• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Indian Squad for the Sri Lanka Tri-Series

amar123

Cricket Spectator
India one-day squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

Couple of Questions:
Why was Ojha Dropped? He didn't do anything wrong as a far as I am concern and seems promising

I really hope they give Nehra some matches. Knowning Dhoni, he should probably make him sit the whole series. Any news on Balaji where is he?

Rohit Sharma was also dropped. I felt he should have been given one more series before deciding what to do with him.

Looking at this, i think Kohli should have been selected over Abhishek (no offense to abhishek but i just think Kohli deserves it more) Also, Tyagi should have replaced praveen. This is not austrilia, praveen going to get murdered on Sri Lanka pitches and also if I sharma flops this series he should be droped. Sharma only has one good tour since his debut and thats the australia tour.

Gives all of this:
My 11 would be
1. Gambhir
2. Tendulkar
3. Dravid
4. Raina
5. Yuvraj
6. Dhoni
7. Yusif
8. Harbajan
9. RP
10. Nehra
11. I Sharma

FYI: Indian spinners are no match for Sri Lankan Spinners. Dhoni will have to use his part-timers effectively.

If Raina gets out to a bouncer they should send him back. Good to see Dravid play. I wonder if Barinath will ever get a chance to play for India.
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
My XI from that squad:

Gautham Gambhir
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
MS Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh
Dinesh Karthik
Yusuf Pathan
Harbhajan Singh
Amit Mishra
RP Singh
Ishant Sharma
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
This squad is possibly the best at hand, but questions may be raised. One good thing is the introduction of Amit Mishra. He's been rewarded for a stupendous performance for India Emerging in Australia, and can be useful in more than one avenue- he's one of those bowling prospects who can score a few runs lower down. He's also effective on the field. In his chosen skill, he's an attacking bowler, who will try to get wickets, rather than keep an economy under five.

The selection of Rahul Dravid, no doubt, has caught the most attention. He is tipped to have returned to the fold for his experience, as well as his expertise in handling the short delivery. That's believed to be a problem for the younger probables for India. This isn't too big an issue; after all, it's limited-overs cricket. There's a limit to the amount of short deliveries that are bowled. Dravid, however, has other problems- his fielding is sluggish outside of catching positions, and Dhoni doesn't maintain catching positions for too long. He's also slow between wickets. This will be exploited by other teams, as the English and more so the Aussies did in 2007, with the Indians losing both series, and he lost his place then. There's not much you can expect from him now; he can't work a miracle.

Irfan Pathan has been left out, with poor form as a reason, but the replacement is extremely baffling. They've chosen Abhishek Nayar, an all-rounder from Mumbai, primarily a middle-order batsman. We know how much he was used- he didn't get a single over, while the part-timers bowled utter rubbish instead. He didn't even get to bat. There may be a reason for that- the batsmen ahead of him are a lot better, and he lacks the striking power. His bowling is under 130k, and often falls under 120k, and will get smashed on pitches that offer a little bounce. There seems to be no chance of him getting ten overs, match after match. It's a weak selection.

Taking the best options, this should be the XI for the Champions Trophy, with the roles cut out-
  • Tendulkar
  • Gambhir
  • Dravid
  • Yuvraj
  • Dhoni (C, WK)
  • Raina
  • Yusuf (OB)
  • Harbhajan (OB)
  • Praveen (RMF)
  • Zaheer (LFM)
  • Ishant (RFM)
This team was picked, keeping in mind fielding, running between the wickets, lower-order runs, and in some cases, performance aggregates. In South Africa, two proper spinners in the XI should be an option on those flat wickets and small grounds. Mishra may make it ahead of Yusuf, as he will provide an advantage over his part-time teammates, or even the opposition batting.

For the Sri Lanka tournament, they should give one of the reserves a full role. They can have Abhishek Nayar doing what Irfan Pathan did until now. They can have Bhajji and Mishra operating in tandem, though this experiment needs to run in tandem with the previous one. They can have a fourth seamer running through the middle-overs. They can allow RP Singh to get back to form, though Ishant and Zaheer need it a lot more. Nehra may be treated as a first XI player, based on his performance in the West Indies.
 

Polo23

International Debutant
From a NZ point of view i'm stoked to see Yusuf Pathan, Nehra and RP Singh there as I don't rate them.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
From a NZ point of view i'm stoked to see Yusuf Pathan, Nehra and RP Singh there as I don't rate them.
Whom would you have in place of them? While RP Singh was picked because he's a decent fielder, or he's just young, or he's Dhoni's boy, or just to make up the numbers, the other two are not too bad given the current state of affairs.

The presence of journeymen like RP Singh and Nayar is questionable, though.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
This squad is not just for the Sri Lanka series but also for the Champions Trophy.


Given that Zaheer and Sehwag are out injured, this is probably the best side that could have been chosen. Ojha has been dropped because Mishra is the more attacking option and either way, both of them would be warming the benches in all probability...


I would pick this as my first choice XI:


Sachin
Gambhir
Dravid
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Raina/Karthik (on form)
Nayyar/Pathan (on form again, would prefer Nayyar)
Harbhajan
Praveen
RP Singh/Ishant
Nehra


Mishy almost certain to warm the benches though.. :(
 

Inferiority

Banned
Can't wait for this series, will provide some excitement to the crowd. I love the SL vs India rivalry, it will be more fierce.
 

Polo23

International Debutant
Whom would you have in place of them? While RP Singh was picked because he's a decent fielder, or he's just young, or he's Dhoni's boy, or just to make up the numbers, the other two are not too bad given the current state of affairs.

The presence of journeymen like RP Singh and Nayar is questionable, though.
I don't know enough about Indian domestic cricket to answer that question.

I've never rated Nehra, perhaps he has improved drastically over the past year or two, i'm not sure..from what I saw in the IPL (shudder) he has lost a lot of his pace. Yusuf seems to me to be a flat track spin bully. And RP after a good start to his international career went majorly off the rails (a bit like Tim Southee actually).

Anyway, just my opinion, take it for what its worth.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
The thing is, in South African conditions both RPS and Nehra can be and have been a handful... And I think the selectors are looking at the CT as the bigger fish compared to the 3 match tri series in Sri Lanka which is going to be a bit of a lottery anyways because it is one round and then finals...
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
dunno.. I personally feel he is the best middle order option for India given the probable conditions we will get in South Africa.. And maybe, this might work out great and he would perhaps quit ODIs after helping India do well in the CT. :)


I am quietly optimistic of our chances as I think we have a good attack for the conditions and with Sachin and Dravid in our top 5 (I would personally play DK at 6 or 7 ahead of Raina, given that he is better technically) I expect us to be able to make 250+ scores... So I think we have a very good chance in the CT.
 

Cruxdude

International Debutant
Fancying our chances isn't something that comes easily to us Indian fans. Just when I thought we had a great attack, Ishant had to go and lose his form and Zaheer has to get injured.

Dravid being selected is a good thing. He was unfairly dropped in my opinion and deserves to play. This will also be a kick up the butt of Rohit Sharma. It is up to him to decide whether he wants to be a guy who does well only in the IPL or becomes a future test cricketer.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Hang on, we don't expect South Africa to provide those pitches, match after match. In the recent past, we've seen a whole lot of flat decks there, with massive 300+ totals scored often. Even the so-called Greatest ODI of All Time (for the obvious reason) was played at a South African ground. Flat pitches, coupled with short (and withdrawn) boundaries and possible fast outfields, will make this a more batsman-friendly event.

In this case, the bowlers are at a great risk. They're helpless on a flat deck, and in such a case, the captain may be tempted to play five bowlers. Part-timers will get massacred here, so we should have the regulars bowling all of the 50 overs- Yusuf and Nayar included. Playing other part-timers will be detrimental, as it will affect their batting- and the team needs all their top six to score big. An ideal attack will have Ishant, RP/Nehra, Praveen, Harbhajan and Yusuf/Mishra, on a flat pitch at Wanderers, then Ishant, RP/Nehra/Praveen, Nayar, Harbhajan and Yusuf on the possible green-top. Yusuf will be MVP for the team here, though they will also benefit if they use Nayar smartly.

They may also have to field a slightly 'thinner' XI, just to boost their fielding. We've seen the Indian team, with a weak fielding unit, bow out early from the World Cup, let slip the next ODI series to a young and inexperienced England team, then lose the next one at home to the Aussies- despite having a more experienced team than the opposition. Only one of Dravid and Nehra (it's an easy guess which one) may play.
 

Top