Pacers for Newzealand Tour

[The Outsider]

How long ago were those performances? Yeah like I said before he's put in a few very good spells but how long ago was that? At the end of 2006? Great if that's the criteria then Pathan/RP/Patel are awesome bowlers who should be picked because apparently performances two years ago apparently count for a whole lot. Nevermind how he's bowled recently.

Point is, he hasn't bowled recently. But if he is fit, he must play. He is the most talented young fast bowler we have alongside Ishant, and must play even if he churns in a few insipid performances. And to just quote from my post to msb : Fast bowlers take time to come into their own. Their initial tests are invariably marked with inconsistent performances right from Akram, Imran, Marshall, Steyn etc. etc. If you don't identify the genuine talent and play him even at the cost of a few insipid returns, all you'll see are line and length merchants.

Great, three performances in South Africa and the Oval over his career so far. Damn, by that count Peter Siddle is 1/3 away from being an automatic selection for Australia since he's had two pretty good tests.

Superb debut, superb bowling in the Bombay test against England, telling performances at Kingston, dream stuff at Johannesburg, great follow up at Durban, and relentless bowling at the Oval. That's 6 very good to great performances in 14 test matches. Not sure what else you are looking for from a rookie bowler. Can you be more specific as to how many very good to great performances a rookie fast bowler must put in his first 14 tests to count as "consistent" in your books?

Again who's comparing the two? I'm not. They're two completely different bowlers and swing bowlers like Kumar/Pathan aren't striving for raw pace but if you call bowling at 135 as trundlers then Sreesanth also fits in this category because he doesn't maintain his pace for more than 5-6 overs.

Bowling at 135? Pathan and Kumar peak at 135 on their good days.

[graphic23]

Shwetabh, speaking for myself, even if Sreesanth was bowling absolute rubbish, I think I'd be okay if he was putting in the effort to do so. In the Trentbridge match, he bowled a no-ball that was about 3 feet after the crease - such behavior is unacceptable in a profession environment I think. Then he shouldered Michael Vaughn. It was just a terrible time for Rahul Dravid to keep him under control. Remember the beamer to Kevin Pietersen in the match. RP Singh had a terrible time during the SA tests but his onfield behavior wasn't affected, I don't think. Thats the only gripe. The talent is there but like several have said before me, talent alone is not enough to succeed. His behavior has been very off-putting, to say it nicely. He cried when Harbhajan hit him and made a big nuisance out of it. The England tour was just terrible. The T20 performance in the SF was amazing but RP Singh did well throughout the tour without being a nuisance to the team (opposition or to our own). I agree with you that Praveen and Pathan are not valid replacements for the sheer pace that he generates and his seam position is next to only Zaheer's. Both Praveen and Pathan can be considered for the ODIs, especially Praveen. But for test matches, I'd keep both Sreesanth and RP Singh in the squad but would play Munaf Patel first up. The best way to end this debate would be to see how he performs in the Duleep Trophy and the SL ODI series if he gets picked. Borrowing from Ponting recently, his best and worst spells have a very big gap that we just can't afford. And he handles a bad day much worse than RP Singh, Ishant, or Zaheer. Just goes crazy on the field. Granted he hasn't played too much under the present coaching management, they might be able to help him a little.

[The Outsider]

Shwetabh, speaking for myself, even if Sreesanth was bowling absolute rubbish, I think I'd be okay if he was putting in the effort to do so. In the Trentbridge match, he bowled a no-ball that was about 3 feet after the crease - such behavior is unacceptable in a profession environment I think. Then he shouldered Michael Vaughn. It was just a terrible time for Rahul Dravid to keep him under control. Remember the beamer to Kevin Pietersen in the match.

There is no doubt he has attitude problems, though I don't see how you can blame him in Slapgate. Yes, he completely lost it at Nottingham but rebounded superbly at the Oval. So, yeah his attitude is an unwanted nuisance for the team, but not a show stopper. There is no reason why a long run in the dressing room can't slowly rein him in. Yeah, let's see how the Duleep matches play out.

[graphic23]

There is no doubt he has attitude problems, though I don't see how you can blame him in Slapgate. Yes, he completely lost it at Nottingham but rebounded superbly at the Oval. So, yeah his attitude is an unwanted nuisance for the team, but not a show stopper. There is no reason why a long run in the dressing room can't slowly rein him in. Yeah, let's see how the Duleep matches play out.

Don't want to bring up the debate again but it was done inside the dressing room - not on the field. It should've stayed there.

[Shehezaada]

Sreesanth has permanantly screwed himself over though. His entire life he'll be sledged mercilessly about Bhajji slapping him so hard he was running to his sugar momma, Preity Zinta.

[fineleg]

What do you folks make of Dhawal Kulkarni? He gets another good match (5-fer to take them to win). Can he atleast make ODI squad for India? You think he can cut it in Intl cricket?

[Lord]

my picks: in order of preference zak ishant RP(if fit) irfan reserves:munaf,P.kumar sreesanth is useless,too unreliable.if i had to choose i would even choose aggy over him

[Lord]

What do you folks make of Dhawal Kulkarni? He gets another good match (5-fer to take them to win). Can he atleast make ODI squad for India? You think he can cut it in Intl cricket?

no way at current pace.needs to add extra yard or two to even get into the reckoning

[Fontaine]

It doesn't matter anyway. Sreesanth isn't going to be picked because this year he's been a crybaby, with horrible fitness and committment and has shown zero improvement. Until this guy can put in a lot overs in FC, India A tours etc and show he's improving in all those areas he can continue to work on his dance moves.

[Fontaine]

Superb debut' date=' superb bowling in the Bombay test against England, telling performances at Kingston, dream stuff at Johannesburg, great follow up at Durban, and relentless bowling at the Oval. That's 6 very good to great performances in 14 test matches. Not sure what else you are looking for from a rookie bowler. Can you be more specific as to how many very good to great performances a rookie fast bowler must put in his first 14 tests to count as "consistent" in your books?[/quote'] Well to begin with how about stopping all the histrionics and drama? All the top order batsmen in the world must be shaking with fear to see the mighty Sreesanth bowling at them! What a ****ing embarassment this guy is.

[cochise]

Going by their track record...I reckon the selectors will give him a go for the tour. So far, they have been making bold selections with future goals in mind...and Sreesanth has got to be part of their future plans. Shwetabh has made a good fist of what I would have wanted to get across to you yesterday...

[cochise]

What a ****ing embarassment this guy is.

I will tell you something...it ain't as bad as it seems. He is just very passionate about his cricket and can't control his emotions...this observation has been made to me by my Aussie friends over here and they reckon he is a good prospect. Of course, they made a little fun of him, but in all seriousness, they rate him well.

[Fontaine]

Going by their track record...I reckon the selectors will give him a go for the tour. So far, they have been making bold selections with future goals in mind...and Sreesanth has got to be part of their future plans. Shwetabh has made a good fist of what I would have wanted to get across to you yesterday...

Yeah he'll get selected beacuse we'll need probably 5 fast bowlers RP/PK don't look fit so Sree will go with the tour. But there's no way he's going to be picked as the top three seamers to play in the test matches.

[cochise]

Yeah he'll get selected beacuse we'll need probably 5 fast bowlers RP/PK don't look fit so Sree will go with the tour. But there's no way he's going to be picked as the top three seamers to play in the test matches.

Depends...if the wickets are looking very seam friendly, he may just get in ahead of the others...his seam release is superb and he will get it to move of the deck more than the others barring Ishant. Also, if they don't play him for the first two tests and win them...they may play him for the last one.

[Fontaine]

I will tell you something...it ain't as bad as it seems. He is just very passionate about his cricket and can't control his emotions...this observation has been made to me by my Aussie friends over here and they reckon he is a good prospect. Of course' date=' they made a little fun of him, but in all seriousness, they rate him well.[/quote'] It think Ricky Ponting says something about that didn't he? "Built like Tarzan, cries like Jane."

[Lord]

Superb debut, superb bowling in the Bombay test against England, telling performances at Kingston, dream stuff at Johannesburg, great follow up at Durban, and relentless bowling at the Oval. That's 6 very good to great performances in 14 test matches. Not sure what else you are looking for from a rookie bowler. Can you be more specific as to how many very good to great performances a rookie fast bowler must put in his first 14 tests to count as "consistent" in your books?

its not wat he did in those 6 games,its wat he did in rest 8.as u said hes been very good to great in less than half of games hes played,but in others hes been horrible.we cant take this kind of bowler,especially wen we have other options who we can trust more

[cochise]

It think Ricky Ponting says something about that didn't he? "Built like Tarzan, cries like Jane."

Fontaine...why are you so anti-Sree? Just asking...don't you see his potential?

[Lord]

I will tell you something...it ain't as bad as it seems. He is just very passionate about his cricket and can't control his emotions...this observation has been made to me by my Aussie friends over here and they reckon he is a good prospect. Of course' date=' they made a little fun of him, but in all seriousness, they rate him well.[/quote'] u trust the opinion of aussies on indians too much.this is not gully cricket.if he cant control his emtions he must learn before coming back.we dont wanna be a laughing stock time n again because of his antics.others are as passionate as him,some even more so.but sree looks fake while being agrresive

[Anakin]

I'd love to see SS bowl without all the drama and immaturity, guess that'll never happen

[cochise]

u trust the opinion of aussies on indians too much.this is not gully cricket.if he cant control his emtions he must learn before coming back.we dont wanna be a laughing stock time n again because of his antics.others are as passionate as him,some even more so.but sree looks fake while being agrresive

I am not trusting anyone rox...I am just giving you perspective on how that incident was viewed outside India. Sreesanth is a very passionate cricketer...he is young and immature and needs to know how to channel it...passion and his ability is the ingredient that can make him a great. He will have learnt a few lessons since the slap and probably from the slap...he needs another chance...India will do well with him firing in the team.