Should India Play 5 Bowlers on a Flat Pitch?

[G_B_]

Considering the number of injuries to key bowling personal and a lack of good back up. If the pitch is flat and our top 5 are doing well with the bat, is it time to gamble and go for Sehwag Gambhir Dravid Sachin Laxman Dhoni Ashwin some trundler. Zaheer Umesh Ohja this entire approach will rest on Ashwin providing the runs with the bat at 7. You think its wise to place the responsibility on him? He does play proper strokes. Each of Vinay Mithun and Ifran can bat on a flat pitch. I think Ojha and Ashwin bowling from one end keeping things tight with others rotated of them in 3 over bursts will not only keep seamers from getting injured, it will also help them maintain a certain level of pace. I reiterate, this depends on Ashwin at 7 being in the runs.

[Lord]

if Irfan play n both Kohli,Rohit fail,only then its a possibilty,otherwise no

[BeautifulGame]

Playing Ashwin as a no.7 even in Indian conditions would have been daft considering Dhoni's form.But to play him at no.7 in Australia would be just retarded. We dont even know how good Ashwin's technique is .Scoring a century in flat wicket doesnt mean u have the technique to bat in unfamiliar conditions.The best Ashwin should be expected to do with the bat is some useful 30's and 40's.Ashwin is a bowler who can bat not an all rounder to bat at 6. And our strength is 6 batsman plus four bowlers.No point experimenting with something this unfamiliar and potentially stupid thing at the start of an important series.

[BeautifulGame]

if Irfan play n both Kohli' date='Rohit fail,only then its a possibilty,otherwise no[/quote'] Irfan hasnt scored a single 50 in 4 Ranji games he played this season.Even Mithu and Vinay has done better than Irfan in Ranji trophy this season.Irfan is not good enough to bat anywhere higher than no.8

[Magneto]

Playing Ashwin as a no.7 even in Indian conditions would have been daft considering Dhoni's form.But to play him at no.7 in Australia would be just retarded. We dont even know how good Ashwin's technique is .Scoring a century in flat wicket doesnt mean u have the technique to bat in unfamiliar conditions.The best Ashwin should be expected to do with the bat is some useful 30's and 40's.Ashwin is a bowler who can bat not an all rounder to bat at 6. And our strength is 6 batsman plus four bowlers.No point experimenting with something this unfamiliar and potentially stupid thing at the start of an important series.

+1

[G_B_]

Playing Ashwin as a no.7 even in Indian conditions would have been daft considering Dhoni's form.But to play him at no.7 in Australia would be just retarded. We dont even know how good Ashwin's technique is .Scoring a century in flat wicket doesnt mean u have the technique to bat in unfamiliar conditions.The best Ashwin should be expected to do with the bat is some useful 30's and 40's.Ashwin is a bowler who can bat not an all rounder to bat at 6. And our strength is 6 batsman plus four bowlers.No point experimenting with something this unfamiliar and potentially stupid thing at the start of an important series.

but surely if the top 5 are in good form and as experienced as ours , as the first warm up indicates atleast with the big 3. If Dhoni does show good form with the bat, in the second warm up then its certainly worth considering. On top of which you are facing a very inexperienced Australian attack. Starc Lyon Siddle and Pattinson but together have played less than 40 test matches. I am just saying its worth considering if there are further injuries. If we show our intent we might be rewarded for it.

[G_B_]

Also like to point out Ashwin has toured australia before in the emegering players tournament. As have the likes of Rahane Rohit Kohli and Umesh Yadav in either 2009 or 2011 or both. They have faced and won against NZ bowlers like bracewell and southee there.

[Magneto]

On a flat pitch, I don't expect our 5th bowler (some trundler, the way you have put it) to get more than a wicket or so, he might go wicketless as well. A case in point would be the performances of Mithun or Vinay in the practice game; both of them together managed to get only one wicket after bowling the whole day against a 2nd-3rd rung side. So if we have a Kohli/Sharma scoring a half-century against a guy who'll go wicketless and score 5-10 runs, I'll go with the batsman who'll contribute better and in this case, will field better too. And that one incidental wicket might be taken by our part-time bowlers too, if they put in as many overs as our trundler will do.

[Needforspeed]

On a flat pitch, I don't expect our 5th bowler (some trundler, the way you have put it) to get more than a wicket or so, he might go wicketless as well. A case in point would be the performances of Mithun or Vinay in the practice game; both of them together managed to get only one wicket after bowling the whole day against a 2nd-3rd rung side. So if we have a Kohli/Sharma scoring a half-century against a guy who'll go wicketless and score 5-10 runs, I'll go with the batsman who'll contribute better and in this case, will field better too. And that one incidental wicket might be taken by our part-time bowlers too, if they put in as many overs as our trundler will do.

+1

[rkt.india]

Irfan hasnt scored a single 50 in 4 Ranji games he played this season.Even Mithu and Vinay has done better than Irfan in Ranji trophy this season.Irfan is not good enough to bat anywhere higher than no.8

This.

[rkt.india]

Playing a 5th bowler is only good until you have a good test class 5th bowler, otherwise why take a passenger in the team who may not even be bowled much.

[carnish]

Ok...firstly let me make this clear... ashwin just got a 100 on a flat track... he is just a bowler and let him bowl... and about IRFAN's batting... we have seen how pathetic he was in the 49th over at chennai... :giggle: so better play kohli at no.6

[amiret]

where is ishant ?

[Number]

No , Our strength is batting. I don't think we have 5th bowler who can make any difference.

[VRV Singh]

Playing a 5th bowler is only good until you have a good test class 5th bowler' date=' otherwise why take a passenger in the team who may not even be bowled much.[/quote'] Yes. That is even highlighted by the OP putting in 'some trundler'. :cantstop: Sehwag will be the 5th bowler.

[CoverDrive]

little risky as all the top order is not in as good a form as before. In last year or so we have had to depend a lot on useful batting from lower order. Pity none of the top order can bowl medium pace- i dont count kohlis bowling. some even with skills of dada.

[G_B_]

On a flat pitch, I don't expect our 5th bowler (some trundler, the way you have put it) to get more than a wicket or so, he might go wicketless as well. A case in point would be the performances of Mithun or Vinay in the practice game; both of them together managed to get only one wicket after bowling the whole day against a 2nd-3rd rung side. So if we have a Kohli/Sharma scoring a half-century against a guy who'll go wicketless and score 5-10 runs, I'll go with the batsman who'll contribute better and in this case, will field better too. And that one incidental wicket might be taken by our part-time bowlers too, if they put in as many overs as our trundler will do.

the fifth bowler for me is all about somebody who can bowl 15-20 overs in the day and keep things tight. A work horse of sorts. It reduces the load on the others so that they can achieve the best. Its similar principle to say Sangakara giving up the gloves in test cricket to be replaced by a decent batsman/wicketkeeper. The idea being that Sangakara will make up for it with the bat for what is lost by not playing another frontline batsman.In our case a loss of a frontline batsman will be made up by managing the loads of the 4 first choice bowlers. As things stand we will probably go with Zaheer Ashwin Trundler Umesh. I think playing 5 bowlers allows us to induct Ojha in the side. It reduces the load of the wicket taking bowlers. Ie they can be used in bursts. Which is what you need on flat wickets. With 4 bowlers in aussie conditions we are placing a lot of load on bowlers like Zaheer. Who lets face it is not in the best of health. But you raise some valid points. I guess we should stick with the tried formula.

[saneindian]

The answer is in your first post itself "If the pitch is flat and our top 5 are doing well with the bat, is it time to gamble and go for..." Our top 5 hasn't been in great form for quite sometime now, add to it MSD's batting form and we have a batting line up thats under pressure..can't see 5 bowlers playing. Also, we are not going to see flat pitches on this tour. Expect grassy tracks everywhere.

[Lord]

The answer is in your first post itself "If the pitch is flat and our top 5 are doing well with the bat, is it time to gamble and go for..." Our top 5 hasn't been in great form for quite sometime now, add to it MSD's batting form and we have a batting line up thats under pressure..can't see 5 bowlers playing. Also, we are not going to see flat pitches on this tour. Expect grassy tracks everywhere.

that'll be awesome,but not happening,pitches will be flat but bouncy

[saneindian]

that'll be awesome' date='but not happening,pitches will be flat but bouncy[/quote'] Nahin yaar, read somewhere that 'soft instructions' (whatever that means) have been given to the curators of the 4 test venues to prepare bowler friendly tracks.