He Who Must Not Be Named (in an Indian Test side)

[Mr. Wicket]

Are we in a situation now where we'll be forced to pick him, just out of a complete lack of other test options? Right now RPS, Zaheer and Ishant select themselves for Australia. Pathan makes some case for himself, but more as a bowling all rounder of sorts - he's turned in steady but not spectacular performances with the ball for Baroda lately, but then again they seem to have been relying mainly on their YKP/Pawar spin combo. But he was steady and fairly tight on a wicket not offering much for him here, has the experience of a past Aus tour and is coming off a fine test ton, so I expect he'll go. That's four quicks. So for the fifth quick's slot, we have the options of Grandfather Munaf, a wildcard bowler, a nice slow medium pace trundler like Ranadeb Bose or Salvi, or... gasp... (yes, Salil IS suggesting this - these are indeed desperate times for India)... Aag? The slowpokes can't tour, as they'll be slaughtered. Debatable whether Camel Patel fits in there, but we'll discuss him later. Wildcard options - Pankaj Singh stands out on recent form. But right now we've already got one very raw, young bowler in Ishant - is it worth taking such an inexperienced bunch to Australia? Grandpa Patel: We all know how this will go. Melbourne, start of the Australian innings. He'll mark his run up, Hayden will take strike and watch. A few seconds later, he'll yawn, tired of waiting as Munaf s..l..o..w..l..y ambles in to the crease, then trundles down a 128 kmh ball. The pace will go up in the first spell, then come down rapidly as Australia bat on and on. Not just his bowling pace, but his general pace around the ground as well with some heat and a bit of area to cover in the field. In betwen the medium pacers (and the odd quick ball) that'll be picked off on flatter wickets with a soft Kookaburra, we'll see the worst of Ashish Nehra, Phil Tufnell and our esteemed bowling coach combined. The grim, angry stare at the ball that's running away from him, threatening it to stop for him lest he subject it to more fury from the oppositions' bats. The lazy 'stick foot out to hopefully stop the ba - oh, crap, it went for four' method. Or perhaps the masterful Nehra swan dive over the ball when he wants to occasionally put in some effort. For every run he concedes with the ball, he'll make an effort to concede the same amount in the outfield. Must India really take that along, or *shudder* do we pick Eggy once more, cross our fingers, close our eyes and hope for the best?

[Cricketics]

Bring back Ajit.. no need to take another new bie i would say.. and if we are really takin one.. then Pankaj Singh is the Name folkz

[sachin_fan]

how come sreesanth's name is missing from the list...

[SachDan]

Salil, thats why I am saying it should be Agarkar..if he's fully fit

[kabira]

Agarkar does have good bowling record in Australia...In 98-99 tour, he was our best bowler and that was commendable as our other two bowlers were Sri and Prasad. We all know what last time.

[coffee_rules]

Going with Pathan, ZK and RPS...It is Karachi 2006 all over. No variation. All lefties. We got to have l-r-l combination

[The Outsider]

It's a tough call between Agarkar and Munaf. Agarkar has one advantage of bowling against an overtly attacking team like Australia - his occasional good deliveries end up picking wickets because of their inclination to over attack.

[Dravid]

aggy vs. munaf aggy better fielder better batter dosent get injured asmuch as him gives 100%, unlike grandpa more exp. good rec in aus i say tie between aggy and munna in bowling.. so aggy tours. :D

[Sachinism]

how come sreesanth's name is missing from the list...

i think he's injured and wont be fit in time

[Predator_05]

Agarkar does have good bowling record in Australia...In 98-99 tour, he was our best bowler and that was commendable as our other two bowlers were Sri and Prasad. We all know what last time.

True. He has bowled very well against AUS - in both Tests and ODIs. His bowling came in for praise back in '99 and his 6/41 won India a memorable victory at Adelaide. I wouldn't mind seeing him bowl first change.

[DravidDaBest]

From what I saw last time, Agarkar seems to have lost a bit of pace. If thats the case, then bad Munna is much better than crap Aggy

[Guest HariSampath]

Oh.....Salil ....Salil....the ways of the cricket God are mysterious indeed...here we are, the TWO of us ( yes misery seeks company ) :(( having to accept the realities of life in a philisophical mindset. We have traveled throughout India, and having seen a bare cupboard, we are forced to return meekly to HRH Sir Ajit Agarkar..MBE., OBE., KBE., Earl of Mumbai., Lord of Lord's ., asking (imploring) him to bail out India..can anything be worse than this. But like I said these are difficult times, and no disgrace in eating a bit of crow and requesting Sir Ajit to reconsider his ICL move and , like a man, turn out for his country ( however expensive such an option might be... both for himself and India ) :nervous:

[Ram]

On a side note, If Agarkar isnt picked for the Aussie tour, we can almost say that is the end of his test career. That would be the clearest sign yet by the selectors that they are looking to promote younger, more promising fast bowlers.

[Cricketics]

not really mm.. u can't say that really some nasty drubbing to bowlers like Zaheer, r.p in this Aussie tour can lead them to the players dropped list for the saffers series also which is right after the aussie tour.. itz a great game played by selectors.. and the captain shall have no say in that really i bet.... and it will bring Agarkar or some other former bowler to the Indian bowling kingdom

[dial_100]

trouble is Aggy was criticised so much as if we expected him to bowl 150 or something. He was always like 130 bowler, occassional 120 ball and pace variation, good swing option and lot of experience. As you see none of these bowlers, RP, ZK, MP and IS could win us a test match in this series. I aint expecting them to take 10 wkts but they were absolutely futile. A very littl e that I saw ball missing the bat kinda delivery. They hardly able to break long partnership. The truth is we do not have any genuine quick bowler like SS. When he is injured the rest all look the same. RP and ZK will pick themselves up. So IP and IS are in strong contention. 5th could be anyone. Doesn't matter. If Aggy is not fit then dont even think of him.

[Cricketics]

Dial, aggarkar was never criticised by anyone for his less pace.. or not touching 150.. infact no bowler can be criticised for that if he bowlz well consistently.. had agarkar bowled well, offcourse no one would have said anything negative about him.. u see rp doesn't touch 150.. yet he bowled well in England and in 2020 in saf and hence was praised a lot by each and every fellow countrymen..

[Mr. Wicket]

trouble is Aggy was criticised so much as if we expected him to bowl 150 or something.

Nobody expected Aag to bowl at 150 clicks. What was expected was some degree of economy and wickets occasionally in tests. Neither happened for the most part.

[Ram]

not really mm.. u can't say that really some nasty drubbing to bowlers like Zaheer, r.p in this Aussie tour can lead them to the players dropped list for the saffers series also which is right after the aussie tour.. itz a great game played by selectors.. and the captain shall have no say in that really i bet.... and it will bring Agarkar or some other former bowler to the Indian bowling kingdom

Tics, I disagree. Agarakar has been out of the test team for quite a while now. In tests, he is a proven failure, averaging close to 50 . As much as he has a good record in Aus, I dont think he will make it. There are too many other contenders for the 4th seamer slot.

[Cricketics]

well mm selectors do hope he is one of the best bowlers who can still represent Indian in test hence he is one of those 9 seamers who are picked in the 24 man squad for aussie tour that sayz everything that if later a bowler is replaced then selectors can definately bring agarkar in the test squad for any series..

[Guest HariSampath]

Well....a little bird has just emailed me...selectors have been asked by India team management to take a closer look at Pankaj Singh and also Praveen Kumar....breathe easy thalil...theres hope yet... I vote Pankaj Singh....built well, rhb, nippy and gets genuine caught behind/edge dismissals at almost 140K and after all plenty of first class wkts....surely that MUST mean something, on our pitches