Yuvraj should play in tests

[Pratters]

The Indian test team has been announced and the back up spinners for India for Anil Kumble are Ramesh Powar and Murali Kartik.. It shows India does not have depth in the spin department right now while the faster bowlers are coming in bigger numbers surprisingly with the likes of Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Balaji in the squad. The absence of Nehra or a retired Srinath will not be felt as much as the absence of Harbhajan Singh because the backup in the spin department is weak..

The batting looks settles with Chopra and Sehwag set to open while Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman are a very strong middle order.. The question to be asked is where does Yuvraj Singh go? Ganguly had earlier stated that the best bet for Yuvraj would be to open the innings.. now thats silly because I would have specialist openers like Chopra and a proven opener in Sehwag open rather than Yuvraj. If need be, I would want Gautam Gambhir or Ramesh to be the replacements for the openers, not Yuvraj..

But Yuvraj has shown he has the ability to handle good bowling and is a quality player.. how can he fit into the Indian team? Simple.. drop Ganguly and play Yuvraj.. A very drastic thing to do but if you consider the fact that the best XI should play, it comes down to chosing between Ganguly and Yuvraj. Ganguly may have his perennial backers but Yuvraj deserves his chance in the middle order.. he will earn it and the sooner it comes for him the better.

I pity guys like Md. Kaif for whom playing for the Indian test side seems a distant dream while its so easy for a keeper to play for India.. There was talk of bringing back Ratra or bringing Dinesh Kartik, the under 19 keeper for Patel. Patel has been below par but has been given another chance.. surely its much better to be a keeper in India than a middle order batsman..

[marc71178]

But if you drop Ganguly, who becomes Captain?

I can't see any obvious candidate.

[Pratters]

But should we chose the best XI players first and then chose the captain?

[marc71178]

Yes, but I would argue that with his current batting and his captaincy, he is one of the best XI.

[Sanz]

No, Yuvraj doesn't seem to have the technique to succeed in TEST matches. Kaif is better than Yuvraj.

[Pratters]

Originally posted by marc71178
Yes, but I would argue that with his current batting and his captaincy, he is one of the best XI.

If you exclude the captaincy, I would say Yuvraj deserves look in ahead of Ganguly as a player.. True Ganguly probably played his best test inning in terms of strokes in the first test in Australia but he has been poor in the one day series in Pakistan and not being able to meddle the ball properly..

Yuvraj on the other hand has been in tremendous form, hitting runs in the Irani Trophy Final and has meddled the ball really well in the one dayers as well..

You want a player who would make runs first ..

And I know its not going to happen and so the discussion is purely academic but I just felt Yuvraj would be better suited in the test right now and so said it..

[marc71178]

Yes, but by losing the captain of that side, you lose a lot.

Far more than gaining potentially a few runs with the bat...

A leaderless team of great individuals will be beaten by a team which is slightly weaker but well led.

[Pratters]

Originally posted by marc71178
Yes, but by losing the captain of that side, you lose a lot.

Far more than gaining potentially a few runs with the bat...

A leaderless team of great individuals will be beaten by a team which is slightly weaker but well led.

So then we chose Ganguly more for his captaincy than playing abilities..

Instinctively I feel Ganguly is going to fail in the tests in Pakistan and Yuvraj, with his form and ability, would be a better addition to the team..

But its too drastic and a captain is not changed until some thing drastic happens.. Ganguly isnt out of form in tests and is the captain.. so almost impossible for him to be dropped but if they chose Yuvraj Singh as an opener after a failure for Chopra in the first test(if it happens), I will be angry coz its the same mistake made with Laxman in 1996-7..

[marc71178]

Originally posted by Pratyush
So then we chose Ganguly more for his captaincy than playing abilities..

No, because his batting ability is still very good, but the key point is his captaincy adds a lot to his worth to the team.

Think Stephen Fleming a couple of years ago...

[jpatel1508]

I say we drop Chopra. Chopra doesn't do much in tests. The only reason why people praised him because he could stay in for a long time. The reason why he stays in for a long time because he doesn't hit anything. I'm pretty sure his strike rate in test is below 60. A good test batsman has his strike rate between 70 and 80. I don't even rate him as a specialist because very rarely has he hit a four.
I don't like Sehwag with Chopra opening. I'd much rather see how Yuvraj could handle it. Yuvraj has proven that he can stay in for a long time and have a good strike rate too.
I like the idea with Yuvraj for Chopra.
And for those who think Ganguly should not be in test, you gotta be kidding me. I would select him even if he was not captain.

[age_master]

Originally posted by marc71178
No, because his batting ability is still very good, but the key point is his captaincy adds a lot to his worth to the team.

Think Stephen Fleming a couple of years ago...

but he would have made the side on his playing alone...




what do people have against Dravid captaining?

[age_master]

Originally posted by jpatel1508
A good test batsman has his strike rate between 70 and 80.

Pontings test SR - 57

Haydens test SR - 63

Tendulkars test SR - 57

Ganguly's test SR - 49

Lara's test SR - 59

Gilchrists test SR - 82


nuf said...

a good ODI player has their SR between 70 and 80, your average good test players SR is between 45 and 60

[a massive zebra]

Originally posted by jpatel1508
A good test batsman has his strike rate between 70 and 80.

What a ridiculous assertation!

Strike rates of some outstanding test players:

S.Tendulkar 57
R.Dravid 42
D.Bradman 61
M.Hayden 63
J.Hobbs 58
H.Sutcliffe 40
K.Barrington 42
Inzamam 53
J.Kallis 41
M.Jayawardene 52
V.Richards 68
B.Lara 59
A.Flower 45

[iamdavid]

Originally posted by jpatel1508
I say we drop Chopra. Chopra doesn't do much in tests. The only reason why people praised him because he could stay in for a long time. The reason why he stays in for a long time because he doesn't hit anything. I'm pretty sure his strike rate in test is below 60. A good test batsman has his strike rate between 70 and 80. I don't even rate him as a specialist because very rarely has he hit a four.
I don't like Sehwag with Chopra opening. I'd much rather see how Yuvraj could handle it. Yuvraj has proven that he can stay in for a long time and have a good strike rate too.
I like the idea with Yuvraj for Chopra.
And for those who think Ganguly should not be in test, you gotta be kidding me. I would select him even if he was not captain.

I think people really underestimate the role Chopra played in India's relative success in Australia , I think the main reason Tendulkar , Dravid , Ganguly & Laxman were able to do so well was the way Chopra & Sehwag consistently put on 50+ opening stands & saw off the new ball.
Meaning there was so much less pressure on Dravid in particular when he came out , compared to last time India toured here when the openers struggled to get to 10 & Australia ran through the middle order as a result.
Chopra & Sehwag work very well together as a combination , Sehwag with his agression & Chopra's determination to see off the new ball + his great running between the wickets.
He's also very , very good in the feild.

As for Yuvraj I dont think he's got what it takes to be a test opener , his technique is not tight enough & he will struggle with the new ball swinging around , he hasnt had to confront that so far in ODI's batting at 6 , so why expose him to it at test level straight up.
I reckon that in time he could develope into a perfectly decent number 5 at test level , his feilding is great & I like his attitude.
I think he will secure himself a spot in the test team when Ganguly retires & no sooner , there quite simply isnt any room for him ATM.

If one of the openers gets injured / gets axed , then I reckon either Gambir or Shiv Sunder Das should get the callup (Gambir being very similar to Sehwag & Das similar to Chopra)

[marc71178]

Originally posted by jpatel1508
I'm pretty sure his strike rate in test is below 60. A good test batsman has his strike rate between 70 and 80.

60 = 3.6 per over

70 and 80 means a team is scoring at between 4.2 and 4.8 an over!

That is an extremely high level, and not what I'd call a Good Test batsman.