Gap between end of Aus series and start of Eng series

[fineleg]

Is it really only a few days? Is BCCI totally careless about injuring folks like Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Bhajji, Viru, SRT etc? Hardly any gap between one series and another!?

[Mr. Wicket]

Is BCCI totally careless about injuring folks like Ishant Sharma' date=' Zaheer Khan, Bhajji, Viru, SRT etc?[/quote'] You know the answer...

[sm332]

You know the answer...

I hope the team selectors are a lil smarter and rest Zak, Ishant, Tendu for some of the initial ODI's.

[fineleg]

play munaf patel, rp singh, badri et al after 4 test series, key folks need a break at expense of whatever happens to odis

[Ram]

In hindsight, its good the Poms are coming early. Most of 'em must already be reeling after their Nightmarish Stanford experience. They now have very little turnaround time. If we managed to win this Aussie series ( which we should), our confidence will be sky high and it will be better if we keep playing. There's nothing like the confidence that comes out of success and when you're winning, the body doesnt quite mind the effects of weariness.

[fineleg]

^ MM, I thought of the same. Usually, when you play Aus and then play another team, we do better since we are more alert and ready. However, if I.S. or Z.K. got injured then recovery, rehab etc are risks. Better to atleast rest I.S. and Z.K. and play M.P/RPS

[sm332]

i am talking about ODI's here ... that will give Zak, Ish and Tendu a good solid 2.5 - 3 week break before the tests which is really what I am focused on. I reckon RPS and Munaf are very serviceable ODI bowlers and hence dont expect a significant drop in capability.

[vsd2006]

Arent these guys proffesional cricket players? I thought they were. If they dont have it in them to play hard back to back series then they should not be considered pro players. Isnt Ishant in his late teens? Cant get your body rested in 1 week, that sounds a bit bleak to me.

[punjabi_khota]

^ MM, I thought of the same. Usually, when you play Aus and then play another team, we do better since we are more alert and ready. However, if I.S. or Z.K. got injured then recovery, rehab etc are risks. Better to atleast rest I.S. and Z.K. and play M.P/RPS

Thats plain wrong IMO. I think half the team was mentally absent in the SA series that followed our trip down-under earlier this year.

[PakFan]

Zaheer should not play ODIs any ways from my point of view. India needs him in every single test match.

[fineleg]

Arent these guys proffesional cricket players? I thought they were. If they dont have it in them to play hard back to back series then they should not be considered pro players. Isnt Ishant in his late teens? Cant get your body rested in 1 week' date=' that sounds a bit bleak to me.[/quote'] :eyedance:

[Fontaine]

I don't think this will be a problem. Really, it's an ideal situation for the Indian team because we play different squads for ODI and Test matches. Ishant/Zak/SRT/Sehwag/Gambhir should be rested as we've got younger players like RP/Munaf/Raina/Badri/Pathan/Praveen Kumar etc etc. It also provides a great opportunity for those players to keep growing and improving so that they can be ready for the eventual test call up. The only player that it sucks for is Dhoni but as since he's captain for both formats he'll feel more secure about taking breaks. Ideally towards the end of the ODI series some test players can come in and get ready by playing some of the ODI matches.

[bharat297]

Dont we have a rotation policy in place for the ODIs? I thought that was decided after last years world cup debacle

[Sachinism]

I don't think this will be a problem. Really, it's an ideal situation for the Indian team because we play different squads for ODI and Test matches. Ishant/Zak/SRT/Sehwag/Gambhir should be rested as we've got younger players like RP/Munaf/Raina/Badri/Pathan/Praveen Kumar etc etc. It also provides a great opportunity for those players to keep growing and improving so that they can be ready for the eventual test call up. The only player that it sucks for is Dhoni but as since he's captain for both formats he'll feel more secure about taking breaks. Ideally towards the end of the ODI series some test players can come in and get ready by playing some of the ODI matches.

Thats too much changing maybe they should opt for a rotation policy England won't be that easy, we need some of our top players available to play

[Fontaine]

Thats too much changing maybe they should opt for a rotation policy England won't be that easy, we need some of our top players available to play

Perhaps. However, if you look that the sides that have played the ODI matches as recently as the Sri Lankan tour you'll see that the regular 11 were: Kohli G Gambhir Yuvraj Singh SK Raina MS Dhoni RG Sharma S Badrinath Harbhajan Singh P Kumar Z Khan MM Patel These guys didn't just compete well against Sri Lanka with the Murali/Mendis threat but won the series with a game to spare. Keep in mind that Zaheer can be rotated with Ishant/RP and Sehwag can come in as well as Mishra for Bhajji at times. As you can see the only player that would play both formats consistently would be Dhoni or perhaps Gambhir. I think it's the ideal situation because it wouldn't allow the team to stagnate and would have plenty of competition and matches to promote the younger players who still need seasoning. Ultimately the goal here is the world cup and out of the current senior players, the only guys I see from the test side to play in the WC would be SRT/Zaheer. Obviously Sehwag and Gambhir as well. What do you think.

[fineleg]

^ SRT will play WC2011?

[bharat297]

If form and fitness warrant ... then he may ... but its more likely he will retire sometime towards the end of next year ... because ODI cricket is taking a lot out of him. However, he seems to look a lot younger when he plays under Dhoni's captaincy. Sachin would be 37 (going on 38) in WC2011. Sanath and Lara were both that age during WC 2007 and McGrath had just turned 37 aswell. Its not out of the question.

[cowboysfan]

the key is rotation.7 odis? wtf?.who plays 7 odis series anymore?.we need our test specialists to stay healthy for the 2 tests (I think we can win both and kick englands butt).

[bharat297]

5 ODIs and 3 Tests would have been much better. Why would you only play 2 Tests? I mean, if its vs. BD or something ... yea I understand, but 2 heavyweights like England and India should be playing more

[fineleg]

5 ODIs and 3 Tests would have been much better. Why would you only play 2 Tests? I mean' date=' if its vs. BD or something ... yea I understand, but 2 heavyweights like England and India should be playing more[/quote'] yes, this 7 + 2 = nonsense