Selection for England tour : Selectors still waiting for Sehwag’s thumbs up

[The Outsider]

I would pick Mukund as the reserve opener. He looks much more compact than Vijay, whose game seems to have fallen apart thanks to T20.

[Ram]

I think the selectors may have missed a trick by not thinking ahead, when picking the squad for Windies. Given that there still exists a significant risk that Sehwag may not make to England this summer and the fact that this risk had existed even before the squad for the Windies tour was picked, they should have at least insisted that Parthiv be at least one the first choice openers for the Windies tour. By picking two specialist openers in the squad, they literally made it impossible for the team management to pick Parthiv for the first two tests. How bad would either Vijay or Mukund looked, had Parthiv been preferred instead of them, even before given them a chance? Ironically, because of Vijay’s failures, it is almost a certainty that Parthiv is going to replace Vijay for the 3rd test. I feel that, in English conditions and against the pace and bounce of their pacers, Parthiv has a reasonably good chance of not only surviving, but also scoring. For starters, he is left-handed and that automatically gives him an edge against Tremlett because he is nowhere near as good against the lefties, as he is against the right handed guys. Plus, Parthiv has this weird talent being both compact and flashy outside off-stump. His most productive scoring area is the arc between point and third on the off-side. With all the extra bounce the English pacers will be getting, he could score some useful runs. Plus, he's a near 10 year old international veteran, has played in England before and is mentally tough character. I feel that, from now on, no matter what happens, Parthiv should be our back up opener after Viru and Gambhir.

[The Outsider]

Morris, Parthiv is not a test match opener (or any opener for that matter) - I am not saying Vijay or Mukund are, though Vijay did look like one before IPL screwed up his game. All Parthiv is going to do is at best give you decent starts with 30s, 40s, 50s - he doesn't have the temperament to play long, gritty innings like a test opener should. I would choose Jaffer over him at any moment because I know once he gets in he is going to make the opposition pay and struggle.

[tatters]

Morris' date=' Parthiv is not a test match opener (or any opener for that matter) - I am not saying Vijay or Mukund are, though Vijay did look like one before IPL screwed up his game. All Parthiv is going to do is at best give you decent starts with 30s, 40s, 50s - he doesn't have the temperament to play long, gritty innings like a test opener should. I would choose Jaffer over him at any moment because I know once he gets in he is going to make the opposition pay and struggle.[/quote'] What do you think of Pujara?

[cowboysfan]

vijay's test career is over imo,if he gets picked then its all cheeka.I also think Mukund would be a better choice if we have to pick a young prospect.

[Tigerbait]

A half fit Sehwag is better than the alternative on offer. Verru better shape up cos India needs him badly.

[akshayxyz]

Allow Sehwag to play with one hand.

[cowboysfan]

pulara is not fit for this tour:((

[Ram]

Morris' date=' Parthiv is not a test match opener (or any opener for that matter) - I am not saying Vijay or Mukund are, though Vijay did look like one before IPL screwed up his game. All Parthiv is going to do is at best give you decent starts with 30s, 40s, 50s - he doesn't have the temperament to play long, gritty innings like a test opener should. I would choose Jaffer over him at any moment because I know once he gets in he is going to make the opposition pay and struggle.[/quote'] First of all, I don’t agree with your assessment, but we will come to that later. But for now, lets just say you’re right and all he’s capable of giving us is short and sweet 30s and 40s. You know what – Considering the circumstances, I’ll take it. I don’t trust somebody like Mukund, to stand much a chance in English conditions at the moment. He may be a talented boy, but he’s nowhere near the finished product. And seeing him struggle against the inswing of Edwards sometimes, I have a sneaky feeling Anderson will have him for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. But coming back to Parthiv – the dude has 14 FC 100s. And I remember he had an unbelievably prolific FC season 2-3 years ago, where he reeled off many 100s as an opener. So I think he has the potential to succeed as an opener.

[The Outsider]

What do you think of Pujara?

I think Pujara will do very well - I used to have this notion about his lunging forward growing up on the Rajkot track, but after watching him in South Africa I am convinced he is going to have a long and successful test career (even though he made maybe 10 runs in the series).

[The Outsider]

But for now, lets just say you’re right and all he’s capable of giving us is short and sweet 30s and 40s. You know what – Considering the circumstances, I’ll take it. I don’t trust somebody like Mukund, to stand much a chance in English conditions at the moment. He may be a talented boy, but he’s nowhere near the finished product. And seeing him struggle against the inswing of Edwards sometimes, I have a sneaky feeling Anderson will have him for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

Can Parthiv ever be a long term opener for India? No. Can Mukund? I wouldn't put my house on it, but yeah, why not?

But coming back to Parthiv – the dude has 14 FC 100s. And I remember he had an unbelievably prolific FC season 2-3 years ago, where he reeled off many 100s as an opener. So I think he has the potential to succeed as an opener.

What has he done to display that potential at the international level - he has got enough opportunities without a single hundred in any form after 43 (yeah I looked up stats guru to get the exact number) international matches.

[Ram]

Can Parthiv ever be a long term opener for India? No. Can Mukund? I wouldn't put my house on it' date=' but yeah, why not? [/quote'] Nobody is talking about long-term prospects here. My points have been made specifically keeping in mind the England tour situation. Lets say Sehwag isn’t fit, so who opens with Gambhir? By picking both Vijay and Mukund, what the selectors saying is that these two are our back up openers in case the regular ones are not available. And right now, I am not comfortable with either one of them opening in England. I would have like Parthiv to open in all the 3 tests in Windies. At least then, he would have had some valuable match practice going into England. Dude – be fair to the guy. At what point has he gotten a fair run in the team since Dhoni’s debut around 2005? I agree that his record doesn’t speak too loudly for himself, but the potential and the skill is there for all to see. Again, If he opens in England (which I want him to do, in case Viru isn’t available), I don’t expect him to score multiple 100s. But I think that he’s capable of providing at least half-decent starts to the team. Sort of play the role Akaash Chopra played in Australia in 2003/04, except that i think Parthiv is a far more aggressive opener than Akaash.

[kabira]

But coming back to Parthiv – the dude has 14 FC 100s. And I remember he had an unbelievably prolific FC season 2-3 years ago, where he reeled off many 100s as an opener. So I think he has the potential to succeed as an opener.

I don't think he opens for Gujarat. He is gritty batsman with mindset of wicket keeper, Wickies are known for gritty cameos here and there. He seems to be too satisfied with 30s and 40s. Mukund would be my choice, as he seems to grow in confidence.

[Ram]

I don't think he opens for Gujarat. He is gritty batsman with mindset of wicket keeper, Wickies are known for gritty cameos here and there. He seems to be too satisfied with 30s and 40s. Mukund would be my choice, as he seems to grow in confidence.

Actually, in the season that I am referring to a couple of years ago, I think he did open. I don’t know if there’s a way to pull up the FC records of our players, but if my memory serves me right, he actually switched to the opener’s slot a couple of seasons ago (not sure if he still does that), in the hope of getting back into the Indian team test team, when became pretty apparent that the no.7 keeper batsmen’s slot was all but Dhoni’s, till he wants it.

[Cricket Tragic]

According to Dileep, Sehwag might only miss the first test.

[cowboysfan]

According to Dileep' date=' Sehwag might only miss the first test.[/quote'] we should pick him in the initial squad if this is the case .

[Cricket Tragic]

we should pick him in the initial squad if this is the case .

Yeah, definitely. It's a 4 test series with two practice matches. Unless the selectors are absolutely sure that he won't be able to play, he should be picked.