India tour of New Zealand 2020 - 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs, 2 Tests

[Master Bates]

Its about time India start doing something about the pace bowling all rounder issue. The likes of Vijay Shankar and Shivam Dube are not the answer. I have heard that Kamlesh Nagarkoti can bat. If he becomes a genuine all rounder, he needs to managed careully as he is a good enough bowler also.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

My test XI would be this:

Mayank
Shaw/Gill
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Jadeja
Pant
Ashwin
Ishant/Umesh/Saini
Shami
Bumrah

I know I've been an advocate of Saha over Pant in tests, but maybe for this series, play Pant in the smaller grounds of NZ. If its swinging, neither Pant nor Saha have the technique to battle out of it but with Pant, its "high risk high reward" vs Saha who is "high risk average reward". If Pant gets going somehow and tries to slog his way out of the conditions, maybe he can bring a lot more useful runs for India. And of course being a left hander helps in a lineup where Jadeja is the only other one.

If Ishant is fit, he walks in. If not, I'd pick Umesh over Saini purely for the experience but I feel Saini is primed for a good test match career if he keeps his head where it is right now.

I would not even dream of this on an away SENA tour.

Gill
Mayank
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Vihari
Pant
Jadeja
3 quicks.

We have perpetually gone with 5 bowlers on away tours and suffered.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Would rather have Shaw over Gill

Reasons ?
Test debut for India
Better technique
Better temperament
Better mental fortitude
Willingness to learn quickly from failures

Checks all boxes.... Hence it should be Prithvi Shaw to play.

But as much as I have followed Kohli he would be playing Gill because of recent form and performances.

 

[Bevab]

Given that Agarwal has been having quite a poor time on this tour, wouldn't be surprised to see Vihari play especially after that gritty partnership with Pujara in the practice match.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I think Agarwal would be playing the first Test. Sometimes in warm-ups you tend to throw away your wickets with poor shots. If it is about ODIs then I think he was unsure whether he needs to go for it or needs to spend time at the crease and hence he lost his wicket in the process. I feel like he has cemented his spot.

 

[Bevab]

I think Agarwal would be playing the first Test. Sometimes in warm-ups you tend to throw away your wickets with poor shots. If it is about ODIs then I think he was unsure whether he needs to go for it or needs to spend time at the crease and hence he lost his wicket in the process. I feel like he has cemented his spot.

In no way am I advocating for Mayank to be dropped, it is just that when you head into a SENA tour with your established opener off colour and an inexperienced partner alongside him, having an inform batsman who was one of the two players dealing with the short ball well would help a lot.

 

[Bevab]

Umesh has been disappointing up until now, too many deliveries have been sprayed around by him. Saini has been equally poor but at least he has the excuse of lack of experience. Bumrah on the other hand was really good which was nice to see.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

With all that talk going in Shubman Gill's favour I still think that Shaw has to play for India. With all due respect Gill have been performing very well in the domestic and India-A matches but somewhere I have a strong belief that Shaw would do wonders if he plays. I remember that Shaw scored a century when he was just 16 !!! In that match Mumbai was in disarray losing 4-5 quick wickets and this guy Shaw showed immense maturity and scored a breathtaking century. He has played just one series in which he received Man of the series award outperforming big names like Kohli, Pujara and Rahane.

The biggest advantage that Shaw has is his quick hands and a very good balanced footwork which Gill actually lacks. At times he just stands on his crease and tries to play his shots and in the process gets comprehensively beaten by those moving deliveries which we have seen in the ODI series in New Zealand last year itself.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I just somehow hope that we bat first. If we do that then even if we score 300 runs our bowling will come in to play and we would be able to restrict the Kiwis to an under par score. This would further give our batsman more confidence to bat New Ze an aland out of the match in the 2nd innings.

 

[asprin]

With all that talk going in Shubman Gill's favour I still think that Shaw has to play for India

From what I've seen or observed of Shaw, he seems to be heavily reliant on boundaries. While that's good in ODIs and T20s, I somehow feel he overdoes it in Tests. Of course, it's still his early days and perhaps he will tone down but Shaw, to me, doesn't look like a stable option for now as an opener in Tests. Too flashy to my liking.

I would rather prefer having someone who would wear the new ball down. Doesn't necessarily mean the batsman should be 10 off 60 balls - but someone who wouldn't mind scoring in singles/twos which I think Shaw doesn't do (at least early on in his innings).

I hope I'm wrong. Nothing against the fella but I feel his aggressiveness will often result in a wicket especially in conditions where swing is plenty of offer. I do, however, think he will find a place in the playing XI and I'm afraid that we will often see our no.3 out in the middle within the first 5 overs.

As for the series, I think we will see no draws. Advantage NZ 60-40. It's either gonna be 2-0 or 1-1.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

From what I've seen or observed of Shaw, he seems to be heavily reliant on boundaries. While that's good in ODIs and T20s, I somehow feel he overdoes it in Tests. Of course, it's still his early days and perhaps he will tone down but Shaw, to me, doesn't look like a stable option for now as an opener in Tests. Too flashy to my liking.

I would rather prefer having someone who would wear the new ball down. Doesn't necessarily mean the batsman should be 10 off 60 balls - but someone who wouldn't mind scoring in singles/twos which I think Shaw doesn't do (at least early on in his innings).

I hope I'm wrong. Nothing against the fella but I feel his aggressiveness will often result in a wicket especially in conditions where swing is plenty of offer. I do, however, think he will find a place in the playing XI and I'm afraid that we will often see our no.3 out in the middle within the first 5 overs.

As for the series, I think we will see no draws. Advantage NZ 60-40. It's either gonna be 2-0 or 1-1.

There were similar views about Tendulkar in early days claiming that he scored rather too quickly which can bring his downfall but the views seem to change later on which changed the entire way Cricket was being played. Performance rather comes down to the sense of responsibility that a player shows. And Shaw have shown that time and again.

 

[Bevab]

Another day, another debutant impressing versus India.

 

[asprin]

Performance rather comes down to the sense of responsibility that a player shows.

Let's hope that happens in Shaw's case too. It would be a criminal waste of talent if he doesn't.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Called me old school but Its was great to watch the test match after a very long time with bowlers dominating the batsmen.

The lengths which Jamieson bowled were immaculate today - the dismissal of both Vihari and Pujara were absolute beauties.

250 a good total on this deck? Maybe but New Zealand pitches have the tendency to get flat after first 2 days.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Called me old school but Its was great to watch the test match after a very long time with bowlers dominating the batsmen.

The lengths which Jamieson bowled were immaculate today - the dismissal of both Vihari and Pujara were absolute beauties.

250 a good total on this deck? Maybe but New Zealand pitches have the tendency to get flat after first 2 days.

In that case, let us hope that we see India batting on Day 3 with a lead of about 25-30 and score about 350 in their 2nd innings giving New Zealand a target of around 370-380.