India playing XI for first test vs SA

[Majestic]

Now that the conditions will be overcast as there are predictions for rain in the first two days, should India go with five bowlers and 6 batsmen combination or with no Jadeja there, should it be 7 batsman + 4 bowlers combination?

 

At this stage, I would probably go with the latter because

 

1. SA conditions are known to be bowling friendly and with overcast conditions, it will be assisting the bowlers from both sides a bit more.

 

2. Indian batting is pretty weak and in these conditions, Mayank, Iyer and Pant have found things tough in terms of their feet movement or shot selection on green pitches. The middle order is a huge concern and is in terrible form over the past two years. Ashwin the bat isn't the same in SENA either.

 

3. SA batting is pretty average too. They don't have any big name in this team and although they have some good players but none average close to 45 in Test cricket. Moreover, their strength is their bowling. Someone like Rabada who is a proven performer might step up a bit more knowing he is up against the side that is regarded as the best of this generation. Others including the bouncer specialist, Olivier is pretty capable of running through our weak batting lineup in these conditions.

 

My team would be :-

 

KL Rahul

Mayank Agarwal

Cheteshwar Pujara

Virat Kohli(c)

Ajinkya Rahane

Hanuma Vihari( batting + bit of spin)

Rishabh Pant(wkt)

Ravichandran Ashwin

Mohammad Shami

Jasprit Bumrah

Mohammad Siraj

 

 

 

 

 

[Lord]

Thakur ahead of Rahane will give equal/more batting plus bowling 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Lord

[Majestic]

3 minutes ago, Lord said:

Thakur ahead of Rahane will give equal/more batting plus bowling 

Rahane was good in WTC Final and has a great record in South Africa. Purely on batting, just pick him and if he fails,just get over him.

 

Shardul is good but let's be honest, he is riding his luck only with bat currently and things can change anytime. 

[vvvslaxman]

33 minutes ago, Lord said:

Thakur ahead of Rahane will give equal/more batting plus bowling 

 

It will strengthen the batting actually lol

[tweaker]

Virat will go for experience and will select Ishant ahead of Siraj.

Virat will play Vihari instead of Shardul.

Most likely team

 

Rahul

Mayank

Pujara

Virat

Rahane

Vihari

Pant

Ashwin

Shami

Ishant

Bumrah

[AKane]

8 hours ago, Majestic said:

Shardul is good but let's be honest, he is riding his luck only with bat currently and things can change anytime. 

 

Well lets really be honest then

 

Thakur has 14 wkts in 4 matches and averages 22.71 per wicket.

 

you were saying riding his luck with bat - okay - and riding luck with the ball too I presume then?

[Majestic]

32 minutes ago, AKane said:

 

Well lets really be honest then

 

Thakur has 14 wkts in 4 matches and averages 22.71 per wicket.

 

you were saying riding his luck with bat - okay - and riding luck with the ball too I presume then?

Shardul is a bowling A/R. He is not expected to maintain a batting average of 37-38. He got couple of vital fifties but does he get into the side purely as a batter ahead of Rahane, Vihari or Iyer?

 

The answer is No. Yes, on a given day, he can obviously score more runs than them but you don't pick players based on that hope. 

 

Next question is does he get into the team ahead of Bumrah, Shami and Siraj? No. Stats may say he averages 22 while Siraj averages 27 but clearly that doesn't mean Shardul a better bowler than Siraj. Stats with such low sample can be misleading.

 

Now, my point is about the balance in the team. It is raining and the conditions are expected to be overcast. If you play 5 bowlers, there is a great chance that your fifth bowler (Shardul) may not be reqd. to bowl even 5 overs( SA batting is also weak with no 45+ averaging batsman).

 

Hence, in this case why not pick 7 proper batsman( including keeper bat) and elongate our batting lineup. Vihari can be fifth bowler if all he needs is to bowl 3-4 overs.

[express bowling]

My preferred Playing 11  (  given the constraints due to squad selection and injuries  )

 

1. Rahul

2. Mayank

3. Pujara

4. Kohli

5. Shreyas

6. Pant

7. Ashwin

8. Shardul

9. Shami

10. Bumrah

11. Siraj 

[AKane]

6 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Shardul is a bowling A/R. He is not expected to maintain a batting average of 37-38. He got couple of vital fifties but does he get into the side purely as a batter ahead of Rahane, Vihari or Iyer?

 

The answer is No. Yes, on a given day, he can obviously score more runs than them but you don't pick players based on that hope. 

 

Next question is does he get into the team ahead of Bumrah, Shami and Siraj? No. Stats may say he averages 22 while Siraj averages 27 but clearly that doesn't mean Shardul a better bowler than Siraj. Stats with such low sample can be misleading.

 

Now, my point is about the balance in the team. It is raining and the conditions are expected to be overcast. If you play 5 bowlers, there is a great chance that your fifth bowler (Shardul) may not be reqd. to bowl even 5 overs( SA batting is also weak with no 45+ averaging batsman).

 

Hence, in this case why not pick 7 proper batsman( including keeper bat) and elongate our batting lineup. Vihari can be fifth bowler if all he needs is to bowl 3-4 overs.

 

So Shardul does not inspire any confidence with bat and ball.....I must agree with that. He also seemed to have lost some pace in England.

 

But we will see about Rahane, Vihari, Iyer and even Mayank and KL if it is raining and overcast vs the SA prime attack ( not SA-A team ) at Centurion. Good luck to them. Also am looking forward to the sub 45 averaging Elgar, Markram, Rassie and Quinton vs Shami and co.

[vishalvirsingh]

2 hours ago, tweaker said:

Virat will go for experience and will select Ishant ahead of Siraj.

Virat will play Vihari instead of Shardul.

Most likely team

 

Rahul

Mayank

Pujara

Virat

Rahane

Vihari

Pant

Ashwin

Shami

Ishant

Bumrah

Siraj got 3 wickets against newzealand on a Patta. Siraj will play all tests in africa ahead of ISHANT.

there is no comparison- one guy is bowling at 138 to 149K speed on indian wickets with immaculate control over line n length.

 

SIRAJ and BOOM will be INDIA's Main wicket takers in this series.

 

my team would be 

 

mayank

KL

Pujara

Virat

shreyas

Hanuma

Pant

ASHwin but if Pitch is fully green then Shardul.

boom

shammi 

siraj

 

[Majestic]

26 minutes ago, AKane said:

 

So Shardul does not inspire any confidence with bat and ball.....I must agree with that. He also seemed to have lost some pace in England.

 

But we will see about Rahane, Vihari, Iyer and even Mayank and KL if it is raining and overcast vs the SA prime attack ( not SA-A team ) at Centurion. Good luck to them. Also am looking forward to the sub 45 averaging Elgar, Markram, Rassie and Quinton vs Shami and co.

Again, it is not about Shardul. He is good no doubt but it is about balance.

 

In WTC Final, Jadeja the fifth bowler barely bowled enough overs. But still picking Jadeja as pure bat on current form was fine.

 

However, if you are picking Shardul and Ashwin together, I would say you are risking batting a lot. Ashwin is not a good batsman in SENA conditions either. He likes to play his shots and drive on the up but it doesn't work in SENA where pacers will be bowling fuller deliveries to get that edge.

Edited December 26, 2021 by Majestic

[Dery]

Gavaskar

Sehwag / Gambhir 

Dravid 

Tendulkar 

Kohli

Pant 

Dev

Ashwin 

Srinath 

Shami

Bumrah 

[AKane]

13 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Again, it is not about Shardul. He is good no doubt but it is about balance.

 

In WTC Final, Jadeja the fifth bowler barely bowled enough overs. But still picking Jadeja as pure bat on current form was fine.

 

However, if you are picking Shardul and Ashwin together, I would say you are risking batting a lot. Ashwin is not a good batsman in SENA conditions either. He likes to play his shots and drive on the up but it doesn't work in SENA where pacers will be bowling fuller deliveries to get that edge.

In SA and Centurion especially - where spinners average over 50 a wicket - we will see what Ashwin does.... but I would not expect a whole lot out of Vihari types bowling spin in SA.

 

Going with 3 pace bowlers in SA will cost you more than going with 1 less batsman and 4 pace bowlers.

[Majestic]

11 minutes ago, AKane said:

In SA and Centurion especially - where spinners average over 50 a wicket - we will see what Ashwin does.... but I would not expect a whole lot out of Vihari types bowling spin in SA.

 

Going with 3 pace bowlers in SA will cost you more than going with 1 less batsman and 4 pace bowlers.

This is SA, not Australia. It will swing and there will be variable bounce too. You won't have to bowl 100 overs so four bowlers are enough if they are all quality bowlers. Also, the conditions are overcast and it is expected to rain so there will be enough support for the three pacers from the pitch.

[Majestic]

Lol..what a messup..Playing 5 batsman and that also includes Rahane.

[Lord]

5 hours ago, Majestic said:

Again, it is not about Shardul. He is good no doubt but it is about balance.

 

In WTC Final, Jadeja the fifth bowler barely bowled enough overs. But still picking Jadeja as pure bat on current form was fine.

 

However, if you are picking Shardul and Ashwin together, I would say you are risking batting a lot. Ashwin is not a good batsman in SENA conditions either. He likes to play his shots and drive on the up but it doesn't work in SENA where pacers will be bowling fuller deliveries to get that edge.

 

how is it risking batting when both Shardul and Ashwin have been in better batting touch? Just because Rahane is specialist bat doesnt mean he'll score more. You have to see current form.He's missing straight balls.

 

4 bowlers including a spinner is always risky as pacers can get tired. 5th is a necessary cushion in case one gets hit/injured

[R!TTER]

16 hours ago, Majestic said:

Rahane was good in WTC Final and has a great record in South Africa. Purely on batting, just pick him and if he fails,just get over him.

 

Shardul is good but let's be honest, he is riding his luck only with bat currently and things can change anytime. 

Thakur has a pretty good technique, anyone from Mumbai will have half a decent batting technique. In the lower order, after Pant, he's got arguably the best technique IMO.

[Vijy]

selection was entirely along expected lines for 1st test. trimurti are back together again