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India A tour of England

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Here's the tour page on Cricinfo.

The selectors have picked what's essentially a development team, as many of these players are very young and have barely played a season or two. Pujara leading this team is more or less the obvious choice among these options, but an experienced reserve player would have helped a lot, at least in knowledge.

This will be a good learning experience, at best, for this set, but you wouldn't expect them to win handsomely. Many of the players are at least three or more years away from a shot at national selection, and a good tour will help them get ahead. The batting, though inexperienced, looks good, with the presence of Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Pandey, Dhawan, Pujara and Kedar Jadhav. Wicketkeeper Saha is no mug with the bat eihter, and can hold his own with this bunch. None of the above can double as stock bowlers over a long stretch.

On the bowling front, a lot will depend on Tyagi and Mithun in FC, as they're the fastest of this bunch. The other three are a little over medium pace, and won't run thtough a batting side. Even then, none appear to be cut out for limited-overs cricket. Spin options are interesting selections- they've chosen Iqbal Abdulla and Bipul Sharma, both left-arm spinners, not quite ideal for the first-class game, but handy batsmen and good for limited-overs cricket. In addition, Jaskaran Singh can score a few quickly in the final overs- I wonder how he'll figure in the playing XI. The one real misgiving is the lack of a strike seam bowler in this squad, who can get a few runs. He won't get the FC games, but may just make the team for limited-overs.

None of the other squads have been announced. They'll be facing their counterparts from West Indies and England in the tour, once each in three-dayers, then in the triangular. In the middle, there's a little tour of Scotland. The records and results here won't matter as much as what they've learnt, when they play beyond this event.
 

brockley

International Captain
Arjun when are they announcing the indian side for the emerging tournament in australia later in august.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
I guess they'll take their time until then.

This idea of sending A-teams to Test countries, as also inviting their A-teams over to India is a good thing, and should be used to help talented cricketers grow. Unfortunately, most of these teams are full of has-beens, freeloaders with help in high places and youngsters who are still a little far from a place here. It got worse with Ganguly making an India A side!

They've got it right with the batting, though we can imagine who's likely to make the top five or six in the FC and List-A games, though they could do better with the spin options. An absence that's long plagued the Indian team at any level has been that of an all-rounder, established even in one capaicty. They seem to have Abdulla, Bipul Sharma and Jaskaran Singh, and by a long shot, Mithun, who can swing it around a bit, but they're still a long way off as frontline bowlers or all-rounders. They've not tried hard enough with a top-six batsman who can keep an end steady, so that bloke Bhuvan Kumar from UP would be a better pick here.

Anyway, this should be used as a means to gain experience points and knowledge of playing in England, which will be useful in the long term. None of them should be in the frame for regular national selection yet, and an extended period of time here will do them a lot more good when they eventually make the grade.

On the other hand, the BCCI should organise more events for India's second XI, featuring players out of or near the national team. This will keep ready an immediate second wave of players, and also help them plug those gaps in the frontline team. They may not go on tours like India A, but may be sent by invitation to domestic events, or have home series involving touring A teams. It will be good to work their way back to form, and keep the frontline team players on their toes.

Ideally-
  • FC Top Six - vs Yorks: Mukund, Rahane, Dhawan, Pujara, MK Tiwary, Saha.
  • FC Top Six - vs WIA: Mukund, Rahane, Dhawan, Pujara, MK Tiwary, SS Tiwari
  • OD Top Six - Scotland: Mukund, Pandey, Saha, Pujara, Jadhav, SS Tiwari
  • OD Top Six - Tri-series: Mukund, Saha, Rahane, Pujara, SS Tiwari, Jadhav
  • FC Bowling - vs Yorks: Mithun, Tyagi, third seamer, Abdulla, Bipul
  • FC Bowling - vs WIA: Mithun, Tyagi, Kulkarni, spinner
  • OD Bowling - Scotland and Tri-series: Mithun, Tyagi, Jaskaran, Abdulla, Bipul
 
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Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
I just hope I can catch it on television in India, with Nimbus or STAR Cricket providing coverage. No real fun in end-of-day scoresheets.
 

shivfan

Banned
Arjun, do you want to change the title of your thread to 'India and WI A tours of England'? That way, we could have a discussion on this thread about both tours....

If not, we could start a new thread on that tour. It's just that given the limited interest both tours will get, it seemed to make more sense to have a combined thread on the two tours.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
The opening post is frozen, so I can't edit it anymore, so it's up to them now. I thought I'd also sneak in coverage of the Indian A team's tour of Scotland, though we can also add West Indies A on tour here. This event will cover India A's tour (FC) of England, West Indies A's tour (FC) of England, two ODs for India in Scotland and then the A-team triangular OD series.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
India A's first match in the tour, against Yorks, has yielded big scores for the top three. Rahane and Dhawan got tons, Dhawan making a big one, while Mukund missed one by nine. Everyone's scoring quickly, giving a hint of how flat the pitch may be. India A don't seem to have the bowlers to take 20 wickets in quick time, as rain has already delayed the start of the second day's play. There's no television or web coverage of the series, leaving us merely with session updates.
 

Sir Alex

Banned
Arjun do you think this effectively means Badri is no longer seriously on selector's radar? He missed out on the Ind in Zim tours, and now has missed out on this. What do you think about his future? Should he attempt a chance in county cricket?

BTW the Yorkshire looks like their second team or even third team with 3 or 4 FC debuts. I am happy to see Mukund making a few runs as I reckon him to be a potential future star for us.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
The A-team on tour should be treated as a development team, rather than a reserve team. This initiative should be used for young Indian players to make the most out of these tours, so that they learn a lot, to improve their game. Badri, on the other hand, has done enough for India A to warrant a place as an immediate reserve. He's one of those unfortunate casualties of warped selection, to get only three wafer-thin chances on Lankan turners against then-lethal Lankan spinners, while some others, such as Kohli, get dollops of chances for India. Missing out on the Zim tour was unfortunate. Yes, he should play county cricket, if any county is interested or the BCCI allow him to go.
 

Jungle Jumbo

International Vice-Captain
India A's first match in the tour, against Yorks, has yielded big scores for the top three. Rahane and Dhawan got tons, Dhawan making a big one, while Mukund missed one by nine. Everyone's scoring quickly, giving a hint of how flat the pitch may be. India A don't seem to have the bowlers to take 20 wickets in quick time, as rain has already delayed the start of the second day's play. There's no television or web coverage of the series, leaving us merely with session updates.
It's more or less a reserve side they're playing against, I wouldn't read into any scores.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Maybe if national selection is an objective. These players are very young, and raw, and what they learn on the tour is more important than any chances of making the national team. It's a kind of cricketing education for them, which will help them a few years later, improving them as players.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Even so, I'm unsure of the selection of Jaskaran Singh, before even his FC debut.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Dhawal Kulkarni now has four wickets, I expect this to be a fruitful tour for him.
 

stumpski

International Captain
'A' teams playing each other at Leicester today, with Jaidev Unadkat taking seven wickets on first-class debut. Yet another left-arm seamer, India do seem to produce a lot of them.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
'A' teams playing each other at Leicester today, with Jaidev Unadkat taking seven wickets on first-class debut. Yet another left-arm seamer, India do seem to produce a lot of them.
He is an interesting one. He was dropped during the U19 World Cup but returned in the latter games. He came on first change and impressed, not with figures, but with a bit of zip and bounce that he had. He bowled at around 135kph, which is quite good for U19 cricket, and hit the bat hard and was played like someone who was bowling quickly. He then played for KKR in the IPL and did okay, but looked average. Will be interesting to see how he is actually bowling (obvs not that badly) atm.
 
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Sir Alex

Banned
He is an interesting one. He was dropped during the U19 World Cup but returned in the latter games. He came on first change and impressed, not with figures, but with a bit of zip and bounce that he had. He bowled at around 135kph, which is quite good for U19 cricket, and hit the bat hard and was played like someone who was bowling quickly. He then played for KKR in the IPL and did okay, but looked average. Will be interesting to see how he is actually bowling (obvs not that badly) atm.
Rated highly by Akram
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
so was Irfan:p
He used to be very good though, It is usually assumed that a young bowler will improve with age, or at least, not lose every natural asset he once had. Alas, with India, such decline tends to be the common reality.
 

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