ODI Lineup

[arkay]

I think Twenty20 should be taken as a wakeup call. All the batsmen succumbed to playing shots early on without understanding the conditions. The lack of experience and match practice is going to haunt the Indians if experienced batsmen such as SRT and Sehwag get out early. As much as I would like Tendulkar to open with Sehwag, I think we need to think about the batting order considering the situation. It makes sense for Tendulkar to come in the middle order as the current middle order is weak and needs to build the innings rather than slog. If we bring Uthappa / Dhoni early in the innings, we would expose the tail early. I also think Pathan should shield the youngsters early on. If there are early fall of wickets, if we expose the likes of uthappa / rohit sharma, they would succumb to pressure and fold like pack of cards. Here is my line up for 1st odi 1. Sehwag 2. Gambhiir (Should not be the aggressor) 3. Pathan (Should come in early if there is an early loss of wickets. Pathan should not be an aggressor. He has spent some time in the middle and plays sensible rather than wild slog) 4. Sachin (May need to look if it makes sense for sachin to up in the order if we chase. Sachin takes too much pressure on himself when we chase) 5. Rohit Sharma 6. Uthappa / Yuvi 7. Dhoni 8. Praveen 9. Bhaji 10. Sharma 11. Sreeshanth If the team gets accustomed to conditions and are confident, we can relook at the batting order. Atleast for the initial couple of matches, we need to bring solidarity into the top order and middle order.

[talksport]

Big Century Makers at the top of the Order Sachin Sehwag Yuvraj Dhoni is my ideal top 4

[Mr. Wicket]

Sachin is the best opening batsman one day cricket has ever seen. Keep him there. I'd pair him with Sehwag just because the other alternatives - Gambhir and Karthik - simply aren't good enough to cut it. For the middle order, I'd go with Yuvraj (Tiwari if he's not fit), Raina, Rohit, Uthappa and Dhoni with a four man attack of Chawla, Irfan, Ishant and Sreesanth.

[bunny]

Yuvraj's not a 1-down player. And that's the problem with this batting lineup and even with our 20-20 lineup. Maybe IP needs to come 1-down and provide some stability (what does that say about the rest ;)

[Grim Reaper]

So long as our Batting lineup is low on youngsters, I'm glad.

[yoda]

Sehwag down the order. Open with SRT and Gambhir.

[Anakin]

Dropping SCG would come back and bite us. You need experience in Australia, youthful exuberance is not enough.

[Laaloo]

i think we should have picked laxman or dravid on this tour we really need 2 senior players in the team that number 3 position will keep on coming back to haunt us hopefully we find a permanent number 3 after the series and that dhoni and team india stop the experiments

[Mr. Wicket]

Dropping SCG would come back and bite us. You need experience in Australia' date=' youthful exuberance is not enough.[/quote'] More than experience or exuberance, you need real guts. Ganguly has it. Gambhir doesn't. If they wanted runs from Gambhir, they could have waited for the home series on flat tracks where he'll at least average a still-mediocre 30, or for the series v. Bangladesh or Zimbabwe where he'll fill his boots. Pick guys like Kaif, Ganguly for this series who have the toughness to succeed vs. Aus in these conditions. On the flip side, we'll see whether the likes of Uthappa, Raina and Rohit Sharma can fit in that bracket by the end of this series.

[Shehezaada]

I agree with Salil. Tendulkar needs to open, and he's in red hot form as it is. With him and Sehwag being the best runners between the wickets we have, that's also crucial. They also can hit the ball a long way. Sachin Tendulkar Virender Sehwag Robin Uthhapa Yuvraj Singh Gautam Gambhir Rohit Sharma Mahendra Singh Dhoni Irfan Pathan Harbhajan Singh Ishant Sharma Sreesanth

[Mr. Wicket]

The other thing with Tendulkar opening is that it gives you the chance to take the attack to Australia, given present form. What's better for the team: Tendulkar coming out and facing the new ball with the field in and the chance to impose himself on the bowlers at 0/0? or Tendulkar walking in at 15/2 after 6 overs after Gambhir and Karthik have again choked and run away, with Lee and Bracken well set, bowling with rhythm and the Aussies attacking with plenty of momentum?

[Anakin]

Uthappa and GG will be exposed cruelly in this series.

[diegovegaz]

with recording a blunder, the odi line-up should b more deeply planned sehwag gambhir raina sachin (middle order needs him, after 2day's failiure it is certain to have him at 4) yuvraj(if fit, i.e. after 2nd odi) dhoni (rohit if yuvi not fit) pathan harbhajan piyush sreesanth munaf (5 bowler should definately b selected) sachin opening is another view, but if india lose him early, the match is half-lost sehwag n gambhir can do well if they just don't try 2 do what they tried doing 2day

[msb1991]

1. Sachin Tendulkar 2. Virender Sehwag 3. Irfan Pathan (India really need a settled ODI number three) 4. Suresh Raina (NB) 5. Rohit Sharma (NB) 6. MS Dhoni (capt&wk) 7. Robin Uthappa (future opener, but has excelled at seven) 8. Praveen Kumar 9. Harbhajan Singh 10. Sreesanth 11. Munaf Patel NB: The worst of the noted players should be replaced by Yuvraj Singh when he is fit. Ok, I have picked the team with some thought. No Gautam Gambhir simply due to his appalling ODI record in a fair few games. Poor strike rate, poorer average - how can he be persevered with? He has not even done well in domestic one day games. Irfan Pathan at three is not ideal, I would have Yuvraj Singh at three when he comes back but Pathan averages 30 at three and has three fifties there. He also has three ducks there, but that is neither here nor there. Raina and Sharma are pretty self explanitory. Dhoni at six and Uthappa at seven simply because he has excelled there as a chasing finisher and a quick runs at the end finisher. Kumar has to be there, he is top stuff with the new ball in domestics and gets a ton of swing from what I have seen - good batting in depth too. Harbhajan is a good container in the middle order and could work well with Sreesanth in the middle overs. Of course, it could go horribly wrong, but that is the risk. Sreesanth in for wicket taking ability, but should be on short lease. Munaf over Ishant was not an easy choice. I guess Munaf's proven record at international level did it for me, but Ishant's fielding and great bowling in the Test series (especially the economy), leads me to think he may be the better choice. I'm really not sure about that one. I think that the quick Aussie pitches may really do his type of stump to stump bowling well.

[Dravid]

sachin sehwag uthappa yuvi rohit dhoni kkd pathan kumar bhajji sree

[DesiChap]

Sachin Gambhir Sehwag Yuvi Rohit MSD RU Pathan P Kumar Bhajji Sree

[Kartikey]

1. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 2. Veeru 3. Gambhir 4. yuvraj 5. uthappa 6. dhoni 7. karthik 8. Irfan (he can go higher up according to the situation) 9. Bhajji 10. Sreesanth 11. Ishant

[fineleg]

Uthappa and GG will be exposed cruelly in this series.

Either they do well and stay, or it is better they are exposed clearly, and we can throw them out of the squad for the next year or two. This series should swing it one way or the other. No middle ground, seedha saadha 25-ish scores.

[guju24]

this series is really a TASK for youngster of our indian cricket who picked for this series...if they fail then they should be out untill they perform in domestic and other players like pujara, badri, yousuf should get chance...big series for, GG, utthappa, rohit, raina, munaf(if in 11), ishant and sreesanth...

[Guest Hiten.]

Uthappa and GG will be exposed cruelly in this series.

I have always believed that Uthappa relies on talking about being "aggressive" rather than his batting skills. I have got this weird feeling about him failing miserably in this series. I will be more than happy if he proves me wrong.