Amongst the 5 senior players who should be axed for the Aussie series?

[The Outsider]

Adding a multiple choice poll. My call would be to play all of them in the first 2 tests against Australia and take it from there.

[bharat297]

since there are no tests between now and the first test against the aussies , bringing in someone knew would be a huge ask on that player

[cowboysfan]

no one.this is a home series and there is no mendis and murali.however I would like dhoni to be the captain for the series.Hopefully kumble and ganguly will retire with dignity after the series instead of being forced out.We need a phased withdrawal of the seniors -hopefully some of the younger guys can play.

[Predator_05]

Tendulkar, Laxman, Kumble should definitely play because they have good records against Australia and they were very good when India toured there last winter. They HAVE to play, and they will play. No doubt about it Ganguly couldn't score much against them last year and that was when he was in really good form, so i don't expect him to do anything when he is out of sorts like he is now. It will take balls to drop him though I also voted for Dravid to be dropped, but i am not completely sure. He is reaching the end of the line anyway, having one of the worst runs of his career and now there are only two ways he can play. 1. the same old block a million balls routine, like he did at Chennai after Veeru scored 319, OR, 2. with complete inhibition and enjoyment, a bit like Lara did before he quit. We saw some of that in the 44 he played at Galle and in yesterday's innings too. If that's the way he is going to play, he is worth keeping.

[satishg]

no one will be dropped..we will have the same squad..but the aussie series cud well be the last for atleast 2 of the fab 5

[MalikBrother]

I am in favor of Trimurti to be dropped. T.D.G

[sandtest]

Reminds me a famous story from Birbal legend -- A Painting was put in the court, king asked poeple to find a fault in the painting. People rush to it and start putting marks on it. In an hour the marks cover the entire painting so much that poor painter is not even able to recognise his own paiting. Next day Birbal asks the painter to draw same painting again and bring it back. Only this time he requested the king to be allowed to put a note below the painting -- "Find a fault in painting, BUT only those are allowed who can make a similiar or better painting than this". There was no marks visible on the painting this time. Point is, let's axe seniors because of thousands of faults starting from fitness, fielding, not playing under pressure, influence due to seniority etc. etc......BUT IS THERE ANY EQUIVALENT REPLACEMENT IN SIGHT? And yeah, money harvesting BCCI will ensure that getting future replacements will remain a dream for test cricket.

[gs]

Reminds me a famous story from Birbal legend -- A Painting was put in the court, king asked poeple to find a fault in the painting. People rush to it and start putting marks on it. In an hour the marks cover the entire painting so much that poor painter is not even able to recognise his own paiting. Next day Birbal asks the painter to draw same painting again and bring it back. Only this time he requested the kind to be allowed to put a note below the painting -- "Find a fault in painting, BUT only those are allowed who can make a similiar or better painting than this". There was no marks visible on the painting this time. Point is, let's axe seniors because of thousands of faults starting from fitness, fielding, not playing under pressure, influence due to seniority etc. etc......BUT IS THERE ANY EQUIVALENT REPLACEMENT IN SIGHT? And yeah, money harvesting BCCI will ensure that getting future replacements will remain a dream for test cricket.

The seniors wont last forever and how do we know we dont have replacements unless we have tried them?!? Apart from Yuvraj, who else has been tried in the recent past? A phased retirement of seniors is a must or at least a rotation policy so that the newbies get a fair chance.

[fineleg]

sandy, "Equivalent" to when? Equivalent to when they play in good form? Then no - we dont have equivalent. But if equivalent to capitulating like our MO does in SL series, then we have equivalent replacements who will capitulate the same way. Only the new MO will have the future ahead to learn and evolve. The older MO will have to retire sometime around the corner. Dont drop them - but get a ROTATION policy in. Only 3 out of these 5 should play any TEST - rotate them out Test by Test

[DomainK]

sandy, "Equivalent" to when? Equivalent to when they play in good form? Then no - we dont have equivalent. But if equivalent to capitulating like our MO does in SL series, then we have equivalent replacements who will capitulate the same way. Only the new MO will have the future ahead to learn and evolve. The older MO will have to retire sometime around the corner. Dont drop them - but get a ROTATION policy in. Only 3 out of these 5 should play any TEST - rotate them out Test by Test

I agree with the rotation policy. Tendulkar anyways might sit out now for the injury.

[sandtest]

sandy, Dont drop them - but get a ROTATION policy in. Only 3 out of these 5 should play any TEST - rotate them out Test by Test

I can agree, rotation could be a foundation. But was it applicable in this case? How you will execute this so called rotate the seniors with newbie on a tailormade pitch against unknown Mendis and Murali. And those whom we have tauted as potential replacements -- how much domestic test match experience they had to even try their hands. Last I heard young Rohit Sharma is known for a T20/ODI showbaazi. DITTO for Yuvi(if he was selected for the series)...worse UV will even embarrass his father against Mendis. The problem lies elsewhere. BCCI is not interested in nurturing future players for TEST setup. Thus goes the saying- "Unless you lay the foundation for a new house don't abondon your old leaking hut in a rainy season".

[Bumper]

I want the fab four to play till the end of the BG trophy: 1) Australia is too harsh an opponent to blood youngsters. Its unfair for the youngsters 2) BG trophy is simply too important to take such a risk 3) It will also test if our guys still have any juice left in the tank. From then on, they will decide their own future 4) It is also a fair life line for their contributions to Indian cricket. As for the individual players, I dont think Ganguly has got the goods to carry on, if he fails in the BG trophy. So he must succeed. SRT must play only if he wants to win Test matches for his country. Otherwise he might as well get his record & retire. His complete no show in times of need, has become so common, that people dont even bother discussing it. Dravid is the most worrying for me, for he always had the big match temperament and stomach for a fight. His decline seems irreversible. If he fails in the BG trophy, the selectors should drop him. Laxman has neither been a success nor a complete failure in this series. Infact, for most of his career, he's been a borderline candidate. However, along with Dravid, he is India's MVP, come crunch time. I'd give him a slightly longer rope, as he is the youngest of the lot & looks like someone who still has the goods.

[fineleg]

Bumper, This 2nd Inn struggle also Dravid and Laxman are the only ones who showed 'some' fight, albeit too little too late. SRT and SG simply absent.

[chanakya]

only Badri in the current crop of youngsters can handle test cricket. Let rohit et all last 30 overs in an ODI first.

[sandtest]

It seems Cricinfo has launched an all out attack on Sachin. After every two overs, they keep repeating the same old garbage about Sachin by quoting some fans comments.

[Rohan495]

how is VVS making this list he is atleasr 2 years younger than all the players mentioned and 2 years is a lot of time he still shows a lot of fight and he scores runs at the end of the batting order as we are seeing it today even with a bruised knee.

[Zap_Brannigan]

Dropping more than 1 senior against Aus is a big risk. But being stagnant is not helping the team either. All i want is to remove 1 player from the middle order 4 and bring in yuvi or rohit (maybe).Against Aus, i would rather drop gangs than Sachin,Dravid or laxman Cannot drop kumble as chawla is not up to mark yet.

[Kartikey]

Come on, they cannot be dropped for the Aussie series, its against the best team in the world. Plus the Aussies **** in their pants when VVS and Sachin r batting.

[umpire]

All of them should be asked to play a game or two for their respective Zone and Ranji teams.

[Kartikey]

All of them should be asked to play a game or two for their respective Zone and Ranji teams.

Practise matches for big series and the BCCI dont go together.