Your Openers for Final Test

[sm332]

Dravid with Sehwag, Badri comes in at no.6. You gotto be joking if you say a rookie opener with no prior international experience whatsoever, is going to make his debut in the final, deciding test match against Australia. Vijay may have well been picked to get the feel of the dressing room and rub shoulders with the stars. I see this more as a grooming process, rather than an actual oppurtunity. Besides, the Dravid/Sehwag combo has worked in the past too. They put on a massive opening partnership against Pakistan.

yeah but that was on a complete Patta and RD was not nearly in the same kind of rut at the time. I dont think RD will open .... I am going to put a wild card out there . I know it is wacky .... but stranger things have happened. DHONI to open with Viru

[Ram]

yeah but that was on a complete Patta and RD was not nearly in the same kind of rut at the time. I dont think RD will open .... I am going to put a wild card out there . I know it is wacky .... but stranger things have happened. DHONI to open with Viru

Dravid can easily hold one end up, which is enough against Australia. He has the technique to survive the new ball. Even a sedate 30 from him will get the job done. But M.Vijay for this test match….. No way! No disrespect to him, but it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to ask a rookie to take the plunge against a top-flight team in a match as crucial as this. Agreed, the Aussie attack isn’t as strong as it used to be, but still, they have been showing signs of restricting us. Besides, this is also our best chance to promote VVS to no.3 and given the red-hot ‘Walking Wicket’ form that he’s in, that makes a lot of sense.

[bharat297]

MM ... a rookie might just do the trick. One thing you can never let happen against the Aussies is let them get momentum. Gambhir and Sehwag do not let Australia do this. They constantly rotate the strike and put the Aussie bowlers on the back foot. Now I dont mind Dravid opening but I am worried he will not put away the bad ball and allow Australia to build momentum , thereby forcing Sehwag into a rash shot. On the other hand, the Aussies do not know much about Vijay ... they wont know where to bowl to him ... they wont know his strengths or weaknesses ... they wont know his shot range. He is a wildcard in this equation and might just turn the game. After all, he is in form and the pitch is set to be a batsman's paradise.

[coffee_rules]

dravid. get 5th bowler - munaf/chawla

[satishg]

RD and Veeru..go for the kill with 5 bowlers..our batting is good enuf to handle this bowling attack without Gauti

[Cricketics]

dravid. get 5th bowler - munaf/chawla

chawla?? dude wat da heck???

[fineleg]

chawla?? dude wat da heck???

yes, why chawla?

[bharat297]

^ Id say because Chawla got 5 wickets against this Australian team in the warm up game

[Cricketics]

bharat.. i would rather have Murali Karthik.. then the overrated Piyush Chawla. Murali Karthik is a proven performer.... very unlucky he was..

[bharat297]

^ I understand that ... and if we were looking for someone to play a series that makes sense (Kartik over Chawla) ... but for a one-off game it doesnt matter how good someones career record is ... all that matters are 2 things: * Current form (this is the most important thing) * History against that opposition Chawla is in form at the moment and troubled the Australians in the tour game. Kartik hasnt played a match on Indian soil in quite some time and seems more keen to play in England. Kartik does have a good record against the Aussies though, but the fact that he hasnt played in India for a while does not put him in contention IMO.

[bunny]

To me it doesn't matter whether we open with RD or SRT or Mural Vijay. What matters is who is better? MV at the opening position or Badri at #6? I have seen MV in only a couple of games, so I might be biased but I think he might score more runs at the opening position than Badri at #6.

[King]

Rahul Dravid will perhaps front up. Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman will definitely not open. Maybe Dhoni will take up the mantle himself and lead from the front???

[h4te]

with any luck, Hari might tickle Srikanth into getting me an opportunity to open. what do you say, Hari??? :pray: :nervous:

[Willow_on_fire]

SRT should open with Viru....Let the best guy SRT be the first....most of us have this typical Indian mentality of 'saving' the best in case wickets tumble in the begining...:-!

[bharat297]

^ Its not a ODI match ... You send openers to do the job of an opener. Opening the batting in Tests is a very difficult job, and you need guys that do it for a living. I dont want Dravid to open. It should be Vijay. He is a specialist opener. He is in excellent form. To me ... he's the one to face the new ball with Viru.

[King]

I would like to see the new lad given the opportunity otherwise what was the point in selecting him? It'll be quite strange if Vijay opens and gets a 100 but then the next test match he may not get to open because Sehwag and Gambhir are doing great at the moment. Perhaps that will put a bit of a pressure on Rahul Dravid or he could possibly fill in for Ganguly in future. It's a win win situation for Vijay. From nowhere he may be able to cement his place in the Indian team. The spots are surely up for grabs.

[fineleg]

ravi, MVK is called upon as a cover for GG. However, while making the final decision, they may think he is 'too raw' for a series decider Test against Aus. Way too much pressure for a total rookie. And that is probably a wise thing to consider, ain't it? Sharing the dressing room with Indian team, and that experience and learning from seniors will be a good one to start with for Vijay.

[Feed]

Gambhir's absence a big blow, Vijay to open: Dhoni The Indian team is all set to cap Tamil Nadu youngster M Vijay as a replacement for banned Gautam Gambhir. More...

[King]

Baptism by fire is what we are after. What better occasion to debut? I'd be over the moon if I were him. A chance to play against the best in the world in a series decider and a win here with a bit of contribution from Vijay will make him a star overnight. I think they are going to play him if he looks good enough in the nets. Otherwise why did they even bother picking him knowing already India has 13 men minus GG.

[bharat297]

ravi, MVK is called upon as a cover for GG. However, while making the final decision, they may think he is 'too raw' for a series decider Test against Aus. Way too much pressure for a total rookie. And that is probably a wise thing to consider, ain't it? Sharing the dressing room with Indian team, and that experience and learning from seniors will be a good one to start with for Vijay.

Yep that is the risk ... but on the other hand he is in form and the Aussies have never seen him before. So he becomes a real X factor. Add to that the fact that he is a specialist opener. Remember Dhoni picked Piyush Chawla out of obscurity to play the CB series finals. Vijay might just prove the difference. People though Ishant was too raw to play Test cricket against Australia.