BSNL EurAsia Series

[TIF]

From this team, I would like to see atleast Shikhar Dhawan, getting into the Indian team. He has looked impressive in this tournament and his batting style, reminds of a Yuvraj or a Ganguly of 5-10 years ago.

VRV Singh, should be dropped and asked to play more domestic cricket. VRV, does not seem to be an international class bowler. Does not have the ability to swing it too much and relies on pure pace to take wickets. Getting smashed for over 6 an over by Holland A tells the story. I would like to see Pravin Kumar get a chance ahead of VRV Singh in the Aussie "A" series.

Also, as the test matches against West Indies get over in 4 July, it wouldnt be a bad idea to fly in VVS Laxman for the Aussie "A" series and possibly make him the captain as well. VVS Laxman, is anyday a better batsman than some players we had in the India "A" team for the Eurasia series.

Venugopal Rao shouldnt be made captain and should focus on improving his 6-hitting ability. He can hit some clean 6s and thats the area where he should improve on if he wants to play ODIs. Also, he should look to hit more 6s regularly. A explosive 40 or so by Venugopal will be more useful than a 99-ball 69.

I would like to see this squad. Atleast, this time there will be more big-hitters. The India "A" team for the Eurasia series, had only 1 big-hitter in Sodhi and that was the main reason for our defeat. This time, there is also Pravin Kumar and Yusuf Pathan as well for the big-hitting. Also, as there is going to be a ODI series in Sri Lanka in July, so players like RP Singh, Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Uthappa might not be available -

Gaurav Dhiman
Cheteshwar Pujara
Rohit Sharma
Venugopal Rao
Subramaniam Badrinath
VVS Laxman(c)
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
Dinesh Kartik(w)
Reetinder Sodhi
Pravin Kumar
Gagandeep Singh
Shib Shankar Paul
Yusuf Pathan
Piyush Chawla
Ravindra Jadeja

 

[Arjun]

Completely agree to disagree with Arjun on one point. How the team performs shouldn't dictate which player deserves a national call-up, that's just stupid.

Do you know how many of those A team players are actually playing just for their places in the national side? Not surprisingly, when they've got healthy figures or their presence (or absence) in the senior team is assured, they then take the last match lightly, and the team suffers. We saw that happen even in 2003, against the Lankan reserves, who actually played to win the final, while the Indian reserves were going through the motions. Just healthy batting and bowling averages are not enough. They should be meaningful, as in a tournament victory.

 

[Arjun]

I wouldn't slam Sodhi for this one. He scored quickly and it was obvious he was trying to belt the ball out of the ground. In fact, he was the pick of the bowlers as well ... despite all the bashing you and I have been giving him over his harmless pace, he bowled a decent line for the most part and actually controlled things a little bit. This is what I envisioned for JP Yadav when he came into the side.

Really, there are three reasons we lost this match. First, the new-ball Singh pairing which has dominated every match thus far in this tournament turned in a miserable show, especially the more experienced RP. Second, the captain Venugopal Rao sent himself in when quick runs were needed and clearly failed to bat according to the situation. Third, the Pakistanis capitalized on our mistakes: they punished the bad balls, bowled reasonably well and took all of their catches. I'm not playing down the Pakistani performance, but India really threw this one away for no reason.

As for national prospects ... RP Singh and VRV Singh need to keep working hard in the A team and develop some bowling instincts; they are both talented but neither come close to Sreesanth in terms of bowling guile. Robin Uthappa needs to work on his technique and not go on a front-foot rampage every time. Shikhar Dhawan was the most impressive in this series; Uthappa got the call-up but Dhawan is better. Sharma looks very promising as a well-rounded batsman; he can pinch the singles and hit the strokes. Chawla and Jadeja both fared well but need to learn to flight the ball a little more when the opposition is milking runs.

Sodhi is not a bad batsman, and he too has some hitting power, but there was a stage when you needed a Justin Kemp type of innings after the partnership. As for his bowling, he's bowled like a stock fourth seamer all along and so he's better used to it than JP Yadav, who tried to bowl like a frontline seamer when the conditions didn't suit him. Sodhi has excellent reflexes and running speed but lacks striking power.

The front-foot rampage is something typical of most Indian batsmen even at the highest level, bar a few. He's a good runner betwen wickets, but once he's cramped for room, he'll end up playing a shot beyond his ability to score quick runs, only to get out. Dhawan seems to be a little too much of an off-side player, and he too will end up getting trapped with heavy off-side fields.

VR Singh should reduce the number of no-balls and wides to just four a match and bowl on the stumps, not away. More matches with the A-team will help him a lot, and dropping him will be counter-productive, not just for the A team, but also the national team and Indian cricket as a whole. You have a promising young fast bowler who can take wickets in a burst, but you drop him because he gives away too many runs, and then pick a slow-medium bowler who may go for a wee bit less but take fewer wickets. Let him learn the hard way before he makes the national side.

RP Singh has proven himself as a limited-overs bowler, and has often displayed more control (and is even a few inches taller) than Sreesanth, but he's better suited to bowling first-change. This is a decent bunch of reserves, but still incomplete (a big-hitter is still needed, who can also bowl long spells) and they have some way to go before they make the national side. But they're still national prospects, and some of they best we've seen so far.

 

[Arjun]

Also, as the test matches against West Indies get over in 4 July, it wouldnt be a bad idea to fly in VVS Laxman for the Aussie "A" series and possibly make him the captain as well. VVS Laxman, is anyday a better batsman than some players we had in the India "A" team for the Eurasia series.

That's taking a step backward. What's the point in picking a player found wanting when he's played for the national team, in a reserve team? He's been given enough chances at the highest level, and he's been found wanting in outfielding, running between the wickets and six-hitting, so he's been left out so long. He's played enough matches for India A in the past, so he made it here. Now there's not much point, because even if he performs, you can't expect him to perform as consistently as expected when he returns to the national side.

 

[Arjun]

The Australia A team will host the A teams from India, Pakistan and New Zealand in July in a series of Twenty/20, one-day and four-day matches. Australia have already named their A team. Here are the teams I feel India and Pakistan should send.

India A
Venugopal Rao (c), Robin Uthappa, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Subramaniam Badrinath, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Reetinder Sodhi, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, VRV Singh, RP Singh / Gagandeep Singh, Shib Paul

*if RP Singh is selected for the West Indies test side, bring in Gagandeep Singh
*dropping R Sodhi after his top-notch performance in the final would be unfair

Pakistan A
Hasan Raza (c), Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Bazid Khan, Asim Kamal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Zulqarnain Haider (wk), Mansoor Amjad, Tahir Khan, Mohammad Sami, Samiullah Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Yasir Arafat

*keep Gul out as he should be in England
*give Sami a chance

Decent selections there. I can't comment much on the Pakistan A side, but Yasir Arafat seems a national prospect for them. As for India, they can consider playing four seamers, with one of them being a stock seam-up bowler. Sodhi's performance was not too bad, but the team (both senior and reserve) needs someone who can perform better with the ball and can hit the ball harder and longer, so Pravin Kumar should make the selection.

 

[vic_orthdox]

How did Rohit Sharma go in this tournament?

 

[adharcric]

Rohit Sharma looked very impressive in this tournament. He seemed like a complete batsman: good technique, temperament, strokeplay and defense. The notion that Dhiman and Pujara outdid this guy is very tantalizing. I have a feeling Dhiman is a miniature Sehwag with not the greatest technique but a good eye, but I am really looking forward to watching Pujara in action. Pujara, Sharma, Chawla and Jadeja should all be in the A team. Dhiman and Yomahesh should find a place in the Challenger Series as well.

 

[honestbharani]

I expect Sharma to play international cricket before long, at least he should be in the fringes very soon. Well spotted, Jack.

 

[Arjun]

Rohit Sharma looked very impressive in this tournament. He seemed like a complete batsman: good technique, temperament, strokeplay and defense. The notion that Dhiman and Pujara outdid this guy is very tantalizing. I have a feeling Dhiman is a miniature Sehwag with not the greatest technique but a good eye, but I am really looking forward to watching Pujara in action. Pujara, Sharma, Chawla and Jadeja should all be in the A team. Dhiman and Yomahesh should find a place in the Challenger Series as well.

Pujara also seems a good prospect, and though he was unlucky to miss the selection, he's definitely good enough to play for India A. The trio of Uthappa, Dhawan and Pujara seem a good combination to choose from. As for Dhiman, he's a little too, um, shifty, since he was an opening bowler and number 8 batsman not too long ago, and now he's an opening batsman these days. The selectors should avoid this type unless they settle to one role, and he should have stayed a frontline seam bowler.

 

[Arjun]

How about this selection for the Australia (and other forthcoming) series?

• Uthappa
• Dhawan
• Sodhi (C, RM)
• Rohit Sharma
• Dinesh Karthik (WK)
• Badrinath
• Joginder (RMF)
• Ravindra Jadeja (SLA)
• Chawla (LBG)
• VR Singh (RFM)
• Gagandeep (RM)
• RESERVE: SS Paul (RM)
• RESERVE: Jhunjhunwala
• RESERVE: Venugopal
• ODI FRONTLINER: Pravin Kumar (RMF)

 

[adharcric]

If we take 15, I'd be fine with that group. How did Sodhi go from being useless in your books to becoming the captain of the team?

 

[adharcric]

When do you guys think Abid Nabi should get a call-up to the A side? Personally I feel he should train at the MRF Academy for a few months and replace one of the seamers after the Australia A tour. He probably needs to work on his line and length, but hopefully that will be improved under Srinath and Lillee's guidance in a few months. Kiran More was talking about having a pool of 8-9 seamers to cope with international cricket. Of the following, who would you expect to be in that pool in the near future?

Irfan Pathan
S Sreesanth
Munaf Patel
RP Singh
VRV Singh
Ajit Agarkar
SS Paul
Gagandeep Singh
Abid Nabi
Ashish Nehra
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Zaheer Khan
Ranadeb Bose
V Yomahesh

 

[alternative]

Arjun that is a top line up.. i liked it.. and Adharcric i dont know many players in the list as i haven't seen them play, but for one AA would be ahead of VRV without a doubt for me.. (thats the case if that is in order)

 

[Arjun]

If we take 15, I'd be fine with that group. How did Sodhi go from being useless in your books to becoming the captain of the team?

Good one there. While a lot of us have been joking on Sodhi's bowling, I found an equivalent in some international ODI regulars, particularly Shoaib Malik, Scott Styris and Andrew Symonds. All of them are frontline batsmen for their teams and they can also bowl a stock of overs to support the frontliners, even if there are five other bowlers in those teams. Moreover, Sodhi is potentially a better captain than Venugopal. Another idea is to try out all the seam-bowling all-rounder options, and though it would mean keeping one spinner out of the team in OD's, it's worth a try. Sodhi's not a Test prospect, so they have to look for other options.

p.s. Who else would you suggest as captain of the A team?

 

[adharcric]

Good one there. While a lot of us have been joking on Sodhi's bowling, I found an equivalent in some international ODI regulars, particularly Shoaib Malik, Scott Styris and Andrew Symonds. All of them are frontline batsmen for their teams and they can also bowl a stock of overs to support the frontliners, even if there are five other bowlers in those teams. Moreover, Sodhi is potentially a better captain than Venugopal. Another idea is to try out all the seam-bowling all-rounder options, and though it would mean keeping one spinner out of the team in OD's, it's worth a try. Sodhi's not a Test prospect, so they have to look for other options.

p.s. Who else would you suggest as captain of the A team?

If Kaif fails in the West Indies and gets dropped from the national side, I want him as captain of the A team. I'm serious. Nobody else in this side has captaincy experience.

 

[marc71178]

p.s. Who else would you suggest as captain of the A team?

AA, he hit a 6 once so adds value.

 

[adharcric]

AA, he hit a 6 once so adds value.

That value is the reason he's in the national team. We're talking about the A team here.

 

[honestbharani]

Seriously, I think Dinesh Kaarthick has thrown his hat into the ring as far as the captaincy stakes are concerned. Did you guys see how he was always involved in field placements and talking tactics to the bowlers during the Eurasia series? At the minimum, I expect him to be captain of Tamil Nadu sooner than later.

 

[Arjun]

Seriously, I think Dinesh Kaarthick has thrown his hat into the ring as far as the captaincy stakes are concerned. Did you guys see how he was always involved in field placements and talking tactics to the bowlers during the Eurasia series? At the minimum, I expect him to be captain of Tamil Nadu sooner than later.

That would be a little too much strain on him. He's a wicketkeeper, one of the more regular batsmen for his team and a captain, and we don't find too many at the top level doing all three together. It's worth a try, though, given that it's worked at the domestic level in India, with Pankaj Dharmani keeping for (and leading) Punjab.