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Australia Tour of India 2013 |Feb-Mar|

SLICKR392

By SLICKR392
in Cricket Talk

Australia Tour of India 2013 |Feb-Mar|  

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    • Dhawan
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1983-2011 Newbie

1983-2011

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India unlikely to overhaul Test squad

Despite conceding a Test series at home to England for the first time in 28 years, the Indian selectors are unlikely to make sweeping changes to the squad that played the final Test against England. The selection panel, headed by former allrounder Sandeep Patil, is likely to retain most of the batsmen that featured in the 15 for the Nagpur Test, when select the squad for, most probably, the first two Tests against Australia on Sunday. Despite increasing doubts over Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's place in the side, the Delhi pair could be given "one final chance". Though Sehwag, who pulled out of the Irani Cup tie with a stomach upset, scored a century in the opening Test against England in Ahmedabad, he lost his place in the ODI side soon after. Gambhir's drought of centuries has extended well over three years. The last time Gambhir scored a hundred was against Bangladesh in January 2010. While M Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are set to be retained as the reserve batsmen, Ravindra Jadeja, who made a surprising debut at No. 6 in the Nagpur Test, could make way for either Suresh Raina or Rohit Sharma. In the spin department, R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha are assured of leading the attack. It will again be a toss-up between Piyush Chawla, who played the last Test against England, and Harbhajan Singh for the reserve spinner's slot. Although Harbhajan is on the verge of leading Rest of India to the Irani title, his performance with the ball hasn't been compelling in the domestic season. His lack of "big-wicket hauls" may go against him though his outstanding record at home against Australia could prove "too difficult to ignore" for the selectors. With Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan recovering from injuries, the selectors will have a tough task of finding their replacements; they may have to rely on the second string of pace bowlers. Though Ishant Sharma's ankle pain recurred recently, he is expected to be available for the Test series. The contenders for the remaining two fast bowlers' slots will include Sreesanth, who has recovered from multiple toe surgeries, Madhya Pradesh's Ishwar Pandey, the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy season, Shami Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both of whom have impressed on their limited-overs' debuts against England and Pakistan. Ashok Dinda and Parvinder Awana, both of whom were in the squad for the Nagpur Test, are "out of reckoning". "Since major changes were made after the third Test against England, there is not much change to shake up the squad," a source close to the selectors said. "And the Australia series will also present a chance to start stabilising the squad with an eye on the future." The selectors had dropped Zaheer, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan after losing the third Test against England. MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher are unlikely to attend the meeting, to be held at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, and it is "almost unlikely" that the selectors will discuss replacing Dhoni as captain. Likely squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir/M Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja/ Suresh Raina/ Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh/ Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth/ Shami Ahmed, Ishwar Pandey/ Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/story/604287.html?CMP=chrome
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Lord Grand Master

Lord

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though Jadeja didnt do anything spectacular,he wasnt too bad in Nagpur Test too.took 3 big wickets on a patta.got done by a beauty by Anderson while batting I think he can be included.that'll allow us to prepare a turner and play 3 spinners.Hes in decent form too going by England series

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SLICKR392 Newbie

SLICKR392

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India unlikely to overhaul Test squad

The selection panel, headed by former allrounder Sandeep Patil, is likely to retain most of the batsmen that featured in the 15 for the Nagpur Test, when select the squad for, most probably, the first two Tests against Australia on Sunday. Despite increasing doubts over Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's place in the side, the Delhi pair could be given "one final chance". The contenders for the remaining two fast bowlers' slots will include Sreesanth, who has recovered from multiple toe surgeries, Madhya Pradesh's Ishwar Pandey, the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy season, Shami Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both of whom have impressed on their limited-overs' debuts against England and Pakistan. Ashok Dinda and Parvinder Awana, both of whom were in the squad for the Nagpur Test, are "out of reckoning". "Since major changes were made after the third Test against England, there is not much change to shake up the squad," a source close to the selectors said. "And the Australia series will also present a chance to start stabilising the squad with an eye on the future." The selectors had dropped Zaheer, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan after losing the third Test against England. MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher are unlikely to attend the meeting, to be held at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, and it is "almost unlikely" that the selectors will discuss replacing Dhoni as captain. Likely squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir/M Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja/ Suresh Raina/ Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh/ Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth/ Shami Ahmed, Ishwar Pandey/ Bhuvneshwar Kumar
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/current/story/604287.html

The contenders

Openers - Virender Sehwag was ruled out of the match due to a stomach upset, when he perhaps needed a stint in the middle before the Australia Tests since being dropped from the ODI side. -M Vijay did his case no harm with a century in the first innings, but played a loose drive, not for the first time, to be dismissed in the second. Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir could still be likely starters, so Vijay, who had a poor Ranji season but has been a Test opener, could be in contention as a back-up option. -Likewise with Wasim Jaffer. With an average of 76 this domestic season, and a fluent 80 in the first innings of the Irani Cup, he's in better nick than most. -Shikhar Dhawan missed out on a good chance to score a century in the first innings, having played a solid innings, and was dismissed cheaply in the second while trying to pull Dhawal Kulkarni in the first over. He is part of the India A squad for the warm-up game against Australia, but that's after the selectors have picked the 15 for the Tests. Middle order -Ajinkya Rahane has been part of India's Test squads in the past, and he strengthened his case during his 83 against Rest of India. He looked set for another ton, but was at the receiving end of a poor lbw decision. The selectors, in the past, have said he is a middle-order option, and he is a strong candidate for the No.6 slot. -Rohit Sharma played a reckless shot against Harbhajan Singh to be dismissed for a duck. He played out 11 dot balls before trying to slog-sweep Harbhajan, and got a top edge. He has been long tipped for a Test place, but that dismissal is unlikely to sit well with selectors. -Suresh Raina, together with Rahane, will be a contender for a No. 6 slot. He made an attacking century in the first innings, coming in to the Irani Cup with runs in the ODI series against England. -Ravindra Jadeja, who is not playing the Irani Cup, could still be favoured over his competitors; he made his debut in the Nagpur Test against England. -Manoj Tiwary had trouble against Abhishek Nayar, but reached a fifty in the second innings. Ambati Rayudu batted positively in both innings, making an attractive century in the second, but he and Tiwary are still down in the pecking order for a middle-order position. Pace -Dhawal Kulkarni, leading an inexperienced attack, didn't put the batsmen under enough pressure. He picked up nine wickets in the Ranji Trophy final but faces stiff competition. -Parwinder Awana and Ashok Dinda were part of the squad for the Nagpur Test, but are not part of the Irani Cup. Sreesanth bowled some testing bouncers, but Rest of India's seamers hardly got any movement and were low on pace. -Abhimanyu Mithun and Ishwar Pandey picked up wickets but didn't make a compelling case. Like Sreesanth, they, too, had problems with overstepping, were taken for runs during a seventh-wicket stand between Sachin Tendulkar and Ankeet Chavan, and rarely beat the bat. -Shami Ahmed bowled well in the nets on the eve of the game, but wasn't picked in the XI. He's part of the India A squad, but it's unclear if he's done enough to break through for the Tests. Spin -Pragyan Ojha had a poor game, unable to impart much spin on the ball, and was toyed with by Tendulkar. But he and R Ashwin, away playing the Corporate Trophy, are almost certain to be picked. -Harbhajan Singh is keen to return to India colours; he's one game away from playing his 100th Test and has a good record against Australia. He was the better of the two Rest of India spinners in Mumbai but was a beneficiary of some poor shot selection and an umpiring error. That the selectors are looking at Harbhajan again says much about the lack of spin options emerging from the domestic circuit. http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/story/604276.html

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