This series has thrown some huge red flags for the Indian team.

[maniac]

Our back up pool of seamers are just not good enough at this point of time be it Siraj or Khaleel. Shankar got away with it yesterday but it is a joke if he plays as the full time 3rd seamer.

 

We can’t play our top 2 LOI bowlers in the same X1 -Kulcha because it ruins the balance of the side.

 

Dhoni’s keeping has been ordinary and in English conditions he might have even more problems.

 

We chased a total of 231 in the 50th over on a relatively flat wicket. That too In a game where we lost only 3 wickets. This shows our outdated approach. This is not for Dhoni bashing purposes, none of the middle order batsmen are reliable even though DK and Jadhav both played match winning knocks.

 

Shikhar Dhawan’s form. We are over reliant on top 3 and we can’t have one of them look out of sorts.

 

Lack of fire power at the slog overs. Jadhav and DK can they sustain hitting from ball 1? Maybe DK but Jadhav too looks like someone who needs to settle down before he starts hitting.

 

Lack of 5th and 6th bowler. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[flamy]

We know this from two years now.

No pace backup, no power hitters, placeholder middle order, overdependence on Kohli

[Jimmy Cliff]

7 minutes ago, maniac said:

We can’t play our top 2 LOI bowlers in the same X1 -Kulcha because it ruins the balance of the side.

We can if we get Pandya back. He is a luxury in the Test side but essential in the ODI XI. Agree on the other points.

[maniac]

Just now, Jimmy Cliff said:

We can if we get Pandya back. He is a luxury in the Test side but essential in the ODI XI. Agree on the other points.

Yes same page there, Pandya is a must in LOIs however unfortunately looks like for now he will be relegated to net practice in his bathroom during the WC. 

[maniac]

8 minutes ago, flamy said:

We know this from two years now.

No pace backup, no power hitters, placeholder middle order, overdependence on Kohli

Sure but nothing has changed since then. A loss here could have been a wake up call but now this win will mask our problems.

 

It is going to be a shootout format in the WC, if this 3rd rate Australian team can beat us on an off day and run us close in 2 other games exploiting all the problems mentioned, what are the odds of consistency when we play a new team every other day.

Edited January 18, 2019 by maniac

[zen]

As we know at the WC, the teams would be at their full strength ..... with the current India team, the roles could get reversed with Ind appearing more like Ind A in the WC  

 

[maniac]

Also Dhoni’s fitness. Don’t think I have ever seen him cramp up. In both games he was struggling at the end. 

[velu]

14 minutes ago, maniac said:

Yes same page there, Pandya is a must in LOIs however unfortunately looks like for now he will be relegated to net practice in his bathroom during the WC. 

 

your fellow feminazi diana edulji will create as much trouble as possible for pandya

 

[Cricketics]

One positive is that Rayudu was dropped so we know he isn’t the ideal guy Kohli/Shastri want.

 

Also with just few months away from world cup if selectors want Gill in squad, means they want to see if he can do well and make it to the team for the world cup. They have considered that at least. 

 

What this means is now that the onus is purely on Kohli and Shastri to play Gill in the middle order right from game 1 in NZ. If they do not use Gill from game 1, then we can’t blame selectors but should actually blame Kohli/Shastri only.

 

In all seriousness, I think Dhoni among runs is a good sign even with all poor strike rate. I think it augurs at least somewhat hope. If Gill can just take slot 4 or 5, it will be ideal. A strong Dhoni-Gill pairing at 4/5 with pair of Pandya/Jadhav/Karthik as finishers isn’t a bad line up.

 

 

 

 

[maniac]

1 minute ago, velu said:

 

your fellow feminazi diana edulji will create as much trouble as possible for pandya

 

lWhat feminazi? It takes common sense to see what he said on a public platform was idiotic and dumb.

 

I never said he deserves a ban.

 

being an idiot is not always the same as being a criminal.

 

You can debate this with @CSK Fan I am bored of discussing Pandya chewgiri

 

 

[maniac]

3 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

One positive is that Rayudu was dropped sow e know he isn’t the ideal guy Kohli/Shastri want.

 

Also with just c months away from world cup if selectors want Gill in squad, means they want to see id he can do well and make it to the team for the world cup. They have considered that at least. 

 

What this means is now that the onus is purelh on Kohli and Shastri to play Gill in the middle order right from game 1 in NZ. If they do not use Gill from game 1, then we can’t blame selectors but should actually blame Kohli/Shastri only.

 

In all seriousness, I think Dhoni among runs is a good sign even with all poor strike rate. I think it augurs at least somewhat hope. If Gill can just take slot 4 or 5, it will be ideal. A strong Dhoni-Gill pairing at 4/5 with pair of Pandya/Jadhav/Karthik as finishers isn’t a bad line up.

 

 

 

 

Who will Gill replace? Already Jadhav has taken Rayudus slot. Dk is not going anywhere as for now he is he only guy seems to be capable of 

Hitting from ball 1.

[mishra]

Pant Pandya 1 kedhar jadeja Pandya 2 Shaw. They all need to be there in odi team

[flamy]

24 minutes ago, maniac said:

Who will Gill replace? Already Jadhav has taken Rayudus slot. Dk is not going anywhere as for now he is he only guy seems to be capable of 

Hitting from ball 1.

Jadhav can be fragile, get injured, so good to have backup, although Gill doesn't offer balling.

For that matter, I dunno why they can't play Rahul at 4.

 

[maniac]

Just now, flamy said:

Jadhav can be fragile, get injured, so good to have backup, although Gill doesn't offer balling.

For that matter, I dunno why they can't play Rahul at 4.

 

[flamy]

44 minutes ago, maniac said:

Sure but nothing has changed since then. A loss here could have been a wake up call but now this win will mask our problems.

 

It is going to be a shootout format in the WC, if this 3rd rate Australian team can beat us on an off day and run us close in 2 other games exploiting all the problems mentioned, what are the odds of consistency when we play a new team every other day.

I'm counting on NZ to be a wake-up call, let's see.

 

BTW, will they play Rahul if Dhawan loses form? I'm not sure about that. Plus, I think Dhawan will find his form. He might have more fun in NZ.

[flamy]

46 minutes ago, maniac said:

Also Dhoni’s fitness. Don’t think I have ever seen him cramp up. In both games he was struggling at the end. 

Yes, that was surprising. But, I must truly  for his hard running between the wickets. EVen Langer was saying, at 37, if he can do that, and keep, in 40 degrees heat, that is the level of fitness the whole world should aspire to.

 

With cooler conditions in England, I'm hoping this part of his game at least won't be an issue.

 

Kohli seems adamant to play him at 5.

[Cricketics]

1 hour ago, maniac said:

Who will Gill replace? Already Jadhav has taken Rayudus slot. Dk is not going anywhere as for now he is he only guy seems to be capable of 

Hitting from ball 1.

We can have numerous diff line ups. Not all of them have to play together. Sometimes with Pandya in, who will also do the job as as a finisher, we won’t need both Jadhav and Karthik in the line up. So we can accomodate Dhoni and Gill both in that situation. If Gill fails, we have back up of playing both Jadhav and Karthik as well as of course Pandya who will most likely play every game.

 

So having Karthik/Jadhav and Gill all kn squad is possible. 

 

 

So our order could look like this

 

Rohit

Dhawan

Kohli

Gill

Dhoni

Jadhav

Pandya

 

Or our order could also look like

Rohit

Dhawan

Kohli

Gill

Dhoni

Karthik

Pandya

 

or id Gill struggles

 

Rohit

Dhawan

Kohli

Dhoni

Jadhav

Karthik

Pandya

 

 

Ideally, Pant can be there too, bur he is not being picked. 

[bowl_out]

39 minutes ago, flamy said:

Jadhav can be fragile, get injured, so good to have backup, although Gill doesn't offer balling.

For that matter, I dunno why they can't play Rahul at 4.

We should use NZ series to see if Shankar or Gill can be Jadhav's back up..

Shankar's bowling puts him as the sixth bowler at best... No way he is Pandya's alternative.. If he can show some mettle with the bat, he could be Jadhav's back up.

[Cricketics]

1 minute ago, bowl_out said:

We should use NZ series to see if Shankar or Gill can be Jadhav's back up..

Shankar's bowling puts him as the sixth bowler at best... No way he is Pandya's alternative.. If he can show some mettle with the bat, he could be Jadhav's back up.

We don’t have much time but ideally if Shankar could play plenty of games as just pure batsman who can bat and score runs in the lower middle order, along with dishing pies fod 5-6 overs eith decent economy,  then there was a place for both Pandya and Shankar too in one line up.

 

Only thing is Shankar’s hitting ability isn’t well known, so he can’t compete yet with karthik or Jadhav since there is not much time left.

 

So bascially I don’t see Shankar anywhere near Indian world cup line up. Gill has the best chance among all outside folks to make it to Indian world cup squad as he is coming in solely for middle order bat role. 

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, Cricketics said:

One positive is that Rayudu was dropped so we know he isn’t the ideal guy Kohli/Shastri want.

 

Also with just few months away from world cup if selectors want Gill in squad, means they want to see if he can do well and make it to the team for the world cup. They have considered that at least. 

 

What this means is now that the onus is purely on Kohli and Shastri to play Gill in the middle order right from game 1 in NZ. If they do not use Gill from game 1, then we can’t blame selectors but should actually blame Kohli/Shastri only.

 

In all seriousness, I think Dhoni among runs is a good sign even with all poor strike rate. I think it augurs at least somewhat hope. If Gill can just take slot 4 or 5, it will be ideal. A strong Dhoni-Gill pairing at 4/5 with pair of Pandya/Jadhav/Karthik as finishers isn’t a bad line up.

 

 

 

 

You can pimp for Gill as much as you want, but the team balance dictates he can't be in our optimal XI.  We need Pandya and Kedar for their bowling and batting, so that rules out 6 & 7.  We need to keep Karthik in there because Dhoni's age, back, and fitness question marks mean our 2nd wicket-keeper should be ready to go at a moment's notice.  Plus Nidahas Karthik has shown enough to deserve a bit of a proper run.  Gill can't keep or give you Kedar type overs.  End of story.