Indian test squad for Pakistan

[Salamuddin]

If the tour does go ahead, this is the squad that IMO should be picked:

Chopra
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly
SS Das (a much better choice for the reserve opener than Ramesh)
Patel
Dasgupta
Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Amit Bhandari
Agarkar
Sarandeep Singh/Ramesh Powar (tough call - I think India missed an offie in Australia in Harbhajan's absence- probably the former given he has test experience)
Amit Mishra
Irfan Pathan

Harbhajan isn't going to be fit in time. I dunno about Aavishkar Salvi -- even if he has recovered, it will be risky to pick him given that he hasn't played any Ranji matches since injuring his shoulder.

I left Nehra out -- I don't think he has fully recovered from that ankle injury sustained during the WC and his bowling on the Australia tour was pretty unimpressive anyhow.

 

[Pratters]

James, Thank God you are not an Indian selector!

Its a bit early to pick the team and so I will wait to give in my final squad. But just to comment on your squad, what has S.Ramesh done to be dropped from the team? It will be highly unfair to drop him before even giving him a fair run. Also, he has shown he can play Shoaib Akhtar.

Nehra was injured and thats why he was unimpressive. He is a good bowler and it would be silly not to pick him if he was fit.

I wont comment on the keepers coz I dont feel either of them will last to reach Pakistan. You will see them get dropped with Parthiv failing in the VB series. There is bound to be some one else in Pakistan.

Amit Bhandari, though he has bowled well in a few matches, has never had the threat of bowling great deliveries.

The spinners are a tough toss up if Bhajji cant play. Kumble selects himself now and I would still not rule Karthik out. He is a good bowler but it would be tough to drop Sarandeep if Harbhajan is injured. Amit Mishra is promising too.

Sorry for being critical.

 

[Salamuddin]

What exactly has Nehra done to merit selection in the test squad ?

Seems to me he's being kept in the squad more on perceived potential than solid performances.
Bhandari at the very least is worth a try based on a string of recent impressive performances.


Ramesh - you gotta be joking. Did u watch the Australia A game v India at Hobart ? Ramesh had absolutely no clue against a strong pace attack on a wicket with some juice in it.
Ramesh has scored all his test runs on flat wickets -- and belive me the Pakis are going to produce wickets with a little life in them.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Ramesh has scored all his test runs on flat wickets -- and belive me the Pakis are going to produce wickets with a little life in them.

Please don't use "****". Cheers.

 

[Pratters]

The problem of Nehra has been he has been injured a lot. Whenever he has been fit, he has looked good with swinging the ball. In helpful conditions, he has looked very good infact as he did in that one day world cup game vs the English.

I watched the Australia A vs India match. Ramesh played well in the tour games in Australia if you remember. He was even favourite to play in the first test but a good selectioon by India of Chopra meant he cuoldnt play. If you keep picking players and dropping them, you dont build a team. Das had got enough opportunities I feel and couldnt make the best out of it. Ramesh now deserves some run atleast. Ramesh had percieved problems against the short pitch balls but he showed in the tour games he could bat against the short balls.

Even if you dont want to pick Ramesh, yuo wouldnt pick Das. There are other deserving openers like Wasim Jaffer (not given a fair run again), Gautam Gambhir among others.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

If I were Kartik I'd feel hard done if I don't get picked in the squad to tackle Pakistan.

 

[marc71178]

In helpful conditions, he has looked very good

In helpful conditions, almost anyone looks very good.

Look at Nehra's career average and tell us why he justifies selection...

 

[Jono]

How long can we keep referring to Nehra's success in the World Cup? He played poor in Australia, and his body language in the field, especially in Melbourne was very disappointing.

Oh and Kartik will surely be named part of the squad. He had one test match where he bowled well. It's not often you come up against a batting team who is looking to hit 6 an over. Kartik must make the tour surely.

 

[Pratters]

In helpful conditions, almost anyone looks very good. Look at Nehra's career average and tell us why he justifies selection...

Well, I know Nehra's career records is bad right now. I did not once say it is not. He averages over 40 in test cricket. The only good away series he has had as a bowler have been in Zimbabwe and New Zealand (where the pitches were all for the bowlers to exploit)

The thing is, he has been ever injured from the time I have seen him. He has played well, bowled good delivieries when he has not been playing with injury. He is just 25, looks promising enough and with after proper rehab from injury, deserves a chance.

Its not just based on one good performance in England, he just looks promising enough and bowls some good deliviries. No many India medium pacers manage even that.

 

[Andre]

He had one test match where he bowled well.

:O :O :O

You what?!?!

Did you watch any of the match? Surely not.

 

[Jono]

Maybe 'well' was the wrong word but I wouldn't say he bowled poorly. He was solid in the second innings and should of had Ponting out. The first innings he flighted it too much but how often do you bowl against a team that is looking to get 6 - 7 an over in a test match?

Kartik is a good bowler and he should go on tour, especially since Harbahjan won't be fit.

 

[Prince EWS]

Chopra
Ramesh
Dravid
Tendulkar
Vangipurappu
Ganguly
Sehwag
Yuvraj
Patel
Agarkar
Kumble
Pathan
Zaheer-
Kartik
Nehra

-Subject to fitness. If not fit, he will be replaced with Salvi.

I havent bothered with a second keeper, becuase if for some reason Partiv Patel is in really bad form or gets injurred, Dravid can fill in, bad as he is.

 

[Salamuddin]

I think Salvi could be a very good bowler for India.

But at this stage, he is not 100% fit. Even if he were to get fit before the end of January, it would be hard to pick him for Pakistan because he wouldn't have played any Ranji games for Mumbai all season.

Re: Nehra, IMO the selectors made a big mistake picking him for such a strenuous tour of Australia after his comeback from injury.
I mean the guy only played in one Ranji game for Delhi to see how well his ankle held up -- I think he should have been assessed after 3-4 Ranji games. THe injury he sustained was fairly serious.
I saw him in Australia and it looked to me that something was just not right -- and it was confirmed when Andrew Leipus advised Wrighty to pull him out of the Sydney test X1.

India simply cannot afford to carry any players less than 100% fit on any tour.

Re: the spin situation, Mishra looks an exciting talent - he is a genuine leg spinner who gives the ball a big rip.
He must surely come into consideration for Pakistan.
Karthik bowled much better in the 2nd dig in Sydney but still could have flighter the ball more.
THe 3rd spin slot is prolly between Karthik and Mishra given that Powar and Sarandeep should tussle for the offies role.

 

[Bouncer]

and belive me the Pakis are going to produce wickets with a little life in them.

U know what no matter how fast wickets are made by Pakistani's at the end of the day they are going to be same old sub continent wickets. Ramesh has got a very good chance to score runs with his stand and deliever technique. If he avoids Sami and Shoaib he is going to be good.

The way to go for India would be to play attacking cricket, coz with the India factor Pakistani team will be attacking at all the times, and if they get back to back wickets in any sessions they can Rap up the innings in same session. But i think the present Indain Batting line up is the Best Indian batting line up to tour Pakistan, Better even than the one from 82.

 

[Arjun]

In my opinion, the Indians should use the next 4 years in developing a quality bowling attack. They lack a genuine strike bowler and their best bowler, Ajit Agarkar (pace) is far from that quality. They have to identify as many as 7 prospects who should be in the frame for selection and have a good chance as a strike bowler. The team also needs at least 1 bowler who can bowl with a lot of pace, but actually use it well, like Akhtar, not waste it, like Harmlessone.

Anil Kumble has improved a lot. He should play in all matches that matter abroad and with Harbhajan, who has picked quite a few wickets away from India, even on unhelpful pitches such as in WI, England and NZ, as support, he would be effective. In my plans, there will be 2 spinners, since spin is the team's main bowling strength. Karthik as a reserve spinner is a good choice, but I don't think you need a 4'th spinner unless you want to play 3 spinners. That said, Sehwag and Sachin, especially the younger of the two, should play as a regular spinner.

The batting simply selets itself. I would, however, play a specialist substitute fielder in place of the second wicketkeeper, like Yuvraj, Kaif or Sodhi. Another player who deserves a place in the national team is Gautam Gambhir, since they need a reserve opener, or Hemang Badani, for a specialist batsman in the middle order.

These are the contenders for bowling-

1. Ramesh Powar
2. Irfan Pathan
3. Murali Karthik
4. Anil Kumble
5. Amit Bhandari
6. L Balaji
7. ???
   [/list=1]
   
   Someone mentioned Ramesh Powar, and that is a good idea, since he is a very good batsman for an off-spinner. He started off as a batsman first, but the tips on off-spin from Sachin were very helpful- in fact, all advice from the maestro is- in improving his bowling. He is quite a clever bowler who can mix his deliveries quite well. He is also a good fielder. Why he is not in the frame for national selection is beyond belief. If the Indians complain about the lack of all-rounders, why can't they start looking?
   
   The next 4 years should also be used to groom a few all-rounders. They should go in with their best batsmen, or even more so, their best bowlers, who can do a bit of the other skill. The younger, the better. You have Irfan Pathan, who, for a bowler, is a very good batsman. He deserves a go as an all-rounder. He has a good technique and is quite intelligent.

 

[Tim]

What about Munaf Patel..has he been playing well in the domestic comps?

 

[Salamuddin]

Tim, the word is Munaf is not yet ready to step up to test level.
I understand he is going to the Australian Cricket Academy for further training in March.

Sandeep Patil, India A coach, reckons Munaf may be in the reckoning for the national squad next season.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

yea too early for munaf to get a selection... and i really doubt the indian selectors would be giving out test debut caps.. although for some reason i have a feeling Rohan Gavaskar might get one..

My selection for Pak would be..

A.Chopra
S.Ramesh
R.Dravid
S.Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
S.Ganguly
V.Sehwag
P.Patel
A.Agarkar
A.Kumble
I.Pathan
Z.Khan
M.Kartik
A.Nehra
A.Salvi/L.Balaji

tossing up between L.Balaji and A.Salvi i doubt either have done much on the international scene to show any big promise.. i know in domestic level both have done well especially balaji who does really well in domestic level.. although i doubt they will take another seamer..since pakistan pitches would be something like the ones in india ideally they would be better off taking another spinner which i would think would come to Sarandeep Singh seeing that harbajan wouldnt recover. maybe amit mishra might get it but if we want a variation then adding an offie to a left armer and a leggie would be good.

Part from that most of the team speaks for itself from the tour to aus. and i feel that ramesh hasnt done anythin wrong to not be in the squad.. he fully deserves another go but i doubt he will get a chance in the final XI unless someone got injured or chopra was out of form.

 

[mikka_a]

If the tour does go ahead, this is the squad that IMO should be picked:

Chopra
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly
SS Das (a much better choice for the reserve opener than Ramesh)
Patel
Dasgupta
Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Amit Bhandari
Agarkar
Sarandeep Singh/Ramesh Powar (tough call - I think India missed an offie in Australia in Harbhajan's absence- probably the former given he has test experience)
Amit Mishra
Irfan Pathan

Lets see. I think Ramesh is out of form right now. He doesnt seem very consistent. Its been a while since he has been playing against Pakistan so Pratyush cant really say he is going to do the same thing now. But I think you guys should really think of putting Sanjay Banghar if something happens to Agarkar. He is a great allrounder. Yuvraj Singh should also be tried again. As far as the Bowlers, R.Powar should be handed a debut. Patel should also remain the same to gain experience. Here is my first 12:

Tendulkar
Chopra
Sehwag
Dravid
Ganguly
Patel
Laxman
Pathan
Powar
Kumble
Agarkar
Yuvraj Singh

 

[Pratters]

Its tough to repeat the way Ramesh played in his first series vs Pakistan. But he has been called back in the squad based on good performances in the domestic tournaments. So he should be given a fair opportunity before he is dropped. I just stated that because jamesfryler said Ramesh cant play fast bowling. And thats why I didnt like Sanjay Bangar being dropped too, he wasnt given a fair run.

If you pick a player you have to give him a fair run befor dropping him. Certaily I wuoldnt advise picking Ramesh ahead of Chopra or Sehwag but he doesnt deserve to be dropped from the squad.