India's bowlers for the West Indies and England tours

[vcs]

I hope we play two spinners in WI. I'd be looking to give Ashwin a go if he impresses in the WC. He is somewhat similar to Mendis who troubled WI's middle order recently.

 

[Cevno]

How has RP gone recently?

He bowled good last time he went to England and looked at least serviceable for a while. What happened?

Has fallen a bit off the radar in recent times.

Has not had a good season with UP as well and has been outperformed by Praveen Kumar for his state for a while now.

He had a good series in England but then like so many Indian bowlers struggled in india with no reverse and got dropped.

Unless selectors go for a real horses for courses policy he won't be picked almost certainly in the near future.

 

[Cevno]

Knowing how the Indian selectors operate, Deepak Chahar could be a outside bet for on of these tours too ,specially England.

 

[Manee]

Knowing how the Indian selectors operate, Deepak Chahar could be a outside bet for on of these tours too ,specially England.

Oh God, I can so see them doing that!

 

[morgieb]

Chahar's stats actually look quite impressive. Admittedly, he did bowl in Division 2, but he played a huge role in Rajasthan's dream run home.

 

[Prince EWS]

Chahar's stats actually look quite impressive. Admittedly, he did bowl in Division 2, but he played a huge role in Rajasthan's dream run home.

Meh, 37 wickets @ 22 isn't that impressive at all. Impressive average, sure. Good start, certainly. I wouldn't really call it an impressive overall record though, especially when he took over 20% of his career wickets in one innings.

 

[morgieb]

I'd pick Sree, Zaheer, Praveen, Panjak Singh, and some other random.

 

[Prince EWS]

I hope we play two spinners in WI. I'd be looking to give Ashwin a go if he impresses in the WC. He is somewhat similar to Mendis who troubled WI's middle order recently.

Not that I'm usually a fan of five bowlers at all, but I'd look at Harbhajan, Ashwin and three quicks in the West Indies, especially if they field an attack consistent of Roach and no-one else. The pitches have been ridiculously flat there of late so India should be able to comfortably score enough runs with five batsmen and Dhoni. Harbhajan's batting form has been out of this world over the last year, and Ashwin bats in the top seven domestically and averages 35 in First Class cricket. The biggest risk for India is that, in a short series, they won't be able to roll the West Indies on those decks - having three quicks and two spinners could really be the difference.

If I was going to just play four bowlers though I wouldn't look at Ashwin yet.

 

[Manee]

Ashwin had a top FC season this year, with the ball. Get him to West Indies. Two spinners and just two pace bowlers though. Ashwin is an able batsman with a good record. However, we don't know if he'll be easily bounced out by pace, or how well he can play pace, so he'll probably bat at nine below Harbhajan, for the time being. Three pace bowlers will not be a good strategy - we do not have three pace bowlers of quality and the third will likely be a dead weight whether it is Ishant, or Unadkat, or whoever the selectors go with. Heck, I don't back Sreesanth to perform on West Indian pitches.

 

[Teja.]

No way should Chahar be picked atm. That would be disaster. He's good enough to bowl extremely well against the best domestic sides in India on flatties(As evidenced by his 4-fer and complete negation of the pitch by gaining reverse y'day in the Ranji Final) but he bowls like 2 loose balls outside off per over which will be punished at the highest level. Extreme talent, no doubt though. Joy to watch.

 

[Prince EWS]

Ashwin had a top FC season this year, with the ball. Get him to West Indies. Two spinners and just two pace bowlers though. Ashwin is an able batsman with a good record. However, we don't know if he'll be easily bounced out by pace, or how well he can play pace, so he'll probably bat at nine below Harbhajan, for the time being. Three pace bowlers will not be a good strategy - we do not have three pace bowlers of quality and the third will likely be a dead weight whether it is Ishant, or Unadkat, or whoever the selectors go with. Heck, I don't back Sreesanth to perform on West Indian pitches.

I don't think Ashwin's done enough to displace Ojha if you're not going to play five bowlers. And I'm no Ojha fan.

 

[silentstriker]

I can't be the only one waiting for SS to weigh in on this one.

Nope...

over to you SS...

There is really nothing to weigh in on. Throw darts to decide which player you want to pick and drop next - will certainly be more useful than the current selection strategy of picking Test players off IPL performances and U-19 World Cups.

 

[Howe_zat]

Ashwin had a top FC season this year, with the ball. Get him to West Indies. Two spinners and just two pace bowlers though. Ashwin is an able batsman with a good record. However, we don't know if he'll be easily bounced out by pace, or how well he can play pace, so he'll probably bat at nine below Harbhajan, for the time being. Three pace bowlers will not be a good strategy - we do not have three pace bowlers of quality and the third will likely be a dead weight whether it is Ishant, or Unadkat, or whoever the selectors go with. Heck, I don't back Sreesanth to perform on West Indian pitches.

I'd agree with this, the West Indian pitches have been taking a fair bit of turn lately and Ashwin has done enough to get a go.

Sree seems to be the incumbent right now and has probably moved ahead of Ishant - partly through a few very good spells, partly through Ishant's increasing awfulness - so I'd give him the benefit of the doubt to open in the WI.

 

[Teja.]

I really hope they don't pick and kill off Chahar now. Will be tragic.

 

[silentstriker]

The problem with going with two seamers is that you know at least one bowler not named Zaheer will throwdown **** spells this match and you can't ever predict which one. While it's probable that they all will bowl crap - it's a certainty that at least one definitely will. So if you're going to go with two spinners, I think you still need three seamers - with one seamer who can bat a bit replacing India's ever-revolving door in the middle order. At least that spot will be somewhat-useful.

 

[Howe_zat]

The problem with going with two seamers is that you know at least one bowler not named Zaheer will throwdown **** spells this match and you can't ever predict which one. While it's probable that they all will bowl crap - it's a certainty that at least one definitely will. So if you're going to go with two spinners, I think you still need three seamers - with one seamer who can bat a bit replacing India's ever-revolving door in the middle order. At least that spot will be somewhat-useful.

Who, though? First name to come to mind was Irfan, but, yeah...

 

[Prince EWS]

The problem with going with two seamers is that you know at least one bowler not named Zaheer will throwdown **** spells this match and you can't ever predict which one. While it's probable that they all will bowl crap - it's a certainty that at least one definitely will. So if you're going to go with two spinners, I think you still need three seamers - with one seamer who can bat a bit replacing India's ever-revolving door in the middle order. At least that spot will be somewhat-useful.

I think Dhoni, Ashwin and Harbhajan is a good enough 6-8 when you consider the dead pitches and the likely West Indian attack; I don't think you really need to find a seamer who can bat a bit.

The danger for India isn't going to be losing; it's going to be finishing 0-0. As you said, the problem with India's non-Zaheer seamers (particularly Sree) isn't so much that they can't bowl well at all, but that they're ridiculously inconsistent. If you've got five bowlers can cover for the fact that at least one of them will invariably send down rubbish. It's not a tactic I particularly like under normal circumstances but if you're ever going to play five bowlers it should be this series.

 

[Prad100w]

I think Dhoni, Ashwin and Harbhajan is a good enough 6-8 when you consider the dead pitches and the likely West Indian attack; I don't think you really need to find a seamer who can bat a bit.

The danger for India isn't going to be losing; it's going to be finishing 0-0. As you said, the problem with India's non-Zaheer seamers (particularly Sree) isn't so much that they can't bowl well at all, but that they're ridiculously inconsistent. If you've got five bowlers can cover for the fact that at least one of them will invariably send down rubbish. It's not a tactic I particularly like under normal circumstances but if you're ever going to play five bowlers it should be this series.

I kinda agree with this. WI'an bowlers might not be a huge threat specially if the wickets are gonna be flat/slow. In that case we need five bowlers to take 20 wickets. Rather than going with 2 pace men we can go with 3 pacers and 2 spinners to make sure if one bowls **** others can back it up. Scenario changes if the wickets have a bit of bounce. Since India does not have a great history with their batting under such conditions they would always go with an extra batsman.

 

[Cevno]

I don't think Ashwin's done enough to displace Ojha if you're not going to play five bowlers. And I'm no Ojha fan.

I completely agree.

Playing Ashwin instead of Ojha would also mean a reduction in variety of the attack too.

If Ojha has to be dropped ,i think on flat wickets i would rather pick Mishra. As leggies are generally better spinners of the ball on such wickets.

And it will mantain variety too.


I have said it before too,but Ashwin is most effective when someon is attacking him and he uses the carrom ball .In test cricket it will probably become his obvious weapon.

 

[Arjun]

Seam: Zaheer, Vinay, Pankaj, Ishant, Laxmiratan Shukla
Spin: Harbhajan, Ashwin, Mishra, Yusuf (ODIs)