Verdict on Iyer-KL duo?

[Gollum]

Have we finally nailed our middle order in ODIs? Keeping in mind that next WC will be in India and both have secondary skill....eager to see Iyer bowl. Should be in their prime age in 2023. 

 

Iyer:

- high tempo, 100+ SR for #4 is good esp with his 50 avg

- spin killer

- good temperament

- six hitter

- ability to find gaps

- survivor, even if he looks hopelessly out of his depth somehow manages to not give it away.....Steve Waugh had that quality, will help in high pressure KO matches 

- should thrive in Indian conditions

 

KLR:

- 360 game

- lesser the time to think, more effective he is

- if he is going to keep (more flexibility/balance to the XI) opening may be too tough on the body...so we extract the best out of him as #5/keeper. Many other excellent top order candidates as well

- consistent

- six hitter

- very good against pace

- explosive...tremendous potential is there, I mean the Butler/ABDV class once his inner beast awakens

- finally looks assured

 

Of course they can improve in some ways, like Iyer's handling of short-pitched stuff, conversion to 100s etc. For KL->better strike rotation against spinners, not getting stuck in first 10-15 balls, not throwing it away....these can be corrected with more experience. More they play together better will be their running between the wickets and maturity to close out the innings, finish matches. 

 

Find of this series for me, finally we have a MO that can be developed into a match winning machine. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Gollum

[Global.Baba]

Actually another guy who has impressed me and turned it around is Pandey. I think he is a good back up for Iyer. I think the trio of Pandey-Iyer-Rahul has added good depth to the side. Rahul can keep so added bonus. Wish one of them bowled though.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Global.Baba

[Gollum]

1 minute ago, Global.Baba said:

Actually another guy who has impressed me and turned it around is Pandey. I think he is a good back up for Iyer. I think the trio of Pandey-Iyer-Rahul has added good depth to the side. Rahul can keep so added bonus. Wish one of them bowled though.

Iyer is working on his leg spin in the nets, want to see the captain trust him more.  

[SUMO]

Yes, need one more yuvi/maxwell/stokes/miller/buttler like dasher at no.6 who can hit pacers.
With pandya at no. 7 (hopefully he bowls well after injury) we can have gun batting line up.

[Global.Baba]

Just now, Gollum said:

Iyer is working on his leg spin in the nets, want to see the captain trust him more.  

Iyer part time bowler, Rahul Keeper and Pandey world class fielder that would be the right the recipe to make this team unbeatable.

 

 

[Gollum]

1 minute ago, SUMO said:

Yes, need one more yuvi/maxwell/stokes/miller/buttler like dasher at no.6 who can hit pacers.
With pandya at no. 7 (hopefully he bowls well after injury) we can have gun batting line up.

Hope Pant is the answer to that, must not lose faith, he is just 22.

 

[Global.Baba]

3 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Hope Pant is the answer to that, must not lose faith, he is just 22.

 

Problem is Rahul has officially become a Super star from  this series.

 

He is a keeper bat now in LOIs. 
 

Rahul is not going anywhere now.

 

So playing Pant or Rahul purely as a bat means losing out on an extra option. The TM will be tempted to  balance it out with an extra Pure  batsman or an allrounder.

 

Bad luck for Pant and also TM has screwed him over but on the bright side Rahul has become a fixture as a keeper bat

Edited February 11, 2020 by Global.Baba

[Gollum]

Important thing is they must be allowed to fail, give them a continuous run for min 40 matches in fixed positions since no big tournament in next 3 years. Allow them to experiment, explore, face different match situations: recovering from 20/3 or final flourish at 300/3, they will only learn with experience. Yuvi-MS didn't become that beastly duo overnight. 

[Gollum]

2 minutes ago, Global.Baba said:

Problem is Rahul has officially become a Super star from  this series.

 

He is a keeper bat now in LOIs. 
 

Rahul is not going anywhere now.

 

So playing Pant or Rahul purely as a bat means losing out on an extra option. The TM will be tempted to  balance it out with an extra Pure  batsman or an allrounder.

 

Bad luck for Pant and also TM has screwed him over but on the bright side Rahul has become a fixture as a keeper bat

Right but they have enough time to figure that out. I fear mental disintegration of Pant is complete. Anyway we have a large enough talent pool. 

[Vilander]

KLR has become what everyone thought Pant is going to become.

 

Iyer has helped his case.

[Stradlater]

Wish Rahul could replicate this success in the longer format of the game. Have always been a fan of his batting style. Could prove to be a trump card for us in the longer run keeping in mind the ongoing test championship. 

[SUMO]

8 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Hope Pant is the answer to that, must not lose faith, he is just 22.

 

If we can't find one like the examples I mentioned, Pant is the best.

[Cricwala]

these two should have been brought together at 4 & 5 right after CT final in  2017 - they were ready even back then. But Brat preferred wasting time with Rayudu, Karthik, Jadhav (Iyer can deliver equally as a bowler, just needs to be given the target & confidence). A poor run and who knows, there heads cld be on chopping block again

[sandeep]

Iyer is a modern LOI bat, which is an upgrade from the likes of Rayudu, even Manish Pandey.  Although the latter is more solid and reliable than Shreyas, who instinctively bats at a higher level of risk.  

 

In an alternate universe, I would have loved to see Virat drop down to #4, to accomodate Rahul in the top 3.  Even at #3 he would be a better fit than at #5.  As good as Rahul is, I'd rather have him at #5 than not at all.  

 

 

[velu]

both sealed their spots for another 15/20 games .. 

drop pandey  

[jusarrived]

42 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Iyer is a modern LOI bat, which is an upgrade from the likes of Rayudu, even Manish Pandey.  Although the latter is more solid and reliable than Shreyas, who instinctively bats at a higher level of risk.  

 

In an alternate universe, I would have loved to see Virat drop down to #4, to accomodate Rahul in the top 3.  Even at #3 he would be a better fit than at #5.  As good as Rahul is, I'd rather have him at #5 than not at all.  

 

 

I wanted Virat to drop down the order since Dhoni’s decline , think it would have helped the team lot more and most likely we would not have lost all the big ICC KO games , but at this point I prefer KL at 5 and Virat can stay at 3 . 
 

KL has an outside chance at greatness batting at 5 , if he has a good 4-5 years and wins us matches regularly imo . If he opens , he will just be another top order bat with inflated stats . I think he can end with 50+ avg and 100-110 sr , which will win us lot more matches than he could at the top .No specialist opener has ever dropped down the order and has been successful, would be great if KL can do that . 

[Autonomous]

I think Dhawan should retire now. Shaw and Rohit should open. India then will have a settled top 6. 

 

Shaw

Rohit

Kohli

Iyer

Rahul

Baby Sitter

Edited February 11, 2020 by Autonomous

[Gollum]

What are the odds of TM changing #4 and #5 slots in the next ODI against RSA? 

[jusarrived]

1 hour ago, Global.Baba said:

Problem is Rahul has officially become a Super star from  this series.

 

He is a keeper bat now in LOIs. 
 

Rahul is not going anywhere now.

 

So playing Pant or Rahul purely as a bat means losing out on an extra option. The TM will be tempted to  balance it out with an extra Pure  batsman or an allrounder.

 

Bad luck for Pant and also TM has screwed him over but on the bright side Rahul has become a fixture as a keeper bat

Pant can still open imo , always thought he was better suited there with his approach.  

Am still not sold on Iyer , happy if am proven wrong but I don’t like batsmen who play such high risk shots even for singles . He’s mentally strong and a busy player , but every few have survived with that technique. 
 

Pant/Shaw

Rohit 

Virat/Gill

Sarfraz 

KL

????

Pandya 

 

This is the linup I would like to see , with Rohit and Virat skipping few bilaterals next 2 years in rotation . Just the big hitting no6 , am not sure as yet .

 

 

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

One should bat as an opener, other at 3. Let Kohli move to 4 or at 5 to be the finisher. He has to adjust, in any case, at 3, besides scoring lots of runs in bilaterals, he’s been average in global tournaments. If we have to win those trophies, the approach and strategy has to change. Who better than the world’s best to shoulder the responsibilities of building innings or finishing games at 4/5, preferably number 5.
 

Rahul at 5 is a complete waste of his talent. Give him the freedom at the top and let him reel in the big 100s he’s fully capable of.