***Official*** South Africa in India

[Manee]

I'd love to see Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma as the bowling attack - but I wholly doubt that we will get that as I presume Munaf is cover for Ishant.

 

[masterblaster]

No Praveen Kumar in the squad

A pace bowling attack of a slow Munaf and indisciplined Sreesanth would have the likes of Smith, McKenzie, Amla, Kallis and De Villiers pile up the runs. We probably really need Ishant to play, but like RP Singh, who knows how he recovers from his injury and how he plays.

 

[TazzX]

India might want to look at investing in a fielding couch as well. Might save them a few hundred runs per game.

 

[cricketboy29]

The funniest thing, in my opinion, is how long a rope do you give a player?. Frankly, in my eyes, neither Dhoni, Sehwag, Jaffer looks like a viable test batsman nor Gambhir, who looks like a poor man's Sehwag.. I'd go for Karthik and Chopra because both of them, as openers, showed skill, technique, and a viable defense. And as much as a fan of Gilchrist that I was, I think solidity would be the way to go. For consistency, as well as preventing a repeat of this. I mean, if you go back to the definition of what a opener, what was it, to take the shine of the new ball. I mean, is it worth getting a 20 ball 40 in Tests and exposing your middle order?. I for one, loved it when Aakash Chopra was opening, it was like no matter what atleast we can see out the new ball.

 

[masterblaster]

The funniest thing, in my opinion, is how long a rope do you give a player?. Frankly, in my eyes, neither Dhoni, Sehwag, Jaffer looks like a viable test batsman nor Gambhir, who looks like a poor man's Sehwag.. I'd go for Karthik and Chopra because both of them, as openers, showed skill, technique, and a viable defense. And as much as a fan of Gilchrist that I was, I think solidity would be the way to go. For consistency, as well as preventing a repeat of this. I mean, if you go back to the definition of what a opener, what was it, to take the shine of the new ball. I mean, is it worth getting a 20 ball 40 in Tests and exposing your middle order?. I for one, loved it when Aakash Chopra was opening, it was like no matter what atleast we can see out the new ball.

Gambhir a poor man's Sehwag?

I'm sorry but I don't see any similarity between the two. But I agree with the rest of your post, we need solid batsmen at the top of the order to face bowlers like Steyn and Ntini.

 

[adharcric]

Gambhir a poor man's Sehwag?

I'm sorry but I don't see any similarity between the two. But I agree with the rest of your post, we need solid batsmen at the top of the order to face bowlers like Steyn and Ntini.

He was probably referring to the technical deficiencies and cashing in against weaker pace attacks or on flatter pitches.

 

[Jonty Lathwal]

worst defeat for india
an innings n 90 runs

 

[andruid]

*Idea*

Justify calling up Mohammed Kaif by either slotting him in the number 4 slot vacated by Tendulkar's injury or at 6, with one of the other veterans eg. Laxman or Ganguly moving up the order.

Just an idea...

 

[ret]

Squad

Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel

.

In this must win game, Ind not only have to pick up 20 wkts but also score quickly to give the bowlers enough time to pick up 20 wkts

The squad selected is more or less the same as the last test, with the pace bowling being bolstered .... the selection of final 11 is more by the process by elimination than merit

Let's start with the batting
Like my 11 of the last test, it will not have Jaffar, a weak link, opening .... that leaves Sehwag to open with Dravid / xyz

with Jaffar eliminated and Sehwag and Dravid selected, the remaining batsmen are
Laxman, Ganguly, Yuvi and Kaif

Now Dhoni comes in for WKeeping and then we have the dilemma of whether to play an all-rounder in Pathan and finding how good some of the other batting options are than Pathan

Bowling:
Pacers - 2 from Ishant, Munaf and Sree
Spinners - 2 from Kumble [fitness?], Bhajji and Chawla

Now there is again the Q on Dravid opening? Does Ind want to open with a key player like Dravid in an imp game and if not then can someone like Ganguly, who opens in ODIs, take on that responsibility? The answer from Ganguly would probably be 'no'. This freak who lines up to open in ODIs will not line up to open in tests for obvious reasons, so we are left with opening with Dravid or may be get someone else to open but who? The selectors have made things difficult for Ind by sticking with Jaffar and knowing how Kumble is, he might want to play him to open *shivering*

the ideal line up would be,
- Sehwag
-
- Dravid
- Ganguly
- Laxman
-
- Dhoni
- Kumble / Bhajji
- Chawla / Bhajji
- Ishant
- Munaf

Still 2 places to plug in

After plug-ins and some shuffling

- Sehwag
- Dravid
- Kaif
- Ganguly
- Laxman
- Pathan / Yuvi
- Dhoni
- Kumble
- Chawla
- Ishant
- Munaf

Thats^ good enough to pull one back

 

[andruid]

the ideal line up would be,
- Sehwag
-
- Dravid
- Ganguly
- Laxman
-
- Dhoni
- Kumble / Bhajji
- Chawla / Bhajji
- Ishant
- Munaf

Taking that to be the mould they could engage in some ball busting and end up with this

the ideal line up would be,
- Sehwag
- Ganguly (Everybody knows he is a capable and experienced opener even if its only been in ODIs)/ Jaffer
- Dravid
- Kaif ?/Yuvraj Singh
- Laxman
- Ganguly (If Jaffer indeed opens) Yuvraj Singh/ Kaif
- Dhoni
- Kumble / Bhajji
- Chawla / Bhajji
- Ishant
- Munaf

 

[silentstriker]

Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel

Damn, no Chopra. Besides that, good selection and definitely looks like we might just play 3 spinners on a square turner in Kanpur. Jaffer doesn't really deserve another chance but Pathan is a risky option; that said, if they still want five bowlers, this is the way to go IMO.

Sehwag, Jaffer/Pathan, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Kaif, Dhoni, Kumble, Bhajji, Chawla/Sreesanth, Ishant

Chawla for sure and a toss-up between Sreesanth and Powar, if Kumble can't make it.

Have you heard whether it will be a square turner or not? IMO, it better be. But that pitch tends to be more flat than turning.

 

[ret]

Taking that to be the mould they could engage in some ball busting and end up with this

the ideal line up would be,
- Sehwag
- Ganguly (Everybody knows he is a capable and experienced opener even if its only been in ODIs

If Ganguly opens then he will certainly get some admiration from the fans .... solve the opening puzzle .... give Ind options down the order .... and will also make it a left-right opening combination

 

[silentstriker]

If Ganguly opens then he will certainly get some admiration from the fans .... solve the opening puzzle .... give Ind options down the order .... and will also make it a left-right opening combination

And we'll still be 5/2 on a seaming pitch....

 

[ret]

And we'll still be 5/2 on a seaming pitch....

on a seaming pitch that would still be the case with a dud like Jaffar opening .... so whats your point?

 

[silentstriker]

on a seaming pitch that would still be the case with a dud like Jaffar opening .... so whats your point?

My point is that replacing an opener with a non-opener who'll still be a bunny is ridiculous. If you want to do that, might as well keep Jaffer and let Ganguly bat where he is comfortable.

 

[andruid]

My point is that replacing an opener with a non-opener who'll still be a bunny is ridiculous. If you want to do that, might as well keep Jaffer and let Ganguly bat where he is comfortable.

Can Ganguly really hide behind the guise of being a 'non-opener' considering he is one half of the most outrageously successful ODI opening partnership of recent times, the way someone like Dravid or Laxman probably can? If Jaffer cannot cut it and the Indian selectore will not turn to any other more promising potential out and out specialist openers like Karthik or Chopra, the why not turn to some one who has all of Ganguly's experience batting at the top of the order even though conventionally he normally skips the job in Tests.

 

[ret]

My point is that replacing an opener with a non-opener who'll still be a bunny is ridiculous. If you want to do that, might as well keep Jaffer and let Ganguly bat where he is comfortable.

If the opener were of decent quality then I will go in with a specialist but Jaffar as opener doesn't add much value .... then moving Ganguly up not only allows someone like Dravid [who has done his part by raising his hand to open without any fuss] to play at 3 but also creates an opening down the order for someone like Kaif, Yuvi, Rohit, Pathan, etc

If Gambhir were in the squad then I would probably pick him to open and others can play at their 'favorite' positions but then when playing on a flat wkt, the Q of playing a bowling all-rounder vs someone like Ganguly will come up

So it's in Ganguly's own interest to try a hand at opening, if he wants to stay in team Ind for long

 

[andruid]

If the opener were of decent quality then I will go in with a specialist but Jaffar as opener doesn't add much value .... then moving Ganguly up not only allows someone like Dravid [who has done his part by raising his hand to open without any fuss] to play at 3 but also creates an opening down the order for someone like Kaif, Yuvi, Rohit, Pathan, etc

If Gambhir were in the squad then I would probably pick him to open and others can play at their 'favorite' positions but then when playing on a flat wkt, the Q of playing a bowling all-rounder vs someone like Ganguly will come up

So it's in Ganguly's own interest to try a hand at opening, if he wants to stay in team Ind for long

On the flipside if Ganguly opens and has only moderate success and on of these young guns, say Yuvraj has and absolute flier batting at 6, Ganguly's old Test position, therefore cementing the position for himself for the long term Ganguly could end up losing out.

 

[ret]

On the flipside if Ganguly opens and has only moderate success and on of these young guns, say Yuvraj has and absolute flier batting at 6, Ganguly's old Test position, therefore cementing the position for himself for the long term Ganguly could end up losing out.

yep

but India will be looking to build the team for the future so one way or the other the youngsters have to be brought in sooner or later .... and Ganguly has not been that consistent so his place in the squad will be in scrutiny, esp with some of the youngsters showing promise. so how long are we going to keep the youngsters waiting and/or not allowing careers of promising players kick off to accommodate 'icon' players .... Opening is a spot where India does not have that many option and if Ganguly does well there [by leveraging on his ODI experience] then he can stay on for a bit longer in the Indian team .... He should look at this as an opportunity rather than a threat

 

[deeps]

Sreesanth should be in ahead of Munaf.

Ishant and Sree should be the strike bowlers

in the first test, there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers and every single bowler struggled.

In the second match, sreesanth bowled well, but had very little support.

RP was uselses