Sreeshant versus Ishant

[Fontaine]

Anyhow it doesn't really matter. If Sreesanth continues his erratic, brainless performance he'll be pretty much bowling himself out of the team.

[vvvslaxman]

That's incorrect. Praveen Kumar has shown he can swing the ball both ways as if he's got the ball on a string and Nehra also to a lesser extent. Both of these guys have shown the ability and more importantly the execution to out think batsmen and plan/setup dismissals. The next time Sreesanth bowls 6 good deliveries on a consistent line/length with swing will be his first in years.

Praveen has also shown once the swing is lost after 5 or 6 overs he is utterly useless much like Irfan.

[vvvslaxman]

Only positive thing i can say about Ishant is he can bowl very long spells.

[King Tendulkar]

Sree is a lock in for SA tour. He will be judged on SA tour. The 3 pacers in the team will be ZK, Ishant and Sree, thus as such there is no competition between the two for forsseable future. I believe Sree will do well in tours of SA and England!

[achilles]

In a deep british accent: "History has been witness to Sreesanth's exploits in South Africa and England. The young man is up with the last 2 chances and I have a feeling this man's gonna prove his worth".

[saneindian]

13 tests away from home in the next 8-9 months...Irrespective of the debate, if fit, Zak, ishant and Sree will be the first choice 3 seamers in nearly all those games unless Unadkat can move a step up in his debut dometsic season or RPS/Irfan can get their mojo back or if Atul Sharma suddenly decides he is fit and ready to play some cricket after all those years of training to be a WWE superstar!

[Sid]

13 tests away from home in the next 8-9 months...Irrespective of the debate' date=' if fit, Zak, ishant and Sree will be the first choice 3 seamers in nearly all those games unless Unadkat can move a step up in his debut dometsic season or RPS/Irfan can get their mojo back or [b']if Atul Sharma suddenly decides he is fit and ready to play some cricket after all those years of training to be a WWE superstar!

:cantstop:

[dial_100]

Srisanth has ability to outswing the ball and that comes handy against left handers. Same thing what Zak does to right handers. This will be in addition to out swing of Zak against left handers and in-cutters from Ishant Sharma. It will be awesome variety. Only thing we will miss is Kumble in SA. we will do better there. Remember, after bowling on these flat tracks, these 3 will be all excited to bowl there. Besides, SA will have a surprise after facing Pak.

[jusarrived]

Zaheer , Sree and Ishant can trouble any lineup , especially on helpful conditions ...if its a choice between Sree and Ishant , its a no brainer really ..Ishant has had a long run with the team , while Sree is just making a comeback & has bowled as good/bad as Sharma .

[jusarrived]

It's actually hilarious. The ONLY argument so far I've heard about Sreesanth being included in the team for SA is: "Hopefully he'll do well because he did well 4 years ago." :hysterical: It's like nevermind the guys isn't express any more, can't bowl three good deliveries in a row, never mind he's a nut case, never mind his average/strike rate and all other stats suck. Let's forget all those facts. Let's just hope. Yeah, that should be enough against the 2nd ranked test side in the world with a formidable battling lineup in their own back yard. Hope. :hysterical:

most people know why Sree is preferred , you chose to ignore that ..not our problem . isnt express anymore ? :hysterical: he was still hitting 140+ on that dead pitch , in Aus , Eng or SA the speed gun would show that as 150k...he was bowling the same speed as MJ in the last series .

[saneindian]

most people know why Sree is preferred , you chose to ignore that ..not our problem . isnt express anymore ? :hysterical: he was still hitting 140+ on that dead pitch , in Aus , Eng or SA the speed gun would show that as 150k...he was bowling the same speed as MJ in the last series .

Cricinfo had also shown one delivery of Sreesanth to be 159.9 kmph and another few over 145+ in the last test :--D

[jusarrived]

Cricinfo had also shown one delivery of Sreesanth to be 159.9 kmph and another few over 145+ in the last test :--D

that was a speed gun error :--D he bowled a over in 142-145k range in Aus series & has been consistently in the range of 135 -141 here . its pointless going full throttle on these flat pitches all the time , but am sure with conditions & very generous speed guns in SA he will cloak much higher speeds ..I wont be surprised if he hist 150+ there .

[Fontaine]

Praveen has also shown once the swing is lost after 5 or 6 overs he is utterly useless much like Irfan.

Completely different ball. The duke/SG ball keeps swinging for much/much longer.

[fineleg]

I share the frustration that Fontaine has about Sreesanth - he bowls great balls occasionally, and the rest of the time he sprays it all over the place. However, I think Fontaine is being harsh on Sreesanth only because the alternatives are duds too. Ishant Sharma is ok, not too great. But lets say ZK and IS are sure for SA (if they are fit). Then who else will you take? (as the THIRD pacer) RP has become RP-noSwing-noPace (though recently he seemed to do well against a minnow in Ranji). Irfan Pathan - seems like history Munaf Patel - maybe for SA but no great shakes (as 4th pacer in squad) Praveen Kumar - maybe for SA, as 4th pacer in squad (who is the 3rd pacer in squad) A.Mithun, Unadkat - too new, need more experience

[gaurav92]

My Picks of 5 bowlers for the World Cup will include : Zaheer Khan : Any doubts ? Ishant Sharma : Tall man, hits the deck hard, get some extra bounce off the deck, and will be a handy bowler especially on these flaccid subcontinental "Paatas".I know his record has not been one to boast here under these conditions, but i still feel he is a handy bowler, if he gets his rhythm back.He needs some bounce to trouble the batsman .So he will be there in my squad, not too sure about his inclusion in Playing XI though. Praveen Kumar : Good opening bowler.He can be used judiciously for the first 7 overs, when the ball swings, and he has the ability to swing the ball both ways.He has done well for us and got us some eary breakthroughs once the ball starts to swing.Although h isn't a good death bowler, but his strengths with the new ball undermines his weakness at the death, and hence he is included in my Squad. Ashish Nehra : He has done reasonably well in the past.Has a good wicket taking ability, although he sprays it a little when he tries to experiments something. he more often than not, gets you a wicket or two.he is a decent death bowler, and has ability the reverse swing the old ball too.So definitely in my Squad. Munaf Patel : He doesn't have pace as he used to have at one point in his career.But he does darts the ball in and bowls close to the stumps, and bows straight.He is one "Wicket to Wicket kind of a bowler" .He can get a lot of LBW decisions in his favour if the batsman tries to go across the line and play those flicks.So he can bowl well in the middle overs.About his slog overs bowling, I would say, he isn't the worst, but definitely lacks some variations.So he would be in my squad but not sure in the Playing XI unless there are some injuries to the other probables. Sreesanth will be there in the Test Squad only, not a handy ODI bowler especially on these tracks.

[bihutoli]

For tests I would take the combination of Zaheer, Ishant, Sreeshant, Munaf and PK in the squad. For the playing eleven Zak is a certainty. I'd chose two out of Ishant, Sreeshant and Munaf (not bothered as to which two really). Munaf has the ability to put the ball in the right areas more often than not, and in SA pitches that would come in handy. If nothing he can contain batsmen better than Sreeshant and Ishant. He of course brings in an enormous liability as a fielder and as a batsman, and his ability to stay fit for the duration of a test match being suspect. Ishant is probably our fastest bowler, his height is an asset, and he has the ability to keep the batsmen under enormous pressure for entire spells (though these spells are few and far between). He leaks runs though and his confidence under pressure is suspect. Sreeshant is a madman. He tries too many things and is overall an idiot. However he has pace and a great seam position which spells disastrous consequences for opposition batsmen once in a while. However overall more of a liability than an asset. PK has never been tried in tests, but has the ability to take early breakthroughs. I guess he'd have the ability to ball long spells without breaking down, something that's really required from seamers in SA. He is a decent bat to boot. Nehra doesn't even bowl in the Ranji's anymore. RP has lost his pace and his swing, so has Irfan. Of the three I guess Irfan has a shout to making the test squad before the other two on account of his batting.

[CG]

one thing i like about sreesanth or ishant is they never give up like our previous generation fast bowlers on dead tracks and drop their speeds.On f-1 tracks still they are trying their best which is something anybody who has little knowledge about indian cricket should praise.

[hari504504]

some of the rookies like Mithun,Unadkat should atleast be back-up seamers/nets bowlers in the SA tour..No Nehras..and RPs..they've had their shot and squarely blew it

[IKnowU]

We should Zak, Ishant and Sree along with Harbhajan/Ohja in the final XI

[hari504504]

We should Zak' date=' Ishant and Sree along with Harbhajan/Ohja in the final XI[/quote'] Ojha in SA could be a liability..he doesn't turn the ball all that much and no variations apart from change of pace.. we should take a decent leggie who can bat..Chawla should be tried IMO