Axar Patel has no place in test side

[putrevus]

12 minutes ago, ungboysj said:

I think we are most idiotic team in terms of strategy 

 

Why reinvent the wheel

 

Top 5 should be pure batsman who have played as batsman their whole life and made big hundreds in first class at high average

 

 

Bottom three should be pure strike bowlers

 

Only 6-7-8 you can fill with keeper and all rounders 

 

Even pant is too high at 5 with his high risk game 

 

Do all experiments on 6-8 keep 1-5 and 9-11 stable

Spot on, 3 ,4 and 5 should be spots for batsmen who have habbit of scoring big 100s and are able to play on all surfaces ideally.

 

When Pant himself cannot get into the team as batsman , how can guys like Jurel, Sundar get in and bat at the most important positions.

 

This idiot Gambhir had Sarfraz in the team in Australia and yet let Padikkal and Jurel play as batsmen.

Edited November 17, 2025 by putrevus

[Vk1]

2 hours ago, ungboysj said:

I think we are most idiotic team in terms of strategy 

 

Why reinvent the wheel

 

Top 5 should be pure batsman who have played as batsman their whole life and made big hundreds in first class at high average

 

 

Bottom three should be pure strike bowlers

 

Only 6-7-8 you can fill with keeper and all rounders 

 

Even pant is too high at 5 with his high risk game 

 

Do all experiments on 6-8 keep 1-5 and 9-11 stable

Perfectly summed up.

[Vk1]

If Gambhir was a coach during 2000s.. there was no chance for Laxman.. he would have happily picked Sunil Joshi or Sridharan Sriram or whatever bits and pieces crap he found

[kosingh]

2 hours ago, Vk1 said:

If Gambhir was a coach during 2000s.. there was no chance for Laxman.. he would have happily picked Sunil Joshi or Sridharan Sriram or whatever bits and pieces crap he found

 

Even Dravid would not be a regular test player if Gambhir was coach. Instead, Robin Singh would be our number 3 batsman. Can bowl a bit. And as a lefty, he would be seen as effective against right hand bowlers. 

Edited November 17, 2025 by kosingh

[vvvslaxman]

If Gambhir were to become selector his Test squad will look like

 

Harshit Rana ( captain)

Pant (vice captain)

Shivam Dube

Venkatesh Iyer

Nitish Reddy

Sundar

Axar

Jadeja

Vipraj

Abhishek sharma

RIyan Paragh

Bumrah

Hardik Pandya

Deepak Chahar

Shardul Thakur

 

[Manucrick]

8 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

If Gambhir were to become selector his Test squad will look like

 

Harshit Rana ( captain)

Pant (vice captain)

Shivam Dube

Venkatesh Iyer

Nitish Reddy

Sundar

Axar

Jadeja

Vipraj

Abhishek sharma

RIyan Paragh

Bumrah

Hardik Pandya

Deepak Chahar

Shardul Thakur

 

He will do that 

[Sooda]

19 hours ago, putrevus said:

One simple question needs to be asked, is Jurel better batsman than Pant. Answer is no, Pant himself does not get into the team as batsman , question of Jurel being batsman is ridiculous and stupid.

 

 

 

No that isn't the correct question 

 

It's not a debate between those two (and anyway Pant does get in just as a batsman)

 

Just because Jurel is a WK does not mean he cannot play as a specialist batsman 

 

On current form, given his A team scores, he absolutely deserves a long run as a batsman in the middle order as he has shown he is good enough at least to be given that run.

 

Unfortunately Sarfaraz isn't setting Ranji alight, though he should have got that A team spot too. Other options are Paddikal, Sai who are more top order batsmen and Jurel outscored them both for A team

Edited November 18, 2025 by Sooda

[lemsip]

12 minutes ago, Sooda said:

On current form, given his A team scores, he absolutely deserves a long run as a batsman in the middle order as he has shown he is good enough at least to be given that run.

 

If the case for using Jurel as a pure batsman is so strong, why is he  currently being batted  at number 7 just before the bowlers and after the keeper ( and not setting the world on fire in tests either). 

That is the problem with this mindset. No player has clarity about their core role or an understanding of how their performance will be assessed. Sai was brought in and dumped.. Ditto Karun. Now Washington who came in as a bowler suddenly finds himself the number 3 batsman. Jurel is put in the team but it is totally unclear what his role is - is it to build an innings as a batsman or to bat with the tail and help prolong the innings ( which is the ask at number 7).

The whole thing is a complete fiasco and the results are unsurprising.

Edited November 18, 2025 by lemsip

[BCCISelector]

34 minutes ago, lemsip said:

If the case for using Jurel as a pure batsman is so strong, why is he  currently being batted  at number 7 just before the bowlers and after the keeper ( and not setting the world on fire in tests either). 

That is the problem with this mindset. No player has clarity about their core role or an understanding of how their performance will be assessed. Sai was brought in and dumped.. Ditto Karun. Now Washington who came in as a bowler suddenly finds himself the number 3 batsman. Jurel is put in the team but it is totally unclear what his role is - is it to build an innings as a batsman or to bat with the tail and help prolong the innings ( which is the ask at number 7).

The whole thing is a complete fiasco and the results are unsurprising.

All of this stems from Gill dropping himself from #3 to #4 after Kohli's retirement. This team is still trying to figure out who Kohli's replacement is. Washington was pushed up the order just because he has a decent batting average (thanks to all the little 20s, 30s and not outs he has accumulated), and nobody else is knocking the door down in India A or Ranji setup currently.

Washington is a decent allrounder but they are trying to manufacture a top order batter out of him. The team should ideally be looking for specialist batters who have shown the ability to score big hundreds in red ball domestic cricket. I wouldn't mind going back to Nair or trying Gaikwad, both have been in good form recently. In fact, I'd play both of them at #3 and #4 in Guwahati to negate Harmer's off spin threat.

Edited November 18, 2025 by BCCISelector

[lemsip]

1 hour ago, BCCISelector said:

Washington is a decent allrounder but they are trying to manufacture a top order batter out of him. The team should ideally be looking for specialist batters who have shown the ability to score big hundreds in red ball domestic cricket. I wouldn't mind going back to Nair or trying Gaikwad, both have been in good form recently. In fact, I'd play both of them at #3 and #4 in Guwahati to negate Harmer's off spin threat.

Washington is suddenly being played as a specialist batsman and not an all rounder. He bowled one over in the entire match.

The bulk of the bowling in the second innings where India were desperate for wickets was done by Axar who unsurprisingly ineffective. Sundar didn't bowl a single over and Siraj only bowled 2. Once again the jack of all trade types were given priority even over the specialists already in the team !

The next move is also easy to predict. Axar will play in the next test because of tthe irrelevant runs he slogged at number 8 once all other batsmen had perished. His uselessness with the ball will be brushed under the covers.

Edited November 18, 2025 by lemsip

[tweaker]

1 hour ago, Sooda said:

Unfortunately Sarfaraz isn't setting Ranji alight,

Gambhir has made it clear ,Sarfaraz wont be selected again.

In Australia, Jurel ,Paddikal were preferred over him even after he had scored 150 runs 2 test back.

 

Sai and Padikkal are selected only to block the places in the squad. 

Karun,Sarfaraz, Pattidar would have been ideal in home conditions.

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, Sooda said:

 

No that isn't the correct question 

 

It's not a debate between those two (and anyway Pant does get in just as a batsman)

 

Just because Jurel is a WK does not mean he cannot play as a specialist batsman 

 

On current form, given his A team scores, he absolutely deserves a long run as a batsman in the middle order as he has shown he is good enough at least to be given that run.

 

Unfortunately Sarfaraz isn't setting Ranji alight, though he should have got that A team spot too. Other options are Paddikal, Sai who are more top order batsmen and Jurel outscored them both for A team

No Pant does not justify as batsman alone, so question of Jurel getting in as a batsman does not arise.We have seen in two tests what great things he can do as batsman.

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by putrevus

[Sooda]

2 hours ago, lemsip said:

If the case for using Jurel as a pure batsman is so strong, why is he  currently being batted  at number 7 just before the bowlers and after the keeper ( and not setting the world on fire in tests either). 

That is the problem with this mindset. No player has clarity about their core role or an understanding of how their performance will be assessed. Sai was brought in and dumped.. Ditto Karun. Now Washington who came in as a bowler suddenly finds himself the number 3 batsman. Jurel is put in the team but it is totally unclear what his role is - is it to build an innings as a batsman or to bat with the tail and help prolong the innings ( which is the ask at number 7).

The whole thing is a complete fiasco and the results are unsurprising.

 

That is a separate question and problem , who knows what the conversation is in the dressing room. Looking at Jurel and recent form does he deserve to be in the middle order- yes. I agree with the points on Sai and Washy. Anyway there is no better option, you could say Nair or Sarfaraz but Nair didn't really grab his chances in Eng and yes Sarfaraz should have played for A team but isn't scoring many right now 

 

The keeper is Pant who is a genius is his ways and can disrupt a fielding teams plans quickly so it's not a bad thing he gets higher in the line up to bat

[Sooda]

53 minutes ago, putrevus said:

No Pant does not justify as batsman alone, so question of Jurel getting in as a batsman does not arise.We have seen in two tests what great things he can do as batsman.

 

 

 

 

Pant absolutely does. Our batting riches are not so deep that we could say he isn't one of our best batsmen. Again just because he is a keeper you think he shouldn't qualify to be classed as a good batsman 

[lemsip]

1 hour ago, Sooda said:

The keeper is Pant who is a genius is his ways and can disrupt a fielding teams plans quickly so it's not a bad thing he gets higher in the line up to bat

The issue with batting Pant too high up inthe order is that on good pitches, he could be keeping for 120 overs and walking out to bat after a short gap especially with an unsettled top order. Thay will lead to unforced errors in either keeping or batting.

There is a reason why keepers who have been top class batsmen ( ABD, Sangakara, Alec Steawart, Gilchrist etc) either batted at 7 or gave up the gloves if they went higher in the batting order. Pant is the first keeper I can remember who is being consistently asked to bat at 5.

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, Sooda said:

 

Pant absolutely does. Our batting riches are not so deep that we could say he isn't one of our best batsmen. Again just because he is a keeper you think he shouldn't qualify to be classed as a good batsman 

Gilchrist always considered his runs as bonus. He always played in one gear. Majority of the responsibility has to be shared by top 6..But Gambhir has built an unit where they have a lot of lower middle.order batsmen. Sundar Jadeja Jurel all are lower middle order bats. This is why they tried karun and sai. Why did they abandon that idea.

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, Sooda said:

 

Pant absolutely does. Our batting riches are not so deep that we could say he isn't one of our best batsmen. Again just because he is a keeper you think he shouldn't qualify to be classed as a good batsman 

No he does not.

[BacktoCricaddict]

58 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Majority of the responsibility has to be shared by top 6.

In this match, taking both innings together, only #3 fulfilled that responsibility. 

 

Not mistakes:

Playing Sundar at 3.  

Playing Jurel at 6.

Playing Jurel at 4 was forced due to Gill's unavailability, so whatever. It's not like they could've magically brought in Sarfaraz or Nair or whoever else.

 

Mistakes:

Not bowling Sundar.

Playing Patel was a mistake. Should've played a specialist bat in his place.

Not having Sarfaraz in the XV member-squad was a major mistake. 

 

In hindsight, they could've had Sai at #3, Sundar down the order (although he did his job at 3) and bowled him more. That's it. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by BacktoCricaddict

[rkt.india]

On 11/16/2025 at 8:03 PM, putrevus said:

If Axar runs were useless, it was Sundar's idiotic batting along with Jurel in first place which led to the pressure being created.

 

They went nowhere with their batting all they had to do was rotate strike and hit couple of shots to put some pressure back on bowlers, they let their bowlers bowl to their fields.

 

Biggest culprits are Jurel and Sundar. Axar did his best when he had nobody to stay with him.

What pressure? 

[tweaker]

11 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

In this match, taking both innings together, only #3 fulfilled that responsibility. 

 

Not mistakes:

Playing Sundar at 3.  

Playing Jurel at 6.

Playing Jurel at 4 was forced due to Gill's unavailability, so whatever. It's not like they could've magically brought in Sarfaraz or Nair or whoever else.

 

Mistakes:

Not bowling Sundar.

Playing Patel was a mistake. Should've played a specialist bat in his place.

Not having Sarfaraz in the XV member-squad was a major mistake. 

 

In hindsight, they could've had Sai at #3, Sundar down the order (although he did his job at 3) and bowled him more. That's it. 

 

 

 

 

From the squad selected, if they had preferred Sai and Paddikal ,the result would have been different.