Looking Ahead - India's tour of South Africa 2013-2014

[Aalay]

Going back to Zaheer are we? Can't say that I'm too keen on that tbh, let's look at getting as many young guys in as possible yeh.

I would be happy if selectors don't go toward Zaheer but they are likely to do so because we don't have an experience bowler right now. Yes, Ishant Sharma has played 52 tests but he still sucks and he is nowhere near being a consistent bowler. So I am pretty sure you will see Zaheer on that tour unless he is injured/retire. Same goes with Gambhir. I don't think they will pick Mukund because if you remember, for the 4th test against Australia, selector's original pick was Gambhir for Dhwan's replacement but because Gambhir was ill, they picked Raina. That means they are still keen to bring Gambhir back because of his experience at the top of the order.

 

[SaiSrini]

I would be happy if selectors don't go toward Zaheer but they are likely to do so because we don't have an experience bowler right now. Yes, Ishant Sharma has played 52 tests but he still sucks and he is nowhere near being a consistent bowler. So I am pretty sure you will see Zaheer on that tour unless he is injured/retire. Same goes with Gambhir. I don't think they will pick Mukund because if you remember, for the 4th test against Australia, selector's original pick was Gambhir for Dhwan's replacement but because Gambhir was ill, they picked Raina. That means they are still keen to bring Gambhir back because of his experience at the top of the order.

That could change now after Pujara's good showing at the opening spot in the Delhi test. On a very tough wicket, Pujara has scored 2 very valuable fifties in the Delhi test with one winning India the match. And I am fully expecting Dhawan to be fit for the IPL itself. So I think Gambhir might not be in that plane to SA. I would rather pick an extra middle order batsman and if need be, use Pujara or Rahane at the opening spot if either of Vijay or Dhawan are injured.

I don't want to see either Gambhir or Sehwag for the tour of SA. I want to see a team that's radically different from the one that was blanked 8-0 in England&Australia, to tour SA. Which means I don't want to see Zaheer too. Let the guy work hard on his fitness and fight for his place back (if he still has it in him)

 

[Epic]

I don't see the point in taking 2 middle order batsmen tbh, it's a 17 man squad for a reason, every specialist position has got to have a specialist backing it up for me.

I don't want to see either Gambhir or Sehwag for the tour of SA. I want to see a team that's radically different from the one that was blanked 8-0 in England&Australia, to tour SA. Which means I don't want to see Zaheer too. Let the guy work hard on his fitness and fight for his place back (if he still has it in him)

This.

 

[Cricketman]

Let me just start off by saying that we should not really have any expectations before touring SA. We have a young team that has had little exposure outside of the sub continent. Many of the players probably have never played anywhere near the pace of Morkel and Steyn, or on wickets as fast as the ones in SA. Batting is going to struggle. We need to give our batsman a longer rope, and let them adjust to the conditions and prove their mettle. I have faith in Pujara, and the recent series vs Australia has really given me confidence in Vijay. I think these two plus Kohli will be critical.

Who knows what will be the status of Tendulkar. I have a sneaky feeling he will still be around in his 40th year. If he is not retired, he is going to SA no matter what. Even if he doesn't contribute, his presence in the dressing room can help give confidence to all these youngsters in the team.

Bowling wise, we need to get our act together. Crossing all my fingers and toes for Umesh Yadav to get better. He is the only genuine fast bowler I have seen come out of India and will be critical to us getting any kind of success in South Africa. Will be curious to see what will happen to Bhuvi, who was amazing in short bursts vs Aus but pretty flat with the older ball. I don't think MSD has much faith in him bowling later on anyway, and he won't be able to get away with bowling only 7-9 overs a test in South Africa.

I'd like to see Pankaj Singh in the squad, but he is quickly becoming the bowling equivalent of Badrinath. He is supposed to be one of the best bowlers in India but consistently gets overlooked for less worthy players even on A tours.

Still uneasy about MSD/Jadeja at 6/7. Makes for an awefully short batting lineup in South African conditions. Jadeja's bowling - at least so far - has made him almost impossible to drop. If he can contribute more with the bat it will be amazing as it will allow us to field 2 spinners and 3 seamers.

Squad I'll take:

1. Murali Vijay
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Virat Kohli
6. MS Dhoni
7. Ravinder Jadeja
8. R Ashwin
9. Umesh Yadav
10. Bhuvi Kumar
11. Pankaj Singh

12. Manoj Tiwary
13. Ajinkya Rahane
14. Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha/Wridhi Saha
15. Praghyan Ojha
16. Irfan Pathan (in for Jadeja if we want to play 2 specialist spinners)

 

[ShamiLoverGlipGlops]

I would also take Varun Aaron with the squad. He should be back by then

 

[Satan666]

Who knows what will be the status of Tendulkar. I have a sneaky feeling he will still be around in his 40th year. If he is not retired, he is going to SA no matter what. Even if he doesn't contribute, his presence in the dressing room can help give confidence to all these youngsters in the team.

I disagree having Tendulkhar occupying a place without performing can only serve to discourage youngsters waiting in the wings like Rahane, and give players like Pujara and Kholi the idea of making a couple of good scores at the beginning theyre guaranteed a place in the squad despite performing badly like Sachin.

Sachin is a liability every game he plays whether he scores or not!

 

[Aalay]

Quite a comeback by Yadav taking 5 wickets in a T20 match.

Group A: Odisha v Vidarbha at Indore, Mar 27, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Epic]

Still uneasy about MSD/Jadeja at 6/7. Makes for an awefully short batting lineup in South African conditions. Jadeja's bowling - at least so far - has made him almost impossible to drop. If he can contribute more with the bat it will be amazing as it will allow us to field 2 spinners and 3 seamers.

You know, I've given this some thought and I'm dropping Jadeja to the bench. Let's be honest here, neither of them are good enough(Jadeja might very well get there one day, with experience) to bat @ 6 and more importantly, we damn well might need the extra batsman in SA'n conditions.

Quite a comeback by Yadav taking 5 wickets in a T20 match.

Group A: Odisha v Vidarbha at Indore, Mar 27, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Nice, hopefully he'll get through the IPL without any injuries.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I don't think jadeja should be dropped. not to be too downbeat but I think india will be comfortably beaten here, so I think it would be better to focus on the future. jadeja will be useful in NZ and england, it spins a bit more there and he's a partnership breaker and india have struggled to get wickets with the old ball outside asia. give his batting an examination in these conditions too, and if it's found too dreadful then they know to go with rahane (or whoever)

I think if india want to learn anything from the australia series then it should be how not to manage a team when you're expected to get beat. if their younger players all show signs of improvement as the series progresses it should be taken as job done. it will get easier and series wins in england in 2014 and then in australia at the end of that year would certainly be big enough prizes to focus on.

 

[Epic]

Yeah... that's my mentality going into the tour as well(like I would be ecstatic if we drew this one ), but yeah, I really don't mind Jadeja as a player, it's just Dhoni @ #6 feels like we're setting ourselves up for failure here.

 

[sifter132]

I don't think jadeja should be dropped. not to be too downbeat but I think india will be comfortably beaten here, so I think it would be better to focus on the future. jadeja will be useful in NZ and england, it spins a bit more there and he's a partnership breaker and india have struggled to get wickets with the old ball outside asia. give his batting an examination in these conditions too, and if it's found too dreadful then they know to go with rahane (or whoever)

Jadeja should be good just as a holding bowler - he's got the accuracy for it. Of course he probably won't get the success he's had in India, but that doesn't mean he's useless. He just won't be a 20 overs a day attacking weapon. Bowling less would give him a good chance to work on his batting, because if he can get his batting quality raised then he's virtually undroppable, and would potentially be an important part of India's side for a long time.

 

[Epic]

Holy ----! I was looking at his numbers at FC level... an average of 50 he's got, yep, how the hell, is our domestic competition that bad or is he some sort of hidden gem?

Either ways, I'm willing to give him a nice long run in my side, just to see what he's got in him and what not.

 

[Cricketman]

the kid has three FC triple hundreds, you'd be surprised if his average wasn't something super high. I think that he's a decent enough bat but bats too low for India... he's not a number 7, especially in the ODI level. I'd like to see Jaddu bat in the top 5 at some point in limited overs cricket so he has some time to actually build and play an innings. He isn't a slogger.

In tests, I would be sooooo freaking pleased if he could average around 35 with the bat. I think that is asking for a lot though.

 

[shravi]

Like I said in the India-Australia thread, Jadeja will be more than worth his place if he can average 20-25 with the bat and 30-35 with the ball.

 

[Cricketman]

Surely we can't have a number 7 averaging just 20 with the bat. If he is to play as an allrounder he is expected to average at least 30 imo