*Official* India in Sri Lanka 2010 - Tests

[Xuhaib]

maybe because they have already played billion of odi's this year.

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by Manee

Zaheer had a poor start to his career and picked it up since then. You know that, everyone knows that.

Since the beginning of 2007, the year in which Zaheer improved beyond recognition, he has 113 wickets at 29.43 with a 4.03 wpm.

Manee, that shows how poor Zaheer was before 2007. If he deserved persisting with before 2007, why not persist with Sreesanth who's already much better than Zaheer was at a similar stage in his career?

Besides, take out the 4 Bangladesh Tests, and there's little to choose between even Zaheer part II and Sreesanth.

Who's the competition for Sreesanth? Of those tested already, only Ishant comes close, and we have all seen how he's gone off the boil. Sreesanth deserves his spot in the team.

[Pratters]

Originally Posted by Manee

Zaheer had a poor start to his career and picked it up since then. You know that, everyone knows that.

Since the beginning of 2007, the year in which Zaheer improved beyond recognition, he has 113 wickets at 29.43 with a 4.03 wpm.

This.

Zaheer was absolutely crap for the better part of his career before he improved his fitness issues and the issue of putting on weight periodically. Zaheer didn't deserve the several chances he was given in his career part 1. Just because Zaheer improved, doesn't mean Sreesanth will. The inconsistency which plagues Sreesanth is unreal. He can go from a very good spell to an extremely bad one. The extremes of his performances means I would choose a lesser erratic bowler like Ishant Sharma atm despite being off the boil as GI Joe puts it. I do believe Sreesanth has truckloads of talent though and I hope he does justice to his talent when it's all said and done. I don't think Sreesanth will be dropped though.

[Teja.]

Originally Posted by Manee

Zaheer had a poor start to his career and picked it up since then. You know that, everyone knows that.

Since the beginning of 2007, the year in which Zaheer improved beyond recognition, he has 113 wickets at 29.43 with a 4.03 wpm.

Originally Posted by Pratters

This.

Zaheer was absolutely crap for the better part of his career before he improved his fitness issues and the issue of putting on weight periodically. Zaheer didn't deserve the several chances he was given in his career part 1. Just because Zaheer improved, doesn't mean Sreesanth will. The inconsistency which plagues Sreesanth is unreal. He can go from a very good spell to an extremely bad one. The extremes of his performances means I would choose a lesser erratic bowler like Ishant Sharma atm despite being off the boil as GI Joe puts it. I do believe Sreesanth has truckloads of talent though and I hope he does justice to his talent when it's all said and done. I don't think Sreesanth will be dropped though.

Removing minnows,

Zaheer II(From the beginning of 2007) - 3.75 wpm, 31.75 avg., SR-58.7

Sreesanth- 3.63 wpm, 31.25 avg., SR-55.9

Still, statistically pretty identical.

[Pratters]

That's the stats of Zaheer since his return in the team? Surprising but ok.

[Manee]

Originally Posted by Teja.

Removing minnows,

Zaheer II(From the beginning of 2007) - 3.75 wpm, 31.75 avg., SR-58.7

Sreesanth- 3.63 wpm, 31.25 avg., SR-55.9

Still, statistically pretty identical.

Who are these Test match minnows? A Test is a Test, imo. The fact that Sreesanth got carted by Bangladesh should not work in his favour.

[Manee]

Originally Posted by G.I.Joe

Manee, that shows how poor Zaheer was before 2007. If he deserved persisting with before 2007, why not persist with Sreesanth who's already much better than Zaheer was at a similar stage in his career?

Besides, take out the 4 Bangladesh Tests, and there's little to choose between even Zaheer part II and Sreesanth.

Who's the competition for Sreesanth? Of those tested already, only Ishant comes close, and we have all seen how he's gone off the boil. Sreesanth deserves his spot in the team.

The fact that Zaheer has played more often emphasises that his stats have not been boosted by one performance, as Sreesanth's have. Moreover, Zaheer was not worth persisting with, he actually was dropped, went to county cricket, improved and earned his place. As for the competition, I'd start with Kulkarni and Vinay Kumar, although I'm sure you'd dismiss both as trundlers, which is a conversation that has been repeated all too often.

[Teja.]

Originally Posted by Manee

Who are these Test match minnows? A Test is a Test, imo. The fact that Sreesanth got carted by Bangladesh should not work in his favour.

Sree has played only one test against Bangladesh and admittedly has not put in the the best of performances, Zaheer's stats are wildly exaggerated by the truckloads of wickets he takes against B'desh. Even if Sree's pathetic performance against B'desh is included and compared to Zaheer's performances elsewhere, there is not much of a statistical difference between the both of them. All that said, in present form, Zaheer is easily better, but Sree is a close second as far as Indian Pacers are concerned.

[Shri]

The one positive to take from Sreesanth's career so far is that he has not let injuries stand in the way of his bowling speed. He has consistently bowled in the 135-140 kph range. Something that Zaheer , Srinath etc were famous for. Swing can come and go with form if you keep working on it. Just needs to get more consistent with his performances to seal his spot as the country's second pacer.

[honestbharani]

Originally Posted by Manee

Zaheer had a poor start to his career and picked it up since then. You know that, everyone knows that.

Since the beginning of 2007, the year in which Zaheer improved beyond recognition, he has 113 wickets at 29.43 with a 4.03 wpm.

yep.. lets have a look at the stats since Sree's debut for the two for comparison.. or even better, lets take a look at the tests when both have played together.

[honestbharani]

Originally Posted by Teja.

Removing minnows,

Zaheer II(From the beginning of 2007) - 3.75 wpm, 31.75 avg., SR-58.7

Sreesanth- 3.63 wpm, 31.25 avg., SR-55.9

Still, statistically pretty identical.

wow.. honestly thought Zak was better than that.. Interesting stuff.. Does strengthen the case for Sreesanth.


Anyways, I do believe he should be in the side.. One thing about Sree is he does pick himself up for the big stage somewhat.. So I think even if he improves, his stats at FC level will still be a little dire.


At the same time, I do think Zak is EASILY better than him at the moment as a test bowler.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Manee

Two spinners is a must have for India in the subcontinent. I do not think Ishant or Sreesanth have earned their places. Would like to see India try out someone new for the second seamer spot, perhaps someone like Dhawal Kulkarni could be an option, but obviously the selectors are being more conservative than me with their selection of pace bowlers.

I get the feeling that India really don't have any better options. Ishant and Sreesanth are inconsistent but they're certainly capable of contributing in a significant way to a Test; call it accepting mediocrity if you like but sometimes you need to be a bit realistic about it. They're frustrating but are India really more likely to win with Kulkarni, Pankaj or Dinda playing? I really doubt it, although I'm a much bigger fan of Sreesanth than most (other than Sir Alex. )

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by honestbharani

I find it strange that Badri has been dropped after one bad test.. I seriously do not see how Raina can be good at test level with such a big weakness against the short ball.

I'd have picked Badri too but I think it's perhaps harsh to judge Raina too critically about his play of the short ball in T20 in ODIs, for a couple of reasons. The first of which is that he's been managing to score a lot of runs anyway - he looks awkward when trying to score off the back foot but, a few ridiculous-looking dismissals aside, he's still been getting the runs on the board. Secondly, it's entirely possible that he may be a lot more comfortable getting out of the way of the short ball in First Class batting mode when he's not trying to score off every delivery. If he can just sway out of the way and wait for balls he likes in his areas he will be fine; I think a lot of his troubles in ODIs and T20s with the short stuff has been the need to score off it. They can't just bowl short at him all day so he could well be fine if he's patient.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Migara

SL should prepare three green tracks and three really quick bowlers and hope for the best. On usual SL slow turners, Indian batsmen will eat us alive

Interesting take. I get the feeling that Sri Lanka's batsmen would be a lot more uncomfortable on a seamer than India's, Yuvraj aside, and I'd rate Murali+Randiv/Mendis/Herath at least on par with Harbhajan+Ohja/Mishra, even taking into account Murali's apparent decline.

I think the best option is to prepare genuine turners if possible - not roads, but pitches that turn really early.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Manee

The fact that Zaheer has played more often emphasises that his stats have not been boosted by one performance, as Sreesanth's have.

This is an argument I always find a little funny. If it does show that, it also shows that Zaheer has match-winning performances in him a little less often. If anything it demonstrates that Sreesanth's probably a good partner for someone like Zaheer.