India's Test Opener

[adharcric]

In my opinion, Jaffer must be dropped immediately. In your opinion, who should partner Sehwag at the top?

 

[ret]

Gambhir .... he will be looking forward to leverage his form in the CB series .... and a left-right combination helps

 

[chaminda_00]

Aakash Chopra, wont happen though.

 

[DaRick]

Hmm, let's see:

Wasim Jaffer - A 'weak attack' and/or 'flat track' bully. Has a fatal technical flaw against outswingers on a good length or fuller outside the offstump (see Brett Lee). Lose him.

Gautam Gambhir - Sadly, a minnow-basher. He did well at #3 in Australia...but that was in the ODI format. I wouldn't recommend his return just yet.

Aakash Chopra - Infinitely better at seeing off the new ball than Wasim Jaffer and did act as a good foil to Sehwag - until October 2004, anyway.

Dinesh Karthik - Hmm...his average has been propped up by runs against Bangladesh. That being said, though, his average against Australia should be ignored (Mumbai 2004) and he has managed runs against a strong bowling line-up in South Africa and an average-to-above average bowling line-up in England. He didn't cash in against Pakistan, but I'm still tempted to pick him.

Rahul Dravid - No. He has a near-perfect technique, but you'd be compromising a strength to cover a weakness.

Irfan Pathan - Certainly not.

I'd go for either Karthik or Chopra, myself. If they're looking for someone to play a Jaffer-like role, then Chopra. If not, then I think Karthik should get a run. Due to the difference in circumstances, I'm not gonna vote on this one.

 

[irfan]

Chopra. Has by far, the best technique of the lot and by all reports is scoring a lot faster than he did when he was partnering Sehwag. Actually has good footwork unlike the others, a gun at short leg as well.

 

[adharcric]

Hmm, let's see:

Wasim Jaffer - A 'weak attack' and/or 'flat track' bully. Has a fatal technical flaw against outswingers on a good length or fuller outside the offstump (see Brett Lee). Lose him.

Gautam Gambhir - Sadly, a minnow-basher. He did well at #3 in Australia...but that was in the ODI format. I wouldn't recommend his return just yet.

Aakash Chopra - Infinitely better at seeing off the new ball than Wasim Jaffer and did act as a good foil to Sehwag - until October 2004, anyway.

Dinesh Karthik - Hmm...his average has been propped up by runs against Bangladesh. That being said, though, his average against Australia should be ignored (Mumbai 2004) and he has managed runs against a strong bowling line-up in South Africa and an average-to-above average bowling line-up in England. He didn't cash in against Pakistan, but I'm still tempted to pick him.

Rahul Dravid - No. He has a near-perfect technique, but you'd be compromising a strength to cover a weakness.

Irfan Pathan - Certainly not.

I'd go for either Karthik or Chopra, myself. If they're looking for someone to play a Jaffer-like role, then Chopra. If not, then I think Karthik should get a run. Due to the difference in circumstances, I'm not gonna vote on this one.

Summed it up quite well. Karthik deserves another run but I'm afraid he'll never be seen as a permanent option because he's a manufactured opener who doesn't cash in on the flat tracks. Chopra has a great technique, has learned how to make big scores at a good rate and is awesome in the field. He's my man.

 

[Richard]

Hmm, let's see:

Wasim Jaffer - A 'weak attack' and/or 'flat track' bully. Has a fatal technical flaw against outswingers on a good length or fuller outside the offstump (see Brett Lee). Lose him.

Gautam Gambhir - Sadly, a minnow-basher. He did well at #3 in Australia...but that was in the ODI format. I wouldn't recommend his return just yet.

Aakash Chopra - Infinitely better at seeing off the new ball than Wasim Jaffer and did act as a good foil to Sehwag - until October 2004, anyway.

Dinesh Karthik - Hmm...his average has been propped up by runs against Bangladesh. That being said, though, his average against Australia should be ignored (Mumbai 2004) and he has managed runs against a strong bowling line-up in South Africa and an average-to-above average bowling line-up in England. He didn't cash in against Pakistan, but I'm still tempted to pick him.

Rahul Dravid - No. He has a near-perfect technique, but you'd be compromising a strength to cover a weakness.

Irfan Pathan - Certainly not.

I'd go for either Karthik or Chopra, myself. If they're looking for someone to play a Jaffer-like role, then Chopra. If not, then I think Karthik should get a run. Due to the difference in circumstances, I'm not gonna vote on this one.

Pretty much sums-up my feelings. Jaffer and Gambhir all have some stuff to recommend them, but Chopra seems the best batsman. So far he hasn't really demonstrated this at Test level and I remain less than certain he would if given another chance. But he probably deserves one more than the rest.

Personally though I'd give Jaffer the last Test, see if he does a Strauss. Never a massive fan of making what's likely to be a career-ending drop mid-series.

 

[adharcric]

Looks like he might just get that opportunity at Kanpur.

 

[Richard]

Is Kanpur likely to be able to produce a result pitch? I hope so for India's sake, and ideally from their POV, a turner rather than a seamer.

 

[Jono]

Pretty much sums-up my feelings. Jaffer and Gambhir all have some stuff to recommend them, but Chopra seems the best batsman. So far he hasn't really demonstrated this at Test level and I remain less than certain he would if given another chance. But he probably deserves one more than the rest.

Personally though I'd give Jaffer the last Test, see if he does a Strauss. Never a massive fan of making what's likely to be a career-ending drop mid-series.

Mid-series? You choose teams for the result of the series, in an attempt to win. Jaffer's career comes second.

 

[Richard]

And picking someone for an odd Test at the end of a series (as would happen should Chopra be parachuted into the fray now) isn't often terribly constructive either.

Chopra may be a better batsman, but Jaffer has been playing the SAfrican bowlers and will have become to an extent accustomed to them, while possibly lacking the capability to deal with them.

If it was obvious, I'd say "drop him now". And clearly, being 0-1 down at home is a situation which calls more than most for desperate measures. But I'm not 100% convinced Chopra would neccessarily have a better chance of doing the job this upcoming game than Jaffer.

 

[Jono]

And picking someone for an odd Test at the end of a series (as would happen should Chopra be parachuted into the fray now) isn't often terribly constructive either.

Chopra may be a better batsman, but Jaffer has been playing the SAfrican bowlers and will have become to an extent accustomed to them, while possibly lacking the capability to deal with them.

If it was obvious, I'd say "drop him now". And clearly, being 0-1 down at home is a situation which calls more than most for desperate measures. But I'm not 100% convinced Chopra would neccessarily have a better chance of doing the job this upcoming game than Jaffer.

Then say that then Richard.

Your point in this post is COMPLETELY different to your original one, which pretty much said "don't make a career ending drop mid series", which I completely disagree with.

 

[Richard]

I firmly believe what I said in the first post too - but obviously there are circumstances under which this would change.

I don't think there are enough of these circumstances in this case, TBH. If there were, I'd say Jaffer should be dropped now.

 

[masterblaster]

Not convinced with Karthik or Jaffer. I'm a big Gambhir supporter on these boards, so I'm voting for him, but if Chopra gets the next spot I hope he does all he can to cement his place. Either way, both Gambhir and Chopra play very often with Virender Sehwag as they are both from Delhi so they both have an excellent understanding and relationship between them.

 

[Arjun]

It's one thing that makes an honest Indian fan shout at the Chairman of Selectors and the management-

STOP THIS REVOLVING DOOR, COLONEL, BEFORE THE BUILDING FALLS APART!!!

No doubt a loose one, but it has to stop. This meaningless policy will do only harm, no good, and there will be no stability at the top of the order. There may be a whole lot of better options (Gambhir, in particular, is certainly a lot better) but since you picked Jaffer, and he succeeded, and he's a genuine opener, you're stuck with him. He should never have got a game again for India in the England series, but they picked him, he came good, he kept that average high, so they have to stick with him.

 

[Arjun]

My take-

Jaffer- He's got a decent run, and some big scores, which we haven't seen in other openers. He's just about faced some hostile pace bowling on a few green-tops or cement-hard wickets and has been found out, but the more he plays on such pitches (thanks to the curators), the clearer the picture. One more failure and the selectors will realise their mistake.

Gambhir- He's now getting scores against non-minnows as well, and his best innings has been in a one-dayer in Australia. Yes, it's three, but that shaky top order has virtually restored him to opening the innings. The best option, and shouldn't have been dropped at all. He'll have a tough time getting back, when the selectors are stuck with Jaffer.

Chopra- Proven to be a better batsman than both, and has found form in domestic one-dayers, often low-scoring. He's set back because he's out of contention for ODI's, making him a lot less active.

Wicketkeepers- No way.

Irfan- Probably, if they want some quick runs at the top of the order, Sanath-style.

 

[Richard]

Not convinced with Karthik or Jaffer. I'm a big Gambhir supporter on these boards, so I'm voting for him, but if Chopra gets the next spot I hope he does all he can to cement his place. Either way, both Gambhir and Chopra play very often with Virender Sehwag as they are both from Delhi so they both have an excellent understanding and relationship between them.

The crazy thing that causes me to every time I think of it is that Chopra and Gambhir open for Delhi, while Sehwag bats down the order. Very rare is the successful manufactured Test opener who remains a down-the-order batsman for his domestic team, though Michael Vaughan did it very briefly.

 

[Manee]

I believe that Gambhir has earned his chance through strong ODI and FC performances and we need not overcomplicate things more than that before testing him out in the international arena. I believe the Aakash Chopra should stay in the Indian squad as a reserve opener though - leaving Wasim Jaffer to fade out of the international scene. Interestingly though, Wasim Jaffer could try to push for an ODI spot, his List A showings have not been too shabby over the past few years - he topped the Deodhar run scorers list, last season IIRC.

 

[adharcric]

Please, no! Jaffer is a liability in the field by modern standards and if we dropped Dravid and Ganguly for those reasons, Jaffer? No way. Tell you what, Chopra's chances of a one-day call-up should be better than Jaffer's. Note that Chopra pretty much has no shot in the shorter version at this stage.

 

[Arjun]

The crazy thing that causes me to every time I think of it is that Chopra and Gambhir open for Delhi, while Sehwag bats down the order. Very rare is the successful manufactured Test opener who remains a down-the-order batsman for his domestic team, though Michael Vaughan did it very briefly.

Delhi's batting positions should be taken with a pinch of salt. Sehwag used to bat down the order, then established himself as an opener in ODI's and then Tests. Youngster Dhawan opened for India U-19 and now bats at four. Chopra has batted occasionally at four, so they keep rotating their openers with four options, often three, with Sehwag out on national duty.