We need more dominating stroke players and more big match / tough situation performers in our team

[express bowling]

The approach of most of our senior batmen is becoming too meek. We seem to be under pressure irrespective of the bowlers bowling or the match situation we are facing. 

 

We are allowing the bowlers to settle into a good line and length by being too defensive. And then we feel the pressure of that accurate bowling. It is like unnecessarily digging a hole and then falling into it time and again. 

 

We were hearing that batting is very tough in the 4th test match pitch. But it did not look so when even Sundar and Axar were batting.

 

Why ?  Because Pant and then Sundar's counter attack had dented the confidence of the English bowlers and messed up their line and length.

 

In most areas of life, in tough situations, it is a matter of mind over matter. But most of our senior batmen are lacking that dominating approach to the situations they are facing. And this is making almost every test match a fight for us.

 

We must think about introducing another fearless strokeplayer like Hardik in our batting line-up in test matches. One of the seniors must be dropped. I know some people will talk about his FC average. But it is not that important as his current batting ability is much better than when he played FC cricket. If Hardik does not provide the answer then some other stroke player can be brought in.

 

Pant has shown what happens when a stroke player is a big match player too. And Sundar has shown what a tough situation player brings to the table. Gill did the same in Australia. We need to look for and back such players. 

 

Gill must play his natural free flowing stroke filled brand of cricket that he displayed in Australia. It looks like he is receiving too much advice to be cautious from the seniors. 

 

I have a lot of respect for Rahane the test captain. But if he is not made the captain then he is not adding a lot of value to this team. 

 

1. Gill

2. Rohit

3. Pujara

4. Kohli

5. Pant ... LHB

6. Hardik

7. Jadeja ... LHB

8. Sundar ... LHB / (  Shardul in swing friendly conditions )

9. Ashwin / ( Siraj in SENA and seam friendly conditions )

10. Shami

11. Bumrah

 

This team will have very deep batting ... lots of stroke-players and tough situation players ... while having lots of high quality bowlers for different conditions.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by express bowling

[zen]

A team should have different type of players (suitable for the conditions) to give a team a Swiss Army like quality 

[Lone Wolf]

21 minutes ago, express bowling said:

The approach of most of our senior batmen is becoming too meek. We seem to be under pressure irrespective of the bowlers bowling or the match situation we are facing. 

 

We are allowing the bowlers to settle into a good line and length by being too defensive. And then we feel the pressure of that accurate bowling. It is like unnecessarily digging a hole and then falling into it time and again. 

 

We were hearing that batting is very tough in the 4th test match pitch. But it did not look so when even Sundar and Axar were batting.

 

Why ?  Because Pant and then Sundar's counter attack had dented the confidence of the English bowlers and messed up their line and length.

 

In most areas of life, in tough situations, it is a matter of mind over matter. But most of our senior batmen are lacking that dominating approach to the situations they are facing. And this is making almost every test match a fight for us.

 

We must think about introducing another fearless strokeplayer like Hardik in our batting line-up in test matches. One of the seniors must be dropped. I know some people will talk about his FC average. But it is not that important as his current batting ability is much better than when he played FC cricket. If Hardik does not provide the answer then some other stroke player can be brought in.

 

Pant has shown what happens when a stroke player is a big match player too. And Sundar has shown what a tough situation player brings to the table. Gill did the same in Australia. We need to look for and back such players. 

 

Gill must play his natural free flowing stroke filled brand of cricket that he displayed in Australia. It looks like he is receiving too much advice to be cautious from the seniors. 

 

I have a lot of respect for Rahane the test captain. But if he is not made the captain then he is not adding a lot of value to this team. 

 

1. Gill

2. Rohit

3. Pujara

4. Kohli

5. Pant ... LHB

6. Hardik

7. Jadeja ... LHB

8. Sundar ... LHB / (  Shardul in swing friendly conditions )

9. Ashwin / ( Siraj in SENA and seam friendly conditions )

10. Shami

11. Bumrah

 

This team will have very deep batting ... lots of stroke-players and tough situation players ... while having lots of high quality bowlers for different conditions.

 

 

agreed except I will dump Pujara & play Rahane at 3..  Rahane looked comfortable till he was out there &,  he is much much superior stroke maker.  Pujara except Australia is very poor.. Now he is missing straight balls at home.  Sorry but he is not good enough. 

[SK_IH]

Just now, Lone Wolf said:

agreed except I will dump Pujara & play Rahane at 3..  Rahane looked comfortable till he was out there &,  he is much much superior stroke maker.  Pujara except Australia is very poor.. Now he is missing straight balls at home.  Sorry but he is not good enough. 

Bhai maaf karo bohat hogaya. Yes Pujara needs to be dropped, he needs to improve his game. But enough of Rahane. Indian cricket has loads of batting talent, we should not compromise for middling batsman like Rahane & make him a certainty. Rahane at 3,4 or 5 will always be an inconsistent batsman with very low ceiling. Anyways I remember he was tried at no.3 in SL once & failed.

[Lone Wolf]

1 minute ago, SK_IH said:

Bhai maaf karo bohat hogaya. Yes Pujara needs to be dropped, he needs to improve his game. But enough of Rahane. Indian cricket has loads of batting talent, we should not compromise for middling batsman like Rahane & make him a certainty. Rahane at 3,4 or 5 will always be an inconsistent batsman with very low ceiling. Anyways I remember he was tried at no.3 in SL once & failed.

It is frustrating but no other decent middle order batters are breaking the door down to kick these guys out..  One option is to groom Sundar for long term goal..  As he has shown the temperament & technique. 

But if you ask me right now Pujara vs Rahane who'll you Take I choose Rahane every single time. 

[SK_IH]

1 minute ago, Lone Wolf said:

It is frustrating but no other decent middle order batters are breaking the door down to kick these guys out..  One option is to groom Sundar for long term goal..  As he has shown the temperament & technique. 

But if you ask me right now Pujara vs Rahane who'll you Take I choose Rahane every single time. 

Gill should be groomed for no.3 slot. Also Vihari anyday ahead of Rahane in the middle order. We have seen the best of Rahane, he does not add anything extra ordinary to Indian batting lineup.

[Vijy]

4 hours ago, SK_IH said:

Gill should be groomed for no.3 slot. Also Vihari anyday ahead of Rahane in the middle order. We have seen the best of Rahane, he does not add anything extra ordinary to Indian batting lineup.

yes, better to go with vihari or try some of the new kids. garg has a good FC record but his technique seems wonky.

[express bowling]

43 minutes ago, Vijy said:

yes, better to go with vihari or try some of the new kids. garg has a good FC record but his technique seems wonky.

 

 

Very few defensive batsmen are averaging high these days. Balls played per innings are decreasing gradually. Maybe T20 is the reason for that.

 

It is better to include stroke players who will score quickly and put the pressure back on the opposition. 

 

Having 2 consolidators in the top 7, is more than enough these days.

 

Let the rest be stroke players who are good against both pace and spin.

 

[Vijy]

59 minutes ago, express bowling said:

 

 

Very few defensive batsmen are averaging high these days. Balls played per innings are decreasing gradually. Maybe T20 is the reason for that.

 

It is better to include stroke players who will score quickly and put the pressure back on the opposition. 

 

Having 2 consolidators in the top 7, is more than enough these days.

 

Let the rest be stroke players who are good against both pace and spin.

 

I don't think we have 2 consolidators in the top 7 once Kohli & Pujara are out of the team. Having 7 Jos Buttlers will be spectacular but is not guaranteed to come off. I think at least 1 Dravid/Pujara type of batsman is needed. I just don't see in domestics who are emerging in this mould. Sundar is the closest and I think he can play in the top order, but identifying one more successor to Rat-Pujara is needed.

[Vilander]

Try Rahul in middle order. Simple he is the best batsman from the country not in the side. Keep it simple.

[rtmohanlal]

Pujara and Rahane should be phased out  at the earliest....  Groom youngsters  for their spots in dead rubbers , weaker opponents, at home etc etc.That is the way to go....

[Vijy]

32 minutes ago, rtmohanlal said:

Pujara and Rahane should be phased out  at the earliest....  Groom youngsters  for their spots in dead rubbers , weaker opponents, at home etc etc.That is the way to go....

kohli is not far behind either. we should look to move gill to 4 and send kohli at 5, where he can "mentor" the next-gen players.

[shami_123]

Rohit

Mayank

Rahul

Kohli

Sundar

Gill

Pant

Jadeja

Ashwin/Siraj/Umesh (Depending on pitch)

Shami

Bumrah

[Ankit_sharma03]

11 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

agreed except I will dump Pujara & play Rahane at 3..  Rahane looked comfortable till he was out there &,  he is much much superior stroke maker.  Pujara except Australia is very poor.. Now he is missing straight balls at home.  Sorry but he is not good enough. 

Honestly even i have been keen to try rahane at 3. 

Never felt 5 suited him as he comes i straight against spinner which is his eternal weakness 

[express bowling]

8 hours ago, Vijy said:

I don't think we have 2 consolidators in the top 7 once Kohli & Pujara are out of the team. Having 7 Jos Buttlers will be spectacular but is not guaranteed to come off. I think at least 1 Dravid/Pujara type of batsman is needed. I just don't see in domestics who are emerging in this mould. Sundar is the closest and I think he can play in the top order, but identifying one more successor to Rat-Pujara is needed.

 

 

Vihari can replace Pujara when he retires.

 

Kohli is not playing his usual attacking game in the last 15 months.

[express bowling]

This innings of 96 not out by Sundar is worth more than a 150+ score in easy batting conditions.

 

He is consistently scoring runs when

a)  his team is in trouble 

b) batting conditions are tough 

c)  top bowlers like Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc, Lyon, Anderson, Broad, Archer etc are bowling.

 

These runs carry much more meaning than big scores in easy conditions and against weak bowlers. 

 

We need to make these kinds of players regulars in our team.

 

 

[Vijy]

6 hours ago, express bowling said:

 

 

Vihari can replace Pujara when he retires.

 

Kohli is not playing his usual attacking game in the last 15 months.

yes, rat needs to be booted soon. he is not a consolidator who can attack when added (a la tendu).