***Official*** India in South Africa

[Jono]

No, that's more like Tendulkar.

Laxman's are:

10
13
0
48
65
9
102
25

In fact I'll bet 2 cents (rounded down to 0) that he'll score those exact scores throughout the series.

 

[Turbinator]

OK, well someone brainwash him into thinking that the South Africans are actually the Aussies in disguise.

Otherwise, its going to be scores of:

• 4
• 5
• 183
• 2
• 3
• 1

So darn true!!

This is what I really hate about Indian batsmen like Sehwag and Laxman. Sehwag, in ODIs, will make pathetic scores and then when his place in the team is in danger, he'll make a century, and then again his string of pathetic scores will continue. Why can't they be consistent, and consistent as in atleast make decent scores of 20s,30s,40s, but no it always has to be a score of 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 or 10. Laxman, on the other hand, in Tests, wastes a tons of balls to score like 5 runs and then gets out! Then his occasional half century or century saves him a spot on the team for another 10-12 games!!! Honestly, I found Laxman to be quite boring in the Test series in West Indies this year.

 

[adharcric]

LIST=1]
[*]Jaffer
[*]Sehwag
[*]Dravid
[*]Tendulkar
[*]Yuvraj
[*]Kaif
[*]Dhoni
[*]Kumble
[*]Sreesanth
[*]Munaf
[*]Zaheer
[/LIST]

Laxman in for Kaif and that's probably the best side we can field in South Africa. Laxman is still our third best middle-order batsman and miles ahead of Yuvraj and Kaif in test cricket. Yuvraj over Kaif not only because he's a better batsman but because he can't be counted on to spill a couple at short leg every match.

 

[adharcric]

I would really like to see Badrinath go to South Africa in the test squad..

Badrinath is doing very well in domestic cricket but he won't get picked yet. Yuvraj and Kaif are established and neither have been too poor in test cricket so far. Of course, neither have been exceptional either. Badrinath could come into contention in a few months if Kaif does terribly, but that's unlikely because he probably won't get a match.

 

[adharcric]

Preferred Indian Test Squad

Wasim Jaffer
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid *
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni +
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Sreesanth
Munaf Patel
Reserves: Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Karthik +, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh

We'll likely take a squad of 16, so I would give the final spot to either Gautam Gambhir or VRV Singh based upon who turns in a better performance in the Duleep Trophy matches.

 

[Pratters]

Badrinath is doing very well in domestic cricket but he won't get picked yet. Yuvraj and Kaif are established and neither have been too poor in test cricket so far. Of course, neither have been exceptional either. Badrinath could come into contention in a few months if Kaif does terribly, but that's unlikely because he probably won't get a match.

I know.. just being wishful.. While we are at it, I do feel it is very likely he will play test cricket for India within the next 12 months.

 

[silentstriker]

I know.. just being wishful.. While we are at it, I do feel it is very likely he will play test cricket for India within the next 12 months.

Yea, he is doing well. But really, after South Africa we have AWAY vs. Bangla, AWAY vs. England, HOME v Australia, AWAY vs. Pakistan, AWAY vs. Australia.


Aside from the Bangla match (which wouldn't tell you much about him anyway), all the rest of the schedule is pretty brutal for a guy who has never played to make his debut.

Assuming, he makes his debut in ENGLAND...well after getting a lashing there by that bowling attack, he'd come home and face the Aussies? It is very easy for me to see even a quality batsman get a string of failures and be dropped, just because who he has to face.

 

[Pratters]

Yea, he is doing well. But really, after South Africa we have AWAY vs. Bangla, AWAY vs. England, HOME v Australia, AWAY vs. Pakistan, AWAY vs. Australia.


Aside from the Bangla match (which wouldn't tell you much about him anyway), all the rest of the schedule is pretty brutal for a guy who has never played to make his debut.

Assuming, he makes his debut in ENGLAND...well after getting a lashing there by that bowling attack, he'd come home and face the Aussies? It is very easy for me to see even a quality batsman get a string of failures and be dropped, just because who he has to face.

So what will you do if your current batsmen or bowlers struggle? Not blood any one at all just because opponents are tough?

 

[Jono]

So what SS. Australia debuted Michael Clarke against India in India. Vaughan debuted against a SA bowling line-up that was one of the best attacks of its era.

If its right for them to debut, then do it. Don't hold it back because of the opposition.

 

[silentstriker]

So what will you do if your current batsmen or bowlers struggle? Not blood any one at all just because opponents are tough?

I am not saying you shouldn't if you have to. But if you are doing it as part of a plan to phase someone out and replace him with someone else, you might have to wait until 2008 or so to ease him in there.

I'm just saying that a string of failures against England in England and against Aussies at home may not represent his abilities accurately. So it would be a shame if he does that and then gets permanantly dropped.

 

[Pratters]

I am not saying you shouldn't if you have to. But if you are doing it as part of a plan to phase someone out and replace him with someone else, you might have to wait until 2008 or so to ease him in there.

I'm just saying that a string of failures against England in England and against Aussies at home may not represent his abilities accurately. So it would be a shame if he does that and then gets permanantly dropped.

The problem is you have to pick your best XI, more so (if that word has to be used) against the stronger teams where small factors can be the difference between wins and losses. So if you believe a player deserves a spot in the XI, you select him as a selector and don't think of what if he fails issue. Pieterson was a young talented player and England selected him for the Ashes in 2005. What a difference he made.

 

[adharcric]

According to Rediff, Agarkar will take nearly a month to recover from his thumb injury. That effectively rules him out of the one-dayers against South Africa. Let's forget about the test squad for some time and talk about what the one-day side should look like.

Batsmen: Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj, Mongia, Raina, Gambhir, Kaif
Wicketkeeper: Dhoni
Bowlers: Pathan, Munaf, Sreesanth, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Powar

If RP Singh owns the Aussies, he can replace Gambhir.

Can we play two spinners in a ODI in South Africa?
Would going in with an attack of Pathan-Bhajji-Zaheer-Sreesanth-Munaf leave too long a tail?
Should we go in with only four specialist bowlers?

Personally, I feel it might be best if we play 3 seamers and 1 spinner given the current state of our top-order. Sehwag also needs a kick up the ass from Gambhir. Another misconception is that Agarkar makes our tail stronger. He's a pretty crap batsman nowadays and I'm not sure if he's any better than Zaheer. Powar is huge in the lower-order though.

 

[adharcric]

Learn to post in the right thread ...

 

[Turbinator]

Learn to post in the right thread ...

Oh shoot my bad eh... it was an accident and only happened the first time so relax.

 

[Turbinator]

Okay whatever, I don't care if we get run over against Australia on Sunday and get totally, completely destroyed in this series, as long as we win the WC.

 

[R_D]

Wasim Jaffer
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid *
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni +
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Sreesanth
Munaf Patel
Reserves: Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Karthik +, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh

We'll likely take a squad of 16, so I would give the final spot to either Gautam Gambhir or VRV Singh based upon who turns in a better performance in the Duleep Trophy matches.

Yeah thats probaly our best team for SA. Can't play 2 spinners. If Zaheer can perform like he did in the World Cup ( not including the final performance) in SA. We would put up a good fight. Batting looks strong as well as long as Yuvraj can find his form and Dhoni doesn't have a brain explosion.

 

[Gajanayake]

India's test 16, pretty starightforward really

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Kaif
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Kumble
Sreesanth
Munaf Patel

Balaji
Zaheer (don't think he's all that good - but do we have anyone better ?)
Dinesh Karthik
Gautam Gambhir
Irfan Pathan

The First X1 is pretty much our best X1 and I think India's best bet for winning a test match in RSA is to bat first if possible, bat well and have the Saffies chase 300+ in their final dig against Munaf, Sreesanth, Harby and Kumble.
Easier said than done but IMHO, that should be India's ideal strategy.

India ODI 15
Tendulkar
Gambhir
Kaif
Dravid
Mongia
Dhoni
Pathan
Powar
Harbhajan
Munaf
Sreesanth
Zaheer
Joginder Sharma (bit of a gamble here but one I think worth taking)
Laxman
Robin Uthappa

Other options: R Vinay Kumar, Kumble, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina,

As a side note, it'll be interesting to see where(if) Kumble fits into the ODI equation.

(assuming Yuvraj and Agarkar are out with injury)

 

[adharcric]

India's test 16, pretty starightforward really

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Kaif
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Kumble
Sreesanth
Munaf Patel

Balaji
Zaheer (don't think he's all that good - but do we have anyone better ?)
Dinesh Karthik
Gautam Gambhir
Irfan Pathan

The First X1 is pretty much our best X1 and I think India's best bet for winning a test match in RSA is to bat first if possible, bat well and have the Saffies chase 300+ in their final dig against Munaf, Sreesanth, Harby and Kumble.
Easier said than done but IMHO, that should be India's ideal strategy.

That's far from the "straightforward" choice. Kaif should be left out simply because he's guaranteed to spill at least one of our best bowler's (Kumble) chances at short leg. As for playing two seamers ... wake up, we're in South Africa.

As if things weren't bad enough, you decided to include Balaji in the squad. First of all, why would you take five seamers if you only plan to play two? Second, Balaji is not in great form or anything. I'd take VRV over Balaji but neither should make it IMO.

 

[adharcric]

India ODI 15
Tendulkar
Gambhir
Kaif
Dravid
Mongia
Dhoni
Pathan
Powar
Harbhajan
Munaf
Sreesanth
Zaheer
Joginder Sharma (bit of a gamble here but one I think worth taking)
Laxman
Robin Uthappa

Other options: R Vinay Kumar, Kumble, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina,

As a side note, it'll be interesting to see where(if) Kumble fits into the ODI equation.

(assuming Yuvraj and Agarkar are out with injury)

If Sehwag gets owned in tonight's match against the Aussies, I'd be glad to see him dropped from the one-day side, but we both know that it's unlikely given what an established figure he is. Joginder Sharma is someone I'd like to see getting picked in the future, but he won't find a place right now. As for Laxman, I'm afraid he's a gone case but let's see.

On to your other options. Vinay Kumar isn't even good enough to make the South Zone side, let alone the national one. If Kumble is picked over Powar, that will be the greatest injustice committed by the Indian selectors in the past year. Venugopal Rao is not meant for ODIs; if anyone, Badrinath should get the call-up. Raina will get more opportunities and deservedly so, but I'll accept that I might be rather biased in making that call.

 

[Gajanayake]

That's far from the "straightforward" choice. Kaif should be left out simply because he's guaranteed to spill at least one of our best bowler's (Kumble) chances at short leg. As for playing two seamers ... wake up, we're in South Africa.

As if things weren't bad enough, you decided to include Balaji in the squad. First of all, why would you take five seamers if you only plan to play two? Second, Balaji is not in great form or anything. I'd take VRV over Balaji but neither should make it IMO.

Field someone else at short leg then....it's not an insurmountable problem.....I'd like to see Kaif get an extended run in the team beacuse he has shown he can get runs against good attacks when India have their backs to the wall....

I think it's two spinners you meant....obviously there's going to be some discretion exercised on that count, but If a pitch takes turn (and it's not inconceivable in South Africa), I'd play the two spinners....
Let's face it, I can't really see Harby bowling any worse than our 3rd seamer and if we do manage to bat first and set the Saffies something decent to chase, I'm sure they wouldn't relish doing so against KUmble and Harbhajan.

VRV is simply too raw ....he'd be better off going on the A tour to RSA in March next year and playing domestic cricket....
ATM, I'd take Balaji over him....