Moving on-Kanpur test - Team to beat the saffers

[Zakhmi]

bowling combo is almost ready, but what happened about batting inconsistency?

[Chaos]

Irfan has to OPEN Yes, he has way better technique than this looser named jaffer. Pathan looked at so much ease playin fast bowlers than jaffer and co did.

[cochise]

Can't work everyday. You need a specialist opener. Gambhir/Kartik should come in. Maybe even Chopra. But you are right. Jaffer has to go in my opinion. Experts...any opinions?

[Chaos]

Can't work everyday. You need a specialist opener. Gambhir/Kartik should come in. Maybe even Chopra. But you are right. Jaffer has to go in my opinion. Experts...any opinions?

irfan needs to open. He did it in australia and we won the match. Please stick to that option of opening with jaffer and replacing rp with sharma. Sree with some batsman

[Zakhmi]

I think Irfan has a longway to go to become Manoj Prabhakar for us. We need specialist like GG in the opening slot.

[cochise]

Mouni, Irfan made 9 and 0 as test opener in Adelaide. It did not come off. He came in at number 3 in Perth where we won and made 46. It was a makeshift move. He can be much more useful down the order as we saw today. You make him open and you will waste him. Batting against the new ball when the match is done and dusted is different from batting against it when bowlers are opening the innings. Anyhow, that is how I feel. You are entitled to your opinion and maybe you are even right, who knows?

[Cricketics]

personally i really don't want to drop Jaffer from team.. but i think now we would have to and give a chance to Gambhir.. i just hope for our next series that they don't drop jaffer for the lankan tour..i hope they pick jaffer along with Gambhir or Chopra.. for now.. i hope Jaffer get replaced with Chopra/Gambhir for final test

[Cricketics]

Irfan is much better of facing subcontinental bowlers if he opens.. these saf,aus, eng bowlers won't really give him loseners that easily and woudl try to work him over..

[cochise]

personally i really don't want to drop Jaffer from team..

He is too casual at the crease and is getting out softly. I too like to see him bat when he is on song because he is elegant...but he is showing no urgency at all about his batting. Gambhir is aggressive and full of energy...he will complement Sehwag and rotate the strike to...get things going...plus left-right opening combo will break line of openers. fast between wickets too and a good fielder. He might be a good choice. The same can be said of Kartik.

[Sachinism]

Irfan looked very good with the bat in the match, better than most of the "pure" batsmen

[cochise]

However, did you also notice that the quality, energy, intensity and direction of SA bowlers in that spell to Pathan in the second innings with the new ball was not all that impressive as compared to their earlier spells? Probably because the result was a formality and they knew it. So you cannot really judge on that performance. Yes, he played well. But I seriously don't think he can be shifted into opening position for the next test. If he is to be groomed as an opener for the long run and the future, then maybe. But makeshift shuffles like this into a specialised spot will only end in failure, in my opinion. As it did in Adelaide.

[Zakhmi]

Irfan looked very good with the bat in the match' date=' better than most of the "pure" batsmen[/quote'] He is getting shaped into a full-fledge batsman...better than most of the middle order batsman in the world.

But I seriously don't think he can be shifted into opening position for the next test. If he is to be groomed as an opener for the long run and the future' date=' then maybe. But makeshift shuffles like this into a specialised spot will only end in failure, in my opinion. As it did in Adelaide.[/quote'] If you want to try him giving a few continuous chances then, he may get set like an opener. Makeshift placement is not at all good in his favor and in the team's interest.

[Laaloo]

yea if jaffer does not get dropped then players like ghambhir, kartik, and badrinath has every right to bit** and moan hopefully, the selectors send a good message to the domestics by replacing jaffer

[vadodaravictor]

Looked like only Irfan had clue how to bat....I seriously think some thing is wrong within the team. Their body language was similar to World Cup 2007.. Kuch to gadbad hai bhai !

[Laaloo]

Nah man...IPL theory of Ishant's absence does not hold water.

why?? btw wat injury did sharma suffer?

[Dravid]

ok, so the dude has to bowl around 20+ over and thenu want him to open...

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Another makeshhift opener is the last thing we need. I'd like to see Akash Chopra get a chance.

[Laaloo]

ok' date=' so the dude has to bowl around 20+ over and thenu want him to open...[/quote'] aaaah indian fans i tell ya we should have rp singh and bhajji to open the batting and ganguly and sehwag to open the bowling

[THX_1138]

irfan needs to open. He did it in australia and we won the match. Please stick to that option of opening with jaffer and replacing rp with sharma. Sree with some batsman

he scored less than 20 runs in two innings. and on previous occassions where he has been asked to open, he has been dismissed quite easily. not to mention that when we place emphasis on his batting, his bowling declines. a better question would be... does irfan deserve to be in the team? is his bowling that penetrating or his batting that brilliant that he can replace a batsman and a bowler? in test matches he is our very own abdul razzak, cant bowl too well nor can he bat too well, but because he has a few choice exploits in the past, he is still around.

[Rohan495]

Moving on-Kanpur test - Team to beat the saffers My 11 1. Virender Sehwag 2. Gautam Gambhir 3. Rahul Dravid 4. Sourav Ganguly 5. VVS Laxman 6. Mohammad Kaif 7. MS Dhoni 8. Anil Kumble 9. Harbhajan Singh 10. Ishant Sharma 11. Sreesanth