Moving on-Kanpur test - Team to beat the saffers

[Ram]

My eleven Sehwag Jaffer Dravid Laxman Ganguly Yuvraj Dhoni Anil Bhajji Sree Ishant.

[OriginalCopy]

To really spook the Saffies, the team should be Sehwag Gambhir Dravid Laxman Ganguly Yuvraj Dhoni Kumble Bhajji Chawla Powar Ofcourse, get some Shiv Sainiks to dig the freakin pitch up, get the curator to loose plaster it, and play on that!

[Zakhmi]

Irfan Pathan's double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets I see that Irfan Pathan brought up the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in his 28th Test. Is that the record for the fewest Tests to reach the double? asked Thomas Redford from New Zealand Irfan Pathan's double, while relatively quick in Test terms, is not quite the fastest of all. Two Indians have done it quicker: Kapil Dev completed the 1000-run/100-wicket double in his 25th Test, while Vinoo Mankad was even faster, at 23. But the quickest of all was England's Ian Botham, who got there in 21 Tests. For a full list of those who have completed the Test double, click here. ^^^ This shows IKP has good appetite of batting, though we need him more as a successful bowler.

[King]

Even Kumble has a 100 overseas, why not use him as the second opener? Rather why not reverse the batting order? Opening is a specialist position, not all tom, dick and harry can go out open and get runs. The regular openers struggle to score consistently then you would pretty much know how much chance Irfan stands? BTW remember the last time he opened the inning against Australia twice?

[diegovegaz]

forget abt pathan opening he'll not even be in the playing 11 he will be doing what he ought to- carry drinks it is his bowling what the team needs he has lost it dhoni can bowl better than pathan

[Kartikey]

As long as he plays, I dont care where he bats.

[Vignesh]

so it will be a flatbed and jaffer will go on to make a 100 again and he will be an automatic pick for the next 2 series or so unfortunately

Agreed 100%

[Shehezaada]

not a bad move....but if we realyy want to try it then it should be given a proper run of atleast 5 test matches

[Bumper]

At home or on flat wickets in general, I'd never play Pathan in a test lineup. If he plays, he must play as a bowler (his form permitting). Anything he does with the bat is a bonus. The situation is Australia was a one-off. We were stuck a sure-failure opener in Jaffer & hence it made sense to play Pathan ahead of him. However in the subcontinent, Pathan is not a straight forward choice. As a bowler, Pathan is a one trick pony who needs suitable conditions to knock out the top order, which means, he is pretty much a useless bowler on these wickets. Pathan averages 50 per wicket in India & 42 in Pakistan (& Pakistan is supposed to be one of the better venues for Pathan as a bowler), i dont see him improving these numbers, unless he adds more ammunition to his bowling.

[Ram]

Dont know about Irfan opening, but Jaffer is really pushing his luck. He didnt set the world on fire in England, failed miserably in Australia and now at the Motera, when the going got tough, he faltered again. He is still a VERY good opening batsman, but he needs to do more than what he is doing right now.

[umpire]

Jaffer is kind of person who gets satisfied easily. One good knock and he thinks he can relax. The guy has severe technique flaw where he opens the face of the bat too soon and is prone to get caught behind the wicket.

[Ram]

Jaffer is kind of person who gets satisfied easily. One good knock and he thinks he can relax. The guy has severe technique flaw where he opens the face of the bat too soon and is prone to get caught behind the wicket.

I dont agree with you saying Jaffer is a complacent batsman. He has got probably one of THE best innings building mentality and appetite I have ever seen. In this day and age of super-attacking impatient batsman, Jaffer's composure and just the way he builds his innings is truly a sight to behold. But, I do agree with you when you say he has some chronic deficiencies in his technique. The worrying part is, he has been CONSTANTLY getting out, nicking the ball outside the off-stump, which seems to suggest as though its an irreparable flaw in his technique, coz he himself would have noticed the trend and would have taken corrective measure, but nothing seems to happening. Jaffer HAS to do something big in this match, all the pressure is on him.

[umpire]

What I meant by complacent is that he does not seem to work hard in nets. If guys keeps commiting same mistake for number of tests, you got to question his attitude. Whenever he gets start, he makes it big one, but those are very far in between. He seems laid back guy. The goal of any batsman is to keep evolving.

[Ram]

What I meant by complacent is that he does not seem to work hard in nets. If guys keeps commiting same mistake for number of tests, you got to question his attitude. Whenever he gets start, he makes it big one, but those are very far in between. He seems laid back guy. The goal of any batsman is to keep evolving.

You gotto be kidding. Jaffer is one of the hardest working men on the circuit. Its evident from the total no-fuss attitude with which he goes about his cricket.And we musnt forget the humble backgrounds from which he came from. He came up the hard way, literally. He knows the value of an India cap and what difference it can make to his life and he will never fritter away a chance to play for Ind due to complacency. Besides, if a player, especially a batsman, can keep coming back into the Indian team, after being dropped so many times in the last few years, then that could only mean he has loads of perseverance and dedication.

[umpire]

>You gotto be kidding. Jaffer is one of the hardest working men on the circuit. Its evident from the total no-fuss with which he goes about his cricket. don't agree, he may have been hard working but it seems after one good innings he loses focus. He had great role models in Dravids, Tendulkars on how to keep focus.

[Akshat]

Kumble has to be fit and in form to beat the opposition this time. And I think 6 batsmen, 4 bowlers theory will do here. Yet, I think Yuvraj won't be a good hit on this dustbowl. We might the grit and graft of Kaif here. For seamers, I just do not which two will emerge fit on the eve of the penultimate day. Don't think we have many choices there.

[Zakhmi]

Not so green, this park Kanpur's Green Park is known to produce more draws than results - 12 in 19 Tests to be precise - but after India's embarrassing submission on a green first-day Ahmedabad pitch, the groundstaff have reportedly prepared a turner to try and suit what has traditionally been India's strength - spin. Trailing 0-1 going into the final Test, India are up against it and may rely on a three-pronged spin attack to level the series. The pitch looks extremely dry and has no grass cover. Anil Kumble and the curator felt it would break as early as the third day and assist spin from there on. Gary Kirsten, India's coach, is reported to have been taken aback by the track on first inspection. If all predictions hold true, neither side will want to bat last. The toss will be extremely crucial. The bounce is expected to be on the lower side which, given Dale Steyn's raw pace, could also work in South Africa's favour. If they win then Graeme Smith will become his country's most successful captain after equalling Hansie Cronje's record of 27 victories in Ahmedabad. South Africa will also be the first side to win in India since Australia in 2004. Injury concerns mean India might end up re-jigging their bowling line-up again. Kumble will play permitting a fitness test on the morning, and if he doesn't make the cut Ramesh Powar could come in as the third spinner to go with Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla. Ishant Sharma's fitness is being monitored and he is the likely candidate to partner Sreesanth with the new ball. Irfan Pathan applied himself excellently with the bat in Ahmedabad but his bowling was pedestrian and could face the axe. Smith is most certain to maintain the winning combination from Ahmedabad. Even though the pitch is expected to assist spin, and they have Robin Pietersen as another left-arm option, South Africa are tipped to play just the one spinner in Paul Harris. India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Anil Kumble (capt), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Ishant Sharma. South Africa (probable): 1 Neil McKenzie, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini. more...

[Vignesh]

My 11 would be Sehwag (He is a certainity) Jaffer (Give Him One Last Chance or drop him for the next series) Laxman (has been better at no 3 than lower down the order Ganguly (he can compete with laxman in running betwee the wickets) Dravid (The wall needs to block his holes in a hurry) Kaif( Technically better than yuvi) Dhoni (no other wicket keeping option) Kumble/Chawla(depending on anil's fitness) Harbhajan (pick of the Indian bowlers so far in this series) Ishant/Munaf(depending on Ishant's Fitness) Pathan(a better batsman than sreesanth...May be a better bowler with the new ball too)

[Zakhmi]

Dont know about Irfan opening, but Jaffer is really pushing his luck. He didnt set the world on fire in England, failed miserably in Australia and now at the Motera, when the going got tough, he faltered again. He is still a VERY good opening batsman, but he needs to do more than what he is doing right now.

Ok...but, this test will be the last chance for both WJ and IKP if they are included in playing 11, if at all!