Who should our top 5 Bowlers be?

[cricajar]

If you look at our victories in this tournament, they have been solely batsmen built. The bowlers have not contributed even once, if anything they almost gave away both games in which we scored over 300. This is highly disconcerting, considering our batting unit is not always going to fire...and moreover, it places an uneven burden on our batsmen. But the question I have is who do we have? I feel the spinners have been good, I think they've done their job and taken wickets as well. Fast Bowlers: RP has been ineffective, but I also think he hasn't been used that much to be honest....Zak has not been nearly as destructive in the ODI form and Agarkar has been even more profligate than usual. Munaf has been rubbish quite frankly -- I had faith in him but he's been terrible...and it must be noted that Prasad is not the only one to bring up his mental weakness (quite frankly I don't have patience for a ***** like Harmy or Treschothick) Who else do we have? Sreesanth? Bhajji? Pathan? It seems like we have quite a few batsmen waiting in the wings (Sharma, Tiwary, Pujara, Kaif, Raina, Utthapa...) But do we have any bowlers? Do Balaji/Nehra have any chance of coming back? VRV Singh has been given a lot of chances but can really only spray the ball around... My question is who would your 5 bowlers be for the rest of this series, and then for the future?

[Predator_05]

Balaji and Nehra are done. Forget them. Ishant Sharma and Bose are on the fringes, but i haven't seen enough of either to make a judgement on how good they are. For starters, I'd bring back Pathan. He is a proven strike-bowler and throughout his career (before it all went awry) he would make those crucial early break-throughs which provided India with a much-needed headstart on their opposition. India haven't replaced Pathan in any capacity since he left the scene. Pathan and Zaheer to share the new ball. Agarkar as a wicket-taking option would be better coming on as first change. Let the spinners do the economical bowling.

[novpj]

How about Sreesanth and Zaheer opening with RPS waiting in the wings. Praveen Kumar and Pathan fighting for the spot of a 3rd seamer who can bowl 5 economical overs and hit at the death. Would pick two out of Chawla, Powar and Pragyan Ojha. This works in general except some really hard pitches where we need to play RPS also.

[Ram]

Tests bowling line-up - Zaheer , Anil are certainties. The third and fouth spots will fought for by Sreesanth , RPS , Munaf , Pathan.

[Chandan]

Tests bowling line-up - Zaheer , Anil are certainties. The third and fouth spots will fought for by Sreesanth , RPS , Munaf , Pathan.

I think Cricajar is talking about ODIs here. To be honest, we don't have any bowler who can bowl at death and be penetrative in good batting conditions. Powar and Chawla are fine as spinners with Bhajji on the bench, waiting for his turn. It'll be interesting to see how Ojha goes against SA A. So spinner's positions are sealed. For pacers, Zaheer, Agarkar (too expensive but what do you expect from a rusty bowler) Sree, Munaf, RPS, Pathan...! To be honest, none of them are impressive in good batting conditions!

[gator]

Zaheer is carrying an injury... tht explains why he wasnt not as effective as was expected... he is definitely carrying a niggle... Ganguly must be the 3rd seamer as long as he is in the team.... the wheel comes around one full circle.... RD had to keep wickets to remain in the team, and now Gangs has to take his bowling seriously and bowl his full quota to remain in the team... he should do tht atleast until pathan discovers his form and reseals his place... the 2nd seamer slot will be played out between Sreesanth/RPS and Aggy.... tht is our weakest link and i dont see a solution in sight.... i say, go back to those bits and pieces like praveen kumar/jp/xyz who will prolly concede as many runs, but atleast score a few more....