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Team for Test Championship


Vijy

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I know most ICFers are either angry, despondent or resigned about the WC result and there have been many threads about the subsequent ODI squads and the upcoming T20 WC. However, what are your thoughts on the best team for the Test championship (which spans only the near-future of 2 yrs)? IMO, we still have a few slots that are unsettled or weak in terms of lacking backups.

 

This is my abroad team on pacer-friendly pitches: Mayank, Shaw, Chepu, Kohli, Vihari/Gill, Pant (wk), Jaddu, Bhuvi/Kuldeep/Ashwin, Shami, Ishant, Bumrah

This team bats till 8 and has 5 genuine bowling options. I am quite convinced that Pant has the ability to bat at 6, and can even move to No. 5 a few yrs down the line. To me Jaddu is a must. He has a batting avg of 42+ and 5 wkts per match (at an avg of 23) since jan 2016 over 25 tests. Even outside India, he has done well in the limited chances he got with either bat or ball. And if we add the 10 runs or so he saves per innings, then his effective batting avg is over 50.

 

On home pitches: Mayank, Shaw, Chepu, Kohli, Vihari/Gill, Pant (wk), Jaddu, [2 out of 3 from Ashwin, Kuldeep, Ishant], Bumrah, Shami

Team bats till 8 (or even 9) depending on selection and all 5 are genuine bowlers. For reasons noted above, Jaddu is a must in my book.

 

I have excluded Pandya from the mix. Probably my most contentious choice. To my mind, he is capable of genuine match-influencing spells with bat (and to a lesser degree with ball) occasionally, but he is not sufficiently solid in either discipline unlike Jaddu or Ashwin (in Ind), who can hold a place for bowling alone. But he should be in the mix.

 

Back-ups:

Openers: plenty of choices including KLR, Panchal and Easwaran

No. 3: my biggest worry is Chepu's fragile knees go kaput. Vihari is a possibility but he seems to get out after settling in.

No. 4: also a big worry. although I am not a big fan of ratman in ODIs, he has evolved much as a test player over the years. Not sure who could come in this most crucial position. Maybe gill but the responsibility is huge.

No. 5: This is our weakest position IMO. Vihari is yet to solidify his position and Gill is untested. It would be ideal if the old Rahane could come back but I'm not holding my breath. shankar is a possibility but I have questions over his temperament if we are 3 down for not much.

Keeper: Saha will be a good backup. In fact, depending on how Pant plays, maybe there is a place for both of them especially in India. Kishan and Samson have regressed in FCs.

Pacers: Ishant, Bumrah, Shami have done well, and Bhuvi is well-suited in some conditions. but we need to blood next-gen pacers like avesh, saini, mavi soon otherwise injuries to central trio will cause issues.

Spinners: we have enough backups at home. apart from ash-jaddu, there is kuldeep and rahul chahar. the latter needs to get a few tests under his belt against bang and WI.

All-rounders/batsmen who bowl: Hardik and Shankar.

 

 

Edited by Vijy
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First Post:

20 Pool of Players until 2021 Test Championship

  1. P Shaw
  2. M Agarwal
  3. C Pujara
  4. V Kohli (C)
  5. R Sharma 
  6. R Pant (WK)
  7. R Ashwin
  8. R Jadeja
  9. M Shami
  10. I Sharma
  11. J Bumrah
  12. S Gopal
  13. KL Rahul
  14. S Iyer
  15. S Gill
  16. H Pandya
  17. B Kumar
  18. U Yadav
  19. I Kishan (WK)
  20. K Ahmed

A Rahane (Needs to play Ranji Trophy upcoming Season)

K Yadav (Needs to play Ranji Trophy upcoming Season)

H Vihari (Short Ball Issue needs to be corrected)

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5 hours ago, Prabhdeep Singh said:

First Post:

20 Pool of Players until 2021 Test Championship

  1. P Shaw
  2. M Agarwal
  3. C Pujara
  4. V Kohli (C)
  5. R Sharma 
  6. R Pant (WK)
  7. R Ashwin
  8. R Jadeja
  9. M Shami
  10. I Sharma
  11. J Bumrah
  12. S Gopal
  13. KL Rahul
  14. S Iyer
  15. S Gill
  16. H Pandya
  17. B Kumar
  18. U Yadav
  19. I Kishan (WK)
  20. K Ahmed 

A Rahane (Needs to play Ranji Trophy upcoming Season)

K Yadav (Needs to play Ranji Trophy upcoming Season)

H Vihari (Short Ball Issue needs to be corrected)

Kishan batting and keeping in FC have both regressed, especially the former. we are currently lacking good backups to pant. khaleel is not cut out to be a test bowler with his current abilities from what I have seen. should be someone else like saini or avesh I feel. rest of team is solid.

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3 hours ago, zen said:

Agarwal

Shaw

Pujara

Kohli 

Gill

Pant

Pandya

Jadeja

Kuldeep

Shami

Bumrah 

 

Batting is deep, but Pandu IMO is neither a good enough batsman or bowler. I would rather have someone like Bhuvi on Eng-type pitches and Ashwin on home pitches since they are better bowlers, and their batting is not zero.

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1 minute ago, Vijy said:

Batting is deep, but Pandu IMO is neither a good enough batsman or bowler. I would rather have someone like Bhuvi on Eng-type pitches and Ashwin on home pitches since they are better bowlers, and their batting is not zero.

 

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3 minutes ago, zen said:

 

I remember the thread quite well. It's just my current opinion that Pandu is not good enough as a Test player, but I will be happy if he emerges the real deal. can provide real balance in that instance.

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