Pandya with our tailenders

[SK_IH]

11 minutes ago, raki05 said:

Which is something in my opinion is defensive approach. Shami and Bumrah are best bait in terms of wkt taking option. Bhuvi should play but only as a 3rd fast bowler. I think other than eng and aus the bowling attack of shami, bumrah,bhuvi, pandya and kuli/chahl can take care of all batting lineup and it will also give an option to play an extra batsman or 3d player 

lets see what we see on the field, Kohli can show his finger to one and all and play phoney Jadeja instead 

[sandeep]

9 hours ago, Gollum said:

"Career management" is the correct diagnosis for our perils. Our WC chances have been compromised at the altar of selfishness of our top 3. All their meaningless stats boosting is unlikely to help us win something that justifies our production talent and resources. So much batting depth/talent we have, such amazing strokeplayers/bashers waiting in the wings but we are unable to maximize our potential...this is more infuriating than having a poor batting unit, like we had in the 90s. Can't fathom how people are being taken for a ride by our top 3 and the passive TM. 

I hate to draw cynical conclusions without explicit evidence.  But if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....

 

Its not like I expect or demand to have India win the WC. But when you can see, plain as day, that the team has refused to build the best possible team and squad over the last 2 years, in spite of having all the resources in the world on a platter - financial, facilities, talented player pool etc.  Its really disappointing and frustrating.  

 

Its been known for 2 years now that Hardik Pandya has batting potential, and may (or may not) be able to bat higher in ODIs.  It was an obvious call to give him 10 games at that spot over the last 15 months.  It has also been obvious that he is not a 10 over bowler, and India need more than Kedhar Jadhav as an option for that 6th bowler.  At least for the squad if not for the XI.  Why did the team not try Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, K Goutham or someone like that - a guy who could give you solid 5+ overs and give you a bit of thump down the order with some semblance of batting ability - i.e. what Jadeja could/should have been.  

 

I love Jadeja.  He's a world class test bowler and allrounder.  Love his fielding.  But we know what he can, and cannot do in white ball cricket.  Settling for him as the back-up/alternative spinner option in the WC squad is bullshit.  Imagine having a Moeen Ali type of player in our squad instead of Jadeja.  You think Indian talent pool doesn't have that type of skillset available - ghanta banjo.  Hasn't been scouted, groomed and developed.  

 

Imagine an Indian team that wasn't over-dependent on Hardik Pandya for the allrounder role and power-hitting.  Win or lose, that was the best possible squad to build for.  

[bahubali]

15 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Moeen Ali type

I think Abhishek Sharma or Ankul Roy can be groomed to be like him. I have high expectations from Abhishek.

[Pollack]

I think DK is in good form. Can we try him at 4 instead of Shankar? 

[Pollack]

Inability by our tail to use the long handle pisses me off. 

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, bahubali said:

I think Abhishek Sharma or Ankul Roy can be groomed to be like him. I have high expectations from Abhishek.

The strength of those early 2000s Australian team wasn't just that they had world class players on both sides of the ball - i.e. McGrath warne, hayden, gilly etc. That team used its core all-star strength to get the maximum value out of players like Andy Bichel, etc.  This Indian team is blessed with the likes of Virat, Bumrah, Bhuvi, Rohit - There is no reason that guys like K Goutham, manish pandey etc could not have done well if put in proper positions to succeed.  But the "seniority" infection in Indian cricket has deep roots.  This selection committee has made it its guiding mission to give 'second chances' to guys who have been on the fringes.  That's not a bad thought.  But it has singularly lacked in pro-active team building, vision and foresight.  

 

And Kuptaan Wrogn is part of the problem.  I used to think it was greybeard and his conservative captaincy that was the cause of Indian team mgmt's failure to adapt to the changes in ODI batting.  But Kuptaan Wrogn has doubled down on it.  And its not a co-incidence that the team's preferred strategy quite conveniently favors making super-stars out of the top 3 batting slots, while leaving the risk burden on the rest of the team.  Team fails to chase totals?  middle order is 'inconsistent'.  Team fails to defend 320?  Bowlers didn't do their job.  And you will have simpletons all over India buying the bullshit.  Even on ICF there are a few who think 300 is a winning total batting first in ODIs. 

 

350 is the new 300.  And India is a solid 30 runs behind the curve.  Its deja vu all over again.  From a team mindset and batting output perspective.  Indian team in the late 90s was un-athletic in running between the wickets, and consistently passed up the opportunity to add easy 20 runs to their totals.  Only Sachin and Veeru were smart and fast enough to pinching singles and 2s.  And they were the outliers.  Today, our batting style looks similarly dated and behind the curve.  We'll catch up in a couple of years.  But this world cup would have been ours for the taking, if only the team had addressed a few minor weaknesses in the XI, which were well within reach.  

[sandeep]

34 minutes ago, Pollack said:

Inability by our tail to use the long handle pisses me off. 

wrong target for frustration.  Blame the captain, coach, selection committee, for making conscious choice to stick with a keeper-bat whose power hitting is a shadow of what it once was, and refusal to groom and prepare a legit #7 ODI player who can hit the ball, and bowl 5-7 overs. In addition to Pandya that is.

[Gollum]

2 hours ago, Pollack said:

I think DK is in good form. Can we try him at 4 instead of Shankar? 

DK is strictly a T20 player, doesn't have the attention span to be #4 in 50 overs game. Don't take IPL too seriously, otherwise we have a bigger concern in Kuldeep, likewise Stokes/Kane/Smith for their respective teams. 

ODI selection should be judged based on ODI performances, not T20s. Shankar did well in the limited opportunities he got.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Gollum

[vvvslaxman]

This Shami Bumrah Chahal kuldeep can’t they spend time practicing batting 

[Gollum]

Earlier I thought Kuldeep had some ability, but even he turned out to be useless with the bat. Also our 4 best bowlers Kulcha, Shami, Bumrah are terrible fielders . Why are we producing so many 1D cricketers these days? 2D bhi chalega. 

[vvvslaxman]

34 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Earlier I thought Kuldeep had some ability, but even he turned out to be useless with the bat. Also our 4 best bowlers Kulcha, Shami, Bumrah are terrible fielders . Why are we producing so many 1D cricketers these days? 2D bhi chalega. 

Yup. A gun fielding unit can also put immense pressure on batting side. This is why i am so skeptical. Our performance range is going to be far more than ever. It can be utterly mediocre or out of the world or anything in between depending on which department sucks more.

[Sooda]

On 4/28/2019 at 11:46 PM, vvvslaxman said:

Dhawan/Rohit/Kohil will form top 3. Won't change unless someone gets injured. Dhoni at 4 is not sure will work out. He will waste so many balls in that position. You would want someone who rotate strike. I am thinking KL Rahul is not such a bad choice. Dhoni at 5 or 6 depending on when the wicket falls. 

:) but unfortunately that is a problem that is even bigger one the lower down he bats. I would like KL at 3 and Virat at 4, wont happen I know. KL should have been given a long run at 4, too late now

[Sonix768]

Come to think of it, the tail of Kuldeep, Chahal, Shami, Bumrah can be cleaned out in a single Rabada/Starc over.  Guess we are the only team who couldnt be trusted to chase even 25 runs when 6th wicket fall :(

Edited May 2, 2019 by Sonix768

[diehardpacer]

KLR at 4 and Pandya at 5 will be good for the memes.

[Vijy]

On 4/29/2019 at 9:21 AM, sandeep said:

I hate to draw cynical conclusions without explicit evidence.  But if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....

 

Its not like I expect or demand to have India win the WC. But when you can see, plain as day, that the team has refused to build the best possible team and squad over the last 2 years, in spite of having all the resources in the world on a platter - financial, facilities, talented player pool etc.  Its really disappointing and frustrating.  

  

Its been known for 2 years now that Hardik Pandya has batting potential, and may (or may not) be able to bat higher in ODIs.  It was an obvious call to give him 10 games at that spot over the last 15 months.  It has also been obvious that he is not a 10 over bowler, and India need more than Kedhar Jadhav as an option for that 6th bowler.  At least for the squad if not for the XI.  Why did the team not try Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, K Goutham or someone like that - a guy who could give you solid 5+ overs and give you a bit of thump down the order with some semblance of batting ability - i.e. what Jadeja could/should have been.  

 

I love Jadeja.  He's a world class test bowler and allrounder.  Love his fielding.  But we know what he can, and cannot do in white ball cricket.  Settling for him as the back-up/alternative spinner option in the WC squad is bullshit.  Imagine having a Moeen Ali type of player in our squad instead of Jadeja.  You think Indian talent pool doesn't have that type of skillset available - ghanta banjo.  Hasn't been scouted, groomed and developed.   

 

Imagine an Indian team that wasn't over-dependent on Hardik Pandya for the allrounder role and power-hitting.  Win or lose, that was the best possible squad to build for.  

Yes, so many opportunities missed. If proper grooming and selection had been done, we'd have given more opportunities to Pant, Iyer and Gill (maybe Pandey as well), sent Hardik up the order, given opportunities to Krunal, Gopal, etc. Coming to bowlers: Saini. Glad that Gopal has done well this IPL. If groomed well, I think he and Hardik can both play in the XI.

 

As you pointed out, I cannot believe how many 1D players this team is carrying. None of bowlers can bat, and most are either poor or average fielders. Coming to batsmen, not one of them (barring Jadhav) can deliver 4-5 overs occasionally, unlike the old days where we had Sachin, Viru, Ganguly and of course Yuvi.

 

The 90's team was truly pathetic, and if it plays this team, they would lose, but I feel they would not lose by much. Even that team had some good batsmen (SRT, Azhar, Ajay Jadeja, Ganguly, etc), some of whom were very good fielders.

[vvvslaxman]

Our fears are coming true.

[vvvslaxman]

INdia must need DK for finishing. Pandya doesn't finish well against seamers. DK is the only good finisher against fast bowlers.

[R!TTER]

Injure Dhoni, a stray rock pebble or ball ala Mcgrath, bring in SD with pain killers if need be - win win as the Chini say 

[chewy]

More like concern is, how Pandya will manage batting with Dhoni