Would Stuart Broad make India's strongest test XI?

[tooextracool]

Think it is a futile argument as to which one of Ishant, Broad or Sreesanth is best. AFAIC, Broad isn't anywhere near the top 3 bowlers in England. One hoped that his career would tee off after the Oval in 2009, which was the only time in his career when he actually justified a place in the side, but the fact of the matter is that he simply lacks the skills to take wickets on a regular basis. Seems to me to be more of a partnership breaker than a person who can run through a side. I know he has had his days, but as a bowler alone there is absolutely no logic as to why we have a guy who averages 36 after 36 tests with the kind of bowling options that we have going around.

Onions a better bowler by a country mile IMO especially when we play in England.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah have to agree. Am particularly puzzled at the lack of opportunity for Shazad too and remember mentioning it when England were out here last. Anyone got any insight as to why he keeps getting overlooked? Seems to be in good form, whenever he got the ball in FC or ODI matches last season, looked pacy, dangerous and got plenty of movement in the air and off the deck. Why wouldn't you want a bloke like that in your side?

 

[Bun]

averagin 56 for the series as I type. seriosuly how many series has he avged below 30? I can remember the pak one.

 

[tooextracool]

Yeah have to agree. Am particularly puzzled at the lack of opportunity for Shazad too and remember mentioning it when England were out here last. Anyone got any insight as to why he keeps getting overlooked? Seems to be in good form, whenever he got the ball in FC or ODI matches last season, looked pacy, dangerous and got plenty of movement in the air and off the deck. Why wouldn't you want a bloke like that in your side?

Shahzad is a tremendous talent, but I'm not quite sure if he's ready to take the international step yet. He needs to string together a season or so of consistent performances in domestic cricket before he can realistically get a good run in test cricket. Regardless, Im not worried about him, his time will come.

 

[Jacknife]

Yeah have to agree. Am particularly puzzled at the lack of opportunity for Shazad too and remember mentioning it when England were out here last. Anyone got any insight as to why he keeps getting overlooked? Seems to be in good form, whenever he got the ball in FC or ODI matches last season, looked pacy, dangerous and got plenty of movement in the air and off the deck. Why wouldn't you want a bloke like that in your side?

Because this year for Yorkshire he's bowed gash, he's picked up a injury a few weeks ago and he's looked so out of form, since coming back from injury, at the start of the season. Suffers from lots of injuries over the course of his career, that's why he hasn't played much FC cricket.

 

[Jono]

That sucks. He not only looks a talent, but it is awesome watching him bowl. Love his actions and his attitude towards the game.

 

[Cruxdude]

Would be anther cog in the Wheel of Mediocrity.

 

[silentstriker]

Would be anther cog in the Wheel of Mediocrity.

Yes he would. But he would also make the team.

 

[Jacknife]

That sucks. He not only looks a talent, but it is awesome watching him bowl. Love his actions and his attitude towards the game.

I agree mate, he's had a similar thing to what Tremlett went through a few years ago, where he gets himself bowling well and gets injured, which is a real shame because last year he was bowling so well. Since he got injured at the WC, his form has really been poor, this season and has just had another little injury, but luckily he's just come back and played, so we'll see how he goes.

 

[Cevno]

Broad is overrated in tests on this forum.

And Sreesanth and specially Ishant are way underrated.

Specially Ishant who for my money is the best test bowler of the three in all conditions at the moment.
.

Ishant is more useful than Sreesanth in Indian conditions by a margin.

Sreesanth is a lot more wayward as well and can blow hot and cold.

Broad i can't see being too good in Indian conditions either.

From the 3 as i said before in terms of average performance in all the conditions in test ,i would back Ishant.

I think he(Praveen) can be a real asset in some english conditions,imo.

Even Irfan did pretty well in certain conditions.

Not one to gloat

But, All calls looking gun right now.

 

[Cevno]

On a more serious note(the reason i bumped this thread) , now surely Ishant makes the side ahead of Broad ,does Broad make the side ahead of Sreesanth and Praveen with the way he has been bowling?

I said earlier he makes it based on the batting, but in England i would have Praveen and Sreesanth over him in certain swinging conditions for sure.
Overall though may pick Broad in all conditions with his batting edge.

 

[Jacknife]

On a more serious note(the reason i bumped this thread) , now surely Ishant makes the side ahead of Broad ,does Broad make the side ahead of Sreesanth and Praveen with the way he has been bowling?

I said earlier he makes it based on the batting, but in England i would have Praveen and Sreesanth over him in certain swinging conditions for sure.
Overall though may pick Broad in all conditions with his batting edge.

Like I've said before, it's hard to judge Broad right now because he's obviously struggling with form, after coming back from, back to back serious injuries and I think it's a bit dishonest to do so. We'll see when they meet in a few weeks who performs the best.

 

[Cevno]

Yep. That is fair enough.

But still think Ishanth has easily the most potential of the 3 that were initially in question.

Had to bump some thread after his 10fer ,and some of the comments in this thread with regards to him are really bad and unfair
As if he was some timbuktu bowler.

 

[Jacknife]

Yep. That is fair enough.

But still think Ishanth has easily the most potential of the 3 that were initially in question.

Had to bump some thread after his 10fer ,and some of the comments in this thread with regards to him are really bad and unfair
As if he was some timbuktu bowler.

The big thing for both is consistency, putting together good performance, after good performance, but when both bowl to their best, they look very good.

 

[Prince EWS]

On a more serious note(the reason i bumped this thread) , now surely Ishant makes the side ahead of Broad ,does Broad make the side ahead of Sreesanth and Praveen with the way he has been bowling?

I said earlier he makes it based on the batting, but in England i would have Praveen and Sreesanth over him in certain swinging conditions for sure.
Overall though may pick Broad in all conditions with his batting edge.

I'd probably just pick Broad ahead of Raina. As I said before, India's super-strong top 5 and Dhoni, added with Harbhajan's good batting form does allow them to play a batsman light, and leaving Raina out wouldn't cost them too much in batting anyway IMO. Having Broad at seven would give them depth to the attack and allow them to play Mishra all the time.

 

[Bun]

I'd probably just pick Broad ahead of Raina. As I said before, India's super-strong top 5 and Dhoni, added with Harbhajan's good batting form does allow them to play a batsman light, and leaving Raina out wouldn't cost them too much in batting anyway IMO. Having Broad at seven would give them depth to the attack and allow them to play Mishra all the time.

even if we come to that, harby can be asked to perform at 7, he's a better bat than broad. plus sree ish zak and mish as rest of the bowling....

 

[vcs]

It's hard to defend the Indian seamers, it really is, but sometimes it's made out on here as if the Timbuktu Under 12s team have better options going than what we do.

As for the question of this thread, Broad certainly wouldn't walk in over any of our alternatives, and anyone who can't see that is being a bit deluded IMO.

Surely he would though? As an overall package he's miles ahead of Ishant and Sreesanth. I reckon he's a good deal better than both but he's certainly not worse than either, but he would offer a reliable lower order batting option to India that they arguably don't have (although Harbhajan has certainly batted extremely usefully for about a year now).

I meant purely as a bowler. As an overall package, he'd get in easily, yes.

Given that the thread specifically asks if he'd make the best XI, you might want to think twice before you go labelling people deluded

Ishant now has got his bowling average down to 32 something, so clearly Broad's extra batting doesn't come into it any more.

 

[Prince EWS]

even if we come to that, harby can be asked to perform at 7, he's a better bat than broad. plus sree ish zak and mish as rest of the bowling....

Firstly, Harbhajan is not a better bat than Broad.

Secondly, even if he was and he batted seven, that's not the point. If you've got Dhoni at 6 and Harbhajan and seven, you couldn't then have Zaheer at 8. You'd still need to play Broad to strengthen that lower order if you wanted to play five bowlers. I don't think it's feasible without him, regardless of whether you think Harbhajan is a better batsman than him or not.

 

[Bun]

Firstly, Harbhajan is not a better bat than Broad.

Secondly, even if he was and he batted seven, that's not the point. If you've got Dhoni at 6 and Harbhajan and seven, you couldn't then have Zaheer at 8. You'd still need to play Broad to strengthen that lower order if you wanted to play five bowlers. I don't think it's feasible without him, regardless of whether you think Harbhajan is a better batsman than him or not.

yes he is a better bat than broad, since 08, have no idea how many matches he's saved or won for us with his bat now. but anyways lets agree to disagree on that.

I don't think we can call our XI the strongest in a situation where we have to play 5 bowlers really. I believe our potential attack comprising Zak, Ish, Sree n Harby is potent enough. Sehwag and Raina can step in with their useful stuff if needed as well. For all the talk about the strength of our batting line up, it is atill prone to odd collapse (which lineup isnt) so we need a no.6 batsman.

Ok, push come to shove, and we are mandated to lay a bowling allrounder, there are the likes of irfan parhan whom i'd prefer over broad anyday atm.

 

[Furball]

yes he is a better bat than broad, since 08, have no idea how many matches he's saved or won for us with his bat now. but anyways lets agree to disagree on that.

Nah.