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India's #6 batting spot- a revolving door that shouldn't exist?

Jarquis

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Nayar hardly bowls anymore AFAIK.
Rajat Bhatia probably the best shout but he's getting on a bit.
 

Contra

Cricketer Of The Year
I wouldn't mind Jadeja on Indian pitches to be perfectly honest. He is more fit for test cricket than ODI's and T20's and can be used as the second spinner (or even third) in home games.

But yeah it is pathetic that India don't have any medium pace all rounders, and I can't understand why, I mean India have been looking for an all-rounder for the longest time, surely someone out there would see that as an opportunity to get into the India team?
 

Cevno

Hall of Fame Member
If we want a medium pace all rounder, Pathan is clearly the best bet around at the moment. And he isn't a bad one either though he's more of a bowling all rounder than a batting one.
 
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Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Plenty of votes in for Irfan Pathan. Sadly, he's missed all the FC matches since the first with injury. Decent batting technique for number six, but we'd want him bowling at least eighteen overs an innings, not three or four. There surely are other alternatives- you have Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rishi Dhawan, and on current season form Sanjay Bangar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. All four of them are doing well with bat and ball- Riddler the most emphatic, but in the weakest rung, while Banger and Lucky are in the highest, with least wickets.

We are, however, forgetting Ashwin. He's good enough to bat higher up, and above Dhoni, and even in place of that unfortunate number six batsman. He also sends down over forty overs an innings. Sure, he's not good enough to play as a specialist spinner, but for this role, he's just right. Definitely a much better pick over Irfan at present.

There's a wicketkeeping option in Uday Kaul, who has been doing well over five FC seasons, average over 50, eleven tons, and is winning games for Punjab. Surely India's Matt Prior, a specialist Test wicketkeeper-batsman?
Andruid said:
I think the 5th bowler logic is more around keeping the other 4 fresh enough to be aggressive on a flat wicket than win the game themselves. Also, does he have to be a pace bowler. Maybe they ought to bowl Yuvraj more or try a Jadeja or a Chawla instead?
Exactly. Jadeja and Chawla, though, are poor choices. Yuvraj, maybe, but ten overs in three innings is rather disappointing. Maybe time to look beyond him, a bit too soon, but ten overs in a series against 45 by Ashwin or Ojha in an innings suggests he's not an option, at least not for Dhoni.
 
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Howe_zat

Audio File
India definately won't get much use out of a 5th bowler on Asian pitches, when they just have their two best spinners wheeling away all day anyway.

It's a fairer option for overseas, but in that situation they don't want to be weakening the batting, so they'd have to be a batsman primarily who can play a good hand at #6.
 

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
Virender Sehwag IMO..This squad will do well in the SC-

Murali Vijay
Ajinkya Rahane
Cheteshwar Pujara
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli*
Virender Sehwag
Ravichandran Ashwin
Wriddhiman Saha+
Umesh Yadav
Pragyan Ojha
Zaheer Khan
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
India definately won't get much use out of a 5th bowler on Asian pitches, when they just have their two best spinners wheeling away all day anyway.

It's a fairer option for overseas, but in that situation they don't want to be weakening the batting, so they'd have to be a batsman primarily who can play a good hand at #6.
It's about making the most of your playing XI. On flat decks, four bowlers will get overbowled, and plenty of overs may be rolled down that don't look like picking a wicket at all, and there's nothing a batsman at six can do to offset that. A bowling option at six who's also a capable batsman can take that load off the four bowlers and keep them fresh.

The excessive workload on Ashwin and Ojha may seriously dent their productivity in the long run, and could even cost them their places in the national side like it did Mishra and possibly Ishant. It should be cut short sooner than later. A fifth bowler is the only alternative to having pitches that make this four-man bowling attack effective.

Ashwin is not a poor batsman, nor is Irfan or any other option in the fray. The number six position has not been productive for India, unless VVS Laxman plays. While some other teams can do without the fifth bowler, India needs that option.

We're not merely looking at a fifth bowler, but also a batsman who can fill in the role of a fifth bowler, with twenty overs an innings, every innings. That will take care of the batting as well. Since India's batting is so much stronger than bowling, a frontline bowler who can bat would be preferred.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
Obvuiously I agree it's about getting as much as you can out of the playing XI, but for me, that's about making the most out of the players you have, not picking questionable players to suit a pre-made theory.
 

cnerd123

likes this
I really think Jadeja is a fair shot for number 6.

After all, that is more or less the role he plays in the Ranji trophy. Second spinner and middle order batsman. His bowling isn't good enough to put him above Ojha and Ashwin as a spinner, but he's definitely above the Samit Patel-Yuvraj-KP-Sehwag variety. Could easily be used for 10-15 overs a day to give the main bowlers a break.

And then his batting style is far more suited to First Class cricket than One Day. He does have a 300 at Ranji level behind him, and Warne trusted his skills enough to send him up the order for the Rajasthan Royals. He bats at 4 in Ranji. He's much better off playing at his pace and having time in the middle, than being used as a lower order hitter.

I can see Jadeja being useful both in India and overseas. If we're playing 3 seamers and 1 spinner, someone like Jadeja can come on to give the quicks a break and allow them to operate in shorter spells. And if we're playing on tracks like Mumbai, he allows us to still have 3 spinners and not sacrifice one of the pace bowling options.

Plus he's a lively fielder.

I prefer him over Irfan. Irfan isn't a good enough batsman to be batting at 6 in Test Cricket. He's talented, yes, but let him harness that talent and start scoring centuries at a regular basis in the Ranji trophy before we consider him worthy of batting in India's top 7.
Irfan's bowling could be a decent fit though. He swings the new ball, and then can take up a containing medium-pacer role pretty well with his cutters. Add to that his ability to reverse swing, and he's a pretty versatile fifth bowler to have in all conditions. Plus a lefty, creates more rough for Ashwin to exploit. Also allows for Ojha/Ashwin to play in all conditions.
But he's not a number 6 batsman. None of MSD, Irfan or Ashwin are good enough batsmen for that slot, and it feels risky to clump them together at 6/7/8 and expect them to do a good enough combined job to mask the weaknesses. Number 6 is a tricky spot. It's where you put the batsman who rebuilds after a collapse. I trust Jadeja to be more adapt at that role than any of those 3.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Just ****ing play Rohit and Rahane. Sachin will retire soon enough and Yuvraj should be sent the door.

Then stick with these guys for a fair amount of time. Pujara, Kohli, Rohit and Rahane. Give them a go to build something, along with Saha. Dhoni can stick to winning India ODIs off the last over and winning matches for the Chennai Superkings in the IPL.

Sehwag and Gambhir, for all their flaws, can be retained to keep experience in the team.
 

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
Dhoni can stick to winning India ODIs off the last over and winning matches for the Chennai Superkings in the IPL.
AWTA...plus World Cups. He clearly doesn't take test matches seriously enough, doesn't add much value as test match captain, isn't probably India's best wicketkeeper-batsman in the longer version now and will definitely not be in a few years time..

Sehwag and Gambhir, for all their flaws, can be retained to keep experience in the team.
Sehwag definitely... But we can utilise him better as a no. 6, especially outside the SC..

Gambhir is a borderline case now. I shall personally prefer Murali Vijay over him because Vijay has the better technique for an opener IMO.
 

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