Phase out seniors - Laxman first, say former players

[J P K]

VVS Laxman should be the first veteran head to roll in a batting revamp if India are to Will Laxman be the first to go? secure their future in test cricket, several former players have said in the wake of a second crushing defeat in Australia. India, who surrendered their world number one test status during a disastrous tour of England last year, slumped to their sixth successive loss in overseas test matches with the innings defeat in Sydney on Friday. The 4-0 drubbing in England, coupled with the first and second test defeats in Melbourne and Sydney, have seriously dented the pride of the world's most vaunted batting line-up. Senior batsmen like 38-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (38) and Laxman (37) have traditionally been India's strength but they have failed to live up to their reputation and calls for infusing more young blood have been gaining ground. "We can't always think short-term. We need to start building a team as well," former India opener Anshuman Gaekwad told Reuters. "Sachin still has the class, Rahul is very hard working but I am not sure how long Laxman will be able to continue." Australia, are also going through a tricky transition period after a golden generation of cricketers that included Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist retired one after another. They have slipped to fourth in the test rankings after dominating world cricket for over a decade. Many in India worry that their team is going down the same road due to a lack of replacements waiting in the wings. Gaekwad, who played 40 tests for India, said middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma should be handed his debut in Perth and selectors should give struggling batsman Virat Kohli more chances to find his feet. "It's not that Virat is not batting well. He's just getting out. But all the others are also struggling. If you drop him now, it will dampen his confidence," Gaekwad said. "You can't phase out all the three seniors at a time. You have to do that gradually. The youngsters will learn only in the company of the seniors." That view is supported by former selection committee head Kiran More. "I would play both Virat and Rohit in Perth. You should let Virat play, he should be given more chances. If you drop him now, he will not enjoy his cricket anymore," More said by telephone. The 23-year-old Kohli, a regular in India's limited-overs side, has scored 234 runs in six career test matches including a paltry 43 runs in his last four innings in Australia. He was dropped from the squad for England after a poor test series in West Indies last year and was also pulled up during the Sydney test for losing his cool on the field. Sharma, 24, is widely considered a talented middle-order batsman and has played 72 one-dayers for India with two centuries. He was Player of the Series in the ODI series against West Indies at home and bailed India out on numerous occasions during the 4-1 win. Former test cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also wants Sharma in the team but in place of Laxman, despite the stylish right-hander scoring a half-century in India's second innings in Sydney. Laxman, who has always performed well against Australia, has not been in the best of form since India's tour of England. "I would still drop VVS and get Rohit in for next test. Makes long-term sense. Give Virat one more test ... just to be sure he does not belong here," he wrote on his twitter page. "VVS averages 20 in last 12 overseas innings ... Even if he gets a good score in next test it will not serve India long... "Also if Virat, before the tour, was India's next big thing ... Should he not get more than two tests on his first stint in Australia?" http://cricket.yahoo.com/news/phase-seniors-laxman-first-former-players-050849241--spt.html

[Lord]

yeah Laxman the eternal scapegoat,drop him,who cares if he averaged 99 v WI in last series,who cares if he has won no. of matches.who cares if hes youngest of the big 3 n not the one whos dropping dollies Virat Kohli FTWB->

[Needforspeed]

Any dropping of the seniors should be after the present series. Our next test series is only in Oct 2012 (vs NZ) and after that the England series. Try out the youngsters then.

[bharat297]

yeah Laxman the eternal scapegoat,drop him,who cares if he averaged 99 v WI in last series,who cares if he has won no. of matches.who cares if hes youngest of the big 3 n not the one whos dropping dollies Virat Kohli FTWB->

Not that I agree with dropping Laxman but he almost dropped a dolly against Warner in Sydney, but Sachin caught the rebound

[Lord]

Not that I agree with dropping Laxman but he almost dropped a dolly against Warner in Sydney' date=' but Sachin caught the rebound[/quote'] yeah but isnt as consistent at even that:((

[chainsmoker1985]

Dhoni don't have the guts to drop any of the seniors. He has confirmed that by saying yesterday that BIG 3 are still the best batsmen in the team and they can't be dropped. So that means this is going to continue for another fecking I don't know how long period

[vvvslaxman]

Dhoni don't have the guts to drop any of the seniors. He has confirmed that by saying yesterday that BIG 3 are still the best batsmen in the team and they can't be dropped. So that means this is going to continue for another fecking I don't know how long period

Hard to disagree with that. Dravid had a superb 2010. Sachin is having a half decent series in Aus. Laxman helped us win matches from losing position in recent times. Kohli is fish out of water. Rohit has to replace him. It all looks so bad because everyone goes through rough patch at the same time.

[chainsmoker1985]

But, I just want to ask one simple question to all who are not in favour of dropping seniors- In 1 to 2 years, we will eventually have to drop seniors. Dravid will be 39 on coming 11 jan and Sachin will be 39 in April as well and VVS is 37 and half but seriously, he looks atleast 2 yrs older than his paper age. Sachin and Dravid looks younger than VVS. So, eventually after 1 yr or so, they will have to go. And you are not going to phase them out altogether and blood in youngsters all of a sudden. You will have to start somewhere, right? So, why not now

[Lord]

But, I just want to ask one simple question to all who are not in favour of dropping seniors- In 1 to 2 years, we will eventually have to drop seniors. Dravid will be 39 on coming 11 jan and Sachin will be 39 in April as well and VVS is 37 and half but seriously, he looks atleast 2 yrs older than his paper age. Sachin and Dravid looks younger than VVS. So, eventually after 1 yr or so, they will have to go. And you are not going to phase them out altogether and blood in youngsters all of a sudden. You will have to start somewhere, right? So, why not now

why not sort out no.6 first who retired 3 yrs ago?

[Needforspeed]

The time to replace the seniors is during 2012-13 in India. India play 11 Tests between Oct 2012 to March 2013. 3 vs NZ, 4 vs Eng & 4 vs Aus. The youngsters should gain experience before Nov 2013. From Nov 2013 India play SA in SA (3 Tests, NZ in NZ (3 tests), Eng in Eng (5 Tests) in July 2014 and Aus in Aus (4 tests) in Dec-Jan 2014-15. So we can see for nearly 16 months from Nov 2013 India play 15 tests abroad. Some kind of stability should be in the Team before that.

[chainsmoker1985]

The time to replace the seniors is during 2012-13 in India. India play 11 Tests between Oct 2012 to March 2013. 3 vs NZ, 4 vs Eng & 4 vs Aus. The youngsters should gain experience before Nov 2013. From Nov 2013 India play SA in SA (3 Tests, NZ in NZ (3 tests), Eng in Eng (5 Tests) in July 2014 and Aus in Aus (4 tests) in Dec-Jan 2014-15. So we can see for nearly 16 months from Nov 2013 India play 15 tests abroad. Some kind of stability should be in the Team before that.

Hooray !! So much Cricket to come from October 2012 :yay::yay: I think I should open a self business so that I can watch that much Cricket from next year on But, no big series after this Australia tour till October, that is sad :((

[Needforspeed]

Hooray !! So much Cricket to come from October 2012 :yay::yay: I think I should open a self business so that I can watch that much Cricket from next year on But, no big series after this Australia tour till October, that is sad :((

The resilience of the Indian Cricket Fan :two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up: There are lots of ODIs and T20s in between too.

[NareshK]

Hooray !! So much Cricket to come from October 2012 :yay::yay: I think I should open a self business so that I can watch that much Cricket from next year on But, no big series after this Australia tour till October, that is sad :((

There is IPL.B->

[BeautifulGame]

why not sort out no.6 first who retired 3 yrs ago?

There is nothing wrong with sorting out the no.5 and no.6 at the same time.

[J P K]

why not sort out no.6 first who retired 3 yrs ago?

we will never sort it out because it is tough for any youngster to bat at that position they will batting withe tail on many occasion only if they are given chance up the order they might able to learn by watching seniors bat

[shinchan]

why not sort out no.6 first who retired 3 yrs ago?

+1 we still didnt find replacement for ganguli

[shinchan]

we will never sort it out because it is tough for any youngster to bat at that position they will batting withe tail on many occasion only if they are given chance up the order they might able to learn by watching seniors bat

that they can do it on TV too...

[Needforspeed]

Dravid will be 39 in 3 days, Sachin will be 39 in 3 months and Laxman is 37. At some point in the next 1 or 2 years they will have to retire. Cant expect them to play till they are 50. Whenever they retire the youngsters are going to face the same problems. So it is better to play the new players in domestic test matches first.

[Sachin=GOD]

Don't agree at all. These seniors are the best options for these positions and have batted quite well apart from a few bad series' here and there. We just cannot drop such consistent performers because of a few bad innings.

[asterix]

All seniors should be phased out..Give Dhoni a young team for Test matches.. Given the capabilities of captain kool (since he's the most successful captain in Indian kirket), I'm pretty sure he'll convert the team to a winning one..