India tour of Australia - 2018/19

[Bevab]

Shaun Marsh seems to be a really underrated ODI player

 

[Bevab]

I would also not put MSD on that plane to London. I think his methods are jaded and almost outdated. His role behind the stumps is a value addition and often over stated in my book. I would personally retain the current top 3 followed by Pant at 4. Pant is the tonic needed in the middle overs and he can take a lot of pressure off the top 3, specially Kohli when confronted with a stiff chase. Kohli has created an aura, much like Tendulkar in the 90's and Dhoni in the last decade where his sheer presence means India is ahead in the game.

I think people are harsh on DK. He has played some really good knocks finishing and he will be the exact sort of person needed to either rotate, play shots, finish or completely tear an attack apart. He now has the experience and I really feel his time is now. Hardik Pandya at 6 with strict no floating. He is someone who can smack, bang, wallop and that's about it. He's no number 4. Jadeja to always play at 7. Kuldeep as my spinner, Bhuvi, Jassi and Shami.

That lineup seems to be a bit short on the batting side though. I'd personally have one more player who could build an innings in that lineup at 4, and have Jadhav at 5, with Pant or DK at 6.

 

[Aalay]

Came back here after a while and it's good to see some people are still as pessimistic when I was here last time around. Kissing the WC goodbye? We are probably one of the favourites alongside England and NZ to win the WC. Yes, I agree the first ODI did not go according to the plan but we are not playing the team that we are missing a couple of key players in the line-up. Bumrah is the best bowler in this team and he is having a well deserved rest. As I have said before as well, when Hardik does not play, we have to rule out one of the wrist-spinners who have been our strength since the champion trophy 2017.

On the Hardik-KL Rahul case, yes they made a mistake with the comments that they made on the show. Especially Hardik, I think KL was still pretty good throughout the show. However, this is definitely an over-reaction from the COA and BCCI. They have apologized for their action and it is time to move on and let them do what they are good at.

On the Shubhman Gill selection, I think it's good that selectors are rewarding his consistent performance. However, to me he is not going to feature in WC 2019 and therefore I don't think it is right to select him right now. I would have rather gone with Pant and played him as a specialist batsman or keep him as a back-up batsman since he is very much "part of the WC plan" according to the selectors.

TBH, I really don't think result of this series or the next series in NZ matters as much. The one thing that they are looking at is who apart from Bumrah-Bhuvi we can rely on as the back-up seamer. They have given chance to Shami, Khaleel and Siraj this time around and I think they all deserve it. They have all performed well enough to earn their selection. However, Siraj is still not a limited overs bowler according to me. He is more of a test match bowler right now. Shami was our best bowler in WC 2015 and it's good that he is getting chances again. I would definitely keep him in as the third seamer. TBH, I would prefer all three of these bowlers over the likes of Sid Kaul and Deepak Chahar.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Came back here after a while and it's good to see some people are still as pessimistic when I was here last time around. Kissing the WC goodbye? We are probably one of the favourites alongside England and NZ to win the WC. Yes, I agree the first ODI did not go according to the plan but we are not playing the team that we are missing a couple of key players in the line-up. Bumrah is the best bowler in this team and he is having a well deserved rest. As I have said before as well, when Hardik does not play, we have to rule out one of the wrist-spinners who have been our strength since the champion trophy 2017.

On the Hardik-KL Rahul case, yes they made a mistake with the comments that they made on the show. Especially Hardik, I think KL was still pretty good throughout the show. However, this is definitely an over-reaction from the COA and BCCI. They have apologized for their action and it is time to move on and let them do what they are good at.

On the Shubhman Gill selection, I think it's good that selectors are rewarding his consistent performance. However, to me he is not going to feature in WC 2019 and therefore I don't think it is right to select him right now. I would have rather gone with Pant and played him as a specialist batsman or keep him as a back-up batsman since he is very much "part of the WC plan" according to the selectors.

TBH, I really don't think result of this series or the next series in NZ matters as much. The one thing that they are looking at is who apart from Bumrah-Bhuvi we can rely on as the back-up seamer. They have given chance to Shami, Khaleel and Siraj this time around and I think they all deserve it. They have all performed well enough to earn their selection. However, Siraj is still not a limited overs bowler according to me. He is more of a test match bowler right now. Shami was our best bowler in WC 2015 and it's good that he is getting chances again. I would definitely keep him in as the third seamer. TBH, I would prefer all three of these bowlers over the likes of Sid Kaul and Deepak Chahar.

Agree with most of this. I don't think either NZ/England have the bowling to match India, so I will say that India are the gun team for the world cup. However, there is justifiable cause for concern about the middle order. Forget about it being settled, we are clueless once 1,2 and 3 go. I am also in agreement of the view that Dhoni is the rut cause of this. People are saying Pandya playing should mean Jadeja should not play. But, I feel both have to play because that 6th bowler is absolutely crucial.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Why Dhoni shouldn’t be a part of the team anymore is well echoed in today’s innings. Win/Lose, Kohli soaked all the pressure and carried Dhoni there.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Yep. Kohli had to take the chance. Dhoni has been there forever and not hit a boundary or even looked like hitting one!

 

[Targaryen]

Dhoni is in a situation where the opposition don't mind having him on the strike. Even commentators highlighted this. It's like - batsman and tailender batting togather and Dhoni is considered tailender. Keep Dhoni on strike and oppositions can easily win the game.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Dhoni persisted persisted and persisted eventually finishing it off in style.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Little gem from DK. Proves my point about him being a must in the WC XI.

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Little gem from DK. Proves my point about him being a must in the WC XI.

Absolutely, he always has shown he is capable of coming in and playing any type of innings based on the situation and has the loads of experience behind him..

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Classic situation of Dhoni's stardom and the result of a game influencing reporting and journalism. Manjerekar is an absolute pesticide. I can't remember such a worm in the commentary box ever and Gavaskar is not far behind.

I saw the game pretty much right through (Indian innings) and if you've seen cricket and recognised the pulse of a game you would realise that the little period where Kohli took on Behrandoff and Lyon and DK immediately coming out and providing impetus to the chase was where the game was won.

I honestly don't see a side playing the world cup minus Dhoni and if it has to be so then he must bat at 4.

I'll go as far as saying that Kohli was dismissed by Dhoni and not the bowler.

 

[Villain]

Have always said it ..I'd have Dhoni in my playing XI for the WC, batting at 4. His wicket keeping, captaining skills and dealing with pressure keeps him far above Pant, you just can't depend or rely on him, he still needs time and I'm sure he's a pretty fine player but haven't really seen him do anything substantial through his batting in ODIs. If you need him for his slogging we've got many like Pandya in the squad. Having MSD in there makes the squad balanced, you won't be chasing 350 anyway.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Have always said it ..I'd have Dhoni in my playing XI for the WC, batting at 4. His wicket keeping, captaining skills and dealing with pressure keeps him far above Pant, you just can't depend or rely on him, he still needs time and I'm sure he's a pretty fine player but haven't really seen him do anything substantial through his batting in ODIs. If you need him for his slogging we've got many like Pandya in the squad. Having MSD in there makes the squad balanced, you won't be chasing 350 anyway.

You win majors through teams. Not individuals. Pant is ready. He's shown it in the toughest format. If anything, he will find it easier to play limited overs.

 

[abhi_jacko]

MSD has booked his ticket to the world cup with this. Unless he gets injured, he is definitely going there. The fact that we had to take it so close was actually because of MSD but i think that will get glossed over by that finishing 6

DK on the other hand played exactly how he was expected to play. It almost looks like he is more comfortable when he had to go bang bang from ball 1. He is able to produce the goods when he has lesser deliveries to face. Whenever he is required to hold the innings together and build a partnership to take us to death overs he falters. Doesn't seem to have the ability to play long innings at this level. He should be our floater.. Only launch him in the death overs[DOUBLEPOST=1547558352][/DOUBLEPOST]I think this whole Pant vs MSD is a pointless topic. Unless hit by injury, MSD is a definite for the world cup

So lets all hope and pray that today's innings (the second half) is the resurgence of the old Dhoni the finisher.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

MSD has booked his ticket to the world cup with this. Unless he gets injured, he is definitely going there. The fact that we had to take it so close was actually because of MSD but i think that will get glossed over by that finishing 6

DK on the other hand played exactly how he was expected to play. It almost looks like he is more comfortable when he had to go bang bang from ball 1. He is able to produce the goods when he has lesser deliveries to face. Whenever he is required to hold the innings together and build a partnership to take us to death overs he falters. Doesn't seem to have the ability to play long innings at this level. He should be our floater.. Only launch him in the death overs[DOUBLEPOST=1547558352][/DOUBLEPOST]I think this whole Pant vs MSD is a pointless topic. Unless hit by injury, MSD is a definite for the world cup

So lets all hope and pray that today's innings (the second half) is the resurgence of the old Dhoni the finisher.

DK can definitely construct an innings. It's easy to overlook his knocks in the Asia cup because we are a stats hungry nation. On those wickets he played some superb knocks and I don't think his finishing ability needs further elaborating.