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

[MundaPakistani]

Drop Dravid unless they plan to "prepare" sub standard pitches like the one in Kanpur.

[Chandan]

All those who want to drop any of these 5 players, please go on to suggest your replacement for him as well so that the debate can get a meaning and all these calls of dropping these players can be put in perspective. Those who want to drop 1. Ganguly----replacement? 2.Dravid----replacement? 3. Sachin----replacement? 4. Laxman---replacement? 5.Kumble---replacement? Please go ahead and give this discussion a direction!

[Dinx - the Jinx]

In my opinion, the rotation policy should have been implemented during the SL series and not now, durin the highly anticipated australia series. The selectors should have had a quiet meeting with the fab four and decided on who could have been rested to give an opportunity for the younger rohit or badri. They dint. Probably after the aussie series is over and if even after the series none of the fab 4 announce their retirement voluntarily, the selectors can do this so called meeting with the seniors and put forth their vision for the future and ask them to rest themselves during the england series at home. series after series we should give oppoertunity for new comers while not dropping the fab 4 out right, so that if the new comers dont show their mettle, we can fall back on the fab 4. According to me, all 4 should play in the australia series and frm england series onwards, only 2 out of these 4 shuld play in any match. the combination of the MO can be dependent on who is sitting out. if ganguly is made to sit out, yuvi or raina (i.e f aina is considered by selectors as test match material) can play. If sachin or rahul sit out, badri / rohit can play etc. with respect to kumble, i dnt think he's blocking anyone's chances. we cant drop him to play bajji and chawla instead. whichever spinner that has been tried, hasnt made their mark. kumble should continue either till he himself decides to hang his boots or when bajji is ready to lead the spin attack along with either chawla or ojha or mishra or murali ... till then i dont think, even talking about kumble's dropping is a waste of time.

[Chandan]

series after series we should give oppoertunity for new comers while not dropping the fab 4 out right, so that if the new comers dont show their mettle, we can fall back on the fab 4. According to me, all 4 should play in the australia series and frm england series onwards, only 2 out of these 4 shuld play in any match. the combination of the MO can be dependent on who is sitting out. if ganguly is made to sit out, yuvi or raina (i.e f aina is considered by selectors as test match material) can play. If sachin or rahul sit out, badri / rohit can play etc. with respect to kumble, i dnt think he's no blocking anyone's chances. we cant drop him to play bajji and chawla instead. whichever spinner that has been tried, hasnt made their mark. kumble should continue either till he himself decides to hang his boots or when bajji is ready to lead the spin attack along with either chawla or ojha or mishra or murali ... till then i dont think, even talking about kumble's dropping is a waste of time.

And which batsman made his mark when Sachin didn't play in two tests vs Australia in 2004, didn't play the entire series vs WI in 2006 and didn't play against SA earlier this year? Which batsman made his mark when Ganguly was out of the team for more than a year?

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Agreed... We tried other MO batsmen in the absence of Sachin (Kaif who made a hundred and looked like cementing his place only to disappoint later and Yuvi who returned a series average of 17.33 in WI) and Ganguly (this time against SL Kaif failed and Yuvi made a couple of half centuries, but Yuvi fell flat in Pak) and they failed. The only middle order bat (if I can call him so) who sort of cemented his place during this period was Dhoni. May be we tried with the wrong people and we had to go back to the Fab 4 when they returned. This time around lets try others (like Rohit, Badri) and hope that they come out good. If they do, it will automatically put the pressure back on the fab 4 and could enforce sme voluntary!!! retirements. We'll then be left with 2 frm the fab 4 and the 2 new guys who've done well and deserve their place. Now we can slowly try 1 or 2 more new faces while sitting out 1 or 2 from this new group. Thats how the progression towards the future shuld be made. We may see a middle order collapse here and there, but thats the way to go... We do this day in and day out in our projects at work, when there is attrition or some one wants to leave the project for better assignment. Why cant this be done with the Indian cricket team as well?

[Feed]

Failure of middle-order a one-off thing: Vengsarkar Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels the combined failure of the experienced Indian middle order batting in Sri Lanka was a one-off thing and expects the batsmen to put it firmly behind them and start afresh in the upcoming four-Test series against Australia. More... Failure of middle-order a one-off thing: Vengsarkar Mumbai (PTI): Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels the combined failure of the experienced Indian middle order batting in Sri Lanka was a one-off thing and expects the batsmen to put it firmly behind them and start afresh in the upcoming four-Test series against Australia. Vengsarkar also feels that the Indian squad would enter the high-octane rubber, which he predicts will be a very close affair, with their confidence high after their narrow loss in the previous series Down Under followed by a historic first-ever triangular series victory there. In an exclusive interview to PTI, the former Test skipper said its important that openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir fire in unison while hailing the return of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who skipped the Tests in Sri Lanka citing exhaustion. He also was fully supportive of the Cricket Board's decisions to have a tri-series tournament presently for the India 'A' team, also featuring New Zealand 'A' and Australia 'A', and for introducing the much-delayed concept of paid selectors from this season.

[Ram]

Its a good thing we have someone like Kaif. Not only is he experienced, but he will downright desperate to prove himself all over again. This is his golden chance to seal a spot in the middle order, with most of the current guy at the end of their tenure. This could also potentially be, Dravid's last series.

[coffee_rules]

Here are my replacements for my two picks: Ganguly - Yuvraj Kumble - None. Name Dhoni as Kaptaan and play 3 pacers + 1 spinner.

[amits]

replacements - dravid - badrinath ganguly - dhawan/raina laxman - laxman(he is only 33 & can play for 2-3 more years) kumble - kumble(spinners dont get old, but make dhoni/gambhir captain). maybe mishra could replace him tendulkar - can still play for 1 year depending on form. we can develop players like dhawan & raina to replace these players within 1 year

[ludhianvi]

All those who want to drop any of these 5 players, please go on to suggest your replacement for him as well so that the debate can get a meaning and all these calls of dropping these players can be put in perspective. Those who want to drop 1. Ganguly----replacement? 2.Dravid----replacement? 3. Sachin----replacement? 4. Laxman---replacement? 5.Kumble---replacement? Please go ahead and give this discussion a direction!

IMO, Ganguly isnt a stalwart in tests. He has a career average hovering just above 40. His ODI average is almost as good as his Test average. I wouldnt mind if someone else is given a chance.

[Dooks]

I would say drop Ponting, Clarke, Hayden, Hussey and Lee. :-D

[Shane]

Ganguly Period