Australia's tour of India 2019

[Neo 7]

Karthik , plays little cameos in almost every innings .

Feel so bad for him . And not even in ODI squad . He was in the network for one whole year . And now come World Cup , brought Rahul (other than Opening I don't see him other way ) for no use .

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Why such low scoring pitches? The 1st T20 and now this? The WC will be played in conditions where 300 will be scored quite easily and thats where our testing period really is - the ability of the middle order to score runs quickly and make sure the target is around 350 or more than that.

P.S - Just noticed Dhoni playing with the SS bat not the regular Spartan one.

 

[Aalay]

When Jadhav bats like this, you wonder why he isn't in our t20 line-ups. Anyhow he is the perfect for the finisher role alongside Hardik in the ODI team. Dhoni at 5 with Jadhav at 6 and Hardik at 7 should be the way to go in the WC. Jadhav's hamstring is the only obstacle between him and that number 6 spot in the WC.

Dhawan
Rohit
Kohli
Raydu
MS Dhoni
Jadhav
Hardik
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

Reserve: KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik/Pant, Shami, Khaleel

 

[SaiSrini]

I sorta feel Kohli is our best bet for No. 4 in the WC. A gun player like Kohli, who can effortlessly shift gears and the kind of ease with which he does it, HE SHOULD TAKE UP that pivotal spot. What that will do is is a few things

1) Move Rayudu up to No. 3 (or let Rahul play at 3). If its Rayudu it allows him a little more extra time to get himself in and then he expresses himself. If its Rahul, he fits in there and causes havoc if he gets going

2) If its Rayudu, it creates space between him and Dhoni. This is important, because we do not want them batting together for most of the time. If both are relatively new to the crease, our scoring rate will just nose dive spectacularly. If it's Rahul, it's even less of a worry.

I think Rahul is destined to be picked as the backup opener for the WC (I did have reservations over him yes, but I'd rather pick Rahul over Pant; India can take only two wicketkeepers to the WC squad and Pant has to fight it out with DK for that 2nd keeper spot). Both Rahul and Rayudu have to fight out for the No. 3 spot. Kohli takes No. 4 and then the finishers (Dhoni, Jadhav, Hardik) follow.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Why such low scoring pitches? The 1st T20 and now this? The WC will be played in conditions where 300 will be scored quite easily and thats where our testing period really is - the ability of the middle order to score runs quickly and make sure the target is around 350 or more than that.

That's where you are getting it wrong. The idea is to bat out on tough surfaces and figure out the flaws in the batting line-up and work on it. It is sort of giving match practice to our middle order and give confidence to them to bat deep and score some good runs.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I sorta feel Kohli is our best bet for No. 4 in the WC. A gun player like Kohli, who can effortlessly shift gears and the kind of ease with which he does it, HE SHOULD TAKE UP that pivotal spot.

That's what I wanted from a long time. But I really don't see India do that. If he was to bat at 4 he would've done it a long before[DOUBLEPOST=1551587775][/DOUBLEPOST]

Dhawan
Rohit
Kohli
Raydu
MS Dhoni
Jadhav
Hardik
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

Reserve: KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik/Pant, Shami, Khaleel

That's pretty much the squad that Michael Hussey talked about in Cricbuzz. I think this can be an ideal squad. But I would want Jadeja in place of Khaleel

 

[SaiSrini]

Somehow, I feel Shami is going to give Bhuvi a massive run for that second seamer slot. It is amazing how much Shami has surged forward and has gotten to the point where Bhuvi can be in serious danger of losing out on games because India can only play two frontline seamers in the XI (due to their 2 seamers + 2 spinners + Hardik combo). When your third seamer is so good that he can give the second seamer a deadly fight, you know that your bowling is very healthy. Wish we soon get to the point where our fourth seamer is also on the same page.

 

[Velocity]

I sorta feel Kohli is our best bet for No. 4 in the WC. A gun player like Kohli, who can effortlessly shift gears and the kind of ease with which he does it, HE SHOULD TAKE UP that pivotal spot. What that will do is is a few things

1) Move Rayudu up to No. 3 (or let Rahul play at 3). If its Rayudu it allows him a little more extra time to get himself in and then he expresses himself. If its Rahul, he fits in there and causes havoc if he gets going

2) If its Rayudu, it creates space between him and Dhoni. This is important, because we do not want them batting together for most of the time. If both are relatively new to the crease, our scoring rate will just nose dive spectacularly. If it's Rahul, it's even less of a worry.

I think Rahul is destined to be picked as the backup opener for the WC (I did have reservations over him yes, but I'd rather pick Rahul over Pant; India can take only two wicketkeepers to the WC squad and Pant has to fight it out with DK for that 2nd keeper spot). Both Rahul and Rayudu have to fight out for the No. 3 spot. Kohli takes No. 4 and then the finishers (Dhoni, Jadhav, Hardik) follow.

Must we tamper with our best player's position? I don't like it one bit. Pushing Kohli down to #4 seems like a desperate move IMO. India needs a fit and firing Kohli for the WC, it doesn't seem worth the risk. It also seems highly unnecessary to move him down when India are four games away from the WC. I'd prefer Dhoni bat at #4, a slow scorer like him currently will be the most successful there more than anyone else. Personally, Jadhav and Karthik sound like ideal #5 and #6 at this point on but this seems unlikely to happen.

 

[abhi_jacko]

This Kohli at 4, right before the World Cup is a very silly idea. He is the best player in the side (and in the world) and he should be playing as high as possible. He has scored gallons of runs at this position and has proved umpteen times that he can control the game very comfortably from this position. There is absolutely no sense in tinkering with his position. We have enough unsettled positions as it is in this batting line up, to bring in another confusion.

That being said, the last win has given me a lot of confidence. The way Jadhav and MSD took the team to victory from a dodgy position was very promising. The one thing I am still not convinced about is our batting on good batting wickets, and our ability to chase down a big score once we lose the top 3. Hope we can get a couple of high scoring games in the next two matches

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

The one thing I am still not convinced about is our batting on good batting wickets, and our ability to chase down a big score once we lose the top 3. Hope we can get a couple of high scoring games in the next two matches

Ideally no side in the world can chase down big scores on any surface with losing their top 3 early in just 4-5 overs. There are few rare instances where teams do have done that, India themselves have done it few times. Though it is not necessary for top order to do bulk scoring but getting to a good start is always important. And as far as I remember this Indian team actually did that just before the 2017 Champions Trophy against England at home like from being 64/4 chasing 351 and winning it by 4 wickets, from being 25/3 to scoring 383/6 in 50 overs, from being 131/7 chasing 231 in 47 overs against Sri Lanka to winning it by 3 wickets, from being 87/5 to scoring 281/7 in 50 overs against Australia at home and even recently they scored 257 all out in 50 overs from being 18/4 in 6 overs in New Zealand. Infact in last 3 series our middle order is actually scoring runs and winning us matches. It is just that these things go unnoticed because of dismal performances like 112 all out, 92 all out, losing Champions Trophy final by 180 runs and losing ODI series in England and also because the game has become so fast we are not happy with 275-280 but we want 330-350. This side's middle order lacks a bit of experience to recover from such situations, but we are lucky enough to experience it for nearly 2 years before the WC. Somewhere I have a strong belief that this batting order is going to be tough to beat once we get into the WC just because of experiencing those failures. Let us not worry too much about future and focus on Present performances

 

[abhi_jacko]

Ideally no side in the world can chase down big scores on any surface with losing their top 3 early in just 4-5 overs. There are few rare instances where teams do have done that, India themselves have done it few times. Though it is not necessary for top order to do bulk scoring but getting to a good start is always important. And as far as I remember this Indian team actually did that just before the 2017 Champions Trophy against England at home like from being 64/4 chasing 351 and winning it by 4 wickets, from being 25/3 to scoring 383/6 in 50 overs, from being 131/7 chasing 231 in 47 overs against Sri Lanka to winning it by 3 wickets, from being 87/5 to scoring 281/7 in 50 overs against Australia at home and even recently they scored 257 all out in 50 overs from being 18/4 in 6 overs in New Zealand. Infact in last 3 series our middle order is actually scoring runs and winning us matches. It is just that these things go unnoticed because of dismal performances like 112 all out, 92 all out, losing Champions Trophy final by 180 runs and losing ODI series in England and also because the game has become so fast we are not happy with 275-280 but we want 330-350. This side's middle order lacks a bit of experience to recover from such situations, but we are lucky enough to experience it for nearly 2 years before the WC. Somewhere I have a strong belief that this batting order is going to be tough to beat once we get into the WC just because of experiencing those failures. Let us not worry too much about future and focus on Present performances

I did not really mean a top-order collapse in itself. I was talking more about games, where the asking rate starts creeping above 8rpo or more. I am not very confident of the team pulling off wins in such a scenario on a consistent basis

Nevertheless, we are winning ODIs regularly and are a lot more consistent than other teams, so this could amount to nit picking. Last game's performance was a very good one. The RPO could have easily gone over 8, but MSD and Jadhav paced the chase to perfection, and did not take it too deep either

 

[SaiSrini]

To me, both Rayudu and Rahul should be batting higher than Kohli (if they are picked) and I am suggesting for Kohli at No. 4 only because Rahul and Rayudu are likely to be the only options we will have for that No. 4 spot, unless we don't play both and have Dhoni at 4 and play DK at 5/6 along with Jadhav. To me, it's simple

If Rahul/Rayudu play, then Rohit at 1, Dhawan at 2, Rahul/Rayudu at 3 and Kohli at 4
If Rahul/Rayudu don't play (i.e. DK plays), then Kohli at 3, Dhoni at 4, Jadhav at 5, DK at 6

 

[abhi_jacko]

Another good opportunity for the middle order today. Let's see

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Days like today further strengthen my belief about Dhoni batting at 4. Forget him not being able to tonk it at will, he is the most reliable get out of jail batter in the line up and with him at 4, you can easily have Jadhav at 5 and DK at 6 followed by the all rounder.

I’m very impressed with Vijay Shankar. Two of his good innings where he looked good for a hundred have been nipped in the bud by run outs. He’s unfortunate to not have been tried earlier otherwise he could have been the no.4 and not Rayudu.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Jadeja is doing a fabulous job at 8. The offset between him and Chahal with the ball is minimal but his batting and fielding is just priceless. Also, without Bhuvi the tail becomes a bit too long with 8 9 10 and jack.