Drop Bhajji and give Ashwin a chance

[ganeshran]

Bhajji bowled very badly in the last ODI. Selectors should give Ashwin a chance in the 3rd match.

[Ultimate_Game]

I would love to see Ashwin and Mishra bowl in tandem against WI but unfortunately Harbhajan won't be dropped as he's the vice captain. The only way for Ashwin to play is if India decide to go with 3 spinners or Mishra makes way for Ashwin (unlikely). Ashwin's best bet to get a game or two is if India wraps up the series and then the other players are given a chance.

[Karan114]

Ashwin's best bet to get a game or two is if India wraps up the series and then the other players are given a chance.

Agreed.

[phaedrus]

hope bhajji is rested after the 3rd ODI. ashwin deserves to play

[vvvslaxman]

This is the perfect series for young guys to gain some international experience without harming India's chances much. So Bhajji should have been rested.

[Andy]

Absolutely, Plus I think Saha should be given a chance as well with Tiwary, if Not there is no reason to accompany them on Tour Holidays sponsored by BCCI.

[phaedrus]

Tiwary for sure. the guy has had rotten luck so far

[jairamesh]

This is the perfect series for young guys to gain some international experience without harming India's chances much. So Bhajji should have been rested.

That's exactly why Bhajji has opted to play in this series and declined for any rest. His spot is under threat, and he knows it. Not only in ODIs but Tests too. And Mishra and Ashwin aren't exactly young, they come with plenty of domestic experience and previous international exposure to put in confident performances. Mishra is already demonstrating that.

[Ram]

If we clinch the series in game 3, we will probably begin to see the changes anyway. But coming to the original point – There’s absolutely no question whatsoever of dropping Bhajji fro mthe Indian team. That will be one of the foolish things to do in the history of Indian cricket. Why we do have judge everything by the figures on the stat sheet? He is the emotional leader within the team. Dropping him may have a catastrophic impact on team morale. Waise, its not as though he’s been bowling so badly that he is actually harming team India’s chances. IIRC, he took 3 wickets in the first ODI, did he not? Everyone’s allowed to have bad day. Having said that, there's also no denying that Aswhin is a precious talent. He's a proven match-winner for us in T20s and a crucial weapon in ODIs. But his time will come pretty soon. Initially, i was a bit surpsised that they chose Mishra ahead of him for the ODIs. But in hindsight, seeing the Windies batsmens' sheer ineptness against quality wrist bowling, that was probably a wise move. Kudos to the Indian team management to not resist the temptation of including the obvious spinner in Ashwin and have the common sense to include Mishra.

[achilles]

I get a feeling I'll be quoting Ram's message above over and over again, like his Yuvi post.

[ganeshran]

Ram I am not advocating to drop bhajji from the team altogether, but its time to start giving the next generation a chance. We wont get a better opportunity than this to try out youngsters.

[Cricketics]

You can't/shouldn't drop Bhajji, we can rotate him.. Thats the best word.

[Sooda]

he needs rest. hell be crucial in the tests and has been playing non stop for a while. For that reason a lone he should sit out. I hope we win the next ODI so that all the rest of the squad can feature. Ishant can get some overs in him before the test series, Vinay can get a chance to show if he is Intl class and maybe Munaf can sit out as he too is in the test squad...Manoj can get some time in the middle, Virat and/or Raina can sit out and let someone else captain for one match at least- maybe Parthiv...who cares really...Saha can keep and Parthiv can open.. PP, SD, RS, SB, MT, YP, WS, RA, PK, VK, IS hopefully for matches 4 and 5

[King Tendulkar]

If we clinch the series in game 3, we will probably begin to see the changes anyway. But coming to the original point – There’s absolutely no question whatsoever of dropping Bhajji fro mthe Indian team. That will be one of the foolish things to do in the history of Indian cricket. Why we do have judge everything by the figures on the stat sheet? He is the emotional leader within the team. Dropping him may have a catastrophic impact on team morale. Waise, its not as though he’s been bowling so badly that he is actually harming team India’s chances. IIRC, he took 3 wickets in the first ODI, did he not? Everyone’s allowed to have bad day. Having said that, there's also no denying that Aswhin is a precious talent. He's a proven match-winner for us in T20s and a crucial weapon in ODIs. But his time will come pretty soon. Initially, i was a bit surpsised that they chose Mishra ahead of him for the ODIs. But in hindsight, seeing the Windies batsmens' sheer ineptness against quality wrist bowling, that was probably a wise move. Kudos to the Indian team management to not resist the temptation of including the obvious spinner in Ashwin and have the common sense to include Mishra.

Totally agree wity you. Also the fact bhaji had a brilliant test series in SA and also had great world cup(yes folks he had best economy rate of all our bolwers) and so contributed big time to our successes, plus his 350+ plus test wickets etc etc. I really find the anti bahji movement bizzare. Even in last game he did well, got spanked in first 2 overs yes, then after that they could not hit him of the square. Really bizzare blind hate. Thank god for our selectors and Dhoni having a lot more sense

[King Tendulkar]

Ram I am not advocating to drop bhajji from the team altogether' date=' but its time to start giving the next generation a chance. We wont get a better opportunity than this to try out youngsters.[/quote'] Well dont start ridiculous threads as if you are asking for his head. Just say I think he should be rested and others giving a go while he is rested in non important series. I would certainly wrap up series first. Then definitley rest him!

[asterix]

Bhajji is the only International bowler who can successfully bowl repeated leg side 5 wides..The batsman keeps on wondering how the hell he got 5 runs without doing anything. That ulitmately destroys the Batsman's concentration..

[ganeshran]

Well dont start ridiculous threads as if you are asking for his head. Just say I think he should be rested and others giving a go while he is rested in non important series. I would certainly wrap up series first. Then definitley rest him!

Since when is having an opinion ridiculous? :dontknow: I am not responsible for your comprehension of my intentions behind this thread. In fact if you read my original post, you wouldnt make any such assumptions.

[Cricket Tragic]

Bhajji is the only International bowler who can successfully bowl repeated leg side 5 wides..The batsman keeps on wondering how the hell he got 5 runs without doing anything. That ulitmately destroys the Batsman's concentration..

:hysterical:

[Ram]

Ram I am not advocating to drop bhajji from the team altogether' date=' but its time to start giving the next generation a chance. We wont get a better opportunity than this to try out youngsters.[/quote'] Well, that is not what your thread title and Opening post seems to indicate. The title, rather glaringly, has the word ‘DROP’, instead of the word ‘Rest’. Plus, in your OP, if you had said 'Its time to youngsters a chance as well, so Ashwin needs to be included going forward’, that would have been perfectly fine. But you said ‘Bhajji bowled badly, so Aswhin needs to play in his place’.. Hence all the adverse reaction. It might well be the case that you intended to mean that Bhajji should be rested and Ashwin included. But the choice of words is also very important.

[Ram]

But on the topic is selection of spinners in the XI itself; I think it’s pretty clear mastermind was, behind the decision to include Mishra ahead of Aswhin in the playing XI. I don’t think anybody could have seen it coming, mainly because Ashwin had such a fantastic IPL and his stock has never been higher. But Duncan Fletcher must have seen these Windies batsmen played spin the T20. Among his protégés, he is actually quite renowned for picking small weaknesses in the batsmens’ technique. For somebody like him, it would not have taken more a few minutes to realize that the Windies batsmen will struggle against quality wrist spin bowling, especially in these slow conditions. Having said that, if Chris Gayle comes back into the XI for the final 3 ODIs, I would switch back again to Aswhin, especially given his recent record of success against him and that fact that Mishra is a leg-spinner and turns the ball into Gayle. Another reason I would drop Mishra from the XI – Don’t expose him too much to the Windies batsmen. Having seen him bowl and the way they have handled him, it is quite clear he could be our trump card in the test matches. We don’t want the Windies batsmen to get too used to him.