India's squad for Bangladesh Tour confirmed Post #45

[diga]

1 domestic spinner to keep an eye on is Swarupam Purakayastha.... offie from Assam

[rkt.india]

Could have tried young spinners like Jayant Yadav or Malolan Rangrajan if they wanted off spinner and both can bat too. Why going back to Bhajji? If you dont bring in new players against BD then whom? Selectors are so shortsighted. IF go by IPL why dont pick Iyer, Nehra etc.

[Cricketics]

Could have tried young spinners like Jayant Yadav or Malolan Rangrajan if they wanted off spinner and both can bat too. Why going back to Bhajji? If you dont bring in new players against BD then whom? Selectors are so shortsighted. IF go by IPL why dont pick Iyer' date=' Nehra etc.[/quote'] Nehra's fitness can't be trusted for test matches. He hardly plays for Delhi. In ODI may be but not for test.

[Gollum]

How someone, especially a famous sportsperson conducts himself on social media is a reflection of his personality. Bhajji is an Indian version of Pakistani Selfie Queen, albeit not that bad, nobody can be that bad. Don't know about others but he comes across as a petty, small hearted person who can't tolerate his competitors like Ashwin/Jadeja/Ojha and some others(like Dhoni) performing well. Contrast that to how Ashwin/Ojha behave on twitter, always praising all their team mates. I am not saying that twitter has anything to do with recall BUT please stop painting him like a pakka team man, friendly with everyone, great to hang around, someone with whom youngsters will be comfortable etc etc. I have always had doubts about his commitment to the team's cause. Nagpur 2004,Lord's 2011,MI,Punjab Ranji matches etc etc portray him as a selfish, manipulative coward. Give me Zak,Viru over him any day, those 2 were the real unselfish heroes of our golden run in 2007-2011 WC.

[Lannister]

Harbhajan is an embarrassment to Indian cricket and to all the youngsters in the team. I can't believe this chicken sh!t got selected.

[rkt.india]

Nehra's fitness can't be trusted for test matches. He hardly plays for Delhi. In ODI may be but not for test.

I am not asking to pick Nehra, just talking about how flawed the selection of Bhajji is. We have no dearth of spinners in domestic cricket. Problem is we are comparing spinners of FC in the past to now and saying we dont have good spinners, not thinking about different playing conditions.

[Shivaji bhonsle]

How someone, especially a famous sportsperson conducts himself on social media is a reflection of his personality. Bhajji is an Indian version of Pakistani Selfie Queen, albeit not that bad, nobody can be that bad. Don't know about others but he comes across as a petty, small hearted person who can't tolerate his competitors like Ashwin/Jadeja/Ojha and some others(like Dhoni) performing well. Contrast that to how Ashwin/Ojha behave on twitter, always praising all their team mates. I am not saying that twitter has anything to do with recall BUT please stop painting him like a pakka team man, friendly with everyone, great to hang around, someone with whom youngsters will be comfortable etc etc. I have always had doubts about his commitment to the team's cause. Nagpur 2004,Lord's 2011,MI,Punjab Ranji matches etc etc portray him as a selfish, manipulative coward. Give me Zak,Viru over him any day, those 2 were the real unselfish heroes of our golden run in 2007-2011 WC.

rubbish. What's the evidence you have?bhajji plays to win. He has won us so many matches. This is what I don't like about Indian fans. No respect for a person who has us so many matches.

[India-KXIP fan]

-In domestic cricket there may be no outstanding spinners but at least 10 spinners who outbowled Bhajji in the last 2 domestic seasons. Before you talk about the nature of the pitches in our domestic scene these days I would like to point out that spinners from all states are facing this problem (except TN who rolled out the traditional Indian pitches this season) - He is a chickenheart. Chickened out of Nagpur 2004, faked an injury in Lord's test 2011 after going for 0-200, underbowled himself for MI (when captain) when opponents were in hitting mode, underbowled in Ranji matches on difficult pitches to protect his readings. With an attitude like his he should be the last name to be discussed when talking about our national team. - He is an Indian version of Ahmed Shehzad. Ever checked his twitter timeline. Always taking potshots at his colleagues, manipulating stats to show he is as good as Warne & Murali,never having the decency to appreciate Ashwin,Ojha,Jadeja when they were bowling well, retweeting/favoriting tweets by fanboys which are downright embarrassing. His indirect digs at Dhoni,Ashwin,Ojha,etc aren't the stuff you expect from an experienced player like him. - He is the worst bowler to take 400 wickets in test history. No amount of sugar coating will hide this indisputable fact. 101 tests, 413 wickets@avg=32.37 is embarrassing . He has played 69 off those 101 tests in Asia and 13 in WI,Zimbabwe. 19 matches in Eng,Aus,RSA,NZ spread over 14 years has kept his average at 32 odd. Else his real worth as a spinner is a bowling average of 37/38 minimum. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/29264.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround He averages 73.22 in Aus 49.78 in Eng 24.19 in NZ :hatsoff: credit where due 34 in RSA He was atrocious in Aus and Eng but quite good in NZ(albeit the 2009 NZ team was one of the weakest batting line ups they had ever assembled and the pitches were SC like) In RSA he did nothing of worth in the 2001 series,didn't play in 2006 and was brilliant in the 2010-11 series. This is where comparing his overseas exploits with Ashwin,Jadeja isn't fair. Both these youngsters were on their 1st overseas assignments and even Kumble,Bhajji didn't do anything of note in their 1st overseas tours. We need to be patient with them,especially Ashwin who showed significant improvements as we saw in Eng and Aus. especially in Aus he outbowled Lyon in the last 3 tests. So let us cut our youngsters some slack, I am very sure they will step up their games the next time they tour these countries because of added experience. You say Ashwin,Jadeja lack penetration overseas, what about Bhajjin when he was of their age? - Didn't count WI because the pitches there are very kind on spinners and pretty sure Ashwin and co will blow them away in 2016 (if we tour) -Bhajji has a good record at home but was very ordinary against Aus in 2013 on raging turners. He was thoroughly outbowled by the other 2 that series. In fact even in home tests he was going through what looked like terminal decline before the selectors stamped their feet and dropped him. Ever since then he had done nothing in domestic scene to prove that he is an improved bowler. - He is almost 35 years old, no point in sticking with him. Better give the youngsters chances if need be. We need to look at the future and stop being caught in the webs of nostalgia. Bhajji was a great servant for Indian cricket but he is done. In 2018 when we tour RSA he will be 37/38 years old while Ashwin,Jadeja will be in their prime. TBH I see Ashwin as a future Indian great ending with a career like that of Kumble as far as bowling is concerned. He may end up as our 2nd greatest all rounder of all time and don't see anyone touching his spot for the next 7-8 years unless team politics takes centre stage. We just need to find him a young support spinner and all our energies should be focussed on trying to find Robin to Ashwin's Batman. Bhajji isn't the solution.

On the Mohali pitch no spinners have really excelled much. Plus I've noticed all the Indian bowlers atm have bowlers bettering their Ranji numbers, likes of Joginder Sharma have the best but little International quality. I reckon there are probably spinners with better numbers than Ashwin in Ranji without the quality required for Internationals. Being the worst to 400 is not bad when all in the list are legends. Just read all the names on the list.... Harbhajan however was in his prime only for 250ish of them. Now he may well be just the big name, and not have the skill to back it up I agree. But given the current state it might not be bad to give him a short run to see how it goes. If it goes well because: -Over next 3 years India play 35 home tests. Harbhajan has in the past done well against very good sides like South Africa in 2010 and Aus 2001. -India tours away in South Africa 2018. Last time Bhaji played there he had huge huge impact like you said. He was the 2nd highest wicket taker after Steyn IIRC. That too a spinner! Current Ashwin is expected to support and I believe he didn't get a wicket in SA did he? So there's the difference, the difference in potential. Ashwin has 60-70 away average I believe so far. Like you said first tour but that does not mean "hey keep your spot cause its your 1st tour and obviously like xyz you will certainly come good in 2nd". Im not saying he should be dropped but he hasn't really done enough to have no competition. Other place India tour is WI where he also had success. To conclude, Ashwin has not done enough to be the outright Number 1 without competition and although Im not sure about this I believe there is no other International quality options around. Or are there, let me know cause I didn't follow Ranji this year. I can only assume there are none ready for test cricket if they go back to Bhaji. I can only assume they don't 100% trust any youngster atm to start in tests or see International quality in them.

[India-KXIP fan]

To add to the above Gollum, there's a very real danger South Africa touring India later this year can win that series. With success Steyn has had in India with new ball and reversing ball. With batsmen like Amla, ABD who can easily play anywhere. Bhaji has done well against them Home and away so maybe he also has a mental edge others do not. Remember the match winning performance in 2010? SA nearly came to India, beat them and take their No.1. They bat and bowl well in these conditions. There is a good chance they can shut out Ashwin even at home. But Bhaji may have a mental edge over SA given last time he faced them at home and last time he faced them away. Home: 5/59 match winning performance Away: 7 wickets in an innings in a drawn match Got Amla out 5 times in tests too Im pretty sure. That said BD batsmen play spin well and it is a tough test for both Ashwin and Bhaji. I don't think it will be easy for either of them, their current guys like Tamim, Mominul and Shakib are in good touch. Some competition is always healthy.

[adi B]

They have opted for Bhajji because there are 6 lefties in Bangla line up. Sandeep Patil has mentioned that as stated in cricinfo's article. I think it's a good calculation when picking up the squad and not a bad idea to try Bhajji here. http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-india-2015/content/story/878707.html

May as well pick unadkat then if that's the case

[The Realist]

May as well pick unadkat then if that's the case

Exactly let's throw in Aravind too, heck why not throw in a Koomar (Praveen) and Sharma (Mohit) too. On every level picking a washed-up has been like Darty is a pathetic regressive step. Has no figures to back up his selection so its obvious that Sandumb Patil has picked him for other reasons. For a youngster it must be so demotivating as why would you bother because you know that selection is not based on merit but who you know and what clique you are part of. You have to wonder what the brain trust of selectors and scouts are doing if Dartbhajan is their solution. Really? Is that the best you can do to build a future test winning team?

[BlueBee]

No Iyer :whine:

[Gollum]

On the Mohali pitch no spinners have really excelled much. Plus I've noticed all the Indian bowlers atm have bowlers bettering their Ranji numbers, likes of Joginder Sharma have the best but little International quality. I reckon there are probably spinners with better numbers than Ashwin in Ranji without the quality required for Internationals. Being the worst to 400 is not bad when all in the list are legends. Just read all the names on the list.... Harbhajan however was in his prime only for 250ish of them. Now he may well be just the big name, and not have the skill to back it up I agree. But given the current state it might not be bad to give him a short run to see how it goes. If it goes well because: -Over next 3 years India play 35 home tests. Harbhajan has in the past done well against very good sides like South Africa in 2010 and Aus 2001. -India tours away in South Africa 2018. Last time Bhaji played there he had huge huge impact like you said. He was the 2nd highest wicket taker after Steyn IIRC. That too a spinner! Current Ashwin is expected to support and I believe he didn't get a wicket in SA did he? So there's the difference, the difference in potential. Ashwin has 60-70 away average I believe so far. Like you said first tour but that does not mean "hey keep your spot cause its your 1st tour and obviously like xyz you will certainly come good in 2nd". Im not saying he should be dropped but he hasn't really done enough to have no competition. Other place India tour is WI where he also had success. To conclude, Ashwin has not done enough to be the outright Number 1 without competition and although Im not sure about this I believe there is no other International quality options around. Or are there, let me know cause I didn't follow Ranji this year. I can only assume there are none ready for test cricket if they go back to Bhaji. I can only assume they don't 100% trust any youngster atm to start in tests or see International quality in them.

Bro, forget Mohali pitch, all pitches in domestic scene have been favoring pacers for the last couple of years. Hence guys like Vinay,Mithun,Joginder,Pankaj,Aravindh etc are dominating the wickets charts in spite of lacking quality to succeed in international cricket. FFS they are 120 kph trundlers who are making merry on green mambas and they aren't half as good as their numbers suggest. But Bhajji is a spinner, let us see how he compares to other spinners in the country and not bring names of pacers in the discussion. First let us see how he compared to other Punjabi spinners who also btw bowled in Mohali last season From the list you can clearly see that even Yuvi has outbowled Bhajji this season. Gurkeerat Singh Mann is a middle order batsman and a part timer, even he trumped Bhajji. Rajwinder Singh, an orthodox SLA, the other specialist spinner in the team also has better numbers. Vinay Choudhary, another SLA orthodox also has better numbers. As you can clearly see he is the 5th best spinner in Punjab, not a hallmark for great performance !!!! Compared to rest of India, check this link http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2014-15/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=9513;type=tournament Among the top wicket takers, there are quite a few spinners who bowled well in spite of the nature of the tracks. Sorry for telling earlier that 10 spinners bowled better than him last season. by the looks of it there are more than 50 spinners who completely outclassed Harbhajan Singh in this edition. What performance are we talking about? Some of the spinners who impressed a lot this Ranji edition(2014/15): 1. Swarupam Purkayastha(Assam, right arm OB, age 25) 7 matches, 36 wickets, avg 17.52, 5 5WKH, 2 10WKH, BBI-8/29, BBM-13/88 :hatsoff: *WKH=wicket haul 2. Malolan Rangarajan(Tamil Nadu, right arm OB, age 26) 10 matches, 36 wickets, avg 28.75, 2 5WKH, BBI-7/135, BBM-7/81 3. Jayant Yadav(Haryana, right arm OB, age 25) 8 matches, 33 wickets, avg 17.66, 4 5WK,1 10WKH, BBI-7/64, BBM-13/154 4. Samar Quadri(Jharkhand, right arm LB, age 25) 6 matches, 29 wickets, avg 24.51, 2 5WKH, BBI-6/102,BBM-9/146 5. Shahbaz Nadeem(Jharkhand, SLA orthodox, age 25) 8 matches, 28 wickets, avg 25.53, BBI-4/60,BBM-6/112 6. Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad(Assam, SLA orthodox, age 31) 9 matches, 28 wickets, avg 27.07, 1 5WKH, BBI-5/27, BBM-6/40 7. Shreyas Gopal(Karnataka, right arm LB, age 21) 11 matches, 28 wickets(on those greentops where Vinay and co run havoc :two_thumbs_up:), avg 32.75, BBI-4/51, BBM-4/51 8. Manan Sharma(Delhi, SLA orthodox, age 24) 5 matches, 27 wickets, avg 19.77, 2 5WKH, BBI-6/24, BBM-8/33 9. Rahil Shah(Tamil Nadu, SLA orthodox, age 29) 5 matches, 27 wickets, avg 19.77, 2 5WKH, BBI-7/34,BBM-9/82 10. Varun Sood(Delhi, SLA orthodox, age 24) 8 matches, 27 wickets, avg 20.88, 1 5WKH, 1 10WKH, BBI-6/43, BBM-10/93 11. Swapnil Singh(Baroda, SLA orthodox, age 24) 8 matches, 27 wickets, avg 26.59, 3 5WKH, BBI-6/91, BBM- 7/155 12. Rakesh Dhruv(Vidarbha, SLA orthodox, age 34) 8 matches, 26 wickets, avg 26.69, BBI-4/34, BBM-7/51 13. Ramesh Powar(Gujarat, right arm OB, age 37) 5 matches, 24 wickets, avg 21.00, 3 5WKH, 1 10WKH, BBI-5/40, BBM-10/186 14. Kamlesh Makvana(Saurashtra, right arm OB, age 31) 7 mathces, 23 wickets, avg 37.47, 2 5WKH, BBI-6/87, BBM-9/135 http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2014-15/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=9513;type=tournament As you can see these players have done really well this season and almost all of them are younger than Bhajji with a majority in the 21-25 age mark, ripe for initiation into the biggest stage. What message do you think the selectors are giving these lads by ignoring their feats and instead selecting a 35 year old has been who was extremely ordinary in the same competition where these guys thrived? How can we say that these guys don't have it in hem to succeed in international level without giving them chances/hopes of national selection? As you yourself said Bhajji is past his prime, add to the fact that he hasn't shown any signs of improvement since being dropped. Dhoni did give him chances(Aus home series, 2013 and btw he has been historically very good against them in home matches, so out goes the theory of effect of past performances) but he didn't look like international standard !!! Mark my words if he gets selected for the series against RSA this winter he will get clobbered into oblivion, history counts for zilch in these situations. Another point I disagree with you is your evaluation of Ashwin. You compared Ashwin's bowling in Johannesburg with Bhajji's bowling in the 2010/11 series and hence inferred that he doesn't have potential like Bhajji. I agree Ashwin should have done better there but that was a one off. Bhajji got mercilessly destroyed in the 1st test in that 2010/11 tour to RSA and Ashwin was carefully played out by Du Plessis and ABDV in this instance... **** happens. You must agree that Ashwin has been a tad unlucky on missing out on the Durban and Adelaide matches, those pitches were very good for spinners and he could have boosted his stats had he played those. All Asian spinners find it very tough in their initial years in overseas conditions and Ashwin is no different, matter closed. He showed signs of improvement in Eng and Aus(outbowled Lyon in the last 3 tests, no mean feat for a touring spinner) after being benched in NZ. Also the fact that Dhoni's captaincy overseas has regressed inexplicably since the 2011 Eng tour and our catchers dropping half a dozen catches every innings has made life very difficult for our bowlers. Shami and Ashwin have been the ones most affected by dropped catches in this period, all these factors must be taken into account. During Bhajji's time our catching was amongst the best in international cricket. I think Ashwin is the undisputed number 1 spinner in India and a dead cert in the starting line up in any condition(his batting is a huge plus here). He can only get better now that he is nearing the age where most cricketers are at the peak of their powers. All SC spinners:Murali,Kumble,Saqlain,Mushtaq Ahmed,Bhajji,Herath,Ajmal, Kaneria have been shambolic in their 1st assignments overseas. Check out what Bhajji did in his 1st tours to Aus,RSA,Eng(Ashwin hasn't played yet in WI,NZ) Aus tour 2003/4 Brisbane: 1/169. Only test he played that series. (Was equally bad in the Bucknor series with match returns of 3/162,4/200,1/128 in Melbourne,Sydney and Adelaide respectively) RSA tour 2001 Port Elizabeth: 3/168 Eng tour 2002 3/175 in Nottingham, 4/96 in Leeds, 5/139 in Oval So this should put things in perspective. We need to give Ashwin time, he has it in him to make it large. :winky: