Test Team for 2019

[Texan]

Even though we have done pretty well in Australia here, the squad selected is far from ideal. It has been largely thanks to the bowlers and a few batsmen (Pujara, Agarwal, Kohli) that we have been able to be so dominant in this series.

 

If you had to select a Test team that India needs to pick going forward in 2019 and beyond, what would that be? Here's mine:

 

AWAY:

1. Agarwal

2. Shaw

3. Pujara

4. Kohli

5. Shubman Gill / Rahane

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Pant

8. Ashwin / Jadeja

9. Bhuvneshwar / Avesh Khan

10. Shami

11. Bumrah

 

For home tests, depending on conditions, replace the two pacers with Jadeja and Kuldeep or keep one pacer and replace Pandya with the other spinner.

 

New Contenders:

1. Shubman Gill has started off on a bang and is making truckload of runs in Ranji Trophy already. He could be played as a back-up opener or a middle order batsman. If Rahane's form doesn't improve much, then he could potentially replace Rahane.

2. Avesh Khan has been cranking up the pace and getting awkward bounce in the IPL. Now, he has backed that up with some solid Ranji performances. Possibly, worth trying as the third pacer in the team on away tours.

3. Rajneesh Gurbani needs to be considered as a possible player for away tours. He has an uncanny ability to get movement even from relatively dead tracks.

4. Hope Nagarkotti recovers soon and starts playing long format cricket. Very interested in his progress to see if he can become a genuine allrounder or a bowler with good pace.

5. Need to keep an eye on Krunal Pandya's domestic performances. Did well in the one FC game he played.

6. Shivam Dube has shown some early promise and needs to be fast tracked into "A" teams.

 

Dropped for good (almost):

1. The three openers - Murali Vijay, Dhawan and KL Rahul have been very very poor over the last year or so. They no longer deserve to be in the squad. Go back and play domestics. Other openers who have been knocking the doors need to be given priority over these guys. If Shaw and Mayank don't work out, then try Priyank Panchal, Faiz Fazal or Shubman Gill before considering any of these guys again.

2. Need to stop picking Umesh Yadav on any away tours. His away average is 42 in 7 years of cricket and his economy rate is over 4. So, he is neither wicket-taking nor a run controlling option. At home, he can still play in some matches on dust bowls where he gets some reverse swing.

 

In Squad, but not in XI:

Ishant Sharma could still be picked in the squad, but should no longer be an automatic choice for the XI.

 

Dropped, but may be considered again:

1. Not convinced with Hanuma Vihari yet. Very poor with playing short pitched bowling. Needs to work on it. Should be kept in "A" teams and sent for away tours to work on this weakness.

2. Not convinced on Rohit Sharma for Tests yet. He seems suited to white ball cricket only. Could go back to "A" team for away tours.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Texan

[zen]

Nice analysis  

 

In 2019, we would be playing series, which are a part of WTC. Our schedule as below: 

 

Ind's schedule 

 

2019

• July: In WI (2 Tests)
• Oct: vs SA (3 Tests)
• Nov: vs BD (2 Tests)

 

2020

• Feb: In NZ (2 Tests)
• Nov: In Aus (4 Tests)

 

2021

• Jan: vs Eng (5 Tests) 
• June: Final (TBD)

 

Our major challenge would be from Nov 2020 to June 2021 period, so I would want to start developing spinners such as Kuldeep as well esp considering we are mostly playing at home in 2019 

 

Preferred 11 for 2019 

 

Agarwal

Shaw

Pujara

Kohli

Gill

Pant

Pandya 

Jadeja / (pacer if required) 

Kuldeep 

Shami 

Bumrah 

 

 

 

[Texan]

Agree on Kuldeep. Don't know if we have any other spinners in domestics who can get to the top level. Possibly Rahul Chahar?? Haven't seen him bowl much. 

[zen]

Stats for the the series in Aus, shows the edge that Kuldeep can bring to the bowling attack 

 

Batting

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Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Dec 2018

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Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	4	7	0	521	193	74.42	1258	41.41	3	1	1	50	2
MA Agarwal	2	3	0	195	77	65.00	375	52.00	0	2	0	19	5
RR Pant	4	7	1	350	159*	58.33	473	73.99	1	0	0	31	5
V Kohli	4	7	0	282	123	40.28	684	41.22	1	1	1	31	1
RG Sharma	2	4	1	106	63*	35.33	199	53.26	0	1	0	7	3
AM Rahane	4	7	0	217	70	31.00	463	46.86	0	2	0	18	3
RA Jadeja	2	3	0	90	81	30.00	123	73.17	0	1	0	9	1
GH Vihari	3	5	0	111	42	22.20	328	33.84	0	0	0	12	0
R Ashwin	1	2	0	30	25	15.00	94	31.91	0	0	0	1	0
M Vijay	2	4	0	49	20	12.25	154	31.81	0	0	1	4	0
KL Rahul	3	5	0	57	44	11.40	102	55.88	0	0	1	5	1

 

 

Bowling

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Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Dec 2018

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Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
Kuldeep Yadav	1	1	31.5	6	99	5	5/99	5/99	19.80	3.10	38.2	1	0
JJ Bumrah	4	8	157.1	48	357	21	6/33	9/86	17.00	2.27	44.9	1	0
Mohammed Shami	4	8	136.4	28	419	16	6/56	6/136	26.18	3.06	51.2	1	0
I Sharma	3	6	103.0	21	262	11	4/41	5/86	23.81	2.54	56.1	0	0
RA Jadeja	2	3	89.0	25	200	7	3/82	5/127	28.57	2.24	76.2	0	0
R Ashwin	1	2	86.5	22	149	6	3/57	6/149	24.83	1.71	86.8	0	0
GH Vihari	3	5	35.0	8	94	2	2/53	2/84	47.00	2.68	105.0	0	0
UT Yadav	1	2	37.0	3	139	2	2/78	2/139	69.50	3.75	111.0	0	0

[rkt.india]

6 hours ago, zen said:

Stats for the the series in Aus, shows the edge that Kuldeep can bring to the bowling attack 

 

Batting

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Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	4	7	0	521	193	74.42	1258	41.41	3	1	1	50	2
MA Agarwal	2	3	0	195	77	65.00	375	52.00	0	2	0	19	5
RR Pant	4	7	1	350	159*	58.33	473	73.99	1	0	0	31	5
V Kohli	4	7	0	282	123	40.28	684	41.22	1	1	1	31	1
RG Sharma	2	4	1	106	63*	35.33	199	53.26	0	1	0	7	3
AM Rahane	4	7	0	217	70	31.00	463	46.86	0	2	0	18	3
RA Jadeja	2	3	0	90	81	30.00	123	73.17	0	1	0	9	1
GH Vihari	3	5	0	111	42	22.20	328	33.84	0	0	0	12	0
R Ashwin	1	2	0	30	25	15.00	94	31.91	0	0	0	1	0
M Vijay	2	4	0	49	20	12.25	154	31.81	0	0	1	4	0
KL Rahul	3	5	0	57	44	11.40	102	55.88	0	0	1	5	1

 

 

Bowling

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Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
Kuldeep Yadav	1	1	31.5	6	99	5	5/99	5/99	19.80	3.10	38.2	1	0
JJ Bumrah	4	8	157.1	48	357	21	6/33	9/86	17.00	2.27	44.9	1	0
Mohammed Shami	4	8	136.4	28	419	16	6/56	6/136	26.18	3.06	51.2	1	0
I Sharma	3	6	103.0	21	262	11	4/41	5/86	23.81	2.54	56.1	0	0
RA Jadeja	2	3	89.0	25	200	7	3/82	5/127	28.57	2.24	76.2	0	0
R Ashwin	1	2	86.5	22	149	6	3/57	6/149	24.83	1.71	86.8	0	0
GH Vihari	3	5	35.0	8	94	2	2/53	2/84	47.00	2.68	105.0	0	0
UT Yadav	1	2	37.0	3	139	2	2/78	2/139	69.50	3.75	111.0	0	0

only when you post a big total. his ER is a concern in a low scoring game.

[express bowling]

Tests Outside Asia --

 

1.  Shaw

2.  Agarwal

3.  Pujara

4.  Kohli

5.  Gill

6.  Pant

7.  Pandya /  Vihari  

8.  Kuldeep /  Jadeja

9.  Ishant  /  Avesh /  Rajpoot

10. Avesh /  Shami

11. Bumrah

 

 

12.  Vihari / Pandya

13.  Rahane

14.  K. S. Bharat

15.  Jadeja /  Kuldeep

16.  Shami / Avesh

17.  Rajpoot

18.  Mavi

19.  Bhuvi

 

 

 

Tests in Asia --

 

1.  Shaw

2.  Agarwal

3.  Pujara

4.  Kohli

5.  Gill

6.  Pant

7.  Ashwin  /  ( Pandya against weak teams )

8.  Jadeja  

9.  Kuldeep

10. Shami

11.  Avesh / (  Bumrah against big teams )

 

 

12.  Vihari

13.  Pandya

14. Bumrah

15. Mavi

16.  Siraj

 

 

 

--   Time to look ahead and plan for the test Championship. The solitary test against very weak Zimbabwe in March 2019  and 2 tests in July 2019 against weak WI in WI, are ideal for grooming youngsters like Avesh, Mavi, Rajpoot, Shaw, Gill, Agarwal, Vihari, Kuldeep and Pandya 

 

--   It is time to let go of Vijay and Rohit in the name of experience.  Young and inexperienced  batters like Agarwal, Shaw and Pant have shown that they are more hungry for success and can perform better in big games than below average veterans. 

Same logic applies to pacers like Umesh.

 

--  Rahul needs to go back to FC.

 

--  Try Kuldeep as the first spinner against weak WI in WI.  Give him the responsibility and see how he does. If he comes good, we can have a more potent attack in SENA.

 

--  Try Avesh, Mavi and Rajpoot against the weak teams in the next 3 tests.

Edited January 9, 2019 by express bowling

[krisIndianFan]

Pandya seems to be a Flat-track-bully.. not much technique to last in the test team oversees.. 

[express bowling]

On 1/5/2019 at 11:36 PM, zen said:

 

 

In 2019, we would be playing series, which are a part of WTC. Our schedule as below: 

 

Ind's schedule 

 

2019

• July: In WI (2 Tests)
• Oct: vs SA (3 Tests)
• Nov: vs BD (2 Tests)

 

2020

• Feb: In NZ (2 Tests)
• Nov: In Aus (4 Tests)

 

2021

• Jan: vs Eng (5 Tests) 
• June: Final (TBD)

 

 

 

 

 

Our COMPLETE TEST FTP  for 4 years ...

 

 

 

2019  

 

March        vs  Zimbabwe at home  (  1 test  ) 

           Test Championship Starts

July            vs  WI  away   (  2 tests )

October     vs  South Africa at home (  3 tests  )

November vs  Bangladesh  at home  (  2 tests )

 

(  9 tests in  2019   including 1 in Australia  )

 

 

2020

 

February     vs  NZ  away  (  2 tests )

November  vs  Australia  away  (  4 tests )

 

(   6  tests  in  2020 )

 

 

2021

 

January        vs  England  at home  (  5 tests )

June             vs  England  away  (  5 tests )  ( 2nd series vs England in the same year, both home and away  )

June             Test Championship Final

November   vs  NZ  at home  ( 2  tests )

December   vs  South Africa  away  ( 3 tests )

 

(  At least 15 tests in 2021  )

 

 

2022

 

February   vs  SL at  home  (  3 tests )

October    vs  Australia  at home  (  4 tests )

November  vs  Bangladesh  away  ( 2 tests )

 

(   9   tests in 2022  )

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by express bowling

[Tendulkar1996]

2021 is a catastrophic schedule.

Bowlers will be exhausted after 4 tests in fall of 2020 in australia.Immediately after returning in january we will get england for 5 tests at home.Wtf.Then IPL.

Then at june again england 5 tests away.Then test championship final.

Then nov 2 tests vs nz at home and then 3 tests away to SA in dec 2021.This schedule will end the career of some of our  fast bowlers ,might even lead to home series loss if we are not careful.The january 5 home tests vs england need to be rescheduled to mid 2020.

[kirkutfan]

So, we play Australia in Australia twice? Thought the next contest would be at home.

[maniac]

Rohit Sharma has to be accommodated somewhere for his game changing advices and also his awesome 50 in the 3rd test

[Ankit_sharma03]

15 hours ago, krisIndianFan said:

Pandya seems to be a Flat-track-bully.. not much technique to last in the test team oversees.. 

Neither was SA 1st test pitch flat deck

Neither was a deck in Aus A tour where he made 79 . Its a was seaming track with pink ball where every batsman in our team failed n he was the only who got runs

Even in England he was showing application in every innigs , opp bowling was so good that apart from kohli everyone struggled. LWe are talking about broad, anderson, curran , woakes in their own backyard 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Things that team needs to do for next overseas cycle 

 

• IPL starts early n also finish early this time so likes of Rahane, pujara, ishant, umesh, ashwin, jadeja, Saha, Varun Aaron shud all go play county cricket
• If their is no A-tour Vihari, nair, mayank n shaw can also go but high chance BCCI will have an A-tour. IF the A-tour is in India better let these guys go n play county. IF siraj is applicable till then him to . IF not this year atleast next year a yr before we go england 
• Dont abandon guys like rahane n ashwin which m sure they want . They have issues which can be solved. U dnt get such quality players every day
• Whenever possible continue the idea of taking some extra bowlers overseas if it doesnt hamper them playing A-games or missing many Ranji games
• Have powerful bunch of selector who has an eye for talent, not biased and understands modern game like  - yuvraj, gambhir , agarkar . One fast bowler shud be a must in selection commmitee 
• take the burden of LOI captaincy from kohli
• Manage kohli n bumrah's workload 
• Get rid of dhawan , rohit, parthiv, karthik from test cricket . If dhawan n Rohit really wants to prove themselves and do well in test - Go play county post IPL next year even if it means missing national duty unless the series is to big that team cant allow them and ofcourse make pile of runs . 

[Ankit_sharma03]

On 1/6/2019 at 5:57 AM, Texan said:

Agree on Kuldeep. Don't know if we have any other spinners in domestics who can get to the top level. Possibly Rahul Chahar?? Haven't seen him bowl much. 

whatever i hve seen this season he has lacked control but he is very young.....will only get better as he plays more. Nothing to panic as ashwin, jadeja, kuldeep arent retiring and i think their is gopal who needs to get in a look now as well . K gowtham is also an option

[Ankit_sharma03]

8 hours ago, Tendulkar1996 said:

2021 is a catastrophic schedule.

Bowlers will be exhausted after 4 tests in fall of 2020 in australia. Immediately after returning in january we will get england for 5 tests at home.Wtf.Then IPL.

Overseas series are lead by pacers 

Home series by spinner 

 

We have enough bench strength now. We can play umesh only for home series 

8 hours ago, Tendulkar1996 said:

Then at june again england 5 tests away.Then test championship final.

This is where bench strength comes in play 

8 hours ago, Tendulkar1996 said:

Then nov 2 tests vs nz at home and then 3 tests away to SA in dec 2021.This schedule will end the career of some of our  fast bowlers ,might even lead to home series loss if we are not careful.The january 5 home tests vs england need to be rescheduled to mid 2020.

Home series will only have 2 pacers ....can play diff bowlers as well if needed 

Its all about management 

[Tendulkar1996]

3 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Overseas series are lead by pacers 

Home series by spinner 

 

We have enough bench strength now. We can play umesh only for home series 

This is where bench strength comes in play 

Home series will only have 2 pacers ....can play diff bowlers as well if needed 

Its all about management 

We might lose home series if we are not careful and rotate too much or get hit by too many injuries.The 5 test match home series vs england needs to eb shifted to 2020 mid.That way  both years will have 11 tests instead of 6 and 16.

[express bowling]

21 hours ago, express bowling said:

 

 

           Test Championship Starts

July            vs  WI  away   (  2 tests )

October     vs  South Africa at home (  3 tests  )

November vs  Bangladesh  at home  (  2 tests )

 

(  9 tests in  2019   including 1 in Australia  )

 

 

2020

 

February     vs  NZ  away  (  2 tests )

November  vs  Australia  away  (  4 tests )

 

(   6  tests  in  2020 )

 

 

2021

 

January        vs  England  at home  (  5 tests )

June             vs  England  away  (  5 tests )  ( 2nd series vs England in the same year, both home and away  )

June             Test Championship Final

 

 

 

 

We  have 3 home and 4 away series before the final.

 

This includes 1 home and 1 away series against weaker teams.

 

That means 2 home and 3 away series against the big teams.

 

This is not right  ...  we should have had another home series against a big team.

[zen]

48 minutes ago, express bowling said:

 

 

 

We  have 3 home and 4 away series before the final.

 

This includes 1 home and 1 away series against weaker teams.

 

That means 2 home and 3 away series against the big teams.

 

This is not right  ...  we should have had another home series against a big team.

For WTC, only 6 series are counted. 3 Home + 3 Away. There is a thread on this:

 

 

 

[Straight Drive]

Think tank seems to be comfortable with 7+ 4 combination. Guess that is what we will see more often like in this Australia test series.

[zen]

14 minutes ago, Straight Drive said:

Think tank seems to be comfortable with 7+ 4 combination. Guess that is what we will see more often like in this Australia test series.

Not much useful in conditions in WI and Ind, esp when we have batsmen like Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Kohli, Pant, etc., who can all bat effectively in such conditions 

 

Even in Aus, it failed as KL, Vijay, Vihari, Rahane and Rohit were below avg or passengers. Runs largely came from Pujara, Agarwal, Kohli and Pant (WK)  

Edited January 10, 2019 by zen