Selection problems aplenty for India

[Zap_Brannigan]

Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin, Dhoni and Zaheer are indispensable or have no direct competition, so they are automatic pickings. Jaffer has got 3 0s on the tour VVS laxman has been a failure in each and every innings too. Ganguly has 1 gd innings and 1 horrible innings to his name but in pecking order below Laxman. Pathan scored double that of the 2nd highest scorer in the game, without losing his wicket?..Apart from MOM award, he was by far the best batsman from either side.Wd have been easier to pick him had he bowled better but hes worse in tht department than even VRV. Sree and VRV were both decent but not great. Kumble/Bhajji ? only 1 can be picked. If we go in with 6 batsman and 4 bowlers, shd we leave our best batsman out cos he cant bowl? Or do we drop one of either Sree/VRV and practically go in with 3 bowlers + pathan. If we go the 4 bowler + pathan route, do we drop jaffer and end up with no proper openers or drop either the VC or ganguly? I am not even considering goin in with both bhajji and kumble or Munaf recovering. Although when more than 1 person are fighting for a spot, it is generally considered good, in this case its anything but. Only one thing is for sure, the captain/coach is goin to get a lot of flak from a lot of ppl as soon as the team is announced.

[King]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Horses for courses. Even though Pathan scored, if he is unable to get wickets then he should not be picked. You should simply trust your batters to come good and show faith in selecting your front line batters in the batting line up.

[Don]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India But you cannot put blind faith Ravi. reality is our batsman have failed to perform each and everytime on this tour. thats 4 odis plus 1 list A limited over game plus 2 innings in the first class tour game. Thats 8 TOP order failures which are impossible to ignore. Dhoni was our top scorer in ODIs, him we are getting, Ganguly scored a confidence boosting half century we must get him, Pathan has scored the only century in those 8 innnings in addition to a fighting defiant 50 in 3rd ODI. We MUST have pathan in case we have another top order failure, which from this tours stats is inevitable.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India This including Pathan cos we need him to strengthen batting by having him at 8 is nonsense. We should learn from England's mistake were they played Giles instead of Monty as he was better batsman. We must play the best bowlers which means no place for Pathan.

[gullu]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Under normal circumstances, I'd have agreed with Ravi - Test matches belong to specialists. You pick batsmen for batting and bowlers for bowling. But right now, our batting is in anything but normal form so I'd definitely pick Pathan because of the rich batting form he is in. My XI: Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly, Pathan, Dhoni, Kumble, Zaheer, Sreesanth, and VRV Singh (if Munaf is not fit). If it appears like a dry pitch, then maybe Harbhajan for injured Munaf instead of VRV. Why not get Tendulkar to open? Throw him a new challenge, after-all he is the most experienced "opener" in world cricket right now.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India How anyone can have Pathan at no 6 and drop one of the other batters is crazy. One FC ton in his whole life and he is viewed as top 6 bat :wall: It was one warm up game, lets not get carried away. Like I said before remeber agarkar lesson. He hit TEST ton but was he the real deal? Hell no he was the bombay duck. Let Pathan show he can score big runs regularly before we throw him at no 6. The guy is simply not good enough bat at the moment to bat 6.

[veer]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India dsr.. y are you anti-pathanic?? would you take jaffer who scored two ducks or one who scored 150 not out?? I agree with gullu's team... and the suggestion that SRT needs to open..

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India I would take Jaffer. He has proven he can score big runs at test level as shown by WI tour and has shown he knows how to score runs at FC cricket were he scored buckets of runs. Pathan has shown nothing like this. He had ONE good batting game. Yes ONE game. And all of a sudden he is class test batter in some peoples eyes. Crazy. A lot of you pick the team based on game to game performances. Many of you were championing Karthick as top 6 batter, now Pathan is latest flavour of the day. How about him proving he can score big runs before we throw him in at 6. As for SRT openenig, well I am lost for words at that one.

[shailesh]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Vengy has finally arrived in SA and stated 'We won't tamper with the openers'. so I take 2 of Jaffer, Sehwag and Gambhir will open.

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India OP sums it all up perfectly. I would not like us to fiddle with openers. Pathan is not an opener and he never will be doesnt matter how much he scored in the side game. But given that he is the only one who scored i wouldnt want him dropped either. 3 bowlers + pathan is risky. so is one make shift opener 4 bowlers + pathan. lets see what team is fielded for 1st test.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India 5 batsman + pathan is even more risky, in fact I would say it is crazy. One thing I can guarantee is that Pathan will not be selected to bat in top 6. If selected he will bat at 8.

[gator]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India we got to play 4 bowlers+pathan... picking the bowlers is very simple.... Zak - obvious Sreesanth - in good form, with 4 wkts in the 1st innings Kumble - best spinner for overseas matches. VRV/Bajji - VRV cannot be ignored anymore, if we want to win matches abroad.... Bajji has never won us a match abroad.... Pathan - must play. So tht leaves 5 batters + dhoni... Sehwag, Sachin, Lax are automatic choices.... 2 places between Ganguly, Jaffer and Dravid.... If Dravid is fit, then no question.... So 1 place..... between Ganguly and Jaffer.... Knowing Vengsarkar, both will play and VRV or Sreesanth will get the axe...

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India when none of our top batsman have been able to score any runs, it doesnt make sense to drop the only 2 sucessful batsmen in the warmup match - dada and irfan i`d drop jaffer and make Dravid open with sehwag - dravid, jaffer, laxman , sachin , ganguly , dhoni ,irfan , kumble , vrv , sreesanth , zaheer

[Rahul]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India ^^jaffa will play, as will SCG and so will IKP, since the 'think-tank' definitely wants IKP in the squad for T1. so the final XI, as i see it, will be one bowler short. come to think of it, it's not that bad, since SS is a cr@pshoot anyways--so erratic that u never know which SS will turn up. he was abs horrible in all the Tests he played in the Caribbean since his first two caps against the Poms in Nagpur and Mumbai-- a couple of stares at the batter and the odd good ball or two in a spell doesn't a good bowler make. given the mindset of the Oz-following Saffies (barring Kallis) they will go after him hammer and tongs and once he's under the stick, he's not that diff from Pathan--a "lollipop" bowler, in Boycott-speak. IMO, SS wont make it to final XI (unless munaf's ankle is still sore). rest remains same as gullubhai's team. in batting order, this is the XI that will take the field on friday: Jaffer Sehwag (when Veeru is out of form, he prefers his mate to take first ball) Dravid Tendulkar VVSL Ganguly Pathan Dhoni Kumble Zaheer Munaf (if he's unfit, we will have SS over VRV Singh) PS: this is in no way MY pick, just what we will see on friday. all bouquets/brickbats ca be directed elsewhere.

[gator]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India this is sheer injustice... having 2 bowlers who really impressed in the warmup match - Sree(ist innings) and VRV (2nd innings) to compete for one slot....

[Guest dada_rocks]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Guys in FC matches patahn comes lower down the order most of the time and approaches his batting as pinch hitter moreover how many FC matches has he played in first place , not many i would guess. If you can score 100 against international atack on sporting pitches you are automaticaly cut above the rest of domestic bullies.

[Zap_Brannigan]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Pathan may not be as gd a batsman as even jaffer/gambhir in the long run but hes in a much better form than any of our batsmen at present...In Dhoni we already have the extra batsman,so y not go in with 5 proper batsman + dhoni + pathan....Pathan can fill in a few overs here and there..

[gator]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India

Pathan may not be as gd a batsman as even jaffer/gambhir in the long run

why not.... pathan's technique is close to imran's.... if imran could average close to 37, then why cant pathan?? personally, i dont see jaffer or gambo average 40 in international test cricket...

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Pathan should not be in team. Criminal to leave out batter or bowler to accomodate Pathan the jack of no trades. My team Jaffer Sehwag Dravid Sachin Gambhir Laxman Dhoni Kumble Sree Khan Munaf/VRV

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Selection problems aplenty for India Bhaji got some runs in warm up game. He scored more then most of the other batters and is clearly in good form. This makes him undropable. Suprised some of you don't suggest he should be picked as batter and come in at 6. This would allow our new batting sensation Pathan to come in at 5. Shame VRV did not get some runs as otherwise he could have come in at 6 and others push up one meaning Superstar Pathan coming in at 4.