End of the road for Jaffer?

[Chandan]

people r undermining jaffer here' date=' i think he did quite well since his comeback with a decent performance in south africa and very good performances in england and vs pak, although i think GG will do well[/quote'] Decent performance in SA? Failing in 5 out of 6 innings is decent? That waywhich batsman is not decent?

[punjabi_khota]

dravid isn't useless. he has always stood for the team. everyone hides and he is always forced to open the biggest team man you will ever see

Everyone hides ? By that logic, Dravid has hidden for all his career, since he came at No 3. I don't have anything against him, hell I think he has been the most IMPORTANT test player for last 10 years for India. Its just a matter of being practical, and not playing your best player at the top. Except for Sunny, the best player for each team has always come in at 3 or 4 (Sachin/Dravid/Ponting/Lara). Someone like Akash Chopra is ideal for opening, if you have a fab 4 like India. If the openers can do their job, and take India to 70-80 without loss by lunch, we have a real good chance of 400+ score each time. But sadly, we have opted for a more flamboyant pair in Gambhir and Sehwag, and we will see Dravid coming in at 20/1 more often than not. When we don't, he might not come in till 200/1 but only time will tell us how frequently these events occur :-).

[Guest Hiten.]

The question to your answer depends on how much our selectors can tolerate GG's early failures (post-comeback). The reason I talk about selectors tolerance is because they dropped GG from the probable squad (for downunder tour) because of his failure against Pakistan in ONE game. They dropped GG and picked Jaffer ahead of him whose weakness was not only spotted by Brett lee but he exploited it to the very best. IMO, GG will not make a sudden impact in test arena and is bound to have some failures but selectors will have to play the patience game with him because GG is a player who will mould himself into the test match casting. Jaffer is tried and tested material for a period of a year now. He clearly capitulates on the tracks which offer some movement to the seamers. Jaffer was no way closer of being 'decent' in England tour in the absence of Sehwag (who for some reason was sidelined after his ODI failures). It is a no brainer that Test match openers need to have an appetite of scoring big runs. GG is a man you can bet on because of his ability to tackle spinners. I might be wrong about GG not making sudden impact in Test arena and I will be more than happy to eat the humble pie. GG and Veeru will be our answer to Langer and Haydos when it comes to giving a good start with healthy RR.