Post YOUR team for 3rd Test

[gs]

KKD out, Parthiv in * crossing fingers, hope he doesnt drop more than KKD * Could have possibly replaced Ganguly or Dravid, but Dravid gave some positive signs in the 2nd innings and plus the lack of a quality replacement (Rohit Sharma - cure is worse than the disease!), rules this out. I dread to imagine what would have happened if slinga Malinga was fit. The triple M's would have devoured India!

[fineleg]

Just out of interest' date=' from someone born, raised and living in England - what is up with the lame (at least, they are to me, may not be to you and others living in India) nicknames like Dropthiv and Yuseless?[/quote'] Nicknames for cricketers to make mock 'em are not unique to India, they probably exist in England too. Folks in England can confirm.

[msb1991]

I'm not sure I can think of any off the top of my head.

[kablooee87]

I suspect we won't see any changes in the side at all.

[Dhondy]

The next track is the bounciest, paciest in SL. They'll miss Malinga, and particularly Fernando. Ishant could be having some real fun on this track. Prasad took 4 wickets v India in the practice match. Faster and bouncier than Kulasekhara, he'll be given the task of bouncing out Sehwag, who he dismissed in the second innings of the practice match.

[kumble_rocks]

Parthiv Patel for KKD is a no brainer !

[Chaos]

BYE BYE Kumble, sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Karthick, Bhajji, Zaheer khan :icflove:

[Dirty_South]

BYE BYE Kumble' date= sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Karthick, Bhajji, Zaheer khan :icflove:

yea bye bye :wink_smile:

[cowboysfan]

how about picking 3 seamers?

[Kumar]

how about picking 3 seamers?

M8 u must be joking, I doubt they will. Bhaji - did superbly in last test and last thing on their mind to drop him Kumble - Hes captain, enough said. Beside Bhaji can bat compared to other seamer

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

I just hope we win the toss. Everything else will fall into place.

[Desi Cartman]

The strange case of Karthik

New Delhi: Dropped catches, missed stumping, shoddy glovework and scores of 9, 0, 7 and 20 — Dinesh Karthik has been an all-round failure in the two Test matches against Sri Lanka. The question isn’t really why has he failed; it really is why he continues to get so many chances. In the first Test, Karthik dropped two catches. In the second, he missed another catch and muffed a stumping chance. Generally speaking, his collection has been extremely sub-par. His choice of shots too is far from sagacious. In the first Test, he struck a reverse sweep when India was five wickets down and 350 runs behind. The success with that stroke prompted him to play an even more outrageously fatal shot against off spinner Muthiah Muralitharan that commentator Arun Lal described as ‘‘ridiculous’’. Why Karthik was preferred to the team’s other wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel in the first place isn’t easy to fathom. In the IPL, the last competitive tournament that the two played together, there was hardly anything to distinguish between the two. In fact, Patel’s record was marginally better in that tournament. It may also be recalled that Karthik’s recent international record is anything but impressive. Yet nothing seems to be held against the Chennai wicketkeeper. Before being retained for the Test squad to Australia last winter as Dhoni’s back-up, Karthik had scores of 9, 1, 1, 28, 24, 52 in the home series against Pakistan. 115 runs in seven innings for an average of 19.1. In the first two matches he played purely as an opening batsman. But in the last game against Pakistan, when he also kept wickets, Karthik gave away a record 35 byes. Yet, he was preferred to any other Indian wicketkeeper for the Australia tour. Even in other versions of the game, his latest record speaks for itself. In his last five ODI innings in October 2007, Karthik made 1, 0, 4, 2 not out and 0 before getting dropped. It may be recalled that Karthik had also failed in last year’s Twenty20 World Cup. The wicketkeeperbatsman scored 11, 17 and 0 in South Africa before being dropped for the later stages of the tournament. Yet strangely he has remained the preferred second ‘keeper for India to MS Dhoni all along. And Patel, who has been performing consistently at the domestic and India A level, has been ignored. It is true that Patel, who last played Test cricket for India in October 2004, had a horror series against Australia. He was particularly erratic against leg-spinner Anil Kumble, now captain. But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Patel scored 615 runs in the Ranji Trophy at an average of 51.25 last season. Playing for India A last September, he also scored 110 off 118 balls against South Africa A in the Test match at Delhi. To prove that he was back to his best in glovework, he took five catches and a stumping against Sri Lanka A in a triangular tournament final in Nairobi last August. A compact batsman with a sound defence with plenty of time to play the ball, Patel seems to have improved both as a keeper and a batsman. He has paid his dues. Now he deserves a second chance.

Excellent article from TOI epaper :hatsoff:

[cowboysfan]

karthik makes me ill.

[fineleg]

PP and KKD are both rather ordinary keepers. but PP can bat better

[Desi Cartman]

PP and KKD are both rather ordinary keepers. but PP can bat better

The bigger question is why was KKD given another chance especially after his sub-standard keeping. Also why keep PP out when he is averaging over 50 in domestic games ... :hmmmm2:

[Willow_on_fire]

PP seems like a better choice....KKD is struggling with the bat and behind the stumps as well....but I feel sorry for KKD...good luck to him.

[Chandan]

PP and KKD are both rather ordinary keepers. but PP can bat better

Against Murali and Mendis who even the veterans like Dravid and Laxman have failed to pick up in first three innings? What chance does Parthiv have to score a single run against this deadly duo? At least Karthik has started to pick Mendis up now. And in keeping, both are equally bad. I'll say go with Karthik even in the third test. He can't do worse than what he has already done and has more chances of doing well as he seems to be getting used to Kumble and Bhajji's bounce.

[MPS 3]

Post YOUR team for 3rd Test I had Dravid out last time around but now he has started gaining form and Ganguly is still playing badly so I would drop him from my XI and pick Rohit but I doubt the selectors will have the balls to drop Ganguly. As with the last game I still want Parthiv in my team and drop Kartik, Parthiv can do no worse than what Kartik has been doing. Our lower-middle order needs to fire as at all games so far they have given away the advantage gained by top order. G Gambhir V Sehwag R Dravid S Tendulkar V Laxman R Sharma P Patel (w) A Kumble © H Singh I Sharma Z Khan Also can someone please remind Kumble that he can use Tendulkar and Sehwag when he is struggling to get a breakthrough. Has he forgotten these handy spinners or is he afraid they may outperform him?

[cowboysfan]

whats the use man-it will be unchanged.kirsten and kumble have no confidence in parthiv.

[Rohan495]

1. Gambhir 2. Sehwag 3. Laxman 4. Tendulkar 5. Dravid 6. Rohit 7. Patel 8. Kumble 9. Harbhajan 10. Ishant 11. Zaheer