Road to 2019 World Cup (India)

[steds]

So we'll end up with 10 of them when every **** decides they want a thread for their team?

Nah. There's definitely more ****s on here than 10.

 

[Burgey]

I thought the 2019 WC was in England

 

[honestbharani]

So what are our options if we are to revamp the side a bit. I have always been a fan of asking Rohit to bat in the middle order because he takes time to get set and if Dhawan cannot do a bit of a Jayasuriya, we will forever be faced with rough asks. Ideally, you will have one hitter in your top 3 and spread out your best batsmen through the order. Something like...


Dhawan
Rahul/Rahane
Kohli
Rohit
Raina/Pant/Jadhav
Jadhav/Raina/Pant
Pandya
Jadeja
Bhuvi
Shami
Bumrah/Umesh


Really think we can at best hope for another semi exit. Not confident of our WC chances at all now.

 

[Pratters]

I don't look at the 2017 CT final as a disaster as it is a good wake up call for us. Will allow us the fine tune the side. Hardik has been a huge bonus for us. Hardik and Jadeja give a much needed balance to the side as they can bowl and bat a bit.

 

[Pratters]

That's a good side HB. I like the idea of Rahane opening.

 

[vcs]

Rahane is a tried and tested failure in limited overs formats.. (harsh as that sounds)

With the flat pitches in modern ODI cricket, the technical solidity argument doesn't work either.

 

[Pratters]

Raina would be okay if he didn't look like a tasty idli. Needs to work on his fitness. If he does that, he can be back.

 

[Pratters]

What about MSD. Should he be there or not..

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

So shri, harsh and HB all posted a side without Dhoni. We want to hear that are you guys expecting Dhoni to retire by then or getting dropped?

 

[harsh.ag]

What I expect to see happen is him playing. What I want is for him to be asked to retire.

 

[cnerd123]

If MSD doesn't retire soon then he's hanging on till 2019

I expect that, come 2019, the pool of batsmen we'll be constructing our top 7 out of will be Nohit, Dhawan, Rahane, Kohli, Pandey, Jadhav, Raina, Yuvi and Rahul Jnr. Who actually ends up in there and in what order is yet to be seen. Kohli will be at 3, and MSD at 4 or 5. Hardik should be the allrounder of choice, Jadeja is definitely playing, Ashwin is probably playing, and our seam attack will be some combo of Bhuvi/Bumrah/Yadav/Shami. Maybe Ishant in case of an injury crises or something. Mishra/Kuldeep the third spinner. Outsiders who may have broken through by then are Pant, Suryakumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Yuzi Chahal, Krunal, and possibly Washington Sundar/Mahipal Lomror/Sarfraz Khan

Ideally I'd like to see MSD retire, Pant take the gloves, Lokesh opening with one of Dhawan/Nohit/Rahane, and Padey be a lock at 4. Ashwin should be dropped and re-earn his place as a bowler. He defo needs time off. Kuldeep to be groomed for 2019 while Jadeja gets to be the frontline spinner. Chahl stays in the mix. Mishra is good but he definitely falls apart too quickly, not sure I'd trust him in KO games either. Sarfraz Khan and Surykumar Yadav get blooded in to add some firepower to the middle order.

 

[honestbharani]

I posted a side without Yuvi as well but for some reason folks seem to think that is ok..


I am obviously assuming both wont be around for the 2019 World Cup. Its as simple as that. Just talking from a composition PoV, the side you would want ideally for LO cricket will be


1 dashing opener
1 of your best batsmen who can open
your best batsman
your second best middle order batsman who should ideally also be able to bowl a bit or keep
MO batsman who can also bowl or keep
batting all rounder
all rounder
bowling all rounder
bowler who can bat
bowler
bowler


Now ideally you want amongst your bowling options 2 or 3 spinners max. And given all our batsmen who can bowl end up bowling spin, you get two of them already in the side. And again with 4 seamers, you want at least two of them to be able to bat. Bhuvi's batting ability in ODIs is the same as Ashwin. Theoretical more than practical. So if I am going for a XI like this and I again leave MSD and Yuvi out, I will probably go...


Dhawan
Rahul (wk)
Kohli
Rohit
Raina
Jadhav
Pandya
Jadeja
Bhuvi
Umesh/Shami/Bumrah
Umesh/Shami/Bumrah


Issue will be lack of wicket taking options. Ideally we would find space for Kuldeep there to be the attacking spinner but with all of our other batsmen unable to contribute with the ball and our other bowlers unable to contribute with the bat, Jaddu ends up staying in the side by default anyways.

 

[Pratters]

What I expect to see happen is him playing. What I want is for him to be asked to retire.

Well said.

 

[Moonsorrow999]

I don't really see Dhoni retiring any time soon, shame, I really want to see Pant rise to the challenge.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Has Rahane had a crack opening though? I don't mind the idea.

But not sure Rohit has done enough wrong to get demoted.

 

[honestbharani]

The issue is we need some biffer up top, and Rohit wants to take time before he settles in for the shots.. Its about trying to utilize him in the best possible manner but I agree realistically there is no way you can move him out of the opening position. Just a bit of wishful posting on my part.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Has Rahane had a crack opening though? I don't mind the idea.

But not sure Rohit has done enough wrong to get demoted.

He did alright in a couple of series where he opened (was one of the few bright spots when he opened on an England tour back in 2011). But Rohit and Dhawan are far superior so it's just not an option.

Probably time we move past Rahane tbh. KL Rahul is long overdue an opportunity.

 

[Pratters]

The reason I back Rahane is that he has improved a lot as a cricketer in last couple of years from what I have seen of him in tests. He has removed so much of his weaknesses like tending to balls outside off etc. As he has failed for a fair while in ODIs I can see why people wouldn't find him attractive as an option. He brings in some much required stability in the batting.

 

[weldone]

I think Ashwin's problem is approach. He's experimenting for the last one year or two by bowling a negative line in limited overs cricket. Obviously, the experiment is not working out. So, the management needs to tell him that he plays and stays in the WC 2019 team only if he shifts to his previous self and bowls test match attacking line in LO.

 

[Furball]

He did alright in a couple of series where he opened (was one of the few bright spots when he opened on an England tour back in 2011). But Rohit and Dhawan are far superior so it's just not an option.

Probably time we move past Rahane tbh. KL Rahul is long overdue an opportunity.

Rahane wasn't very good in 2011 tbh. Looked that way initially because, Dravid aside, your Test bats gave the impression they'd wandered onto the ground by accident having never seen a cricket ball before. Rahane looked like he might be competent but his actual output was nothing special.