Zaheer Khan ruled out of Nagpur Test

[pensionplan]

Fitness and staying healthy for a pace bowler are as important as his bowling skills itself. After sitting out 3 Tests versus SL owing to fitness issues, ZK comes back plays three more Tests(2 vs Aus and 1 vs NZ) and breaks down again in the 4th Test costing his team a bowler on the crucial 4th and 5th day of a Test with his team 122 ahead in the 1st. After all what good is ZK or any bowler when they cannot be on the field when needed. On that front the questions and concerns I raised are very valid. No one is questioning his skills as a bowler when fit but there comes a point in a players career where the body can take only take so much and given the amount of cricket that is being played these days a call has to taken in the best interests of the team be it ZK or anyone else especially if they have a history of breaking down as ZK does and costing the team. And how is that being critical of a player?

[Fontaine]

This was the first thing which came to my mind when I read Fontaine's reply. But then I thought bhaisahab was maybe just in a bad mood. No need to rub it in :isalute:

Not really. There's a difference in injuries and just bowling inconsistently. I don't think you'll find anyone sane that thinks Sreesanth is a consistant bowler.

[ZodiaC]

Not really worried about Nagpur, expecting a raging turner there, so we probably won't need to risk Zak for that match. But we desperately need him to get fit for the SA series though.

[saneindian]

Why Unadkat? He will warm the benches at Nagpur, would have been better off playing the ranji match and continue to develop as a bowler. Perhaps it was the right time to pick PK.

[hari504504]

Praveen kumar would be a disaster in Tests.. its like Ajmal,Razzaq,Moody..etc bowling in Tests..ineffective if the batsman isn't tryng to play his strokes. Not to mention that the red cherry doesn't swing as prodiguously as the white..and PK simply doesn't have the pace to reverse it when it is older..it would be as good as Dhoni bowling the overs.. Like someone above mentioned..Mithun,RP should have a go in the final test..

[pensionplan]

Praveen kumar would be a disaster in Tests.. its like Ajmal,Razzaq,Moody..etc bowling in Tests..ineffective if the batsman isn't tryng to play his strokes. Not to mention that the red cherry doesn't swing as prodiguously as the white..and PK simply doesn't have the pace to reverse it when it is older..it would be as good as Dhoni bowling the overs.. Like someone above mentioned..Mithun,RP should have a go in the final test..

Yes this is how they should gag PK in order to prevent him from playing Tests. http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=1223327&postcount=29

[achilles]

Why unadkat so early:headshake: Let him play one complete domestic season...! RP singh or Mirhun would've been better choice.

Munna would've been a decent choice. They are rushing Unadkat and as history has had it, they're gonna brush him aside soon. They did that even to Mithun, RP and the pack. Hope he has it in him to take things in his stride. Not a good choice.

[diegovegaz]

Why Unadkat? He will warm the benches at Nagpur, would have been better off playing the ranji match and continue to develop as a bowler. Perhaps it was the right time to pick PK.

pk is too busy getting married ishant will play

[vaibhav_delhi]

Praveen kumar would be a disaster in Tests.. its like Ajmal,Razzaq,Moody..etc bowling in Tests..ineffective if the batsman isn't tryng to play his strokes. Not to mention that the red cherry doesn't swing as prodiguously as the white..and PK simply doesn't have the pace to reverse it when it is older..it would be as good as Dhoni bowling the overs.. Like someone above mentioned..Mithun,RP should have a go in the final test..

he might be effective in england i feel.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Munna would've been a decent choice. They are rushing Unadkat and as history has had it, they're gonna brush him aside soon. They did that even to Mithun, RP and the pack. Hope he has it in him to take things in his stride. Not a good choice.

Unadkat is already 19. Ishant and aamer have debuted at a similar age. If he is good enough, he should be given a go imo.

[hari504504]

Unadkat is already 19. Ishant and aamer have debuted at a similar age. If he is good enough' date=' he should be given a go imo.[/quote'] In that case it would a 50-50 coin toss on how he would end-up ( an Ishant or an Aamer). I prefer the Aussie system of putting everyone through the domestic scene before considering them for the national squad. Unadkat(or even Chahar) needs lots of domestic(local/overseas) experience before he gets a look-in - they may even tour with the squad as a nets bowler. But the worst thing we can do to him is pick him on yet another flat track and then drop him after the likes of Mc.Cullum plummel him.

[fineleg]

For pacers, in addition to domestics, put them through English County cricket. That stint helped Zaheer as well.

[vaibhav_delhi]

In that case it would a 50-50 coin toss on how he would end-up ( an Ishant or an Aamer). I prefer the Aussie system of putting everyone through the domestic scene before considering them for the national squad. Unadkat(or even Chahar) needs lots of domestic(local/overseas) experience before he gets a look-in - they may even tour with the squad as a nets bowler. But the worst thing we can do to him is pick him on yet another flat track and then drop him after the likes of Mc.Cullum plummel him.

ishant was a huge success when he started. I would straight away play unadkat and chahar if they are good enough. There are plenty of seniors in the team to groom them.

[vishalvirsingh]

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii who is chahar...??? i would say Umesh yadav should be picked in Ahead of Unadket bcos Umesh is faster , i am sure he would be a better bet in pitches of Africa or i would say fast pitches.. we need to grow up and realise that spinner are normally 1 in a test team outside of india and Lanka ..if a test match happens any where across the world the bolwing team is always 3 pacers and 1 spinner, there could be a part time spinner always but 2-2 attack is normally picked only when india plays in India.....suresh raina yuvi and virendar sehwag r also OK spinners and do not that there wickets average is as good as harbhajan now a days( consider only 6 months to 1 year performance)...bhajji has declined as a spinner and even Ojha is hardly delivering even on India pitches, I dare to think what will happen to him in africa . i feel bhajji and ojha will get a thrashing of there life there....Bhajji may save himself as he knows how to be restrictive on those tracks as well but i bet ojha will get a huge thrashing.. do u remeber the t 20 matches in which ravindra jadeja was hit for 3 sixes and 2 fours by shane watson... pick 5 pacers in the team and 1 spinner along with raina and sehwag in africa for tests.

[akshaywekhande]

Rp singh should have been picked insted.

[vaibhav_delhi]

who is chahar...???

deepak chahar is the 18 yr old who took 8 wickets against hyderabad on debut recently.

[gaurav92]

We are pwned :(

[Fontaine]

Asif doesnt have the pace either but he is much more effective with the red ball than the white one. Also he has been doing great in the domestic tournaments and does swing the red ball a good distance too. So what you are saying is your perception and not reality. If Asif would have been playing Indian domestic cricket, this is exactly what most of you would have said about him too. Praveen's USP is his excellent line and length in the longer format where he can bowl at the same spot day in and day out, causing batsmen to force the issue and hardly giving any loose balls. Such bowlers have historically been very succesful in tests.

I agree that Praveen Kumar could be a good test bowler. His control and accuracy already make him a very good bowler and that is good enough in any format. But the biggest problem with PK in tests isn't his speed but lack of bounce. He isn't a tall guy and the druggie cheat gets decent bounce on pitches with good carry. Praveen Kumar can't really do that because he doesn't bowl from a good height and that would be a liability if he's going to bowl in long spells on flat, slow pitches like the one's we've seen so often in India.

[zen]

Injuries to key seamers is another reason why Ind should go in w/ 3 seamers unless the pitch is an absolute turner (given the current standards of our spinners). Re-hash (the points should be evaluated as a group): 1. Our current spinners are not good enough to be effective on day 1 or day 2 that often. More often than not, they need the assistance from the pitch on day 4 and day 5 2. By playing two seamers, we miss out on rotating 3 seamers in the first session and at the close of the play. Ind has to take advantage of these windows. If 2 can't do the job then 3 won't doesn't apply here as with rotation the seamers remain not only fresh but 3 pace attack also allows us to manage the resources better thus making the seam attack more effective 3. By playing two seamers, the work load increases on seamers too, which in turn could lead to injuries. 4. Moreover, 2+2 attack is a neither here nor there attack unless the pitch is an absolute turner or you have high quality spinner in your side

[Sooda]

Unadkat :wall: Far too young. 6 FC games. Theyll ruin him. What did Mithun do wrong? From all accounts he was ok in SL... bit harsh.