factors affecting our stay at the top world test rankings

[Dinx - the Jinx]

.. what do we need to improve upon... IMO, the first and foremost thing that we need to do is to shrugg off the slow/late starter tag.. We go into many a series sleeping AND start a series with a loss or a hard fought draw. For eg: Vs Aus at home last year, we almost lost the opening test at Blore.. Same against England at Chennai. In 2008 tour down under, we lost the opening test at Melbourne in quick time. This time around against SriLanka, we had to fight hard to save the first test. We easily give away the momentum to the opposition in the first test of the series and have to play catchup.. This is criminal especially when we pay at home.. Thank God we have been doing catchup well off late.. but this trend of slow starting the series should be removed as soon as possible, if we are to do white washes, which is very important to gain points in the rankings and to extend the lead.. for this, we might have to give atleast a week's preparation before a series starts, so that the boys get in the groove.. (Sehwag can be excused as he once famously told, he never felt what it was like being in groove :hatsoff:) Next thing is positive/aggressive captaincy i.e we should not settle for a series win. If there is a chance to win the last match, we should go for the kill rather than forcing ourselves to draw the match to secure the series... Dhoni has done that atleast twice in his short career and I hope he comes out of that habit soon..

[vvvslaxman]

At this point all we can do is pray for South Africa's loss and Australia's loss as we don't have many Tests to retain our spot.

[cowboysfan]

some things we can do- 1)get Ishant back in form.that means drop him from the t20 team completely and dont select him for the odi team until he does well in the tests. 2)Bhajji needs competition.we need an off-spinner who can compete and push him. 3)phase out Yuvi,that means selecting someone like Pujara and give him some exposure.he can learn from the seniors while on the bench. 4)improve fitness.it might be a lost cause for the seniors but we have got to try. 5)play more tests!!.we can consolidate our position next year.

[Celeste]

Find good fast bowlers who can average in 20s . Find replacements for Fab 4.

[Jersey #10]

some things we can do- 1)get Ishant back in form.that means drop him from the t20 team completely and dont select him for the odi team until he does well in the tests. 2)Bhajji needs competition.we need an off-spinner who can compete and push him. 3)phase out Yuvi,that means selecting someone like Pujara and give him some exposure.he can learn from the seniors while on the bench. 4)improve fitness.it might be a lost cause for the seniors but we have got to try. 5)play more tests!!.we can consolidate our position next year.

In short, Sake every player who is not consistent and Play more Tests..

[jusarrived]

Find good fast bowlers who can average in 20s . Find replacements for Fab 4.

its our fast bowlers who have won tests for us both home/away . We have replacements for Fab4 , batting is never going to be a problem .

[King Tendulkar]

Play RP singh as 3rd seamer in tests overseas. Also not a fan of oijha, looks like a limited overs bowler. Lack of good arm ball is hindrance. Need quality back up for bhaij. Apart from that we are perfect:cantstop:

[jusarrived]

Play RP singh as 3rd seamer in tests overseas. Also not a fan of oijha, looks like a limited overs bowler. Lack of good arm ball is hindrance. Need quality back up for bhaij. Apart from that we are perfect:cantstop:

we need to kick Bhaji out first , performs only once in a while & that given a helpful pitch ...Ojha is not ODI bowler , havent seen any other spinner flight more than he does , we have to persist with him ...he got Jayawardane of an arm ball & Tushara was plumb which was not given .

[S.Bond]

To stay number one, i think indian batting is ok and will be the same for nest year or two... But india can still bowl and field better, ojha doesn't look so good, maybe they wil need sharma in good form. Sreesanth is not world calss to me. But they can count on a very good zaheer to lead their attack for the next few years...

[Zap_Brannigan]

keep playing at home...

I am confused. Could you please elaborate here. Normally, when cricket nations talk about home series, we talk about playing in our own country. But since you are a paki, what home are you talking about ? Is it UAE ? Is it NZ? Or is it Eng ? Seeing as we won our last series in NZ, England and our actual home, India, I could hypothesis that all 3 are good venues for us to win and maintain our #1 ranking. So I am a bit confused which home you meant.

[diegovegaz]

we just need to strengthen our bowling attack and do much better while bowling against the tail

[bunny]

The reason for so few tests of late India has completely stopped following FTP when it comes to playing against NZ and WI. These 2 countries are hardly ever invited to India, and in the past we have skipped a tour each to these countries. I know that NZ is visiting India next year but what about Windies? We are also not touring Pak this year. would have been better to compensate that with a series vs Saffies rather than an ODI series. Also why are we touring Bang every 2 years or so?

[Chandan]

India has completely stopped following FTP when it comes to playing against NZ and WI. These 2 countries are hardly ever invited to India, and in the past we have skipped a tour each to these countries. I know that NZ is visiting India next year but what about Windies? We are also not touring Pak this year. would have been better to compensate that with a series vs Saffies rather than an ODI series. Also why are we touring Bang every 2 years or so?

When were Kiwis and Windies supposed to tour as per FTP, after 2003 and 2002 respectively?

[bunny]

When were Kiwis and Windies supposed to tour as per FTP' date=' after 2003 and 2002 respectively?[/quote'] What I understood of FTP, each team must tour every other country once in 4 years.

[Macj]

India has completely stopped following FTP when it comes to playing against NZ and WI. These 2 countries are hardly ever invited to India, and in the past we have skipped a tour each to these countries. I know that NZ is visiting India next year but what about Windies? We are also not touring Pak this year. would have been better to compensate that with a series vs Saffies rather than an ODI series. Also why are we touring Bang every 2 years or so?

Ignoring Bang makes sense, let the Paks play them over and over again, theyll lose edge, but ignoring WI is not good. WI are recovering albeit slowly, but they are definitely rising again, dont forget 1 victory against Aus will propel them in points upward and if theres any team that can play mercurial cricket its them. I'ld rather see Ind WI tests than more Ind Aus Twenty 20 or ODI bullshyte.

[Karan114]

West Indies have toured India just twice in the last two decades - unbelievable.

[Lord]

thats true-the likes of Bravo n Taylor havent played a single test in India

[MUMBAISKIPPER]

reason is very simple..20-20 ka zamana hai dost

[Jersey #10]

Reason: We have started playing the real cricket of Odis and T20s... Why would we need to play Tests? they are like practice matches before T20s and ODIs any ways...

[S.Bond]

Is indai goind to bangladesh or bangladesh coming to india?