West Indies tour of India, Nov-Dec 2011

[daryl1985]

First of all PK is rested and not Dropped. Secondly, it's hard to believe how Kohli is picked who bats for his Ranji Team @ 3/4 and Abhinav Mukund who is technically sound as well misses out after impressive knocks in the WI. If Kohli can bat 6th (if picked) then why not pick Mukund. It's a hard deal there itself. Rahul Sharma is picked considering his Kumble-like-bowling. Too early to judge though from an IPL season. His FC record is very poor. Doesn't deserve a place literally. If Leg-Spinning is a quota then in the Aus. tour Manoj Tiwari will also be picked stating the amt. of turn he got in the last ODI. It will be interesting to see how Ashwin bowls to relatively defensive batsman. His FC record is very impressive though. I guess India will go with 2-2 combo. Ashwin-Ojha & Ishant-Umesh. Aaron is over-hyped just because he bowled 153 km/h. No doubt, he bowled well in the ODIs but considering the FC record Umesh clearly is the winner. Sad to see people rooting for Aaron and leaving Umesh Yadav out. Remember, Umesh was much quicker on an avg. as compared to Varun Aaron. Lastly, Pujara is still recuperating from that surgery.

I agree he should not be in the test squad given his FC record and currently, Yadav looks the better test prospect as he gets more outswing, has a more effortless action and is in better physical shape (meaning he is more likely to bowl longer spells and maintain pace for longer). However, Aaron is the better Limited overs prospect as he seems a little more accurate and gets subtle movement both ways.

[Sooda]

First of all PK is rested and not Dropped. Secondly, it's hard to believe how Kohli is picked who bats for his Ranji Team @ 3/4 and Abhinav Mukund who is technically sound as well misses out after impressive knocks in the WI. If Kohli can bat 6th (if picked) then why not pick Mukund. It's a hard deal there itself. Rahul Sharma is picked considering his Kumble-like-bowling. Too early to judge though from an IPL season. His FC record is very poor. Doesn't deserve a place literally. If Leg-Spinning is a quota then in the Aus. tour Manoj Tiwari will also be picked stating the amt. of turn he got in the last ODI. It will be interesting to see how Ashwin bowls to relatively defensive batsman. His FC record is very impressive though. I guess India will go with 2-2 combo. Ashwin-Ojha & Ishant-Umesh. Aaron is over-hyped just because he bowled 153 km/h. No doubt, he bowled well in the ODIs but considering the FC record Umesh clearly is the winner. Sad to see people rooting for Aaron and leaving Umesh Yadav out. Remember, Umesh was much quicker on an avg. as compared to Varun Aaron. Lastly, Pujara is still recuperating from that surgery.

Welcome to ICF :D Im not sure Mukund is technically sound, but he does deserve a spot here in either Kohlis and Yuvrajs place. The things is he is a top order bat and might be unfair to put him at 6 where Kohli is probably more suited. Rahane is more of a MO batter than Mukund too. I really would like to see Sehwag at 5 and Lax at 6. Mukund opening again. Agreed that Sharma and Varun spots are not really justified.

[cowboysfan]

PK too will struggle...he struggled in ODIs in India...Do you think' date=' he can be effective in test matches in India? i Have doubts. Without conventional swing, he is very ineffective.[/quote'] I have the same doubts too but we dont have a lot of options.

[Blue Panther]

Let me open the match thread pls. Mods. pls consider my request.

[saneindian]

PK too will struggle...he struggled in ODIs in India...Do you think' date=' he can be effective in test matches in India? i Have doubts. Without conventional swing, he is very ineffective.[/quote'] The same old crap. Unless you have seen him bowl with the red ball in a test in India, do not pass judgments, he did prove doubters like you wrong in WI and England. And no PK did not struggle in the last ODI series. In every match barring the 5th one, he helped break the opening partnership, swung the white ball in the early overs, bowled nearly all of his overs in the powerplays and yet returned with decent enough figures on pitches where no one else looked like swinging or moving the ball. Could have picked a couple of wickets more, but he did not bowl badly especially when the series was yet to be won.

[Blue Panther]

The same old crap. Unless you have seen him bowl with the red ball in a test in India, do not pass judgments, he did prove doubters like you wrong in WI and England. And no PK did not struggle in the last ODI series. In every match barring the 5th one, he helped break the opening partnership, swung the white ball in the early overs, bowled nearly all of his overs in the powerplays and yet returned with decent enough figures on pitches where no one else looked like swinging or moving the ball. Could have picked a couple of wickets more, but he did not bowl badly especially when the series was yet to be won.

Pk, can be our 3rd seamer, but he should never lead our bowling attack in test matches. Bowlers like pk can bowl lot of overs and pick few wickets. But if u want a bowler to run through a side, u must need a pace bowler who can bowl reverse swing, who can bowl reverse swing at pace. Y do u think teams like australia, west indies have dominated the world cricket for decades? They always had the bowlers who can take wickets, who can pick wicketss when there is absoultely no swing or seam is available. Bowlers win u test matches.

[Blue Panther]

Welcome to ICF :D Im not sure Mukund is technically sound, but he does deserve a spot here in either Kohlis and Yuvrajs place. The things is he is a top order bat and might be unfair to put him at 6 where Kohli is probably more suited. Rahane is more of a MO batter than Mukund too. I really would like to see Sehwag at 5 and Lax at 6. Mukund opening again. Agreed that Sharma and Varun spots are not really justified.

y do u think varun's selection is not justified? Who do u think deserve the spot?

[saneindian]

Pk' date=' can be our 3rd seamer, but he should never lead our bowling attack in test matches. Bowlers like pk can bowl lot of overs and pick few wickets. But if u want a bowler to run through a side, u must need a pace bowler who can bowl reverse swing, who can bowl reverse swing at pace. Y do u think teams like australia, west indies have dominated the world cricket for decades? They always had the bowlers who can take wickets, who can pick wicketss when there is absoultely no swing or seam is available. Bowlers win u test matches.[/quote'] It's all good in the theory, fact is he has been more successfull than the guys who bowled quicker than him and deserves his chance. And no a guy who swings and moves the new ball at a decent enough pace has to be your new ball bowler till the time the budding pacers become ready to play test cricket and gain the experience of test match bowling. Plus in Indian conditions we will need one of the pacers to do a holding job while the spinners attack from the other end. So Pk may not be as useless as you lot make him sound like. The guy is a workhorse and on the dead Indian tracks will be needed when a partnership has developed and someone needs to go and bowl a 7-8 over spell in the last hour. Writing him off saying he won't succeed in India is the same old crap that people used to say about him but he did prove the doubters wrong.

[rajmarie]

I just want to see atleast 3 possible players get chance in the all 3 Test against WI. Going by the way team selection is looking...its going to be Kohli, Ashwin & Umesh.

[Blue Panther]

It's all good in the theory, fact is he has been more successfull than the guys who bowled quicker than him and deserves his chance. And no a guy who swings and moves the new ball at a decent enough pace has to be your new ball bowler till the time the budding pacers become ready to play test cricket and gain the experience of test match bowling. Plus in Indian conditions we will need one of the pacers to do a holding job while the spinners attack from the other end. So Pk may not be as useless as you lot make him sound like. The guy is a workhorse and on the dead Indian tracks will be needed when a partnership has developed and someone needs to go and bowl a 7-8 over spell in the last hour. Writing him off saying he won't succeed in India is the same old crap that people used to say about him but he did prove the doubters wrong.

What r u talking abt dude? Ishant got the most number of wickets in WI series and he was the man of the series. Pk did well in england by bowling plenty overs and his bowling suited well for england's swinging conditions. I do agree that we must try him india as a 3rd seamer and see what he can do in our conditions. But at the same time we should not forget we got bowlers who bowl at 90mph, who can reverse swing the old ball and get wickets with it. My only arguemt is that he must be considered as our 3rd seamer not our main bowler.

[Sooda]

y do u think varun's selection is not justified? Who do u think deserve the spot?

The only reason why people say he should be there is because he can bowl at genuine pace. That is not really enough. His FC record is not very good and if he can not- even at his pace- prise out domestic FTBs then what chance vs test batsmen. Even Mithun has done more at FC level, and has done ok if not great in his test career so far.

[saneindian]

What r u talking abt dude? Ishant got the most number of wickets in WI series and he was the man of the series. Pk did well in england by bowling plenty overs and his bowling suited well for england's swinging conditions. I do agree that we must try him india as a 3rd seamer and see what he can do in our conditions. But at the same time we should not forget we got bowlers who bowl at 90mph, who can reverse swing the old ball and get wickets with it. My only arguemt is that he must be considered as our 3rd seamer not our main bowler.

Don't want to make it a bowler A vs B thread. But in PK's defence,In WI he was making his test debut and bowled well enough for a debutant. Would have taken more wickets hd he not been banned when he was in the middle of a dream spell in the 1st innings of the 1st test (had taken 3 wickets for almost nothing and was almost unplayable). Even in the last two tests, he was almost umplayable though his bowling figures don't exactly tell you the whole story. And then against a bigger opposition, with the team losing its leader of the attack, became that leader of the attack in his 4th test! Now if that doesn't make him deserving of a test in India, nothin else will. As he said sometime back "Khila ke to dekho". I am happy the team management realises his importance and are resting him. They know we will need him in Australia during the test series.

[The Dark Horse]

The only reason why people say he should be there is because he can bowl at genuine pace. That is not really enough. His FC record is not very good and if he can not- even at his pace- prise out domestic FTBs then what chance vs test batsmen. Even Mithun has done more at FC level, and has done ok if not great in his test career so far.

If RP Singh can get into the test squad out of nowhere, then why not Aaron. I'm not justifying his selection but we haven't got anyone remotely better(PK needs some rest). He'll hardly get a match I think, hope he learns things by bowling at SRT, Dravid, etc. Edit : Yes Mithun has done decently well and even bowled with heart in Sri Lanka, but dont know why he is ignored

[vishalvirsingh]

If RP Singh can get into the test squad out of nowhere, then why not Aaron. I'm not justifying his selection but we haven't got anyone remotely better(PK needs some rest). He'll hardly get a match I think, hope he learns things by bowling at SRT, Dravid, etc. Edit : Yes Mithun has done decently well and even bowled with heart in Sri Lanka, but dont know why he is ignored

Varun Aroon is definitely better than Mithun..Mithun is not international Class where as Varun is ...

[saneindian]

Varun's selection is obviously aimed at giving him a feel of test cricket so that he is ready before the Aus tour. We will surely see him play one of the test, most likely the 3rd test as this being a back to back series, ishant and Umesh, the first choice pacers would not be risked with too much of a workload before the Aus tour on flat wickets at home. As of now, IMO injuries aside, Ishant and Umesh will play the first two tests and PK will be there with Varun for the 3rd one unless we decide to play 3 seamers from the 1st test itself.

[The Dark Horse]

@VRV Mithun will do good if he ups his pace by 5-10k but i doubt he will. Purely based on FC stats Mithun has done better. I hope Aaron makes an impact it tests too:two_thumbs_up:

[Blue Panther]

Don't want to make it a bowler A vs B thread. But in PK's defence,In WI he was making his test debut and bowled well enough for a debutant. Would have taken more wickets hd he not been banned when he was in the middle of a dream spell in the 1st innings of the 1st test (had taken 3 wickets for almost nothing and was almost unplayable). Even in the last two tests, he was almost umplayable though his bowling figures don't exactly tell you the whole story. And then against a bigger opposition, with the team losing its leader of the attack, became that leader of the attack in his 4th test! Now if that doesn't make him deserving of a test in India, nothin else will. As he said sometime back "Khila ke to dekho". I am happy the team management realises his importance and are resting him. They know we will need him in Australia during the test series.

I compared him with Ishant because u said the bowlers who bowled faster than him didnt do well. I agree PK did bowled well in west indies and in england, but that doesn't mean he can be our pick of the bowlers. Countries like england doesnt offer much reverse swing, u have to believe in conventional swing which pk used well in england, but for countries like india, australia, south africa where u will get much reverse swing with the older ball. As u know reverse swing is effective only if its bowled with pace. I am not sure pk can get much reverse swing going for him in these conditions. But at the same time he should be used as a workhorse who can keep things tight and pick few wickets in the middle overs with the spinners.

[rkt.india]

Varun's selection is obviously aimed at giving him a feel of test cricket so that he is ready before the Aus tour. We will surely see him play one of the test, most likely the 3rd test as this being a back to back series, ishant and Umesh, the first choice pacers would not be risked with too much of a workload before the Aus tour on flat wickets at home. As of now, IMO injuries aside, Ishant and Umesh will play the first two tests and PK will be there with Varun for the 3rd one unless we decide to play 3 seamers from the 1st test itself.

I will be more than happy if they go with 3+2 combo means 5 bowlers as our bowling is inexperienced and we have our full strength batting against a weak WI team with Dhoni at 6 and Ashwin can bat as well. I don't think we need 7 batsmen on Indian pitches against WI. With Gambhir, Viru, RD, SRT, VVS, and MSD, it looks enough batting for them.

[rkt.india]

@VRV Mithun will do good if he ups his pace by 5-10k but i doubt he will. Purely based on FC stats Mithun has done better. I hope Aaron makes an impact it tests too:two_thumbs_up:

Mithun is purely one dimensional and does not have pace.

[maniac]

Mithun is purely one dimensional and does not have pace.

He is decent bat too.If he adds variations to his bowling could be a useful ODI prospect.better than VK,Arvind and maybe PK in subcontinent pitches as well