An Ageing Indian Side

[adharcric]

How'd Bhajji creep into this? 25 isn't old, as such.

I guess for some people it is.

 

[steds]

Sachin is actually fit too but injuries are an issue for him.

Sachin's played test cricket for a long, long time. Cricketer's are like cars. You can't keep a car and use it on a daily basis for 16 and a half years without it breaking down every now and then. And the breakdowns, more than likely, get more frequent over time. He's played 494 international matches. It's going to take stuff out of him. Doesn't look like a long time at all before he fails his MOT for good, from where I'm standing.

 

[Sanz]

I think the bigger issue than age is fitness. Look at the Aussies, virtually their entire team is nearly 30 or well into their 30s, apart from Clarke I guess. Still, the guys are fit even at that age ... precisely why I think Dravid will last for a while, he cares about his fitness. Sehwag might be 27 but he's as fit as a 35-year old common man who sits and drinks beer on his couch every day. Sachin is actually fit too but injuries are an issue for him.

Aussies dont play 100 ODIs in a year. Thanks to those useless games in Sharjah, toronto, Dhaka, Morocco, Kenya, Singapore etc.Dravid, Ganguly and Gilchrist all made their ODI debut around same time, Dravid/Ganguly have played 40 more ODIs than Gilly.

They should cut down on no. of ODIs, all tri-series should be abandoned. They are meaning less

 

[pug]

Somehow, I get the feeling that Suresh Raina will be a more important player for India than Kaif and Yuvraj.

 

[pug]

That's just pure guesswork. 5-6 years is about the length of most decent players' test careers.

Not going into strict figures, I would say Dravid is at his peak right now. So he's still good for a while.

 

[adharcric]

Somehow, I get the feeling that Suresh Raina will be a more important player for India than Kaif and Yuvraj.

I've had that feeling for a while too.

 

[marc71178]

Dravid is the one guy we would really miss, but Raina is very good.
Tendulkar would be missed almost as much, but India has plenty of batting talent in the ranks.

A batting lineup including Dravid, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Laxman will be a lot more worrying for the bowling side than that one.

And Kumble might just be missed.

 

[adharcric]

A batting lineup including Dravid, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Laxman will be a lot more worrying for the bowling side than that one.

And Kumble might just be missed.

Laxman and Kumble aren't in the ODI scheme of things even right now. Sehwag is only 27.

 

[SJS]

The cream of Indian batting is 30 and above. Laxman will be 30 next month. Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly are all older with Ganguly oldest at 32.

Sehwag (26), Yuvraj (23) and Kaif(24) are younger but only Sehwag has seemed like a world class player so far and he too has limitations.

Clearly there is need for young blood and promising young blood at that if India is not to slip back to the bottom again. For the sake of Indian cricket, there needs to be sensible but planned induction of some fresh faces.

Not persisting with Chopras, Badanis and others (all of whom have one thing in common that they have neither sponsors nor very exciting faces) may mean that we have to start afresh with the induction and 'breaking in' process.

Yuvraj has none of the requisites to be a test opener. Talking about him as opener is a blatant attempt by Ganguly to get a favourite into the test side for which he took the first step by dropping Akaash Chopra.

Yuvraj's place in the Indian test side can come only at the expense of Laxman at present. Getting him to open against weaker opposition or on flat beds of India wont prove anything. Many batsmen have prospered as part time openers in India and been exposed elsewhere. Nayan Mongia's 151 against Australia is a prime example.

Kaif and Yuvraj are no where near the potential that Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar posessed when they came.

Ganguly and Dravid came in with Tendulkar and Azhar still in the middle order besides Jadeja and what they did on debut and thereafter is well known.

Tendulkar came into a side which had Srikkanth, Siddhu, Manjrekar, Azhar, Shastri, Kapil, Prabhakar and still he forced his way into the test side and became a permanant fixture.

Yuvraj and Kaif have been around long enough to play 107 and 77 ODI's respectively but are nowhere near a permanent test cap. This is the point I am making. Thsy do not seem to have it in them to fill in the 'big boots'. We need a much larger pool to choose from and we cant do it at the last moment.

If India does not find a couple of very very good middle order batsmen in tests soon and get them into the side, there could be a big problem.

Also, Laxman and Ganguly may not last as long as Dravid and Sachin. Their reliance on hand eye coordination rather than sound techmique and concise footwork may mean a sudden decline. Only players with very solid technique last beyond mid 30's and srtill do well.

I cant believe this was written in September 2004.

We are in April 2009 and Gambhir (who played four Tests that year I think)has taken the opener's slot and Ganguly is gone but Yuvraj has yet to establish a stranglehold on that spot.

WE have a good replacement for Pathan (at least in bowling) but not if for Kumble. But the major concern then was how long will the magnificent four continue. We should be grateful that three of them have. And of course there is Sehwag

 

[silentstriker]

I'm less worried now though. I think there is some really good potential that is pushing for a spot, even if the selectors keep persisting with failures like Yuvraj. Badrinath should have gotten a chance long ago, and there are others as well. I think we'll be OK. Will there be a downturn? Of course, you can't replace Dravid and Tendulkar. I think Laxman and Ganguly will be replaced just fine. But overall, I think we'll be able to find people who average in the mid forties at least, and that's good enough to win Test matches.

Yes, the inevitable batting downturn will come, but I don't think it'll be all that bad. Certainly not as bad as it might have seemed four-five years ago.

 

[Shri]

I cant believe this was written in September 2004.

We are in April 2009 and Gambhir (who played four Tests that year I think)has taken the opener's slot and Ganguly is gone but Yuvraj has yet to establish a stranglehold on that spot.

WE have a good replacement for Pathan (at least in bowling) but not if for Kumble. But the major concern then was how long will the magnificent four continue. We should be grateful that three of them have. And of course there is Sehwag

RIP - Kaif's international career.

 

[oitoitoi]

I want to see Pujara given a go ahead of Yuvraj in the tests, Raina or Badrinath are probably next in line though. Rohit Sharma needs to be sent to a county.

 

[Furball]

Rohit Sharma/Badri should be next in line for Tests I'd have thought.

 

[Lambu]

^ Raina should be ahead of both..and rightly so too.

 

[honestbharani]

His scores in FC cricket haven't been great and he didn't exactly cover himself in glory when we took the A team to Australia and other places... So why exactly would it be "rightly so"? So far in his comeback in ODIs he has shown that he can hit the ball a long way and take toll on flat tracks.. we haven't yet seen him play a difficult resurecting innings and show decent technique even in ODIs since his comeback.. How is he ready to play tests for India yet?

 

[Shri]

^ Raina should be ahead of both..and rightly so too.

Raina is just 22 years old. Let him play FC games for 4 or 5 years. If he becomes better than Sharma or Badri, get him inside the team. There are other options for the test team too. Rahane, Pujara etc should be considered after they get a couple of years of experience.

 

[Lambu]

Raina is just 22 years old. Let him play FC games for 4 or 5 years. If he becomes better than Sharma or Badri, get him inside the team. There are other options for the test team too. Rahane, Pujara etc should be considered after they get a couple of years of experience.

I would like to know exactly what is it about Sharma that makes you think he is better than Raina atm?

 

[Lambu]

His scores in FC cricket haven't been great and he didn't exactly cover himself in glory when we took the A team to Australia and other places... So why exactly would it be "rightly so"? So far in his comeback in ODIs he has shown that he can hit the ball a long way and take toll on flat tracks.. we haven't yet seen him play a difficult resurecting innings and show decent technique even in ODIs since his comeback.. How is he ready to play tests for India yet?

Sharma hasn't done even that..yes even on flat pitches. Plus he was one of the very few batsmen who handled Murali and Mendis exceptionally right from the word go. Is a tremendous player of spin bowling and not bad against Pace either as his performances in the NZ showed..was the top batsmen for us on that tour barring Sehwag.

Mark my words guys Raina is a special talent..if he can sort out his problems agasint short deliveries(seems to coming along fine) he can be the next big thing in Indian cricket. Yuvraj and Rohit may look pretty but imo have a faulty driving techique and poor footwork respectively.

 

[Evermind]

Never liked Rohit Sharma. So Raina over Sharma then.

 

[Maximus0723]

Raina isn't even decent against fast bowling.