Moving on: Team for next test

[gator]

The opening combination needs to definitely change. RD is definitely not the man and it was already proven earlier and it baffles why a failed strategy was adopted for a crucial test... Sehwag comes in for Yuvi and he opens... Though, it is tempting to play Pathan instead of RPS, I would still persist with RP... he is very rusty... he sat out for almost the entire test series against the pakis and he needs the match practice... Bajji will have to play as the SCG offers decent support for spinners and he seems to have Punter's number... Ganguly must play at number 3... He looks the most comfortable among all our batters and he needs to go out there and shield the rest... The lineup and order should be as follows: Sehwag Jaffer Ganguly Tendulkar Laxman Dravid Dhoni Kumble Zak Bajji RPS This lineup should do much better than this patchwork of a lineup in MCG...

[fineleg]

We need to bring Irfan Pathan to lengthen our batting lineup. Before Test-1 folks were saying our Top and MO will click, we dont need Pathan's batting. Well guess what, our Top and MO can screw up BIG TIME, so we do need longer batting and get IKP instead of Bhajji. Sydney or not, HS is out.

[apocalypse]

Ganguly cannot bat at number 3. He will not come I am sure. He can say anything in press but in reality he wants to come when ball has lost its shine

[Desi Cartman]

if we need pathan's batting to win a test then we dont deserve to win. Sehwag Yuvraj (lets see what these guys are made off) VVS Dravid SRT SG MSD AK BHAJJI ZK RP

[Dravid]

Ganguly cannot bat at number 3. He will not come I am sure. He can say anything in press but in reality he wants to come when ball has lost its shine

abey, y should he? he is in great form from where he is batting.. y fix **** that aint broken? hard ball ... he opens in odi's dosent he? y not sachin up the order? dravid is prefect at 3...

[kabira]

Aussies had same strategy as the last BG Series..Keep our batsman in check, do not try to bowl great deliveries, just keep pluging ...and they will succumb... Dravid should be told to play his strokes and should bat at number 6. Laxman is ok at 3 We keep criticizing Dravid, but we forgot about Jaffer, two similar type of dismissals.. This was the pitch where we should have won, but unfortunately it was first test...if this was 2nd or 3rd Test, I am sure our batters would have done better.

[Chaos]

i would NOT let fcking jaffer get in to 2nd test. pick pathan and let him open. Cuz 1st wicket is a walkin wicket for us anywayz...

[gator]

abey, y should he? he is in great form from where he is batting.. y fix **** that aint broken? hard ball ... he opens in odi's dosent he? y not sachin up the order? dravid is prefect at 3...

at the moment, Dravid needs to be shielded and not make him shield the Middle order.... Saurav looks comfortable against pace, confident and he should get the innings moving....

[apocalypse]

I was commenting on the line up in OP

[HouMac]

Sehwag in for Dravid. Dravid's done, IMO. He's been batting poorly for wayyy too long for this to simply be a temporary thing. Both mentally and technically he seems out of it. Besides, we can't continue to open with 2 guys with such negative mindsets. Sehwag's a MUST and Yuvraj should be given another Test. Sehwag can also be pretty useful with the ball which would allow us to drop Harbhajan. I know Bhajji had a decent 2nd innings but he was still hardly threatening. His 3 wickets all came on poor/attacking shots. Of course, he'll still play the 2nd Test due to the nature of the pitch but I'm already guaranteeing he won't amount to anything. I personally would like to see Ishant given a shot. Pathan would defniitely boost our batting but he's nowhere close to being a Test level bowler anymore. Playing him would be equivalent to playing 3 specialist bowlers. At least Australia for whatever reason respects Bhajji and he doesn't leak many runs. That won't be the case with Pathan. If we're not going with Ishant then I'd rather see Harbhajan.

[gator]

We need to bring Irfan Pathan to lengthen our batting lineup. Before Test-1 folks were saying our Top and MO will click, we dont need Pathan's batting. Well guess what, our Top and MO can screw up BIG TIME, so we do need longer batting and get IKP instead of Bhajji. Sydney or not, HS is out.

I dont think PAthan can replace Bajji for SCG.... Bajji took 4 wickets in the match, though he was plain shyte in the first innings...He will be indispensable for Sydney among the current set of bowlers... If we do have to replace Bajji for a 3rd seamer, I will take Ishant over PAthan.... you need guys who can hit the deck hard in Australia and not floaters....

[diegovegaz]

with jaffer n dravid sticking to the crease, not scoring runs, letting the australian bowleres dominate them, the result had to be it no team can win against australia if they don't attack d bowlers we need 2 attack right from the beginning the team should be revised as sehwag jaffer ganguly (coz he attacks, dusn't slow down the run rate unlike dravid) sachin dravid laxman dhoni (yuvraj will hv 2 sit out) kumble ishant/irfan (bhajji 2 sit out, maybe sehwag can bowl offspin in place of him) zaheer rpsingh we don't quite need irfan's batting the top order ought to perform we can't depend on irfan to set up a score also ishant bowls better than him, hitting the deck, getting sharp swing at some deliveries

[gator]

corrrect... Ishant will be more effective against the aussie openers because of his natural inswinger - ie outswinger to lefties... in this match, maximum damage was caused by the aussie openers..... take away their scores, it will look a much closer match....

[gloryof83]

Sehwag Jaffer Dravid SRT SCG VVS MSD IKP AK ZK Ishant Sharma IMO Yuvi & Bhajji are useless, aussies are going to make sure that SCG will seam NOT spin, so second spinner is not needed.

[Bumper]

Indian management will value star power and reputation over form. Its likely that Jaffar, rather than Dravid will make way for Sehwag. (I'd like to see Dravid rested. He is mentally wrecked & needs a break. I dont think he will bat well at no. 3 in this mindset). Bhajji was useless thru out the test. Except that one wicket of Ponting, he did not earn any of his wickets. All his wickets came when Aussies were throwing their bat for some quick runs. The two spinner theory at Sydney is all BS. I'd replace Bhajji with Pathan (since Sydney is likely to assist swing bowlers and with Sehwag at the top, we need an extra bat in the tail). The likely lineup: Sehwag Dravid Laxman Sachin Ganguly Yuvraj Dhoni Pathan Kumble Zaheer RPS

[Guest HariSampath]

The issue is going to be whether to drop a player who has got a great 200 in the earlier series, Jaffer and a batter who has got a fantastic 169 in the last test coming in at 60-4....Yuvraj. Who to drop to bring in Sehwag ( his selection is now certain and inevitable)...one out of Jaffer, Dravid and Yuvraj has to go. The thing is if Jaffer is dropped , we have to open with Dravid and Sehwag...which may not be possible because Dravid has failed and himself may not want to open , so who opens with Sehwag ? We cannot afford to mess around with half openers/irregulars anymore as we are losing the test in the opening itself. So if Sehwag is opening with Jaffer ( as it should be)..then where does Dravid play, if at all? If he is to play at 3 or lower that means Yuvraj needs to be dropped. This is completely unfair to Yuvraj, as he has failed in just one test , has a brilliant 169 in the earlier test whereas Dravid has been failing for quite some time and is in wretched form and scratching around miserably. So we arrive at the decision that Dravid has to be dropped , but I think that it won't happen ( Kumble, old boy network etc)...and Yuvraj will be dropped unfortunately. The same bowlers may be retained , most probably .

[Donny]

Of course Yuvi should be dropped. When your best fieldsman behaves and fields like your worst, why would he be retained ? He has an enormous attitude problem.

[Desi Cartman]

Yuvi should be dropped or asked to open cuz Jaffer isnt doing great either !

[gator]

Yuvi will struggle even more while opening.... I dont have much confidence in Viru at the moment... he does not have much practice.... but i am willing to take tht chance instead of Yuvi, who does deserve another chance, but not in this series...

[Guest HariSampath]

Of course Yuvi should be dropped. When your best fieldsman behaves and fields like your worst, why would he be retained ? He has an enormous attitude problem.

Our best fieldsman at his worst is better than our worst fieldsmen at their best :-)