Australia in India

[evertonfan]

I don't really know why they trying to turn him into an all-rounder anyway. They've managed fine without one since the days of (that cricketer who's name I can't remember who used to always flick his fringe to the side before starting his run up).

EDIT; Keith Miller!!

 

[Gilly Fan]

Andrew Symonds is a better all rounder than Watson and he is only a part time bowler!

 

[angryangy]

I do think that Watson shows a lot of potential, and he does show that in domestic cricket and in ODI cricket to a lesser extent. But when it comes to Test cricket, he just can't seem to translate that potential into results. A bit like some English players actually!

Well, that is to say, when it comes to Test cricket, Watson can't stay fit enough to get in there. He's simply not played enough Tests to judge how well he plays at Test level, but in ODIs the evidence is only pointing to an improving player (6 50s in the last 22 innings) who cops criticism more for his appearance than for his performance.

 

[sohum]

Tait, Johnson and Lee could single handedly destroy India but if India use there itelligence they will just guide the ball around and use Johnsons, Taits and Lees pace and just make the new ball old.

Though Lee has matured quite a bit, I do believe it was him who went for 200+ runs (and he thus joined a rare group in Test cricket) in an innings during India's tour of Australia 2003/04.

From the Indian point of view, I'm not sure if Piyush will have hit the regular eleven by then. Still think that Powar has a decent chance to make the cut before him especially since he is a wicket-taker given that he flights the ball up so much. I would actually think Piyush is more suited to the test arena where he will have more time to work on his wickets.

Either way, I think unless Chawla does something extraordinary in the England series about to get underway, he will be second or third-choice spinner. Although India are getting into a 6-5 combination a lot these days so he may end up playing a few games.

 

[angryangy]

Though Lee has matured quite a bit, I do believe it was him who went for 200+ runs (and he thus joined a rare group in Test cricket) in an innings during India's tour of Australia 2003/04.

It's actually a pretty elite group when you look at it; Murali, Botham, Dev, Bedi, Saqlain Mushtaq, Fazal Mahmood, Vettori... after all, it's the captain who decides who shoulders the load and most of the time a captain would bank on his top players. Obviously, what we're talking about here is that India are not wholly vulnerable to fast bowling (and that Brett Lee isn't wholly threatening, much less Mitchell Johnson - seriously?), but I feel like running a bit of a tangent.

What is interesting about the figures is that Lee bowled just 3 balls short of 40 overs; before you ask, Kapil Dev's 7/220 was more expensive at 5.7 runs per over. Nevertheless, 4/201 at 5.1 rpo isn't great bowling. What is interesting is that 39.3 overs would have to be pushing for the longest innings by an express pace bowler. Sohum spoke of maturing and I think you can't help but see maturity through feats like that.

Lee isn't among the most masterful wicket takers, his accuracy can be rubbish and really doesn't seem to have many tricks up his sleeve. Plus, he always has a real problem with inconvenient no-balls. His greatest quality isn't his extreme pace (although perhaps it is fuelling his pace), it's something harder to measure.

That quality is his reserves of strength and endurance. In the field, or batting, the way he just keeps running and fighting is very rare. Every ball, he puts everything at his team's disposal. He isn't just a powerful athlete, rather a complete combatant. His batting is aggressive and he can hit the ball as far as anyone. In the field he is one of the most persistent run savers, he uses his throwing arm to full effect, plus you rarely see him shell a catch, even those hit with the heat of his own bowling (I most certainly discourage you from looking for an example of this on Youtube). He is important to the Australian team because he is a symbol; putting all his energy into a delivery, then walking back to the mark and doing it again and again.

 

[Gilly Fan]

His batting is aggressive and he can hit the ball as far as anyone.

That hit against the Windies that went out of the Gabba and onto the nets outside the ground is a prime example.

 

[sohum]

Lee is definitely a tremendous asset to Australia and he will be their main bowler now with Warnie and McGrath gone. He's dangerous because he's capable of ripping through every side of the world on his day. Hopefully for India those days will be few and far between.

 

[mattfb]

Though Lee has matured quite a bit, I do believe it was him who went for 200+ runs (and he thus joined a rare group in Test cricket) in an innings during India's tour of Australia 2003/04.

Like you stated he had matured a lot since then and that was back in 2003/2004. Like angryangry said many bowlers have done this.
Murli got hit for over 100 off his ten overs, going wicketless too in an ODI but that never stopped him from being labelled a threat in the next game.

 

[Left_Hander]

Yep. That was the game in the VB Series. Australia was in all sorts of trouble and then Ponting and Symonds played a gem of an innings to get Australia into a good position. Murali is always going to be considered a threat.

 

[Gilly Fan]

2nd final at the SCG. Brilliant game that. We made a massive 360+ after being 3/10. Roy hit 156 and Punter hit 140 odd. I thought we would've been steam rolled after the hideous belting we copped earlier.

 

[cricketmad09]

Andrew Symonds is a better all rounder than Watson and he is only a part time bowler!

Well then he's not an all-rounder.

Symonds bowling has become quite ordinary the last couple of years. In his last 30 matches, his average is 44.13, and has an economy rate of 5.74

Not too flash, even for a part-timer.

 

[Hooper]

Stumped him there!

Maybe he is talking about Tests?

 

[zub2005]

does anyone know when the indian squad will be announced. will india pick players like yousuf pathan if they dont get tried in the twenty20 world cup.

 

[SaiSrini]

Right now with Dhoni most likely to lead the side against the touring Australians, India are going to be on a real sticky wicket. Do they select all the seniors and risk seeing the side fluff on the fielding department? Australia will kill you if you are not good on the field. World champions are far more dangerous.

India need to go in with fewer seniors than they normally used to. This means one of the seniors (the holy trio!) must not be played the entire series, and one of the two selected seniors should be rotated within the team. This means that only one senior should play in the final XI for lending the stability to the side. The rest of the players should be youngsters or those who have a long promising future.

I would go for Tendulkar and Dravid for the two seniors to be picked for the series with Ganguly being asked to sit down or dropped. Ganguly loses out on his agility, even though he is a better ODI player than Dravid. Added to that, Sehwag can come in to the team to replace Ganguly and can make an explosive combination with Sachin at the top.

Here is my 15 Indian players based on the situation now

Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ajit Agarkar

I selected Agarkar coz no other fast bowler is there for us for back up.

 

[Cricket_god]

Right now with Dhoni most likely to lead the side against the touring Australians, India are going to be on a real sticky wicket. Do they select all the seniors and risk seeing the side fluff on the fielding department? Australia will kill you if you are not good on the field. World champions are far more dangerous.

India need to go in with fewer seniors than they normally used to. This means one of the seniors (the holy trio!) must not be played the entire series, and one of the two selected seniors should be rotated within the team. This means that only one senior should play in the final XI for lending the stability to the side. The rest of the players should be youngsters or those who have a long promising future.

I would go for Tendulkar and Dravid for the two seniors to be picked for the series with Ganguly being asked to sit down or dropped. Ganguly loses out on his agility, even though he is a better ODI player than Dravid. Added to that, Sehwag can come in to the team to replace Ganguly and can make an explosive combination with Sachin at the top.

Here is my 15 Indian players based on the situation now

Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ajit Agarkar

I selected Agarkar coz no other fast bowler is there for us for back up.

If You Want a Team which is going to compete with the aussies they need to
select these players in batting order

1-Shewag
2-Tendulkar{Captain}
3-Karthick/Utthapa
4-Rohit Sharma/Raina/Manoj Tewary
5-Yuvraj
6-Dhoni{Vice-Captain}{WIcket Keeper}
7-Irfan Pathan
8-Piyush Chawla
9-Harbhajan Singh/Powar
10-Zaheer Khan
11-Yomahesh/Ishant sharma/R.P Singh

I Selected this team with out dravid and ganguly as i think they do not make it in odis if we are looking for a good fielding side and we have to look at the future.Ajit Agarkar has been given billion oppurtunities its better to try somebody with hunger like yomahesh or ishant sharma or vrv singh.Shreesanth is too eratic he needs to concentrate on tests than odis
and playing two spinners is must with one alrounder in pathan