selection for SA tests : Dravid, Yuvraj doubtful, chance for youngsters?

[Cricketics]

This should be applied If one players is not fit to play then Murali Vijay should retain his slot. If two players are not fit to play then Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane should play. If three then Vijay, Rahane and Virat Kohli

[Ram]

VVS was already feeling his fingers after the first dropped catch. He should have been removed from the slips right away. They persisted with him and look what happened.

[Dravid]

if the filters i set are right, since dravid made his debut india has played 139 tests, dravid has played in 138 of em... only missed one :| thats ****ing amazing (if its right :D)

[Karan114]

^^ Yeah, third and final Test against the Lankans in 2005

[I_India]

Dravid God No.2

[Laaloo]

For some reason, Sachin never scores at home against the Saffers. That's why Dravid's role is even more important. Hope he's fit and ready to go

[Fontaine]

Look Dravid is going to play if it's a minor fracture. The only time you need surgery is if the bones have splintered and won't heal themselves, in other words if the fracture/break wasn't a clean one. To put it into perspective a clean fracture of your knuckle heals within two weeks and in another two weeks you can pretty much have 80% of your strength back. In two weeks Dravid will be healthy enough to play. He'll need to wear a plastic mask on his face ofcourse but he'll be fine, unless the fracture is much worse than a clean break.

[thevortex]

Our players will be dog tired after multiple one day matches and this test series. I have a bad feeling about this series.

To my horror, I find myself believing this. ________ Side effects from nexium

[ViruRulez]

Just went to cricinfo and saw the news. It will be a huge blow. Four of our players are injured and not sure for the SA series. I wont have cared if they would not have played in the Bangles series but barring Yuvraj everybody else would be needed. We would especially miss Dravid and VVS and to some extent Sree too. The team selection for the SA series would be tomorrow as per reports and that is even more concerning because nobody is sure about the four and when they would be available. And it would be difficult for the selectors to select these four if they are not sure about their fitness. Hope that at least Dravid and VVS is fine.

[ViruRulez]

There are good replacements whoever it is ... but youngsters would have been better for the Bangles series rather than the SA series.. we should have reserved our best players for the SA series instead .. we could have sent our B or C team for the Bangles series.. but if we somehow lose to SA then our no.1 ranking might be hindered whereas the wins over Bangles hardly benefits our ranking at all as they are a minnow

[Feed]

Young Indian aspirants for SA series Injuries to Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj ahead of the Test rubber against SA has opened the door for young players to claim places in the squad. More... International Cricket Wednesday 27th January 2010 Young Indian aspirants for SA series Injuries to Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj ahead of the Test rubber against SA has opened the door for young players to claim places in the squad. Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, who were injured in the course of the second Test now in progress in Mirpur against hosts Bangladesh, are virtually out of the opening match against South Africa commencing on February 6 at Nagpur. There's also a question mark over Laxman's availability after he missed the Mirpur game due to a finger injury and suddenly the middle order shows a huge void that the selectors would find hard to fill. The front runners for taking up the slots that would become vacant due to the likely absence of these main batsmen are Subramaniam Badrinath, who has been with the team in home ties without getting a look-in, one-day specialists Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and young talent Manish Pandey of Karnataka. Right-handed Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu and South Zone captain who is on the wrong side of the 20s in age, has vast experience in first class cricket and has scored over 5,000 runs in domestic cricket and is the most steady of the quartet. Raina, Sharma and Kohli have shown what they are capable of in the limited-over games with their bold strokes and have recently displayed maturity to play the longer version of the game in domestic cricket. Pandey, in the early 20s like Sharma and Kolhi, has suddenly jumped into the fray after his splendid display for his state team Karnataka in this year's Ranji Trophy, especially in the thrilling final at Mysore against eventual champions Mumbai with a fighting second innings hundred that took the home team on the doorsteps of victory. And then there's the option for the selectors to fall back on Mohammed Kaif of Uttar Pradesh if they want an experienced man to prop up the middle order which looks shorn of the needed steel to counter the SA pace attack. Kaif had an ordinary run in the Ranji Trophy for UP who made the semis before losing to Karnataka. But the one-day discard's double century in the Duleep Trophy quarter final against East Zone in Mohali followed by the gritty 112 on the opening day of the semi final against South Zone at Indore yesterday that lifted Central from a deep rut has suddenly pitch-forked him into the reckoning. There is also the option of including regular India 'A' players Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, both of who have scored consistently in domestic cricket and would be in consideration. How many from this lot make it to the squad would depend on the fitness of Laxman whose finger injury needed ten stitches to mend. At the moment it seems both Dravid, whose jaw was broken while batting against Bangladesh at Mirpur and was hospitalised, and Yuvraj, who has sustained a wrist injury, cannot be considered at least for the Test opener. Murali Vijay, who replaced Laxman in the Mirpur Test, is also expected to be retained in the full squad as the third-choice opener behind Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. In bowling, there's an injury doubt over pacer S Sreesanth after the Kerala bowler sustained a torn hamstring during the Test rubber in Bangladesh and was sent home after the opener in Chittagong. He's unlikely to be fit for the opening match against SA. Young Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, who has been very impressive with his extra pace right through the season and was the top wicket taker in Ranji Trophy, appears a ready-made replacement choice for the selectors for Sreesanth as both are right arm bowlers. There are also other options like Sudeep Tyagi of UP. The spin department too has not performed up to the mark with spearhead Harbhajan Singh not showing signs of leading the pack in the expected fashion. A game of musical chairs is also being played amongst leg spinner Amit Mishra and left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha with the former dropped controversially for the second Test in Mirpur despite having taken seven wickets and done well with the bat in the first Test in Chittagong against Bangladesh. With Mumbai having won the Ranji title for the 39th time, there would be extra pressure on the selectors for including another player from domestic cricket's traditional power house. With the spinners not really dominating the rival batsmen of late, they could be tempted to have another look-in at Romesh Powar, the one-day discard from the domestic champions who can be handy with the bat too. Cricket Board's secretary N Srinivasan had said in a media release that the selectors would choose the team for both the Tests. But in the light of the injuries sustained by Dravid and Yuvraj subsequently it's to be seen whether the selectors would pick the squad only for the opening match against SA. The second Test against the Proteas is to be held at Kolkata's Eden Gardens from February 14. The five-man selection panel headed by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, would also pick the Board President's squad for the two-day warm-up tie against SA at Nagpur scheduled on February 2 and 3.

[bsriharsha]

jadeja , badri n vijay jadeja can provide the spin option too

[achilles]

jadeja , badri n vijay jadeja can provide the spin option too

He's too young and inexperienced to play Test matches and that too against a team like South Africa

[IKnowU]

lol @ the ppl thinking Badrinath will play........no chance. I would see Raina or Jadeja coming in for UV.

[King]

South Africa is not a side to be experimenting against. I'm hoping Dravid and VVS will both be fit for the test match against South Africa. Yuvi can be replaced by M.Vijay or any other deserving candidate. India should not take South Africa lightly no matter what strip India may play on.

[thevortex]

If Badri does not get picked even in this situation I think he can kiss his international Test career goodbye. There can be no reason for him being continually ignored. I would even say that Manish Pandey can be a good pick. It would be an off hand selection and a bold one. But hey, if we cannot exhibit boldness when we are No.1, when are we going to? I would also have loved to see a young spinner picked but I dont know that one exists outside of the three currently playing. Our domestic cricket is in such a rut that Sunil Joshi still bowls and picks wickets and Gujrat's Parmar still finds a place in the team with his modified action which is clean but does nothing for his bowling effectiveness. Sad, sad, situation. ________ PORTABLE VAPORIZERS FOR SALE

[King]

Test matches are won by experienced players not youngsters. India should do everything to get all the experienced players on board. I guess the youngsters can wait another series or two.

[patriot]

Nepotism of the worst kind still exists in Indian cricket. ..if Nohit Sharma makes it to the side ahead of the likes of Raina and Co for the SA series. WTF has he done off late ? IMHO, KAif is in red hot form and has great experience. Now would be the best time to get him in the side. http://cricketnext.in.com/news/raina-kohli-rohit-frontrunners-for-sa-series/46619-13.html?from=lp\ This fat SLOB has got umpteen chances ahead of many more worthy guys in the past, so don't be surprised if he get books his slot again. Apparently, according to news coming out he is among the front runners. I wonder who his godfather is in BCCI.

[Sachinism]

It won't be easy picking the replacements. I think quite a few of the guys have made good cases for their selection.

[Desi Cartman]

dont worry , it'll be raina or more likely kohli