Anil]

That did play A part, but it was not THE reason. If he had scored only 20s and 30s, no matter how many effigies were burnt, he wouldn't have been in the side.

i don't think so...it was clearly "the" reason....anything other than maybe a double bagel in delhi would've seen his comeback after all that ruckus that was created on his removal....

 

[adharcric]

That did play A part, but it was not THE reason. If he had scored only 20s and 30s, no matter how many effigies were burnt, he wouldn't have been in the side.

If he hadn't made those big domestic scores, he wouldn't have been brought back to the national team. Once he was in, it was those "fighting" scores of 39 and 40 which gave the protesters some merit after his removal for the 3rd test. His being brought back for the Pakistan series was alright because of the 'experience' factor which the selectors came up with, but the real reason for his selection was the political pressure.

After the 2nd test, Kaif should've been dropped and Ganguly relegated to the bench. Why can't Ganguly sit on the bench? If he's ready to be "just another player", being in the squad but not in the playing XI is exactly that. One might feel sorry for Kaif, but he'll get plenty of chances in the future and he blew his chances in the 3rd test; at the time it's more important to give Ganguly his do-or-die and finish that drama.

Now, here's the tough part. Yuvraj is clearly the better option than Ganguly, but if we don't play Ganguly in the XI, he'll remain there like a virus in the team. Something tells me we need to go with Ganguly in one of these matches and hope that he emphatically displays either his brilliance or his patheticness. He needs to establish himself as a batsman based on merit or call it a day because of his lack of performance. We've all had enough of this crap.