***Official*** Australia in India

[Laurrz]

I just don't understand why, when they've got 2 wicketkeepers in the same XI, they give the gloves to the one opening. Seems to make no sense, unless Gilchrist was far ahead of Haddin as a wicketkeeper which, UIMM, he's not.

Haddin in the field is probably better than Gilly in the field perhaps..also Gilly may prefer captaining from the wicketkeeper position

anyway our pace attack throughout the WC was

Bracken
Tait
McGrath
Watson

none will play this series [bracks will come in later on]
so India should win atleast the first couple of matches, if not, they never will...at home too

 

[Richard]

Haddin in the field is probably better than Gilly in the field perhaps..also Gilly may prefer captaining from the wicketkeeper position

Yeah, I suppose... have always thought captaining from behind the stumps is very tricky though.

 

[Matt79]

It would be all he knew though.

And unless he volunteers to let Haddin keep, which he'd never do, CA are hardly going to make him do it and risk upsetting him and his rhythm before a huge season.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, of course. What Gilchrist is most comfortable with, naturally, is what you want to aim closest for.

And it'd look really, really odd having Gilchrist as an outfielder TBH. Mind, it must look (and feel, for him) pretty odd to have Haddin doing so too.

 

[sideshowtim]

India's win tonight makes this series even more interesting for mine.

With 5 first-pick players out, them riding on the success of the 20/20, them having played a lot of cricket lately and the home ground advantage should see them start as favourites, but it will be an incredibly intruging battle.

 

[adharcric]

Australia are still favorites at the start even without Ponting, Hussey and co. They have been miles ahead of everyone else with those guys; without them, they should still be just a little better, at least. That said, it should definitely be a very interesting series.

 

[adharcric]

to SJS, Richard and Adharcric,


I think now they should pick Yousuf Pathan as the replacement, unless they suddenly decide to resurrect Murali Kartik's international career.....

And yes, I would like to see Uthappa ahead of Gambhir and I would like to see us NOT play 3 left armers in the same game... We have tried that once or twice before and it never really worked out for us. You don't have to play someone JUST for the sake of variety and Sreesanth, even though he can erratic, has shown decent enough potential to justify him being picked ahead of one of the left armers, just for variety's sake.

Gambhir has surely sealed the #3 spot for the first few ODIs after today's superb innings.

 

[Richard]

Australia are still favorites at the start even without Ponting, Hussey and co. They have been miles ahead of everyone else with those guys; without them, they should still be just a little better, at least. That said, it should definitely be a very interesting series.

You're kidding, aren't you? Missing five players will hurt anyone. They were missing six in the recentish Chappell-Hadlee series, and look what happened there.

Missing one or two and missing five are totally different scenarios.

If India can't win against a side containing James Hopes, they never will.

 

[Perm]

Gambhir has surely sealed the #3 spot for the first few ODIs after today's superb innings.

Agreed. I've criticised Gambhir in the past, but he's been superb in this tournament and deserves selection in the ODI team.

 

[mkamdar]

Composition of Indian ODI team Vs Australia

My pick would be:

Tendulkar
Ganguly
Dravid
Yuvraj
Karthik
Uthappa
Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan
RP Singh
Zaheer.

I would like to see Rohit Sharma come in to the playing 11 as well as he has shown very good ability in the 2 matches that we have seen him in the T20 WC. I do not think we need to play 2 spinners. We can pick Bhajji/Powar and use Yuvraj/Tendulkar/Ganguly for the 5th bowler's quota.

As far as 3 left arm Seamers - It would be advisable to rotate between the 4 - pick 3 of the 4 for every match.

As far as picking Karthik - I think in a 50 over match - his technique is better than Gambhir or Uthuppa. He can also crank up the hits when the situation dictates. We have enough firepower with Yuvi and Dhoni and Irfan is quite capable of playing a cameo.

 

[jeevan]

How Bizzare

After a long time India have won a world tournament in limited overs cricket. And then, barely a week later, need to drop four from a championship team!!

Almost everyone earned their keep in SA.

 

[SJS]

After a long time India have won a world tournament in limited overs cricket. And then, barely a week later, need to drop four from a championship team!!

Almost everyone earned their keep in SA.

NO.

Just because you are part of a winning team does not entitle you an automatic place in the next side.

Kirti Azad in particular and Balwinder Sandhu too in a way from the 1983 WC winning team of Kapil Dev are too similar players.

 

[honestbharani]

Personally, I think it's simple - you pick the best bowlers, regardless of what arm they bowl with. If 4 left-armers are your best bowlers, pick 'em all. If it's 4 right-armers, pick them all. If it's 2 each, same.

Makes no sense to use which arm someone bowls with as a denominator.

Now, right now it's perfectly justifiable to pick S ahead of Irfan purely on bowling, but because of Irfan's batting, he has a case. And obviously Zaheer and Rudra Pratap have to play.

what I meant was that he is roughly the same as one of the left armers and therefore, there is nothing in it if he is played just for variety, since his bowling skills and that of one of the left armers will be roughly the same.

 

[jeevan]

NO.

Just because you are part of a winning team does not entitle you an automatic place in the next side.

Kirti Azad in particular and Balwinder Sandhu too in a way from the 1983 WC winning team of Kapil Dev are too similar players.

We are talking wholesale changes to this team and not the fixing of one or two individuals.
Upto half of the players in this 11(or 12) could get the can.

For this team, if this weeks performance, and last weeks, does not offer you a chance for next weeks match (against opponents that you beat 2 days ago) then there is entitlement at work, but not for you.

 

[Perm]

We are talking wholesale changes to this team and not the fixing of one or two individuals.
Upto half of the players in this 11(or 12) could get the can.

For this team, if this weeks performance, and last weeks, does not offer you a chance for next weeks match (against opponents that you beat 2 days ago) then there is entitlement at work, but not for you.

I wouldn't suggest 'wholesale changes', as that indicates a changing of the guard almost. However, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have to come back into the ODI side, they are the two premier batsman in India at the moment. Sourav Ganguly has been in princely form since his return and constantly in the runs, even if he has been scoring a little slowly, but his performances merit selection, undoubtedly so. Zaheer Khan has a strong claim for a spot also, being India's senior and leading fast-bowler.

There will be changes, no doubt. I expect Rohit Sharma, Sehwag and Uthappa to drop out of the starting line-up, while Gambhir should grab the remaining spot, presumably at #3. Ramesh Powar will probably come into the side at the expense of Joginder Sharma, which would be a fair decision, while the other bowlers should all be selected on form. I think Harbhajan will come back, meaning India will probably play three fast bowlers and want Irfan Pathan to bat at #7. The other two bowlers, IMO, should be RP Singh and Zaheer Khan. Interesting attack, three left-armers and two off-spinners.

 

[Athlai]

Sreesanth should be close IMO.

 

[SJS]

We are talking wholesale changes to this team and not the fixing of one or two individuals.
Upto half of the players in this 11(or 12) could get the can.

For this team, if this weeks performance, and last weeks, does not offer you a chance for next weeks match (against opponents that you beat 2 days ago) then there is entitlement at work, but not for you.

When some top players drop out of a tournament (a new format to boot) it is normal that when they come back, someone will make way for them. This has happened on many many occasions. If you really want me to start listing I will but it wont lead anywhere.

It happens when players dont tour (many English sides to India in the fifties and sixties or so many sides to Bangladesh), when players revolt (Packer rebels and other West Indian revolts). So dont just argue for the sake of arguement.

You just cant keep out Sachin and Dravid and Ganguly out of the odi side because India won the T20 world cup just like Pakistran wont keep out Shoaib (when fit and out of 'ban') or Mohammad Yousuf.

So relax.

 

[Raghav]

Not sure how many of them from the present winning combination should be dropped to pave way for three big guns of Indian cricket.... poor situation for selectors

 

[SJS]

Not sure how many of them from the present winning combination should be dropped to pave way for three big guns of Indian cricket.... poor situation for selectors

Out of mourning already ?

 

[Raghav]

When some top players drop out of a tournament (a new format to boot) it is normal that when they come back, someone will make way for them. This has happened on many many occasions. If you really want me to start listing I will but it wont lead anywhere.

It happens when players dont tour (many English sides to India in the fifties and sixties or so many sides to Bangladesh), when players revolt (Packer rebels and other West Indian revolts). So dont just argue for the sake of arguement.

You just cant keep out Sachin and Dravid and Ganguly out of the odi side because India won the T20 world cup just like Pakistran wont keep out Shoaib (when fit and out of 'ban') or Mohammad Yousuf.

So relax.

Dont you put these three out if you find the present combination is performing better? And its just a 50-50 a side game.... I think the present side will perform better than with the side with three guns...( at the present form )

A man! Dont lose your winning combination... Its doing good for you...