Back to square one.

[coffee_rules]

India in ODIs in 2005. We went - 5 bowler -Pathan the allrounder-and-pinch-hitter - bowling first - bring-on-the-youth And after being bitten badly in the world-cup. After winning some ODIs in BD and Eng. ...we are back to doing the same things again. We are seeing Pathan being promoted in batting. I feel Pathan's position in the ODI team as an allrounder is weak. He should be played as a bowler and still go with 7 bats. Or go with a 4 regular bowlers + part-timers. I think we have seen the best results with the 7+4 combo. That is why we need players like Sehwag badly in the team..who can do batting and bowl a fair extent like Symonds/Clarke.

[ludhianvi]

yes, I have always been a fan of 7-4 combo. Even if we go in with 5 bowlers, they are not utilized and part-timers still bowl like 6-7 overs.

[jf1gp_1]

India in ODIs in 2005. We went - 5 bowler -Pathan the allrounder-and-pinch-hitter - bowling first - bring-on-the-youth And after being bitten badly in the world-cup. After winning some ODIs in BD and Eng. ...we are back to doing the same things again. We are seeing Pathan being promoted in batting. I feel Pathan's position in the ODI team as an allrounder is weak. He should be played as a bowler and still go with 7 bats. Or go with a 4 regular bowlers + part-timers. I think we have seen the best results with the 7+4 combo. That is why we need players like Sehwag badly in the team..who can do batting and bowl a fair extent like Symonds/Clarke.

I totally agree. We win when we play 7 batsman pathan is bowling well, is bowling quicker than we got used to seeing him just play him as a bowler and bat at 8.

[yoda]

5 bowlers is a great idea if you have 5 great bowlers.

[DesiChap]

We will NOT win consistently playing 5 bowlers We need to play 7 batsmen. The 5th bowler is underutilized anyways Fatty should be kicked out of the team.

[ludhianvi]

any team plays 5 bowlers? i think even the aussies dont

[punjabiplaya]

excellent point! We have alwazs been known as our batting being our strong suit! well lets play too it!! having pathan at 8 is excellent gives our batters confidence that we bat really deep! veeru n yuvi can bowl 5 each no probs maybe couple of others can turn there arm for few overs .. all our great wins have been with long batting line ups! our bowlers arent great there very good! R.p n zaheer are v good opening bowlers with pathan thast a good line up,with good batting im sure they will have confidence to bowl well cos they know whatever happens we have a good batting line up 2 chase whatever!!!