India in Australia

[sohum]

I don't know if they would play 2 leg-spinners, though. I think we will take 3-4 spinners on tour.

 

[Cricketman]

Dinesh Karthik should at least play the tests.. He has been doing well in tests. he is failing in ODI's for quite long and needs to be dropped, but in tests he is good.

Its quite harsh to judge.
I mean Dinesh was performing quite consistantly after the South Africa tour, but it's been going down from that, I guess.
It's not a fair judgement to derive from the last game though, Everyone failed. And Karthik isn't even used to playing at 3, at least in ODI's.

This is exactly how Rahul Dravid's career started. He was considered a test specialist, but now he has more then 10,000 runs in the 50 over game. I see a very bright future for him, I don't just blindly support him. He's going to be big.

And this Uthappa fellow, wow. He's been so consistant off late, I mean really. He's just been churning in these pressure-cooker situations, and playing these master-class innings. They've all been gems.
I say stick him in as a permanent number 6. He bats through almost all the time, and is hitting with an awesome S/R. Once the oldies fade away, we can see more prospects in the middle order-Dinesh Karthik, Subramaniam Badrinath, and even Virender Sehwag, with a little tweaks to his game and so called "aggression" can burst back to the opening scene as maybe a middle order player.

What about Wasim Jaffer. He seems to be like India's Alastair Cook. Any chance for him to come play ODI's, maybe in the next 3 or 4 years?

Dhoni's got to stick himself in different slots as well. I'd like to see him bat more at number 3 or 4, allowing more youngsters to bat under him. And don't forget the flying starts, either.
Dhoni's stats in different batting positions. Both his big hunders have been plundered from the one drop slot.

                      Mat    I  NO  Runs HS1  HS2  HS3     Ave 100  50   0
Opening                2    2   0    98  96    2    -   49.00   0   1   0
3rd position          11   11   2   641 183* 148   91*  71.22   2   2   1
4th position           7    7   3   386  80   77*  68   96.50   0   5   0
5th position           8    8   1   160  44   40*  24   22.85   0   0   1
6th position          28   28   6   800  67*  58   56   36.36   0   5   0
7th position          19   19   7   343  72*  67*  50   28.58   0   3   3
8th position           3    3   0    51  20   17   14   17.00   0   0   0

Look at his averages for 6 and 7. They're so low compared to 4, 3, and even opening! He bats too often down the order simply to power through the death. Let him power through the whole innings!

This is Dinesh Karthik's slot stats. As you can see, number three is just not his spot. He averages a measly 4.5 there. But compare that to 5 or 7, which are considerably above 30, he's not a half bad player. He should be batting there!

                       Mat    I  NO  Runs HS1  HS2  HS3    Ave 100  50   0
3rd position           4    4   0    18  14    4    0    4.50   0   0   2
4th position           1    1   0     1   1    -    -    1.00   0   0   0
5th position           3    3   0    94  63   17   14   31.33   0   1   0
6th position           4    4   1    63  32*  19   11   21.00   0   0   0
7th position           8    8   4   154  58*  44*  31   38.50   0   1   0

Now Robin Uthappa. India's next big player, I feel. His shots are breathtaking, and off late has been the mainstay of the Indian middle order, along with Yuvraj Singh.

                       Mat    I  NO  Runs HS1  HS2  HS3    Ave 100  50   0
Opening                9    9   0   279  86   70   55   31.00   0   3   1
3rd position           4    4   0   102  52   41    9   25.50   0   1   1
5th position           2    2   0    52  47    5    -   26.00   0   0   0
6th position           2    2   1    52  30*  22    -   52.00   0   0   0
7th position           2    2   1    91  47*  44    -   91.00   0   0   0

The bulk of his short career he's spent at the top order-either opening or coming in one drop. He hasn't failed, but look at those last two averages. 52 and 91.
Sure, he's only played 2 innings at either role. But all four of those innings have been match savers, or at least awesome to watch. Great prospect. Solidify him at 6 or 7, please.
By the way, he too is primarily a wicketkeeper. What's with these guys turning out to be some atheletic fielders?

Then we have the real new guys. Rohit Sharma, for one, has already shown what he can do in the recent T20 World Cup.

Continued, went over maximum amount of characters. : Didn't mean it to be so long.

We have Subra Badrinath-who's been carving Indian bowling attacks for over 4 seasons now. He has a FC average of 57, and a decent List A one of 39. He's athletic in the field as well, something we really need off late.

Ghambir, who's been in the circle for some time now, but can't seem to break through. He has the stuff-shots all around the wicket but his hook shot the most destructive-but has a tendency to either get carried away or bogged down. He's not as versatile as the other young-un's. If he plays, he opens.

Manoj Tiwary, the most talked about name outside of the Indian Team, is also been the consistent performer. an FC average of 59 and List A S/R of 87, he has contender for one of the precious slots in the Indian playing XI. His leg breaks are handy too-he averages 36 with the ball in LA's and 14 in T20s. His econ is below five in F50's and just 7 in T20's.

We have the guys who've started off with a bang but now have fallen off course. Suresh Raina, the clean hitting left hander has been named in Wisdens Top 10 to make an impact on World Cricket. Another high-wire in the field, he's a great prospect for India's future. He has time on his side too, just shy of 21.



We have Parthiv Patel-who has been going through a Bradmanesque run in form. Strings of high scores have justified his capability. Just in his last match, featuring an attack featuring Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar, Mumbai vs Rest of India, he slammed 179.
Another keeper bat, MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik must stay on their toes.

M Kaif, the India A skipper, and electric in the field. He has 125 ODI's under his belt, 3 international tons and 20 international 50s. His innovative, Collingwood style of play was an integral part of the Indian batting line up from the Natwest final to 2005. His method of stealing quick ones and two's is something that Indian Cricket needs to rejuvenate. When the field comes up to save the singles, he'll go over the top.

Yeah, we have a pretty bright future. Lets hope the selectors give the new guys a chance before they too get old.

 

[.Mob]

That was an emotional quote.

Good job, fella.

 

[Cricketman]

That was an emotional quote.

Good job, fella.

KKD=Legend.

 

[sohum]

That was a good post, Rohit. Too bad I have no rep to give out.

I personally feel that by this time next year, Sachin, Sourav and Rahul should not be around the ODI team. A futuristic line-up would look something like this:

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Dinesh Karthik
3. Rohit Sharma
4. Subra Badrinath
5. MS Dhoni
6. Robin Uthappa
7. Manoj Tiwary
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Piyush Chawla
10. Zaheer Khan
11. RP Singh
12. Sreesanth
13. Munaf Patel
14. Parthiv Patel

Bowling is still a little iffy and I'm sure it will become clearer over the next couple of tours. Batting looks quite strong. Karthik is opening just so we can play Tiwary. I suppose someone like Rohit Sharma, Badrinath or Tiwary could also open if need be. Really, though, pace bowling seems to be our biggest problem.

 

[baburao]

I will never throw guys like Karthik,Sreesanth.They give 200% on the field.And they are aggressive.We want them in Australia.

 

[moza1]

My opening lineup would be as follows:

Jaques
Hayden
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Symonds
Gilchrist
Lee
Hilfenhaus
Clark
Mcgill

12th man- Johnson

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

My lineups will be

Jaques/Rogers
Hayden
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Symonds
Gillchrist
Lee
Clark
Macgill/Hogg
Bracken/Johnson

12th man : Hilfenhaus

 

[Cricketman]

That was a good post, Rohit. Too bad I have no rep to give out.

I personally feel that by this time next year, Sachin, Sourav and Rahul should not be around the ODI team. A futuristic line-up would look something like this:

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Dinesh Karthik
3. Rohit Sharma
4. Subra Badrinath
5. MS Dhoni
6. Robin Uthappa
7. Manoj Tiwary
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Piyush Chawla
10. Zaheer Khan
11. RP Singh
12. Sreesanth
13. Munaf Patel
14. Parthiv Patel

Bowling is still a little iffy and I'm sure it will become clearer over the next couple of tours. Batting looks quite strong. Karthik is opening just so we can play Tiwary. I suppose someone like Rohit Sharma, Badrinath or Tiwary could also open if need be. Really, though, pace bowling seems to be our biggest problem.

Looking at KKD's ODI number 3 record, I don't think he should open. Badri only has a List A average of 38 and S/R of 76. Not too high, IMO.

I think we need one of the big three to take us to the World Cup. They're still relativley young and when Lara can retire at 37 so can Sachin, Sourav, or Dravid.
I say Dravid can ease out of the ODI team. Sourav and Sachin both seem to have magically come back to the top of their game. I really am enjoying seeing them play like they did back 6 years ago.
Munaf? I don't think he has a chance unless he really buckles down and work on his fielding and athleticism and pace. Similar to Harbajan in the field, andshould be as quick as Zaheer at least.

Sohum, who's going to be your fifth bowler in that team?

 

[Gunner786]

im think india will get a 4-0 beating this time around,
last time they were down under aussies were not able to replace mcgrath(injury) and warbe(suspension) but this time the aussies are better prepared bowling wise

 

[manee]

Munaf? I don't think he has a chance unless he really buckles down and work on his fielding and athleticism and pace.

Rubbish! He needs to work on consistency, accuracy and intensity. He has his mind made up that he will not bowl flat out and nothing will change that.

In the 2006/7 season, he bowled about 130-140kph (ie. not rapid), stump to stump and look at the results:

(6 ball overs)       Mat    O       R   W   BB1    BB2     Ave  Econ    SR 4w 5w
season 2006/07        14  121.1   501  24  4/49   3/18   20.87  4.13  30.2  1  0

 

[genghis_khan]

Does anyone actually know whats happening with the spinner spot?

I mean i havent heard Ponting or Nielsen say anything about it or MacGill.

 

[Hooper]

Yeah, probably because the *******s are gonna drop a bombshell and say that he aint being picked! If he doesnt then its an outrage - Hogg cant play Tests.

I think they haven't talked about it because MacGill aint playin FC Cricket at the moment.

 

[Cricketman]

The beauty about Hogg is that he comes on when runs are required- 7+ an over most of the time. Batsman are looking to go after the bowlers, and with that presence of doubt in the back of their minds they don't know what to do-hit out or block through. He used the asking rate to his advantage-something that doesn't apply in Tests.
He won't be as good, but it'll be interesting to see how he does.

 

[Inbox24]

Ultimate Indian Test Lineup

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Pathan
kumble
khan
harbhajan

Undefeatable on the 5th day chasing massive totals. Might lead to a lot of drawn tests, but u gotta sacrifice a few pacemen for that LOL