Moving on-South Africa test series squad

[fineleg]

My team (in batting order): XI: Sehwag Jaffer Laxman Tendulkar Ganguly Dravid Dhoni Kumble Zaheer(if fit, else RPS) Ishant Sreesanth ------------------------- Extra 5: Bhajji Badrinath Rohit Sharma RPS(if Zaheer is fit, else Praveen Kumar) KKD

cc1981, Tests are being played in india, hence 2 spinners in 11 likely. Also - RPS higher in pecking order over SS... IMO: pecking order for pacers : ZK, I.S., RP Singh, Sreesanth For Tests in Indian pitches, PK will not be suitable? One other suggestion: Instead of KKD, lets get Akash Chopra or GG as reserve opener.

[Cricketics]

Here is my 15 man squad CHOPRA JAFFER SEHWAG DRAVID LAXMAN TENDULKAR GANGULY DHONI YUVRAJ KUMBLE Murali Karthik ISHANT ZAHEER R.P SINGH SREESANTH

[fineleg]

Here is my 15 man squad CHOPRA JAFFER SEHWAG DRAVID LAXMAN TENDULKAR GANGULY DHONI :hahaha: YUVRAJ ...:hahaha:Test matches KUMBLE Murali Karthik (instead of HS :two_thumbs_up:) ISHANT ZAHEER R.P SINGH SREESANTH

[Cricketics]

yes JUST LIKE IA M GIVING ONE CHANCE TO JAFFER.. BECAUSE HE DESERVZ IT.. SAME THING I AM DOING FOR YUVRAJ.. HE DESERVZ IT TOO.. REGARDLESS OF HOW BADLY HE PERFORMED IN TEST... I REALLY FEEL HIS BATTING CLASS IS RITE THERE FOR TEST CRICKET ALSO.. EVEN THOUGH HE HASN'T DONE MUCH OF A JUSTICE TO HIS TALENT..

[kooljatt]

yes JUST LIKE IA M GIVING ONE CHANCE TO JAFFER.. BECAUSE HE DESERVZ IT.. SAME THING I AM DOING FOR YUVRAJ.. HE DESERVZ IT TOO.. REGARDLESS OF HOW BADLY HE PERFORMED IN TEST... I REALLY FEEL HIS BATTING CLASS IS RITE THERE FOR TEST CRICKET ALSO.. EVEN THOUGH HE HASN'T DONE MUCH OF A JUSTICE TO HIS TALENT..

thaank uuuuuuuuuuuuuu very much.................:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up: :hatsoff::hatsoff::hatsoff:

[fineleg]

Ticz, Anyway I suppose, unless RD and VS are going to open the inn, YS cannot play in the 11?

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Zaheer doubtful for first South Africa Test Zaheer Khan, India's left-arm seamer who is currently recovering from injury, is unlikely to be fit for India's first Test against South Africa, starting on March 26 in Chennai. RP Singh and Rahul Dravid, though, are expected to recover in time. More... Test specialists to undergo routine tests at NCA Zaheer doubtful for first South Africa Test Siddhartha Vaidyanathan March 6, 2008 While Rahul Dravid is expected to be fit for the first Test, Zaheer Khan might struggle to make it © Getty Images Zaheer Khan, India's left-arm seamer who is currently recovering from injury, is unlikely to be fit for India's first Test against South Africa, starting on March 26 in Chennai. India's Test specialists are set to undergo routine fitness tests over the next few days but Zaheer isn't part of the list, it's learnt. Sources have indicated that it's not clear yet if he would be available for any part of the series. "He is currently in South Africa," board secretary Niranjan Shah told Cricinfo. "And we will know the status of the injury in a day or two." Zaheer is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre for Sports Medicine in Johannesburg. Zaheer injured his left heel on the eve of the Sydney Test in early January. It was the same injury that sustained during the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore a month earlier. Meanwhile RP Singh, the other injured left-arm seamer, will undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Friday and Saturday. He had injured his hamstring during the final Test in Adelaide and missed the entire CB Series. RP played a couple of Ranji one-day matches for Uttar Pradesh recently - taking two wickets in each and making good contributions with the bat too. Rahul Dravid was the other injury concern - having damaged his finger during the Adelaide Test - but is expected to be fit for selection. He skipped the South zone Ranji ODI tournament (because he was still in pain) but began training a couple of days ago. He is expected to play a couple of Deodhar Trophy matches for South Zone before the first Test against South Africa in Chennai. Meanwhile India's Test specialists are set to undergo routine tests at the NCA over the next three days. This follows a BCCI policy to have periodic check-ups prior to all selections for players who have been out of action. VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Sourav Ganguly, Dravid, VRV Singh, Pankaj Singh and Anil Kumble haven't been part of the side since the Adelaide Test and will need to go through the paces before their names are cleared for selection. They will undergo tests under Paul Chapman, the trainer at the NCA, Paul Close, the physiotherapist, and Dav Whatmore. The NCA will in turn forward the reports to the board on Saturday. The squad for the first Test will be picked on Sunday in Mumbai.

[Chandan]

Hmm.. Can't say that it is a huge blow to India. But had he been fit and fresh like RPS, it'd have helped immensely. Now we'll have to choose between one of the right handers. It'll be either Sree or Ishant with RPS, if we decide to go with 2 spinners and 2 seamers plan. Anyway, nothing is written about Kumble. How is he? Wasn't he injured in the Adelaide match as well? And are we going to choose Jaffer with Sehwag?

[fineleg]

Well, hope ZK recovers fully and it does not recur again. Yep VS + Jaffer most likely for test-1

[Zakhmi]

Ouh! ZK must get well soon and also he must reduce his weight. Nevertheless, nothing waits and as time slips away, I believe Ishant will have an edge over Sree in place of ZK.

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Selection meeting put off The meeting of the senior selection panel headed by Dilip Vengsarkar, to choose the Indian team for the first Test against South Africa, has been put off from March 9 to March 17, Cricket Board sources said on Thursday. More... Selection meeting put off March 06, 2008 16:02 IST The meeting of the senior selection panel headed by Dilip Vengsarkar, to choose the Indian team for the first Test against South Africa, has been put off from March 9 to March 17, Cricket Board sources said on Thursday. The meeting will now be held in Bangalore instead of Mumbai. "The meeting has been postponed to March 17 and will now be held at Bangalore. The selectors wanted to see performance of players in (some matches of) the Deodhar Trophy before choosing the team," BCCI sources said. Originally, the meeting was to be held in Mumbai but has been moved to Bangalore, one of the three venues to host matches in the Deodhar Trophy inter-zonal limited overs tournament from March 14 to 26. The first India-South Africa Test is scheduled at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium from March 26-30 and the remaining two matches in the rubber are to be played at Ahmedabad (April 3-7) and Kanpur (April 11-15). The Proteas are to arrive in Chennai on March 21. Meanwhile, all the players who were part of the Test squad in Australia but not members of the victorious one-day team, will undergo a fitness-specific assessment in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy on Friday. Skipper Anil Kumble [images], Rahul Dravid [images], Sourav Ganguly [images], VVS Laxman and Wasim Jaffer [images] had returned from Australia at the conclusion of the Test rubber in January-end and will have to undergo the fitness test. Injured speedsters Zaheer Khan [images], who has gone to South Africa for treatment to his ankle, and RP Singh would also have to undergo a similar fitness assessment prior to the selection panel meeting, the sources added.

[Zakhmi]

Well thought Vengy and co. its the matter of opportunity to some deserving talents.

[Sachinism]

Zaheer doubtful for the 1st test

[Sachinism]

OMG! Kaif in there? and Pravin kumar, too. I think Kaif is very well suitable upto domestic cricket. Pravin kumar is an ultimate risk to be taken on home pitches in tests.

P Kumar has an amazing record in the domestic game, in matches that are played on Indian pitches

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My injury has healed, I'm feeling fine - Dravid VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Wasim Jaffer and VRV Singh were among the players who checked in at the National Cricket Academy for the fitness test ahead of the South Africa series in March. More... Gearing up for South Africa My injury has healed, I'm feeling fine - Dravid Cricinfo staff March 6, 2008 Rahul Dravid: On the recovery path © Getty Images Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer and VRV Singh checked in at the National Cricket Academy for the fitness test ahead of the South Africa series, starting on March 26. Over the next few days, Sourav Ganguly, RP Singh and Pankaj Singh will also undergo routine tests. Rahul Dravid, who has been recuperating from a finger injury that he picked up in the Adelaide Test against Australia, was also seen at both the morning and evening nets. "My finger injury has healed and I am feeling fine now," he said. Dravid has not played any competitive cricket since the Australian tour - he didn't turn out for Karnataka in the recent Ranji one-dayers - but has had intensive practice with the bowling machine for the last few days. The tests today - held under the supervision of Paul Chapman, the physical conditioning coach, and Paul Close, the physiotherapist - included skinfolds, bleep tests, repeat sprint and aerobic strength tests. Pankaj was supposed to arrive today but it's learnt that his physio in the Rajasthan Cricket Association wrongly believed that he could issue a fitness certificate himself. Pankaj is carrying a slight niggle in the back and it will be interesting to see how he fares in his fitness test on Friday. While the more well-known bleep test involves short sprints, the aerobic vertical jump test records the difference between the height reached at full stretch with feet on the ground and from a standing jump. The skinfolds test uses callipers to measure body fat. While Laxman, Singh and Jaffer left for the airport to catch their respective flights, Kumble, the local boy, bowled for 30 minutes at the NCA ground. He started off with some spot bowling before using his full regular run-up. As he left the ground, Dravid came in for his evening nets session.

[amits]

pravin kumar has a amazing record in domestic matches in india & after his performance in aus, it will be hard to leave him out of the squad. i wish i could leave out ganguly & dravid from the test squad so that some youngsters could be included. both ganguly & dravid should retire by the time the aus series ends later this year

[Willow_on_fire]

Will Kumble opt for Bhajji for test matches Or drop him and go with piyush Chawla instead? will he let go of his spin twin....:haha:

[King]

Kumble has played Harbhjan regularly. Rahul Dravid wasn't playing Bhajji in test matches and rightly so. I trust Kumble will use the spin twin tactic against anyone at home.

[DomainK]

The place of a leg spinner will be taken my the captain himself. I dont tink Chawla will be giving competition to an off spinner. The roles are quite distinctly different. Now, Kumble has a very wide choice of very good fast bowlers and hence the chances of playing three spinners is low.....unless of course the pitch is complete turner. I do not see much chance of Chawla getting a place.....unless Bhajji puts a very bad show early on.

[diegovegaz]

jaffer/gambhir sehwag dravid laxman sachin saurav dhoni pathan kumble bhajji sreesanth rpsingh\zak whoever is fit badrinath will never get an oppurtunity to play limited overs cricket, there is a crowd there waiting to be tested he shoild be included in the test squad for future grooming