Zaheer Khan

[Craig]

If he is susposed to be India's mainspearhead, then India has great problems.

Anyone who watch the ODI against India could see what I mean. He is lacking in confidence, he is delievring the ball with a cross seam position, rather then a straight seam position, and his hand is sliding the ball down the leg side at times. And he is having problems with his accuracy and he probably doesnt need to jump as high as he does when he is about to deliever the ball.

I would be tempted to leave him out and let him regain his confidence, but there isnt anybody better and Salvi is a unknown product and Nehra I am not convinced about just yet.

 

[gibbsnsmith]

Zaheer Khan is a very talented bowler, is quite pacy, can move ball about and is capable of a sweet yorker.

But, he is having some troubles at the moment.

 

[Craig]

He can actually bowl a very good yorker, but his having problems with his confidence and control. And India will need to him to preform when they come to Australia.

 

[godofcricket]

Zaheer khan is a very talented bowler along with nehra, he needs a bit time to settle in but the main problem is he needs a good bowler at the other end, bowlers like Ajit Agarkar won't sort out the problem theres alot pressure on him as he opens the bowling everytime. Right now he needs more confidence, hes got all the skills and ability to become a good bowler.

 

[esgallindeion]

I agree with what godofcricket said. A Nehra or a Srinath or even a Salvi at the other end would make Zaheer a much different bowler.

AA is much better as a 1st change bowler or bowling at around the 35 overs mark, imo.

 

[Craig]

Well if Salvi is good enough, then he must play.

 

[esgallindeion]

The question is... at whose cost?

Zaheer and Nehra are the best in the country. And with AA's alternate batting and Bowling performances, it would really annoy me if he's removed. A spinner, maybe but not in India.

In Australia, India should play the tests with 5 genuine bowlers.

Zaheer, Nehra, Salvi, Agarkar and Harbhajan. Kumble might replace Salvi or Harbhajan in case of poor performance. And Ganguly's got to bowl a bit as well.

With Srinath in the side, it'd be much better..

Srinath, Zaheer, Nehra, Agarkar, Harbhajan. Replace Salvi with either Agarkar or Nehra or Zaheer due to poor performance. Replace Kumble with harbhajan due to same reasons.

 

[Craig]

Unfortunatly Srinth may be retiring.

 

[marc71178]

In Australia, India should play the tests with 5 genuine bowlers.

Zaheer, Nehra, Salvi, Agarkar and Harbhajan. Kumble might replace Salvi or Harbhajan in case of poor performance. And Ganguly's got to bowl a bit as well.

So that would mean Patel at 6 then?

Hmm, that's going to worry the Aussie bowlers!

 

[V Reddy]

I don't think Zaheer even touched 140 km this season. The break has done more harm for him than good. Meanwhile AA has regained his old speed and is consistently touching 140 kmph. But i expect him to do well though when Ganguly comes back.

esgallindeion, IMO 5 bowlers is not feasible especially with Patel in the side. If they do that though then there is not even a chance of drawing any test.

 

[esgallindeion]

So what do you suggest?

Sanjay Bangar instead of Chopra/Sehwag?
Ajay Ratra/Deep Dasgupta?Dravid keeping wickets?

4 Bowlers? And then we again come to the case of how India shall bowl the Aussies out. But I guess this is what they'll do.

 

[Neil Pickup]

You'll get stuffed both ways...

 

[Neil Pickup]

Bangar
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Patel
Agarkar
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Nehra

Sanjay Bangar really has to play alongside Agarkar/Salvi to give the team any degree of balance. Patel at 6 would mean a) unsettling the Dravid-Tendulkar-Ganguly-Laxman order and b) an amusingly long tail leading to c) capitulations.

 

[deeps]

y isn't deep dasgupta in the teaM? he is a far better player than parthiv patel is..i konw their grooming him for the future...but their throwing away the present for the future

Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Mohammed Kaif
Deep Dasgupta
Sairaj Bahutule (i know lots of ppl will disagree wif this one...he's got talent,can bat and bowl...just hasn't been given enough oppurtunitY!) Or Tinu Yohanen,depending on conditions...wether u want a quick or a spinner
Zaheer Khan
Harbajan Singh
Ashish Nehra

Tinu Yohannen or ajith agarker replaces ne injured quicks

Kumble replaces injured spinners

Hemang Badani is next batsman in

Parthiv Patel next keeper in

I left out Sourav intentionally

i dont reckon he performs when it matters the most..and if u really want him in the team..drop laxman for him

 

[gibbsnsmith]

OR...
Drop Dasgupta and put back Ganguly.....

 

[V Reddy]

So what do you suggest?

Sanjay Bangar instead of Chopra/Sehwag?
Ajay Ratra/Deep Dasgupta?Dravid keeping wickets?

4 Bowlers? And then we again come to the case of how India shall bowl the Aussies out. But I guess this is what they'll do.

Yeah i would agree with all the three except for Ratra as i don't think he is much better than Patel and Patel atleast has some potential with the bat.

My ideal team would be

Chopra
Sehwag
Dravid
Sachin
Laxman
Ganguly
Dasgupta
Agarkar
Zaheer
Harbhajan
Salvi/Pathan/Nehra

If we want 5 bowlers then drop Chopra and make dasgupta open. From reports i have read, Dasgupta kept wickets well last season even though he didn't score many runs and he also kept well in the side game against NZ. But if he isn't picked then i would replace Chopra with Bangar

 

[Richard]

Bangar
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Patel
Agarkar
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Nehra

Sanjay Bangar really has to play alongside Agarkar/Salvi to give the team any degree of balance. Patel at 6 would mean a) unsettling the Dravid-Tendulkar-Ganguly-Laxman order and b) an amusingly long tail leading to c) capitulations.

I've always been an Agarkar fan but he's not exactly helped his chances in recent Tests. Bangar batted well at Headingley and in two of the West Indies Tests (one home, one away) but I don't really think he's a Test standard batsman. Certainly not a Test-standard bowler.
I also can't help expecting Khan, Nehra and Harbhajan to be hammered all over The 'Gabba, Oval, MCG and SCG and to pick-up no more than 20 wickets between them all series. 600 for 6 dec may be a regular score. I just hope Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly can respond in kind. And Das if he plays, but not holding hopes out for that. Sehwag could be ruined in Australia if Gillespie gets on top of him early. On the other hand, if he gets on top of the Australians he could destroy them. Warne misses the entire series if I remember rightly? I'd love to see him smashing MacGill and Hogg all over everywhere.
And if pitches in the New Zealand series are anything to go by, it'll be 600 for 6 constantly on the return leg. Just for Australia it'll probably take 150 overs at most, for India more like 200. And Warne'll be back by then (though in his last two series' in India he's lost it completely, too).

 

[Richard]

y isn't deep dasgupta in the teaM? he is a far better player than parthiv patel is..i konw their grooming him for the future...but their throwing away the present for the future

Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Mohammed Kaif
Deep Dasgupta
Sairaj Bahutule (i know lots of ppl will disagree wif this one...he's got talent,can bat and bowl...just hasn't been given enough oppurtunitY!) Or Tinu Yohanen,depending on conditions...wether u want a quick or a spinner
Zaheer Khan
Harbajan Singh
Ashish Nehra

Tinu Yohannen or ajith agarker replaces ne injured quicks

Kumble replaces injured spinners

Hemang Badani is next batsman in

Parthiv Patel next keeper in

I left out Sourav intentionally

i dont reckon he performs when it matters the most..and if u really want him in the team..drop laxman for him

I'd prefer Sourav to VVS anyday, in one-dayers. How can he just lose all his ability like that?

 

[royGilchrist]

tendulkar, sehwag, dravid, laxman, should be the top four. The best four Indian batsmen should come in first. And playng tendulkar opening with sehwag will be the best thing. The only way to neutralize the aussie pace attack. Instinctively Indians try to protect Tendulkar but thats the wrong approach. A batsman of his class who has had experience opening the innings in the past should be used this way. It will be a revealation for India I think.

 

[Tim]

I think Zaheer is better suited to ODI's than test matches.
He'll be dangerous for the first 10 overs with the new ball in a test match but after that he'll go for runs everytime.