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Indian team for Pakistan ODI series

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
At 7:30 p.m. local time, BCCI secretary S.K. Nair announced the Indian team for Pakistan ODI series, as follows-

BATSMEN:
Saurav (c)
Sachin
Laxman
Dravid (wk? I hope not!)
Yuvraj
Badani
Kaif

BATTING ALL-ROUNDER:
Sehwag

Wicketkeeper:
Parthiv

BOWLING ALL-ROUNDER:
Ramesh Powar

BOWLERS:
Zaheer
Nehra (subject to fitness, unlikely)
Karthik
Irfan Pathan
Balaji
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
An update- Kapil Dev is appointed as a bowling coach. Not a bad idea, to pass on some knowledge and experience, since he is one of India's better fast bowlers, and possibly the only good fast bowler they've ever had.

Nehra has to prove his fitness in a Duleep trophy match. Hopefully he'd keep up his fitness throughout the tour. He also has to improve on his batting and fielding. Still, I'd choose Amit Bhandari over Nehra for the time being. Why Zaheer, not yet 100% fit, is rushed in, I cannot understand. He is a RUBBISH bowler when not fit, as shown by the Mohali Test v/s NZ, the ODI series at home, then the Melbourne Test. Nobody should be carrying any injury. Everyone should contribute on the field, and between wickets, including Nehra and ESPECIALLY Ganguly.
 

Vroomfondel

U19 12th Man
good move bringing powar in. he can bat a bit, so maybe this means parthiv can keep (shudder).

Spin at both ends in an ODI *rubs hands with glee*:D
 
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Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Not as much as Kumble. They can use them more in the Tests, and Agarkar's not that great a bowler, he just has one good match in every series, which is not even all that great.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Disappointing that Nayan Mongia is not picked, and Nehra is brought back, and as many as 8 batsmen are in the team, when the need of the hour is to take wickets. Well, the selectors did at least one thing right- Ramesh Powar makes an entry.

Spin at both ends in an ODI
Why not? Indian seamers have no pace, power or penetration, nor are they consistent or accurate, while there are several good spinners in India. Karthik will have a MUCH better series here, and so will Powar. I am disappointed that they didn't pick Sharandeep or Mishra in place of Nehra- at least these two are useful even without the ball in hand.
 

Vroomfondel

U19 12th Man
Arjun said:
Why not? Indian seamers have no pace, power or penetration, nor are they consistent or accurate, while there are several good spinners in India. Karthik will have a MUCH better series here, and so will Powar. [/B]
Yup, that's exactly what I meant. As far as I'm concerned, good spin at both ends is one of the greatest sights in cricket. The 'good' part is moot, but I expect a lot from these two, and I hope they won't disappoint. Especially in the predictable, batsman-dominated, downright boring world of One-Day cricket. I want to see flight, and drift, and fizz off the pitch, maybe a short leg for Kartik and a silly point for Powar's doosra. I want to see the faces of batsmen after they have had their mighty hoiks, connecting only with the unluckiest of molecules in the air.

Case in point -- I am a huge Tendulkar fan, but seeing the way he got out against Grant Flower in the world cup brought a smile to my face, and I think almost to his. He played forward to a ball pitching on leg, expecting a straightish delivery, only to discover that Flower's grenade bit, turned, bounced and took the top of off stump. Wow.

And I expect this not just of the Indian spinners, I would really, really like Saqlain back at his best. I love the little pause he has at the top of his action, because you know at that moment that the batsman and the wk, and a few people in the audience are wondering if this is the one that turns the other way.

Anyway, enough ranting. I'm really looking forward to this series.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Yup, that's exactly what I meant. As far as I'm concerned, good spin at both ends is one of the greatest sights in cricket. The 'good' part is moot, but I expect a lot from these two, and I hope they won't disappoint. Especially in the predictable, batsman-dominated, downright boring world of One-Day cricket. I want to see flight, and drift, and fizz off the pitch, maybe a short leg for Kartik and a silly point for Powar's doosra. I want to see the faces of batsmen after they have had their mighty hoiks, connecting only with the unluckiest of molecules in the air.
Not somuch when Ganguly is the captain. He is rather anti-spinner and relies more on pace. If Dravid was the captain, he would use his spinners a lot more intelligently, as in the TVS Cup. I would like to see attacking fields set, for Karthik and Powar to attack. Karthik tries to attack too much, so a captain should understand his style of bowling better and allow him to set his own field. Even a Martin Crowe-ish move of sending in a spinner to open the bowling will be a good idea, since it takes the pace off the ball, making it difficult to hit the ball in the opening overs. Worth a try for a few overs.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Doesn't matter. He should be used as one. He's good enough to bowl the full ten overs in ODI's, and at least 25-40 overs in Tests. I would even play Karthik, Zaheer and Irfan as all-rounders in my plan, since they're not great specialist bowlers. Why Sehwag is seldom used is beyond belief, since he is quite a good bowler for a batsman.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
An all-rounder can bat as well as bowl. They can be classified so-

  • Batting All-rounder- This player is a top-6 quality batsman, but can also provide support to the bowlers, even if he's not that great. Players like Kallis and Razzaq boost the batting and also help the bowlers.

    Bowling All-rounder-This player is a bowler of strike bowler quality, one who can take the bulk of 20 wickets, but can provide good support in the lower order, with a few 50's or even the odd hundred. Players like Pollock, Wasim Akram, and Cairns are very vital in a team.

    Bits-and-Pieces Player-Can bat and bowl a bit, but not enough to make it to the team on either skill alone. The likes of Flintoff, Adam Hollioake, Agarkar, Bangar, Watson and David Bernard don't find a place in their teams, though Agarkar will fit in, because of the sorry state of Indian pace bowling.

    Wicketkeeper batsmen-These are eiher top-6 batsmen who can keep very well, like Gilchrist, or quality wicketkeepers who can get a few runs lower down the order, like Rashid Latif. Parthiv Patel is neither, while Dravid is a good batsman but a horrible wicketkeeper.
 

harry674

School Boy/Girl Captain
in last few matches in vb series pathan,agarkar,Nehra,kartik showed they can bat a bit.


why salvi and munaf dint get picked? i would have like them to be in team(ateleast one of them in test) and pathan,kartik,powar to be allrounders.

if indian tail can bat a bit india shoudld stop picking 7 batsmen for game.also why no gavaskar ,he showed he could bat on austrlia and did some bowling and was good in field, every time i have seen kaif play he has failed.
 
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Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
They keep persisting with Nehra, I reckon one more bad series from him and he should be replaced. Good to see Kaif back in the side, he has potential that has yet to be untapped and adds to Yuvraj in the field. Both of them work brillaintly in the field, that can only help the team.

I think India can afford to go in with a less attacking bowling line up for the ODIs and let their bowlers rest and actually get fit. Zaheer, Agarkar and Kumble will be needed for the test series, and I think Zaheer should have more time to get over his injury completely. I really have no complaints with that team except for Nehra and possibly Zaheer because I don't want to see the same thing that happened in Melbourne. We lost him for the 4th test (didn't matter in the end) and the whole VB series. Zaheer is a major part of India's bowling line up and should not come back till fit.

From that team my ideal 11 would be:

Sehwag
Sachin
Laxman
Saurav (c)
Dravid
Yuvraj
Kaif/Badani/Patel
Zaheer (If fit, if he's chosen then I'm guessing he is)
Irfan Pathan
Karthik
Balaji

Depending on form but my priority is Kaif as I believe Sehwag and Ganguly can make up the extra 10 overs instead of Badani. If Patel is keeping well then I'd play him to take pressure off Dravid as I do not like him keeping. It all depends on how things are going but that No. 7 spot is really up for grabs. Nehra has to replace Zaheer if he's not fit I guess *shudders*
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
if indian tail can bat a bit india shoudld stop picking 7 batsmen for game.also why no gavaskar ,he showed he could bat on austrlia and did some bowling and was good in field, every time i have seen kaif play he has failed.
That's a good question- even I have to ask. What's the point of having good tail-end batting when there are 7 batsmen? Even if they get out for low scores and then expect the tailenders to contribute, who asked the top-7 to get out for low scores? And who asked those in command to persist with proven failures like that so-called one-day specialist who played in the World Cup? Instead, they should play just 6 batsmen, since Karthik, Pathan and ESPECIALLY Powar are capable of getting runs. First the batsmen should stay at the wicket a lot longer, before expecting tail-end support.

Anyway, what's the problem area? Batting or bowling? Time and again, bad bowling has cost the Indian team many a match, yet they have gone in with 8 batsmen. Have you heard of anything as ridiculously defensive as this? Besides, some of them are more likely to stay in the team than get any runs. So why pick them? Badani was a mis-selection, he's likely to run out more partners this time, even doing better (or worse) than Inzy! Why they have left out Jai P Yadav, despite consistent performances as an all-rounder, is a mystery. He can hit the ball hard, REAL hard, unlike most Indian batsmen. He bowls good wicket-to-wicket Harris-like medium-pace, good line and length, unlike Nehra, who bowls at a good pace yet runs in diagonally and sprays the ball around. No bowler is worth a permanent place n the team, so why not go in for more bowlers or batting all-rounders?

why salvi and munaf dint get picked?
Salvi may not be fully fit. He has to be. When fit, he bowled very well in Dhaka, but after recovering from a hand injury, he bowled rubbish and messed up on field in Kolkata. The same will happen with Nehra. I think Bhandari missed out. He should have gone instead, he is a better batsman and fielder. Even Zaheer was rushed in too early. Sure, he may be better than someone who is 100% fit, even when he himself is only 1% fit, but in that condition, he's still a liability.

Could someone explain why Nayan Ramlal Mongia, the best wicketkeeper in India by a country mile, does not feature? He is a very gpood wicketkeeper against spinners, and spin is India's main bowling strength, while our so-called first choice wicketkeeper, messes up against the spinners occasionally and the seam attack is just an excuse, while the so-called all-rounder, fine batsman that he is, happens to be a horrible wicketkeeper.

Fielding should be a priority, since bad fielding lets down a raw bowling attack, as it did in the home ODI series and in the VB Series. Why Ganguly still stays, despite lack of form and utility beyond batting, is really strange. Captaincy is just an excuse. Besides, the Indians have NEVER won an ODI series in the recent past, so a few changes are needed. Nobody deserves a permanent place, except Sachin, Laxman and Dravid.

Zaheer is crucial for the Indian team. Unlike most Indian fast bowlers, who are either too small (Agarkar), or reed-thin (Balaji, Nehra), he is well built and gets a good pace at times. He can reverse-swing the ball quite well in the final overs. In mid-2002, he was one of the best bowlers in Test and ODI cricket, till the World Cup final, after which his bowling declined, with the fortunes of the Indian one-day team. He does try too hard, tries to do things he can't do due to lack of pace, hence he loses out. Not to mention he is injury-prone. He can also get some runs quickly- he could be India's answer to Flintoff, and he is a better bowler too. When he plays well, the Indian team plays well. That's the kind of player the team needs.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
So how come you put those 3 in then?!
That is just a general definition. It does not say how well, so I provided those explainations. Anyway, they can do it, but actually don't, since they don't have to- why is it needed, when there are 7 batsmen in a team that can't even chase 288, let alone 360?
 

harry674

School Boy/Girl Captain
Arjun said:
when there are 7 batsmen in a team that can't even chase 288, let alone 360?

I think indian think tank is stuck to prehistoric times when everything was depended on SRT and they used to pick 7 or 8 batsmen .it just shows u why Austrlia is World Champs.

anyway if anyone noticed in recent AUS tour except last week when india played horrible, india batting had been excellent and they never got out more than 4 or 5 players. so someone has to reallyy think hard about picking 7 batsmen.

i would say pick 6 batsmen(if ganguly is included)
schewag(can bowl)
SRT
LAXMAN
DAVID(if i was selector i would pick him for only test matches)
ganguly
yuvraj

Optional one wicketkeeper(if he can bat defintely kick ganguly)

2 allrounders (can be spinners or medium pace or fast)
1 genuine quick bowler
1 spin specialist


I would defintely try to squeeze gavaskar somehow,kick ganguly till he gets somegood batting and running between wickets lessons.
 
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harry674

School Boy/Girl Captain
Arjun said:
That's a good question- even I have to ask. What's the point of having good tail-end batting when there are 7 batsmen? Even if they get out for low scores and then expect the tailenders to contribute, who asked the top-7 to get out for low scores? And who asked those in command to persist with proven failures like that so-called one-day specialist who played in the World Cup? Instead, they should play just 6 batsmen, since Karthik, Pathan and ESPECIALLY Powar are capable of getting runs. First the batsmen should stay at the wicket a lot longer, before expecting tail-end support.............................................................................................

best post i have read in a while maybe the best in this forum
 

harry674

School Boy/Girl Captain
<Badani was a mis-selection, he's likely to run out more partners this time, even doing better (or worse) than Inzy! >

i think u meant bangar who is not selected anyway. anyway it was ganguly fault not bangar though he should have sacrficed but if u see the video he probably dint even get the chance to think about that.
 

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