Gabba - Brisbane : How many bowlers do we need?

[Kalia_Test]

Did a little digging on matches in last 3 years in Gabba ( venue of our next test ) Aus vs Eng - 2013 Aus bowled out for 295 in first innings - Eng used 3 pacers ( 9 wickets ) and one spinner... Eng bowled out for 136 in first innings - Aus used 3 pacers ( 8 wickets ) and one spinner Lyon ( 2 wickets) .... Aus vs SA - 2012 - high scoring draw where few part timers rolled their arms over. Aus vs NZ - 2011 I have also seen the scorecards of matches in previous years too but wont paste here as they are easily available in CI ----------------------------------- Few things are strikingly evident... - Almost all teams went with 3 pacers + 1 spinner who bowled > 95% of overs except the high scoring draw where everyone was having fun I guess - There were other bowling options available within the team but they were rarely needed/used - Teams don't generally last more than 90 overs so there is never a desperate need to rest/rotate bowlers...Lyon,Vettori,etc enabled rotation of 3 pacers and that was enough Will try took for more trends and some other analysis but do pitch in your observations

[CG]

3 pacers + 1 spinner is enough now on mcg,gabba, sydney may be we can look to play 2 spinners.

[kubrickian]

3 pacers + 1 spinner is enough now on mcg' date='gabba, [b']sydney may be we can look to play 2 spinners.

Sydney was pretty quick the last time we played there. Even in Ashes, I think it had decent pace and bounce. The days when Sydney track was slow and low and helped spinners are gone. Coming to original topic, 3 seamers + 1 spinner should be the combo. Ashwin should be back.

[BlueBee]

We should go with 3 pacers in Umesh, Aaron, Ishant and One spinner Ashwin. They should do the job I guess. Vijay can bowl some.

[express bowling]

With the fit players we have available, 3 pacers + 1 spinner combo is only feasible one. We don't have any choice practically. On a difficult pitch, we require atleast 8 players who can bat. To achieve that we need Ashwin at 8. 3 pacers should do the job in Brisbane. We have to rethink in Sydney, if the deck is less pace friendly there.

[bowl_out]

Did a little digging on matches in last 3 years in Gabba ( venue of our next test ) Aus vs Eng - 2013 Aus bowled out for 295 in first innings - Eng used 3 pacers ( 9 wickets ) and one spinner... Eng bowled out for 136 in first innings - Aus used 3 pacers ( 8 wickets ) and one spinner Lyon ( 2 wickets)

If you bowlers are Johson, Siddle, Harris or Anderson, Broad, Tremlett... Not when it is Ishant, Shami, Aaron

[youngindia]

may i know why illogical discussion of numbers like 4 or 5 ? its the quality that matters. Its totally absurd to see people talking if a number of people are pushing a broken down bus or car...in those cases number of people may help in case of bowling, its like solving a problem..numbers don't help...only extra knowledge and extra skills help. numbers are only relevant to share 90 overs. I don't think even 7 or 8 indian bowlers are capable of taking 20 Australian wickets barring swing friendly or spin friendly conditions superior quality in bowling is required. which means 1 aaron,umesh,shami and bumrah go on to become established bowlers like kapil or srinath...I can't see that happening immediately in the future..umesh is the closest we can try 2.More impressive talent from junior ranks which will take years to materialize from now right now swing friendly conditions are the best bet to sneak a test...or declarations like today which require a spectacular batting effort. I am really sorry if people think shortcuts like 5 or 6 bowlers can get you 20 wickets...it does not work that in the real world...only in fantasies. the focus should be on developing top quality pacers which has never happened

[Scarface]

10 bowlers should do, I think :giggle: Seriously though need to play 5 bowlers else there is just no way to pick 20 wickets with the quality of our bowlers. There is not a single bowler who looks like he can take a 5-fer or run through the lineup. And lol at Ashwin suddenly becoming better bowler by sitting in bench. He was dropped for his Karan-esque performances overseas. Not sure much has changed except his batting is missed.

[Lord]

We just took 12 wickets at over 65 in this match with 3-1 combo.Somehow that same combo would be enough to take 20 wickets in Gabba because of better conditions or bcoz more experienced bowlers did it here in the past.seems right

[BlueBee]

I agree with Lord. Even though the bowling was shyte, we got 12 wickets in a flat deck.

[youngindia]

Seriously though need to play 5 bowlers else there is just no way to pick 20 wickets with the quality of our bowlers.

illogical to think that 5 th bowler is going to make a difference. numbers won't help here the strength of the bowling attack remains the same even you add a 5th bowler of similar or lower quality....only someone with extra quality in terms of experience,skills and approach will make a difference and he has to be 15% superior than the rest to make a difference

[youngindia]

Somehow that same combo would be enough to take 20 wickets in Gabba because of better conditions or bcoz more experienced bowlers did it here in the past.seems right

you are not going to make a difference with numbers anyway...find a significantly superior bowler...you will make a difference.. conditions suited to our strengths does make a difference.,.since our strength is fast medium swing and coming to facts, and for over last 28 years, I don't remember one match we won with 5 specialist bowlers overseas.... yeah its suddnely supposed to work because people with short memories come up with speculation and unsubstantiated theories :hysterical:

[bowl_out]

you are not going to make a difference with numbers anyway...find a significantly superior bowler...you will make a difference.. conditions suited to our strengths does make a difference.,.since our strength is fast medium swing and coming to facts, and for over last 28 years, I don't remember one match we won with 5 specialist bowlers overseas.... yeah its suddnely supposed to work because people with short memories come up with speculation and unsubstantiated theories :hysterical:

I don't remember a match where we played five specialist bowlers...Closest comes Lord's 2014, which we won with five bowlers (considering Binny as a bowler)

[Cricket_Hacker]

Umesh,Aaron,Ishant,Ashwin,and part time offies from Raina

[Ultimate_Game]

I don't remember a match where we played five specialist bowlers...Closest comes Lord's 2014' date=' which we won with five bowlers (considering Binny as a bowler)[/quote'] Stuart Binny a "bowler", Karn Sharma an "all rounder". WTF has IPL led to? Maybe add Anirudha Srikanth as an "opener" as well.

[Kalia_Test]

We need to believe that we can get the opposition out for less than 90 overs if we have to win...To bowl 90 overs, take your 4 best bowlers and throw in a couple of part timers...thats it... The thought of 5 specialist bowlers means that we need someone else to bowl 20-25 more overs meaning we are entering the 120 overs category...Given run rates of Aus, we are looking at 450-500+....then we will be chasing a draw in which case more batsmen are better anyway... I rarely remember 5 specialist bowlers by any team unless the fifth bowler is a Kallis or Flintoff in prime....we don't have them... This is not UAE where teams bat slowly at 2.5-3 runs per over for 140 overs. Even in UAE, fifth bowler will invariably be the second or third spinner ( like Hafeez) ...

[asterix]

Since you never know which Indian bowler might decide to be off colour in a match, it's better to go with 5 bowlers... You also need to consider the possibility of "under utilisation" of some bowlers owing to Kaptaan politics...

[Trundler27]

My guess is that dhobi comes back with 2 of his favorites... one would be Fatwin instead of the leggie as he didn't show much... the other one i think would be jaddu instead of nohit... so that dhobi can use his famous constriction techniques with Fatwin and jaddu from both ends on a fast gabba pitch lol On a serious note though, if our top order fares as well as they did in adelaide then we should absolutely go with 5 bowlers since we would still lose 4-0 with a four pronged attack Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni, Ashwin, Jaddu, Shami, Aaron, Ishant

[bharat297]

Pick 6 batsmen, 4 bowlers and a wicket keeper. We don't need to try stupid things like picking our main spinner at No.6. Ishant, Varun, Umesh and Ashwin are probably our best combination out of the available players. On a bowler friendly wicket, you don't go in with 1 batsman short. Just stick with the same batting line up.

[bowl_out]

My guess is that dhobi comes back with 2 of his favorites... one would be Fatwin instead of the leggie as he didn't show much... the other one i think would be jaddu instead of nohit... so that dhobi can use his famous constriction techniques with Fatwin and jaddu from both ends on a fast gabba pitch lol On a serious note though, if our top order fares as well as they did in adelaide then we should absolutely go with 5 bowlers since we would still lose 4-0 with a four pronged attack Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni, Ashwin, Jaddu, Shami, Aaron, Ishant

Exactly what I mentioned on another thread as well... Get a strong feeling Dhoni will go for this combination