Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia) Dec-Jan 2011/12

[Sedition]

Yeah, pretty happy with the way the new selectors are going about things. It's not like our squad or playing XI is some heavily guarded government secret.

Unless Marsh's fitness was in question again, I'd be giving him another shot. Hopefully the back isn't an issue and he plays a bit more freely in the next test.

Lyon's the only other one I had question marks on, just not getting the opportunities with the pace-friendly tracks and day 5's being non-existent.

Still not convinced on Harris, but with 3 other quicks on fire to back him up, he shouldn't have a huge workload if he's played.

 

[Haarithan]

India in Australia 2011-12: Sydney pitch likely to resemble last year's | Cricket News | Australia v India | ESPN Cricinfo

That will do nicely. Backing the Aussies now to win both the 2nd and 3rd test. And goes without saying that OZ need to employ a four man pace attack for the SCG test as well.

 

[swacker]

Nobody expected us to put even such a performance up in the first test of a series.

Must be nearly time for the ancient middle order to give way, starting with Laxman.

 

[Cricketdude]

Must be nearly time for the ancient middle order to give way, starting with Laxman.

I would wait at least until the end of the series for Laxman. He has been known to do well against Australia. Speaking as an aussie I would be happy to have Laxman out of the side.

 

[Ahmad94]

I would wait at least until the end of the series for Laxman. He has been known to do well against Australia. Speaking as an aussie I would be happy to have Laxman out of the side.

Can't see why, as a keen follower of cricket, Laxman is a waste of space in the last few tours for India might aswell bring in Sharma who might give them a century with the form hew is in rather then leave him on the bench

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

where is the "laxman is in rubbish form" stuff coming from?

he hit 176 against the windies (highest score of the year for an indian) and ended with an average of 99. in the tour before he made 3 half centuries and averaged 48. in the tour in south africa his 96 in the second innings was the reason india won the game, and hence drew the series, the next highest scorer that innings was 32.

that's pretty good, ok he was rubbish in england. except for dravid who wasn't?

 

[sifter132]

I think they needed another warmup match. Tendulkar, Kohli and Laxman made 50s in the warm ups games, but none of the other Test top 7 did, and they didn't even seem to want to play, with Rahane and Rohit Sharma getting 3 innings each compared to 1 for Dhoni and 1 for Dravid for example. For another the game was in Canberra - I thought England was smart last year by playing warmups on grounds where the Tests were going to be held (the 'A' game at Hobart aside). Their other 3 games were at Perth, Adelaide and MCG.

And of course for the record I don't like playing 4 quicks. In the last Test match, I just didn't find myself saying, 'geez wouldn't another fast bowler be handy right now'. The only time was when Hilfenhaus was bowling his 13th over on the trot and India were 6/80 or something like that, and I realised that Lyon would have to come on sooner or later.

I'll say it again, 4 fast bowlers are great when you are going to run through a side on a green pitch, but if you are going to run through a side, why do you need 4, when 3 will be fine? The other thing is if you can't run through a side, then you'll be facing partnerships and when partnerships form any captain will tell you he wants something different to try to break them eg. Mike Hussey bowling at Dravid/Tendulkar. Having a spinner is a great way to have that 'something different'. And then of course if you have to bowl all day there is the overrate issue which was masked in Melbourne by bowling India out in part days, but it was poor.

Looking at last summer's scorecards too- yes the first innings was dominated by pace, but in innings 2 and 3, Beer and Swann bowled the most overs - oh and England batted for 2 days straight so it was hardly a green top at that point. I'd love to see some faith shown in Lyon and for them to play him at Sydney. No he wasn't particularly effective last match, but his bowling vs NZ was excellent - he deserves a vote of confidence IMHO.

 

[aussie1st]

I'll say it again, 4 fast bowlers are great when you are going to run through a side on a green pitch, but if you are going to run through a side, why do you need 4, when 3 will be fine?

There were times when a 4th quick would have looked good with hindsight. 1st innings against India in particular just after Hilfy knocked over Dravid, we took him and Pattinson off and brought Lyon waiting for the new ball. You could see the ease at which India were at his end compared to Siddle. If anything it shows how important Watson's bowling is to the side. I would say we would have rolled India a lot quicker with him bowling, he after all is our reverse swing king.

Anyway I have no problem picking Lyon at the MCG or at the SCG. Perth is one pitch where you might consider it, just have to see how England went with the best spinner in the world and the part timer of Collingwood.

 

[War]

Dropping Lyon for SCG if the pitch is similar to last years Ashes test, to play 4 quicks is not showing a lack of faith in Lyon.

Its just a simple case of realizing that in the absence of Watson, the attack could use the 4th seamer. Since IND wont bat this badly all the time although its a very vulnerable top 7 and you risk over-bowling the main pace trio.

Lyon isn't as good as Swann as spinner for eg, he is not indispensable, so if conditions are pacer friendly he could be rested.

 

[VC the slogger]

Dropping Lyon for SCG if the pitch is similar to last years Ashes test, to play 4 quicks is not showing a lack of faith in Lyon.

Its just a simple case of realizing that in the absence of Watson, the attack could use the 4th seamer. Since IND wont bat this badly all the time although its a very vulnerable top 7 and you risk over-bowling the main pace trio.

Lyon isn't as good as Swann as spinner for eg, he is not indispensable, so if conditions are pacer friendly he could be rested.

Its a good move to bring Ryan Harris in.Now India will really feel the heat down under.

 

[SaiSrini]

For SCG, I would replace Kohli with Rohit Sharma and also I would have Rohit Sharma bat after Sachin Tendulkar with Laxman batting either before or after Dhoni. Playing Laxman as late as possible gives us the cushion of having an established batsman come in later thereby making sure our tail doesnt start too early. In fact I would play Laxman after Dhoni purely for the fact that Dhoni is alwayd gobbled up when the second new ball comes in, and with Laxman coming after Dhoni, chances of Dhoni having 10-15 overs with the old ball are higher and thats when he can get good runs.

I feel we will bat much better in SCG. Hope the guys have learnt from their mistakes. All this talk of the game at SCG being a make or break for Gambhir is nonsense. He didn't play the England series properly due to injuries. And I expect him to get his flow back soon enough. He has to play the entire series and then we can judge him.

 

[ArcherMcKinley]

Well, here's something for ya: Mickey Arthur reckons the Australian bowling attack could become the best in the world.
--
I've got to say, the way things are going, this seems highly probable. I might be calling the shots early, but Dale Steyn is going to be getting some serious competition.
The only part Australia have been lacking in, is a match-winning spinner. They've tried quite a few different ones in recent years but none have managed to impress.. until now.
--
Nathan Lyon may be fairly in-experienced but he's an attacking spinner and will certainly be worth playing. The more he plays, the better. I think the selectors should be willing to gamble on that.
--
It's time Australia start aiming to climb up the rankings in tests again. I know that it is indeed hard to continue to play like they used to - after loosing extremely valuable players(I don't need to list them) but it's been roughly 3 years now.
--
Australian attack could become world's best - Arthur | Cricket News | Global | ESPN Cricinfo

^

 

[macintosh]

I don't think India needs to make too many changes in the next match,
we lost the plot in the 1st innings when we collapsed from 3 for 214 to 282 allout,
we needed to post a better score in the 1st innings, a lead of 50 to 60 runs would have easily put more pressure on the Australian batsmen.
I think Dhoni should bat at number 6 and play his natural game, at 7 he is not sure of what role he has to play, and he is not able to build his innings with tailenders at the other end.
Our bowlers did a good job, but failed to cleanup the tail on both the occasions.

Overall, it wasn't such a bad performance, I m hoping for a better show in the next match.
My only concern is Zaheer, if he gets injured after bowling for 1 or 2 days, then it will be a really difficult task for us

 

[Aalay]

I am not expecting any change in the side for 2nd test even though I would replace Kohli for Rohit but Dhoni will not do it.

Hoping for a better batting performance from Indians.

 

[SaiSrini]

Talk less, work more. I prefer that the Indians keep their talk minimal and not blast off their mouths like what their opponents are doing right now.