Your ideal starting XI for the first BGT test?

[raki05]

4 hours ago, Majestic said:

Rohit

Rahul

Pujara

Kohli

Shreyas

Bharat(wkt)

Jadeja/Washington

Ashwin

Axar/kuldeep

Siraj

Shami/Umesh

I think this is what our TM will pick not ideal but reality. Your players after oblique will remains oblique in reality your first xi will play all 4 test barring injury.

[Number]

Gill 

Rohit/Shaw

Pujara

Washington 

Shreyas

Kishan

Jadeja/Axar

Ashwin(c)

Kuldeep

Siraj

Shami

[R!TTER]

Depends on the pitch, if it's flat or relatively flat then KS should keep. Now it turns square quickly, I'd load the batting till number 10 or even 11 because that will be needed. In which case IK might start ahead, we really need Jadeja back though & should read the pitch properly! A lot of our losses in recent years have been down to pathetic team selections & reading of conditions, especially away from home 

[speedracer]

1 hour ago, sarchasm said:

A conservative team has been announced but BCCI has conditioned me with crumbs like SKY getting a berth. Out of that squad, what could be the likely XI?

 

Opening is the biggest headache - Who partners Rohit?

 

The XI I'd go with but unlikely Dravid would field this one.

 

Rohit

KL

Gill

Coolie

Surya

Ishan

Ashwin

Axar

Kuldeep

Siraj

Shami/Umesh

 

Ishan will drop a few. Are we going to be ok with that? Good thing is that labu gives 3 opportunities in every game. 

Smith too has chances these days. Can afford to drop labu but not Smith. 

[Kerberos]

An ideal playing eleven does not exist just as an ideal gf doesn't exist either.

[test fan]

3 hours ago, R!TTER said:

Depends on the pitch, if it's flat or relatively flat then KS should keep. Now it turns square quickly, I'd load the batting till number 10 or even 11 because that will be needed. In which case IK might start ahead, we really need Jadeja back though & should read the pitch properly! A lot of our losses in recent years have been down to pathetic team selections & reading of conditions, especially away from home 

If pitch is rank Turner then we need solid wicketkeeper first because its is very difficult job for any wk as one -2 dropped catches cost a test .so Bharat has to play on rank Turner

[R!TTER]

Nope, on turning pitches we'll get loads of chances besides I'm not expecting IK to be PP (circa 2004) level bad. Back in 2004 PP dropped lots of chances (vs OZ) on flat wickets, even though his batting was great he wasn't able to cover that gap with his shoddy keeping! Conversely in 2016 Eng series he did relatively better with the gloves but the pitches were also slightly more conducive to bowlers in the tests he played in & of course the biggest difference - DRS, with that I'd say we'd have won 2004 series as well.

 

IK has to be at least a serviceable FC level keeper, otherwise might as well bring Dravid to keep as a sub 

Edited January 14, 2023 by R!TTER