Does India have the best bench strength that covers all combinations?

[gakgupta]

14 minutes ago, express bowling said:

Let us study the good  substitutes  for outside Asia tests  -

 

Openers -

1) Vijay

2) Rahul          Parthiv

 

Middle-order batsmen -

3) Pujara

4) Kohli

5) Rahane         Nair

 

Spinner / All-rounder -

6) Ashwin          Jayant / Jadeja ( Jadeja is not good as a no.6 batter though, so Jayant it is for me )

 

Seamer / All-rounder-

7)  Pandya         no-one  ( so, maybe Jaddu  or  Nair  will play in case of injury )

 

Wicket-keeper-

8) Saha           Pant / Parthiv

 

Pacers-

9)   Umesh / Bhuvi

10) Ishant

11) Shami                        1)  Bhuvi / Umesh,    2) Shardul,    3) Aaron   ( 2,3  have been the pecking order in our A team  )

 

 

So......

 

• Good back-up for middle-order batsmen,  decent one for opener,  good one for spinner / all-rounder
• We don't have a back-up seamer / all-rounder  ( even the first choice is a rookie ) 
• First choice pacers' ability to assume primary responsibility outside Asia against strong teams is unknown
• If one seamer is injured then we have a decent back-up, if 2 are injured then we go into choosing pacers who have either not played at all or have not played for India in a long time. So, it is important to play Shardul and Aaron in some games before the SA tour in November 2017.
• Shami staying fit, is key for us as we don't have a fast bowler of his calibre when playing away.

 

very good analysis....

 

but here is the thing......we don't have a premier fast bowler yet.....shami comes close to it but he is very injury prone..... we might win one odd test match because of our second or third seamer .....

 

once we loose one match...then slowly, confidence level goes down and it will affect batting.....which in-turn lead batting collapses in later matches....

[express bowling]

1 hour ago, gakgupta said:

very good analysis....

 

but here is the thing......we don't have a premier fast bowler yet.....shami comes close to it but he is very injury prone..... we might win one odd test match because of our second or third seamer .....

 

once we loose one match...then slowly, confidence level goes down and it will affect batting.....which in-turn lead batting collapses in later matches....

 

It has to be seen how Shami fares in South Africa as the lead pacer.  Can he take on the responsibility of the primary wicket-taker ?   Time will tell.   He is a much more skilled bowler from the last time he toured Australia.  He did well in WI this year.

 

I am not too worried about the injury aspect.  Shami has had one major injury so far and minor niggles after that. Happens to every fast bowler. Normal risk of injury is always there with any fast bowler.... and if that happens then we don't have any other lead pacer.

 

Ishant is a good enough 3rd seamer who picks up few wickets overseas and takes on the role of a work-horse.  The main issue will be how Umesh / Bhuvi, the 2nd seamer, will do.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by express bowling

[goose]

I am very concerned that Ishant is in the selection mix. 

[Temujin Khaghan]

3 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

I am not sure everyone is "actually" injured lol

only rohit is injured... :D Kumble's plan not to embarrass national level players by dropping them, but at the same time bring them back to form.

[SecondSlip]

Need a third opener who can be the back up of Vijay and Rahul. 

Neither Dhawan or Gambhir are the answer. Need to try someone new. 

Maybe someone like Mukund or Iyer 

[sandeep]

4 hours ago, goose said:

Your third seamer needs to take a lot of wickets on green wickets. India aint doing that with Ishant. I haven't seen much of Bhuvi lately but even in Eng not every wicket aids the swingers. So i don't see the bench strength abroad sadly.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic goosy.  Ishant can be a quality 3rd seamer if the top 2 seamers can set the table for him - we haven't really had this happen - its not unlike England having to look to their 5th bowler and asking him to deliver front-line spinner results with Moeen Ali.  How effective was Ali at home when he could play that 4th/5th bowler role and the top bowlers were doing their jobs?  

 

Similarly, there is every reason to hope/expect that Ishant can be effective as a 3rd seamer if a fit Shami and Bhuvi/Yadav play their part.  I know Mr ManBun carries a lot of baggage, but put the past aside, his bowling has gotten a bit more consistent in the last couple of seasons.    Look at the current scenario with fresh objective eyes - the stage is set for India's pace bowlers to take that next step.  

 

Sure, no guarantee that they will actually do it, but the potential really, is the best I have seen as a unit, in the last 20 years.  

[sandeep]

3 hours ago, CG said:

Starc is a spray gun in tests when under pressure.let's see I think Shami will outbowl starc when aus tour here.

Challenge for Shami is to keep improving and stay fit.   Knee issues for a pace bowler is not something you want to see.  

[bowl_out]

1 hour ago, sandeep said:

Challenge for Shami is to keep improving and stay fit.   Knee issues for a pace bowler is not something you want to see.  

Selectors to use Shami carefully and treasure him for the asset he is.

He should be only for Tests and some high profile ODI tours

[Laaloo]

4 hours ago, goose said:

I am very concerned that Ishant is in the selection mix. 

He would be an excellent 3rd seamer. He has really been extremely economical in the past 2 years or so. The problem is finding that 2nd seamer. I guess depending on conditions, you can have an attack of :

 

Shami

yadav/Bhuvi depending on conditions

Ishant

Pace all rounder

Ashwin

 

Pace all rounder is what is missing for us. We really need to groom one. Spin department, we are in good hands. Pace attack is okay today.

[putrevus]

They need to find seamers who are not satisfied by picking one or two wickets, here the seamers were able to bowl with venom even late in the day because they were not asked to carry the load of bowling majority of overs.What will happen say on Gabba pitch or Perth pitch they are asked to bowl 20 overs each in day, unless they develop consistency with line and length they will not be able to put any pressure.

 

We saw in Australian series they were leaking runs in buckets by bowling both sides of the wicket giving captain no control.Dhoni was helpless in all the tests during 13-1 fiasco.I would play Jadeja and Ashwin in every match and sink or swim with them. Ashwin is better test bat than Rohit any day so we can ask Ashwin to play as main batsman and Jadeja as main spinner.

[MCcricket]

India has good balance n decent talent in batting department but surprisingly spin bowling looks bare after Ashwin, Jadeja n Jayant has just come in but is a decent 3 spinner for now, we need a leggie and some more backup in spin dept.

Among seamers we need couple to especially left armers n bowlers with pace n bounce to be effective in most conditions n not Trundlers.