To have a good team, you need to make ruthless selections

[lamellavig]

Stick with Lokesh Rahul. Bin Murali Vijay. Overseas tours don't come all the time and when you show yourself to be incompetent and not having learnt anything at the age of 34 you deserve to be binned. The rate of returns from Vijay from this point will objectively be low. No need to waste resources by backing him. 

 

At the same time, Prithvi Shaw (proven in English conditions, absolutely domineered in u19 series in September 2017) and Shreyas Iyer are talents you dont want to waste as openers. Meanwhile, the team number 3 (Pujara) is just not important enough on overseas tours that his position cannot be changed. So why not be flexible in the team's interests? Also ask Pujara to focus on some part time legspin.

 

Play Lokesh Rahul

Pujara

Shreyas

Kohli

Rahane

Shaw

Saha (maybe Pant, but stick with Saha for first 2 tests)

B Kumar

Jadeja

Shami (for 1st test, change to Saini if Shami fails)

Bumrah

 

This team does not waste resources and has no problems in batting (proven youngsters) or bowling. Why Indian fans so complacent with regard to player selection? Why we always clamour for players who are ''in prime'' or ''oldies'' like Vijay? Remember, Aussies sacked Steve Waugh from ODIs when he was no longer good enough. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by lamellavig

[Cricketics]

I don't fully agree with you, but I do like the selection of Shreyas Iyer, the guy was scoring tons of runs at home and should be given a chance. If Shaw is not tried, at least Shreyas Iyer can be tried somewhere down the line on English tour.

 

I am ready to give couple of tests to Vijay since this is his first big series, but after two test matches, I would like to see some change in the batting order. You can't keep playing the same batting order if its not performing. Because in that situation, we will shoot ourselves in the foot as one of the non performing guy will eventually score a fifty and then reserve his place for 3 more games only to fail again which will keep costing us.

 

So I will play Vijay and Rahul as opener for the first two tests. In fact I will play the same top 5 as of this test matches in England for the first two tests. Then we need to seriously start considering other guys or giving a chance to other guys if this line up fails again and again.

 

 

One place where I disagree with your line up is with Pujara's slot. Unless he really wants to open the batting himself, I won't move him from spot 3. I think he is fine at 3.

 

I like the fact that you have Pant in the squad. It's about time we take him.

[lamellavig]

2 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

I don't fully agree with you, but I do like the selection of Shreyas Iyer, the guy was scoring tons of runs at home and should be given a chance. If Shaw is not tried, at least Shreyas Iyer can be tried somewhere down the line on English tour.

 

I am ready to give couple of tests to Vijay since this is his first big series, but after two test matches, I would like to see some change in the batting order. You can't keep playing the same batting order if its not performing. Because in that situation, we will shoot ourselves in the foot as one of the non performing guy will eventually score a fifty and then reserve his place for 3 more games only to fail again which will keep costing us.

 

So I will play Vijay and Rahul as opener for the first two tests. In fact I will play the same top 5 as of this test matches in England for the first two tests. Then we need to seriously start considering other guys or giving a chance to other guys if this line up fails again and again.

 

 

One place where I disagree with your line up is with Pujara's slot. Unless he really wants to open the batting himself, I won't move him from spot 3. I think he is fine at 3.

 

I like the fact that you have Pant in the squad. It's about time we take him.

I think Pujara is fine at no 3 in India. But his overseas record in pace bowling countries suggests we should not waste opener's slot for him. His average is too low. Just my opinion

[Cricketics]

5 minutes ago, lamellavig said:

I think Pujara is fine at no 3 in India. But his overseas record in pace bowling countries suggests we should not waste opener's slot for him. His average is too low. Just my opinion

Another option which I earlier wanted was Rahane at 3. That was when he was going well in overseas condition back in 2016 when he was our best batsman overseas.

 

We can still use Rahane at 3 if Puajara is ever not available or if they make PUjara open.

 

Rahane will do fine at 3 also as he loves playing shots and he can play well with the new ball too after early wicket fall.  So instead of Iyer trying at 3, we can have Rahane at 3 also down the line and Iyer should earn his way up instead.

[Ankit_sharma03]

Shreyas iyer doesnt have a gr8 technique either, will struggle like dhawan n rohit . He didnt look that gr8 home in LOI against movement well things will get worse against better bowling attacks and those pitches. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

15 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Another option which I earlier wanted was Rahane at 3. That was when he was going well in overseas condition back in 2016 when he was our best batsman overseas.

 

We can still use Rahane at 3 if Puajara is ever not available or if they make PUjara open.

 

Rahane will do fine at 3 also as he loves playing shots and he can play well with the new ball too after early wicket fall.  So instead of Iyer trying at 3, we can have Rahane at 3 also down the line and Iyer should earn his way up instead.

I hve been wanting rahane to bat at 3 overseas for quite a while. Rahane can actually give a tempo to the innings, pujara's options of making runs overseas are so limited which is the reason he has so many starts but only 1 century overseas. Now he has become conscious of his running which will further affects his score and also his partner specially someone like Kohli. 

[Cricketics]

4 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Shreyas iyer doesnt have a gr8 technique either, will struggle like dhawan n rohit . He didnt look that gr8 home in LOI against movement well things will get worse against better bowling attacks and those pitches. 

Pandya didn't have either, he scored in the first innings. If Pandya can score, then top scorers from Ranji can surely score.

 

We must try the top scorers from domestic. We can only hope they adjust the conditions. At some point of time, we have to give chance to such players, whether they do well or not is another thing, but we can't assume they won't do well overseas based on how they look technique wise. I mean Shreyas Iyer doesn't look like a tailender that he doesn't have any chance to score. The guy has amassed plenty of runs. He can be trusted to score overseas. If he doesn't, not worries, it was our tried and test failure, but he must be given a chance.

[Cricketics]

2 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

I hve been wanting rahane to bat at 3 overseas for quite a while. Rahane can actually give a tempo to the innings, pujara's options of making runs overseas are so limited which is the reason he has so many starts but only 1 century overseas. Now he has become conscious of his running which will further affects his score and also his partner specially someone like Kohli. 

Thing is I am a fan of Pujara-Kohli-Rahane at 3-4-5 as it brings great balance to the team. Ideally, I would have played Rahane at 3, especially after his exploits, but we had to go with whats working for the team and so far 3-4-5 has worked, but if Pujara fails in the longer run or if is ever asked to open, Rahane at 3 would be a perfect move for me instead of giving a youngster a chance at 3. I would rather have youngster come at 5 at Rahane's spot and earn his place up and Rahane bat at 3 in that game.

[Deleted_User_1]

58 minutes ago, lamellavig said:

Stick with Lokesh Rahul. Bin Murali Vijay. Overseas tours don't come all the time and when you show yourself to be incompetent and not having learnt anything at the age of 34 you deserve to be binned. The rate of returns from Vijay from this point will objectively be low. No need to waste resources by backing him. 

 

At the same time, Prithvi Shaw (proven in English conditions, absolutely domineered in u19 series in September 2017) and Shreyas Iyer are talents you dont want to waste as openers. Meanwhile, the team number 3 (Pujara) is just not important enough on overseas tours that his position cannot be changed. So why not be flexible in the team's interests? Also ask Pujara to focus on some part time legspin.

 

Play Lokesh Rahul

Pujara

Shreyas

Kohli

Rahane

Shaw

Saha (maybe Pant, but stick with Saha for first 2 tests)

B Kumar

Jadeja

Shami (for 1st test, change to Saini if Shami fails)

Bumrah

 

This team does not waste resources and has no problems in batting (proven youngsters) or bowling. Why Indian fans so complacent with regard to player selection? Why we always clamour for players who are ''in prime'' or ''oldies'' like Vijay? Remember, Aussies sacked Steve Waugh from ODIs when he was no longer good enough. 

One issue with Shaw that I observe by watching videos of his batting is that he has a fairly pronounced and somewhat exaggerated back lift. I do not know if he has played real express bowling (145+ consistently). I do not know just asking. He may struggle bring his bat down on time with highly pronounced back lift especially with extreme pace w/ even subtle movement.

[Ankit_sharma03]

12 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Pandya didn't have either, he scored in the first innings. If Pandya can score, then top scorers from Ranji can surely score.

 

We must try the top scorers from domestic. We can only hope they adjust the conditions. At some point of time, we have to give chance to such players, whether they do well or not is another thing, but we can't assume they won't do well overseas based on how they look technique wise. I mean Shreyas Iyer doesn't look like a tailender that he doesn't have any chance to score. The guy has amassed plenty of runs. He can be trusted to score overseas. If he doesn't, not worries, it was our tried and test failure, but he must be given a chance.

Pandya n iyer role are far diff 

Pandya made runs on a green pitch on A-tour in Aus where Iyer failed

Pandya has made runs against Sa attack in 1st test

Pandya lacks 1st class exp , iyer doesnt so not fair to put both in same category 

Pandya i feel has a gr8 attitude which we see only in a quite a few players. Attitude differs from domestic n international players

Even if we suppose both do equally bad with bat, pandya still can come back n contribute with ball 

 

Now when i see Iyer play

He plays to across which makes him an ideal candidate for LBW . Left arm seamers will exploit this like anything. Many right handers has that issue but iyer has it a lot more

He plays far away from the body to which will give him problem outside off to in overseas.

 

1st someone like anderson will eat him alive 

Then starc n hazelwood

Then boult n southee

 

Iyer is an excellent player of spin infact quite destructive , so ill think about him indian conditions even over rahane but not overseas. 

We did see him bat against SL in Odi series and he didnt give much of confidence when ball moved around 

 

Now ull say many players have weakness, agreed but some has a lot more . 

[Cricketics]

21 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Pandya n iyer role are far diff 

Pandya made runs on a green pitch on A-tour in Aus where Iyer failed

Pandya has made runs against Sa attack in 1st test

Pandya lacks 1st class exp , iyer doesnt so not fair to put both in same category 

Pandya i feel has a gr8 attitude which we see only in a quite a few players. Attitude differs from domestic n international players

Even if we suppose both do equally bad with bat, pandya still can come back n contribute with ball 

 

Now when i see Iyer play

He plays to across which makes him an ideal candidate for LBW . Left arm seamers will exploit this like anything. Many right handers has that issue but iyer has it a lot more

He plays far away from the body to which will give him problem outside off to in overseas.

 

1st someone like anderson will eat him alive 

Then starc n hazelwood

Then boult n southee

 

Iyer is an excellent player of spin infact quite destructive , so ill think about him indian conditions even over rahane but not overseas. 

We did see him bat against SL in Odi series and he didnt give much of confidence when ball moved around 

 

Now ull say many players have weakness, agreed but some has a lot more . 

Those top end series pitches wren’t always green first of all on A tours as they are played in Allan Border fields or other fields.

 

2nd, so down the line you want to never pick Iyer for test even though he is scoring tons of runs in Ranji? Doesn’t that warrant a selection down the line? At least one chance the guy deserves in test cricket after scoring double century against Aus at home. He might fail in overseas but every fails overseas somewhat, so why should we take that as a parameter to never give him a chance in test overseas ever.

[coffee_rules]

Just saw the u19 SF, Shaw is still too young and he should not be rushed to the men's side, let him play some FC cricket.

[Ankit_sharma03]

3 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Those top end series pitches wren’t always green first of all on A tours as they are played in Allan Border fields or other fields.

 

2nd, so down the line you want to never pick Iyer for test even though he is scoring tons of runs in Ranji? Doesn’t that warrant a selection down the line? At least one chance the guy deserves in test cricket after scoring double century against Aus at home. He might fail in overseas but every fails overseas somewhat, so why should we take that as a parameter to never give him a chance in test overseas ever.

Well ill pick Nair 1st 

I also wud want to look at ankit bawane n vijay shankar before saying anything 

 

As of now we are just having overseas tours so lets look at that only. 

IMO ill even take Shubhman gill over iyer and i find Gill better equipped then Iyer for test overseas. Im one of those who doesnt beilve in fast tracking batsman but thats how under confident im about iyer in overseas conditon

 

Neways iyer will have a chance to atleast show his skill in odi in SA, atleast we ll get some idea 

 

 

[Khota]

3 hours ago, lamellavig said:

Stick with Lokesh Rahul. Bin Murali Vijay. Overseas tours don't come all the time and when you show yourself to be incompetent and not having learnt anything at the age of 34 you deserve to be binned. The rate of returns from Vijay from this point will objectively be low. No need to waste resources by backing him. 

 

At the same time, Prithvi Shaw (proven in English conditions, absolutely domineered in u19 series in September 2017) and Shreyas Iyer are talents you dont want to waste as openers. Meanwhile, the team number 3 (Pujara) is just not important enough on overseas tours that his position cannot be changed. So why not be flexible in the team's interests? Also ask Pujara to focus on some part time legspin.

 

Play Lokesh Rahul

Pujara

Shreyas

Kohli

Rahane

Shaw

Saha (maybe Pant, but stick with Saha for first 2 tests)

B Kumar

Jadeja

Shami (for 1st test, change to Saini if Shami fails)

Bumrah

 

This team does not waste resources and has no problems in batting (proven youngsters) or bowling. Why Indian fans so complacent with regard to player selection? Why we always clamour for players who are ''in prime'' or ''oldies'' like Vijay? Remember, Aussies sacked Steve Waugh from ODIs when he was no longer good enough. 

Even if tried I would not have come up with a worst selection.

[Gollum]

Shaw's exaggerated backlift will land him in big trouble against genuine quicks, he isn't ready for international cricket yet like many ICFers are claiming.

[diga]

4 hours ago, coffee_rules said:

Just saw the u19 SF, Shaw is still too young and he should not be rushed to the men's side, let him play some FC cricket.

Dont think he has gone on any A-tours too... 

[lamellavig]

1 hour ago, Gollum said:

Shaw's exaggerated backlift will land him in big trouble against genuine quicks, he isn't ready for international cricket yet like many ICFers are claiming.

Without putting him in international cricket he won't make that correction. Then it will become more serious issue after some time if selection is delayed

[renjith]

Opening

Dhawan should be kicked out asap 

At 34 murali vijays time is up.

Pujaras ultra defensive batting does not suit kohlis game plan. Generally as well at 3 a counter attacking player like ponting is better than an ultra defensive one. Since pujara is a quality player and ultra defensiveness in opening position is kind of OK, it won't be a bad move to try pujara in opening position along with Rahul. 

We need to find one more technically sound opening batsman from samrath, prasanth chopra and panchal. shaw should prove himself in A team before considered for opening.

 

#3

No 3 should always be for the best of the best. Since kohli is already successful at 4, it is better not to break it. best against seam is rahane. So it better to try him at 3. Also positions 5 and 6 should be for trying out new players.

Shreyas iyer has a terrible technique. He is not suited for 1 to 3 positions.

 

#4

Kohli

 

#5

Rohit should be kicked out asap

We should try out players like iyer, karun, vihari, bawne, hooda and high performers from A team in this position. Personally I don't like to see batsmen with poor technique like iyer in test team. But since the best batsman in the world right now has the worst technique, it's better to give these kind of players a chance and then decide.

 

#6

Pandya 

Vijay shankar

Sundar

If we go for 6 batsmen, wild card entries like shaw, gill, anmolpreet, ...

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by renjith

[Nonbeliever]

Nothing will change.  These idiots have lost the series just because of poor selections and planning.  Janta have short memories.  Let us win this test every shameless move of the bevda and King will be forgotten.