Should India play 3 spinners and Australia 2

[krishneelz]

The pitch looks horride and will suit the spin kings. So should the indians put up 3 spinners (with zaheer missing out) and should the aussies pick white or hauritz instead of kaspa or dizzy.

Also something interesting is the pitch is likely to fall apart in day 4 and 5 having said that indian pitches always look bad but usually hold up. So this test could also depend alot on the toss

 

[Simon]

So this test could also depend alot on the toss

that would be very disapointing if thats the case...

 

[Dasa]

that would be very disapointing if thats the case...

why so?

 

[Simon]

why so?

so u like to see test matches where the game is won by the flick of a coin on the morning of day 1?

 

[Dasa]

^It's very rarely like that though. I'd like to see a good contest, and if the toss of the coin plays a part in a teams success, good for them. Neither Australia or India are bad enough that they can't adapt if they lose the toss anyway.

 

[SJS]

Fan 1 : "The pitch looks horrid.......is likely to fall apart..."

Fan 2 : Really, says who ?

Fan 1 :Says Buchanastradamus and ..er..others

Fan 1.1 : Australia should play 2 spinners and India 3 PERIOD

Fan 2 : Does Australia have 2 spinners ??

Fan 1.1 : Of Course. Besides the great man , there is Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White. India should include Karthik also.

Fan 2 : Oh but , in that case, India already has five. Kumble, Harbhajan, Sehwag, Sachin and Yuvraj

 

[marc71178]

If India play 3, how on Earth will they all fit in the side?

 

[Deja moo]

^Kumble,Harbhajan,Karthik(!),Pathan, AA(or Zaheer).

 

[marc71178]

And add Patel in and how weak is that batting?

 

[SJS]

^Kumble,Harbhajan,Karthik(!),Pathan, AA(or Zaheer).

They could do that, though it will make the tail longer. If they included three spinners, I would take Agarkar as the second seamer besides Pathan for some batting at Number seven.

They could also open with Parthiv and not risk Yuvraj in that position.

Sehwag, Parthiv Patel, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Yuvraj , Agarkar, Kumble, Pathan, Harbhajan, Kartik

OR

Sehwag, Chopra, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Patel, Pathan, Kumble, Harbhajan, Kartik, Nehra

 

[Deja moo]

^Kumble,Harbhajan,Karthik(!),Pathan, AA(or Zaheer).

My bad Didnt realize I was listing 5 bowlers.....it is hard then...

 

[age_master]

only one quick if india play 3 spinners, Ganguly would bowl the first few overs with Pathan one would assume.


as for Australia playing 2, only if you count Lehmann or Clarke is that ever gonna happen. no way is Australia gonna play less than 3 quicks

 

[Arjun]

They should have two seamers and two spinners. Kumble has a very good record against the Australians, with 61 wickets in 10 matches, and 32 wickets in 4 at home. He should be the strike bowler adn he is more effective with another spinner supporting him, keeping a leash on things. It is difficult for medium-pacers to keep a leash on this Australian team. Three seamers for the Indian team should not be an option, as seam is not their main strength, nor do they have an express pace bowler.

Why Murali Karthik? Everyone knows he doesn't get along well with the captain (many spinners don't) and the Aussies hit him all around Sydney, Perth and Hobart and even the Zims took a liking to him. Ramesh Powar would be a better choice, since there are more lefthanders, and he is a better batsman and fielder. They could also have tried Sairaj Bahutule, since he is the best spinner after Kumble and Harbhajan. Young Amit Mishra could have played and benefitted a little from this experience. In fact, Sachin and Sehwag, especially the latter, should be considered as regular bowling options, since they can't do far worse than the specialists.

 

[Arjun]

They could also open with Parthiv and not risk Yuvraj in that position.

Why Parthiv? Why not Zaheer Khan? Is there really any point in opening with tailenders? You don't expect them to score too many runs, do you? Whether the people who make these decisions like it or not, you have to have runs in the top 6. At least Yuvraj has batted at 3 or even opened a few times, and can paly seam well, so it's not a bad idea, but opening with a keeper has been a perennial bad habit of this Test team, which is why there have not been many good starts of late.

 

[honestbharani]

Going in with less than 6 batsman could prove perilous for India. Either 3 spinners or 2 seamers, but not both.

 

[Arjun]

In the background, when the A-team is in action, they should pick one bowler or two and play them as regular batsmen at 7, and use them as pinch-hitters in limited overs matches. It worked last time with Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni, so it could work with Irfan Pathan (after this series), Joginder Sharma and Gaurav Dhiman.

 

[SJS]

Why Parthiv? Why not Zaheer Khan? Is there really any point in opening with tailenders? .

Parthiv is not a tail ender. Has 3 fifties and an average of 32 plus in 16 tests. If that makes him a tailender we need some more tailenders in the team

Why Parthiv? .... At least Yuvraj has batted at 3 or even opened a few times

Here are their respective records. It is at slight contradiction to your well 'orchestrated views"

Yuvraj Singh : Tests played 4, Innings 6, Average 51, Record as test opener : Not available , Highest position batted in tests todate 6 (Really!!)

Parthiv Patel : Tests played 16, Innings 23, Avg 32, Record as test opener 0 and 69

.... but opening with a keeper has been a perennial bad habit of this Test team, which is why there have not been many good starts of late.

True. When Parthiv opened against Pakistan, Sehwag got out first over to Shoaib and Parthic put on 129 for the second wicket with Dravid, outscoring his senior partner. Bad start given by a keeper. no doubt !

The fact of the matter is there isnt a strong case for Parthiv to open but there is none whatsoever for Yuvraj !!

Parthiv is no long term opener, Yuvraj will never be an opener in tests.

I put Parthiv only to accomodate Yuvraj in a 5 bowler team (which is what was being discussed at the time of posting that one). If there are four bowlers, I would open with Chopra and get Yuvraj at 6 and Parthiv at 7.

To say that opening with a keeper is a bad habit is as silly as saying a player who is a good stroke player in the middle order must be sent in as an opener if thats the only slot available.

We need to look at Chopra AND others as opener. What would you have done id Azhar was fit, younger and allowed to play and no place in this packed Indian middle order ? Send him to open the innings soince Chopra seems more dispensable than Laxman or Ganguly ??

Ridiculous !

There are openers and there are those who are not meant to open. Yuvraj is clearly in the second category. An attempt to fit him in may work for a match or two. It certainly has a better chance to work on Indian pitches but if the selectors want to make best use of this gifted left hander he must be played where he is best suited, from numbers 4 to six. If that is a bit crowded, tough luck !!

If we had five great leg spinners we wouldnt play them all and ask two of them to bowl with the new ball !!!

 

[Arjun]

The idea of opening with a wicketkeeper should not be considered regularly. Even Nayan Mongia had a 50 and a 100 (close to 150) but was he a good long-term option? No way! He opened in Tests regularly, and he failed quite often. Even Parthiv's 3 50's came in 2 years, which is not good for a specialist batsman. He's no opener at all, and his success in Pakistan was a one-off. Next time Zaheer Khan or Irfan Pathan will get a 50 or more, so will that make them options for opening the batting? Anil Kumble and Srinath have quite a few 50's between them (at least 4), so does that make them good batsmen? At least Yuvraj is a batsman and he can do a lot better at the top than Parthiv or any other tailender, and he is a good player of pace.

Of course, one can play two leggies, but if there are three who are equally great, it is not a bad thing, but a good thing. If you lose a leggie to injury, having one in reserve will always help. That mental block about variety in attack should be out- you have to play your best bowlers.

 

[Arjun]

What do you think of Ganguly opening the bowling? He had a lot of potential as a bowler and could have been the all-rounder the team needs, but he didn't practice. He's also rather injury-prone, so that may be why he's not bowling so often.

 

[SJS]

What do you think of Ganguly opening the bowling? He had a lot of potential as a bowler and could have been the all-rounder the team needs, but he didn't practice. He's also rather injury-prone, so that may be why he's not bowling so often.

Its not a bad idea if we want to play an extra spinner. He could fill in for the seamer who was replaced. You are right about his not having done enough work on it.

I dont know if it is true but he does give the impression of not being a hard working guy. Maybe that explains his not having worked on his bowling. He is not much worse than someone like Eknath Solkar or ML Jaisimha who opened often for India with the new ball. Even Mohinder Amarnath for that matter.

I dont think it is injury. I think he is scared he will be hit. So he will bowl as a last resort, and take himself off the moment the batsman hits him for a couple of boundaries. Actually if he bowled more often we could manage with four other bowlers a keeper and six bats very well.