Team India test team needs a new captain and fresh ideas...

[NareshK]

2) I agree that we have come a long way as far as consistency in odis is concerned. But , is that the case in tests ? I am afraid not, especially if we consider away test matches. Never have India lost 0-4 in two consecutive yest series. Then we lost to England at home. This cannot really be called coming a long way.

Why are you bringing these past series back now ? Many of the members who lost these series were out of form and were close to retirement. They are not part of the side anymore. Australia also lost 0-4 in India and 0-3 in England. Are they still harping about those series ? Shouldn't we be talking about this current series and how they are doing currently ? Are they not doing a good job at the moment in SA ?

[express bowling]

Why are you bringing these past series back now ? Many of the members who lost these series were out of form and were close to retirement. They are not part of the side anymore. Australia also lost 0-4 in India and 0-3 in England. Are they still harping about those series ? Shouldn't we be talking about this current series and how they are doing currently ? Are they not doing a good job at the moment in SA ?

I brought up the issue of these past test series in answer to the statement that we have come a long way as a team in tests also. Another point is , if the captain is absolved of most of the blame in those lost series, because the players were old and ageing then the captain would not get praise for the current good batting because we have good young battetd who deserve all the credit. Talking about this series, our young batters have been exceptional and Dhoni definitely deserves some praise for motivating them. Thing is Dhoni has always been a good captain for batsmen, decent one for spinners and bad for pacers. Things in the real world are rarely black or white. His choice as well as handling of pacers and field positions are a cause for worry. As pacers basically win test matches abroad and our bench strength id weak, a captain who is really enthused by pacers maybe needed for winning tests abroad. Problem is , there is no ready alternative. In a nutshell, the current series performance has been a mixed bag for me. Exceptional as far as batting as well as captaincy regarding batting goes. A lot that could have been done regarding bowlers as well as captaincy regarding bowling.

[NareshK]

I brought up the issue of these past test series in answer to the statement that we have come a long way as a team in tests also. Another point is , if the captain is absolved of most of the blame in those lost series, because the players were old and ageing then the captain would not get praise for the current good batting because we have good young battetd who deserve all the credit. Talking about this series, our young batters have been exceptional and Dhoni definitely deserves some praise for motivating them. Thing is Dhoni has always been a good captain for batsmen, decent one for spinners and bad for pacers. Things in the real world are rarely black or white. His choice as well as handling of pacers and field positions are a cause for worry. As pacers basically win test matches abroad and our bench strength id weak, a captain who is really enthused by pacers maybe needed for winning tests abroad. Problem is , there is no ready alternative. In a nutshell, the current series performance has been a mixed bag for me. Exceptional as far as batting as well as captaincy regarding batting goes. A lot that could have been done regarding bowlers as well as captaincy regarding bowling.

We just have to admit that our pace bowling resources are not good. This is not a recent trend. In our test history, we never had 3 or 4 good quality pacers in our side who could take 20 opposition wickets at a good average and that's one of the reasons why we havent done as well overseas as we should have despite having great batsmen in our side. What's the point of blaming the captain for this when we are not getting enough fast bowling talent from our FC cricket ? We also have to take a look at our domestic structure and our home pitches as they tend to favor spinners quite a lot and seamers much less.

[Cricketics]

Everything is going fine with this test team. We shouldn't need a new captain for a while. Let's not change something which is going all right. Dhoni is doing fine. We are lucky to have him as captain. He might make some not so great moves, but he is still pretty good. Look at Alistair Cook. Few months ago he was considered decent or good, and now his team is down and out in ashes, and some of the moves he is making, are making him look a crappy captain or people are calling him as a poor captain. These guys in our team have just started to bat well. Let them play a bit before throwing captaincy on them. It will come to one of them eventually. Let Dhoni lead them. He is already taking good care of them. I don't think we can have a better captain then Dhoni right now in INdian test team.

[express bowling]

We just have to admit that our pace bowling resources are not good. This is not a recent trend. In our test history, we never had 3 or 4 good quality pacers in our side who could take 20 opposition wickets at a good average and that's one of the reasons why we havent done as well overseas as we should have despite having great batsmen in our side. What's the point of blaming the captain for this when we are not getting enough fast bowling talent from our FC cricket ? We also have to take a look at our domestic structure and our home pitches as they tend to favor spinners quite a lot and seamers much less.

I beg to differ. As I said before, I agree that the pace talent available in our country is not the greatest. That being said, playing Ishant Sharma on and on, inspite of him having an av. of 38 and SR of 69 , in over 50 tests , makes no sense. Other tall pacers who are performing well in domestics , like Pankaj and Pandey, should have been tried atleast to see if they are better or not. Dropping Yadav , who has a SR of 46 in tests and can bowl 140 to 150 k ( the only one who can in this selected 16 ) is not something I support at all. Dhoni's choice of pacers is very unconventional and have not been successful to justify that. Dhoni's treatment of selected pacers, like the field placings given , when they are brought on or used, how many overs are given to them etc. have all been very different from how other good captains handle their pacers and motivate them. Dhoni is a good motivator for batsmen but quite bad regarding pacers. A below average collection of pacers need an above average captain regarding pacers to bring the best out of them. You may not agree with the above points but please don't expect that these points will not be even discussed in a cricket forum where people talk about every small point and emotions run high.

[express bowling]

Another point I want to raise is If a replacement is sought after loss then that is a knee jerk reaction. If criticism comes up after wins then it is foolishness. If criticism cannot even come up after draws then what is the point of having a forum at all. Just have the news section where people will learn about anything new.

[putrevus]

The first and foremost point for a captain is to justify his place in the team, has anyone who supports dhoni can say he has done enough wihth the bat. If this was dhoni's first rodeo it would have been okay but it is not , second thing we have seen how well this SA team scores even when they are in strong position, he let this team score 450 by his nonsensical attacking, how can he try vijay and not give rohit a chance in first test not that he would have won is he not worth a try for a captain who needed a change.

[The Outsider]

The most pathetic Indian captain I've seen overseas. Coupled with his super pathetic batting and keeping its a sad indictment of Indian cricket.

[Shunya]

Team India needs better fans.

:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:

[jf1gp_1]

Another point I want to raise is If a replacement is sought after loss then that is a knee jerk reaction. If criticism comes up after wins then it is foolishness. If criticism cannot even come up after draws then what is the point of having a forum at all. Just have the news section where people will learn about anything new.

Cant compare team that lost 0-8 to current team cause batting lineup has completely changed. When i read statements like why was dhoni over-attacking even after having a 450 run cushion then please tell me what to assume about people posting on this forum. Dhoni isnt with out his flaws , its the blind hate few have for him that i cant understand. Also one thing no-one even talks about is how unlike some of the past captains Dhoni today has zero support in terms of on field planning. A saurav had sachin/kumble/dravid/srinath. Same went for Dravid. Who does Dhoni have ? atleast in ODIs i see raina comeup to him and point things out, over the last 8 days i hardly noticed anyone talk to him, which wasnt the case till just 2 test back when sachin used to constantly tell him things.

[ravishingravi]

Never realized captain influences the batting so much. So Pujara's success was not down to years of hard work at domestic level and his technique. It was Dhoni.

[CG]

If we had not seen Mohit sharma in the recently played ODIs mohit sharma would have also been on that list. Bottom line per Indian fan our best bowlers never make it to playing XI where as reality is our bench is so weak that those guys cant even get past a exhausted- zaheer or once in a blue moon ishant. Yadav is brainless and too erratic for test cricket ; the only reason he is in 15 member squad cause he has a bit of pace. Morkel a far better bowler than yadav coudnt make any kind of impact on Indian batsman you really think yadav could have done any better.

:cantstop: what hate against yadav man,just shows Indian cricket is all about supporting ur favorites. I mean the guy has such a promising start be it India or abroad and gets so much hate from so called fans who talk about dhoti hate.hypocrisy rules.

[CG]

Indian fans deserve better ,from transparency in selection process like press conference we had earlier ,better accountability,better administration,better facilities,no restrictions on commentators,.........

[vvvslaxman]

Apart from Umesh selection other selections are okay. We are going OTT. Unless some commie asks him about it to him we won't know why he is not included. May be he is not going well in nets. He is not proving his fitness to bowl long spells? We would never know. Ashwin was rightfully playing the first test. Didn't work. jadeja rightly included

[CG]

Apart from Umesh selection other selections are okay. We are going OTT. Unless some commie asks him about it to him we won't know why he is not included. May be he is not going well in nets. He is not proving his fitness to bowl long spells? We would never know. Ashwin was rightfully playing the first test. Didn't work. jadeja rightly included

No selections have been fair .u cauldron not drop Ishant after bowling well in Odis .only gripe is considering 3 days rest we could have rested Zak.

[jf1gp_1]

:cantstop: what hate against yadav man,just shows Indian cricket is all about supporting ur favorites. I mean the guy has such a promising start be it India or abroad and gets so much hate from so called fans who talk about dhoti hate.hypocrisy rules.

Why will i have anything against Umesh the one guy who actually fits in the fast bowler category. However would you not agree he is erratic , he struggles to bowl according to his field; he has the agarkar syndrome every good delivery is followed by a hit-me. Should umesh been in playing xi, maybe but in place of zaheer and not ishant

[vvvslaxman]

No selections have been fair .u cauldron not drop Ishant after bowling well in Odis .only gripe is considering 3 days rest we could have rested Zak.

Ishant got back to back 4 wicket hauls . So he was not going to be dropped. I knew this even before. Zak was also not going to be dropped immediately after one test. Wish we had a tour game to allow all bowlers to have a go. This is probably the first time India tours overseas after discarding all the oldies. So we should take a fresh view rather than going back to 0-8 loss. India was absolutely thrashed in all the 8 tests. Not once India crossed 300. not a single bowler looked threatening. If you are going to attribute every thing to Dhoni that we need to examin ourselves first before examining Dhoni. Coach could have made a difference though considering his familiarity. But samosa man didn't exactly help much.

[CG]

Ishant got back to back 4 wicket hauls . So he was not going to be dropped. I knew this even before. Zak was also not going to be dropped immediately after one test. Wish we had a tour game to allow all bowlers to have a go. This is probably the first time India tours overseas after discarding all the oldies. So we should take a fresh view rather than going back to 0-8 loss. India was absolutely thrashed in all the 8 tests. Not once India crossed 300. not a single bowler looked threatening. If you are going to attribute every thing to Dhoni that we need to examin ourselves first before examining Dhoni. Coach could have made a difference though considering his familiarity. But samosa man didn't exactly help much.

That's what I said.only zak could have been rested .

[jf1gp_1]

Coach could have made a difference though considering his familiarity. But samosa man didn't exactly help much.

again unfair. who should be credited for our batting approach in the last 3 innings

[vvvslaxman]

INdian batting during 0-8 . I don't think any captain (graeme smith, ponting, clarke, cook , strauss could have made a difference if the batting is going to be like this. Infact Strauss backed his bowlers this Ashes saying, if batsmen don't put up runs bowlers will play the defensive role)