Cricket - India in Australia 2007-2008

Nattusbs · Post by **Nattusbs** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:44 pm

Back to the India-Aussie series. I am not sure if the Indian selectors did the right thing by recalling Viru given his recent (non) performance. Was it just for psychological reasons to worry the Aussies? Maybe should have taken Murali Kartik as an additional spinner.

OK, this is the squad:

Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh.

What is the team for the first Test going to be?

Certain:

Jaffer
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh
Pathan

That leaves one spot. Some possible combinations I can think of keeping in mind that Kumble does think outside the box (recall that he gave Laxman the ball and he broke the partnership in the recent Kolkata test).

1. Ganguly or Dravid or even Dhoni or Pathan opens with Jaffer allowing Yuvraj to come in or maybe, Bajji.
2. Yuvraj is brought in to open with Jaffer.

Let's speculate.

Cheers

Nattusbs

IndianByDefault · Post by **IndianByDefault** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:50 pm

[QUOTE=Chicago Desi;65590
In any case, you may not agree and that is fine. Lets get back to the India-Aus series. I went through the scorecards of the last India tour to Australia last night. Sachin came good in only one inning. Whats our prediction for Sachin's performance for this tour? My take is that it will be an average tour for him, at best. I hope I am proved wrong.

Ok lets change topics. I am not going to make a Sachin prediction but overall I think India will do as well as Zaheer and RP Singh do. This is the defining moment in RP's career. IF he does well India will do well. I am a bit worried about where our batting is going to be. I hope Gangu can carry his form forward and Dravid suddenly is as good as he was last time down under.

Chicago Desi · Post by **Chicago Desi** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:52 pm

I would like to see Sehwag and Yuvraj open. But that probably is not happening because Sehwag is out of form and Yuvraj would be a makeshift opener. Seems like Jaffer will be certain. Will be it be Karthik? I doubt he will get a nod ahead of Yuvraj. But I would not like to see Dravid open either. Opening is a big conundrum.

IndianByDefault · Post by **IndianByDefault** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:56 pm

I would like to see Yuvraj open as well. He does well against pace bowling. Only question is can he handle the new ball.

HighTorque · Post by **HighTorque** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:07 am

Chicago Desi;65619I would like to see Sehwag and Yuvraj open. But that probably is not happening because Sehwag is out of form and Yuvraj would be a makeshift opener. Seems like Jaffer will be certain. Will be it be Karthik? I doubt he will get a nod ahead of Yuvraj. But I would not like to see Dravid open either. Opening is a big conundrum.

I would like to see more of a sehwag/dravid combination for opening. looking at the past openers, srikanth-gavaskar combination worked because they balanced aggression with cool tempermant batting. I think sehwag/dravid will work in australian conditions.

DoctorJ · Post by **DoctorJ** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:47 am

Nattusbs;65616
1. Ganguly or Dravid or even Dhoni or Pathan opens with Jaffer allowing Yuvraj to come in or maybe, Bajji.
2. Yuvraj is brought in to open with Jaffer.
[/quote]
Pathan and Yuvraj being considered to open a test match against the Aussies? Are you serious???

Pathan may measure up if we are talking about a one day (international or test) game - not Yuvraj for sure. :emcrook:
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Oh! Please...let's not offer them as sandbags on boxing day. -DJ :cool:

skn · Post by **skn** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:03 am

One opener is Jaffer for sure. The other opener is the big question. It would be a crime if Yuvraj is made to open. No way! He has been fantastic in the middle order. Lets keep him there.

I think the selectors will see how Sehwag does in the first game against Victoria. If he blasts away, then he is surely playing in the first test. After all, he had scored a 195 in a day in the Melbourne test last time. Sehwag will provide the X factor. And that would mean Yuvraj will probably have to warm the bench, which is another crime. Unfortunately, the questionable seniors (read Ganguly and Laxman) have clicked in the Pak series.

If Sehwag fails to blast away, I think the selectors will resort to Dhoni to open with Jaffer, which is not that bad an idea. That will allow to accomodate Yuvraj and keep all the seniors. I doubt if Dravid will agree to open this time over. The last time he did so was in Pakistan and then he was the gallant captain.

DoctorJ · Post by **DoctorJ** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:03 am

IndianByDefault;65623I would like to see Yuvraj open as well. He does well against pace bowling. Only question is can he handle the new ball.[/quote]
That is going to be a million dollar question...:emwink:

And, I'll take the million for answering that we is better off handling pace after the ball is old and soft.:p
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People often don't realize when they've answered their own question. -DJ :cool:

DoctorJ · Post by **DoctorJ** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:16 am

skn;65645I think the selectors will resort to Dhoni to open with Jaffer, which is not that bad an idea. [/quote]
Not a bad idea??? I think it'll be a big disaster...in the not so distant past, it was said that Dhoni was odds with the moving new ball as a wicket-keeper. I cannot imagine him opening...:emsad:
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Hope and odd or fluke performance doesn't count in the final analysis. -DJ :cool:

Chicago Desi · Post by **Chicago Desi** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:32 am

Dhoni was a disaster on the fast and bouncy track of South Africa in the test series there. He was also a flop in the West Indies. I don't think he is a good candidate for opening facing a full fledged aussie pace attack at the MCG.

My gut tells me that they will open with Jaffer and Sehwag or Karthik (based on who fares better in the first tour match) and Yuvraj will sit out another test. If a key middle order bat fails in both innings in the first test, Yuvraj will replace that batsman. Having said that, Tendulkar and Ganguly will probably not be replaced even if they fail in both innings just because of who they are (per the team, not me!) So, it will be Dravid or Laxman who will get replaced, if one of them fails.

I hope none of the batsmen fail and I know at least 2 or 3 of them will click and make decent scores (50+). They just have too much experience in australian conditions to not put on anything decent (400+). This, of course, assumes that:

a) The pitch is not a bowler's paradise (too much grass, too wet, too underprepared) OR
b) India bat second.