Lets win BG Trophy at Nagpur - whats the game plan?

[fineleg]

We need to win the BG trophy and need to do it at Nagpur. Kumble injured. HS injured. Whats the game plan? Ojha or Munaf Patel to come in?

[fineleg]

is Gambhir playing? Its likely Toss goes in favor of Aus (just probability). So, we need to win despite Aus batting first...I suppose 6+1+4 team, and depends on the pitch if 3+1 or 2+2 bowlers?

[bharat297]

If the Nagpur pitch is anything like it was 4 years ago ... I think it might even be worth considering playing an extra paceman (if Bhajji is not coming back) ... maybe RP Singh or Munaf Patel. I dont think Bhajji is worth playing if the Nagpur pitch is like it was 4 years ago. * This would be my team if Gambhir does not play ... Sehwag Dravid Laxman Tendulkar Ganguly Badrinath Dhoni Kumble Zaheer RP Singh / Harbhajan (depending on whether he is fit and the pitch) Ishant * If Gambhir does play then replace Badrinath with Gambhir and put the batting order back to normal.

[Holysmoke]

^When did we clone Zaheer??

[kablooee87]

is Gambhir playing? Its likely Toss goes in favor of Aus (just probability). So, we need to win despite Aus batting first...I suppose 6+1+4 team, and depends on the pitch if 3+1 or 2+2 bowlers?

I don't think you understand the concept of probability.

[bharat297]

^When did we clone Zaheer??

Hahahaha ... sorry about that ... Ill fix it

[fineleg]

maybe i dont. can u explain what u mean kablooee? we won a few, probability that Aus wins the next is good, no?

[Fontaine]

Australia may have won the battle but the war will still be ours damnit. They batted well, but we gave away the test match rather than them taking it away. In three test matches their bowlers have still not bowled out India and our batsmen are in prime form. Bring them on in Nagpur.

[f.b.m]

maybe i dont. can u explain what u mean kablooee? we won a few, probability that Aus wins the next is good, no?

The probability of each toss is 50/50. The coin doesnt know the previous toss results.

[Shehezaada]

The probability of each toss is 50/50. The coin doesnt know the previous toss results.

but tosses have a way of evening out don't they? if you take a coin and flip it 20 times, odds are that the ratio of heads to tails will be close to 50/50, with the number being higher as the number of times you flip it gets bigger. I think your right in saying that the coin doesn't know the previous results but i think what he meant by probability he probably meant that it would even out.

[fineleg]

probably meant that it would even out.

yes, that is indeed what I meant, thanks.

[cochise]

I hear that the Nagpur test is being played in a new stadium and on a new wicket. Is this true and does anyone know anything about this new wicket?

[fineleg]

we shud have had a spin pitch that would have nailed the aussies on day-3/4 instead we are going to nagpur on a newly laid pitch...kotla pitch disappointed us.

[Guest HariSampath]

Dhoni will be leading in Nagpur. Kumble is not playing. Bhajji comes in for Kumble. India certain to play for a win under Dhoni. Gambhir will probably play in the 11, but in the very unlikely event of he not playing next test, Kohli will be brought in to open . He has opened well in ODIs in SL, has Dhoni's confidence and has got a 100 recently against Australian attack. An additional change maybe that Dravid would be dropped to accommodate Munaf Patel. I think the best 11 now for 4th test would be 1.Sehwag 2. Gambhir 3. VVS 4. Sachin 5. Ganguly 6.Dhoni 7. Harbhajan 8. Zaheer Khan 9. Mishra 10. Ishant 11. Munaf This will be the best 11 , because we have batters in excellent form 2 200s, 100s etc at the top, Dhoni batting very well, Bhajji and Zak batting well lower down. And we need 3 fast bowlers plus 2 specialist spinners to take wickets, with Sehwag too an added option.

[vroomfondel]

5 bowlers in the deciding test match? sampath-gaaru who spiked your sunday morning coffee?

[fineleg]

Hari, Even if you drop RD, you got to take Badrinath or some other batsman. 6+1+4 This is a crucial Nagpur Test

[Guest HariSampath]

5 bowlers in the deciding test match? sampath-gaaru who spiked your sunday morning coffee?

Vroom...we need 5 bowlers to take 20 wkts. And we are not sacrificing any batter. We are stuck with Dravid, which is anyways 1 batter minus, so effectively, our batters are Sehwag, Gambhir, VVS, Sachin, Ganguly, Dhoni ( all of whom have got 90 + scores in this series,including 200s,100s). thats 6 batters in my book. Plus we have Zak and Bhajji playing very well, so expect 20-30 from them too ( far more than what we can expect from Dravid). So effectively, I am just dropping Dravid for Munaf, which is a good option, as we can expect 2-3 wkts in the test match, can bowl out top batters at the begining of the inngs, has done very well recently. Apart from that Bhajji replaces Kumble...anything wrong ?

[bharat297]

Is Munaf the best option as a 3rd pace bowler, or should we go with RP Singh?

[Guest HariSampath]

If you analyse our failure in bowling carefully, its because Aus have 3-4 left handers in their top order, and we have only one right arm fast bowler in Ishant. This means after 12 overs with the new ball, one of Zak or Ishant is taken off , and then what happens to the new ball ?? and soon enough the other bowler too has to go off , even after an 8 - 10 over spell. Our weak link is the overs between 15-35, when we still have a hard cricket ball, but no bowler to use it. So we start defending. We need 3 fast bowlers who can be constantly rotated in 6-8 over spells and that makes us more aggressive in the first 35-40 overs, absolutely vital to gaining the advantage. Also the 3rd right armer is key to constantly creating the other angle to left handed batters like Katich, Hayden, Hussey etc. We have Zak, Mishra bowling into the left handers, and we need Munaf and Bhajji bowling away from the left handers. Zak and Bhajji are our proven 5fer bowlers. Ishant, Amit and Munaf are more like the 3fer bowlers. Assuming we need to win a test, we need at least one 5fer from one bowler in one inngs with plenty of possibilities of 3fers from 4 others. Thats the only way to expect 20 wkts. Sehwag can be expected to break a partnership or get a rare 3fer, but even if he is a very good bowler, he is not a specialist, but must be used as a very good and effective additional option.

[suraj]

Vroom...we need 5 bowlers to take 20 wkts. And we are not sacrificing any batter. We are stuck with Dravid' date=' which is anyways 1 batter minus, so effectively, our batters are Sehwag, Gambhir, VVS, Sachin, Ganguly, Dhoni ( all of whom have got 90 + scores in this series,including 200s,100s). thats 6 batters in my book. Plus we have Zak and Bhajji playing very well, so expect 20-30 from them too ( far more than what we can expect from Dravid). So effectively, I am just dropping Dravid for Munaf, which is a good option, as we can expect 2-3 wkts in the test match, can bowl out top batters at the begining of the inngs, has done very well recently. Apart from that Bhajji replaces Kumble...anything wrong ?[/quote'] Hari, If you are still presenting the 5 bowler argument after the Bombay 100 all out against a sissy England team then you are either too drunk or need to get a little drunk