England In India - October 2011/12

[ZoraxDoom]

Munaf, Sree, PK, Ishant with Raina and Yuvi turning their arms over (This is assuming Gambhir isn't fit).

If Gambhir is fit, Raina becomes our strike spinner with maybe Mukund getting a go.

Works for me.

 

[cricket_icon]

Raina a strike spinner??? no no no

 

[Sureshot]

I don't think we knew Zaheer was going to break down. He has been resting for an entire WI series ffs

Mismanagement of the amount of overs he's bowled led to the injury. Bowlers are not like batsmen, batsmen can be rested for series and if you have the luxury of having good backup it's good to do so, bowlers not so, they need to consistently bowl. Not bowling a couple of overs in some domestic T20 money maker.

His body had been subject to one First Class game before the Test, at Somerset. The last time he'd bowled any sort of hard innings would have been the two Tests against SA at beginning/turn of the year.

The WI was a perfect time to get his body ready for a massive series.

 

[War]

The WI was a perfect time to get his body ready for a massive series.

I dont think you can say that to be fair you know.

Lets not forget the reason Zaheer and a few other took a break for the Windies tour was the amount of cricket they were playing for the last 6 months and Zaheer being their strike bowler in all formats was clearly feeling the effects of the workload.

Since last October they had

- Home series vs AUS & NZ
- tour to SA
- W Cup and IPL in India

All of this non stop cricket. So if anyone should be blamed here is the BCCI for putting their team through such a strenous schedule, which will continue to be packed for the remainder of 2011/12.

----------

Harbhajan can never equal the exploits and respect earned by Kumble who has been India's best spinner.

I think that accolade still belongs to Subhash Gupte.

 

[barmyarmy]

Sreesanth has bowled well against England before (although his sledging needs some work). If the other bowlers can provide control then India can bowl him in bursts.

 

[Themer]

Sreesanth has bowled well against England before (although his sledging needs some work).

He has but he doesn't half look out of shape at the moment. Looked like Dwayne Leverock's younger brother in the tour game.

 

[6ry4nj]

Munaf, Sree, PK, Ishant with Raina and Yuvi turning their arms over (This is assuming Gambhir isn't fit).

If Gambhir is fit, Raina becomes our strike spinner with maybe Mukund getting a go.

Works for me.

Out of Munaf and Sreesanth, I don't quite know which one I would be more afraid of picking.

Sreesanth can actually be good, albeit rarely. Munaf will only ever be good enough, but he does do it far more consistently.

One thing is for sure. If you pick them both, you are handing us a 2-0 lead in the series. I wouldn't be complaining, I'm just saying...

 

[SaiSrini]

Praveen and Ishant wont go anywhere. I dont see Harbhajan going anywhere too (although he should, but for Mishra). And I dont see India play 5 bowlers. So its between Sree or Munaf.

 

[Themer]

(although he should, but for Mishra)

Mishra? After how he went against Somerset?

Yes please.

 

[Sureshot]

I dont think you can say that to be fair you know.

Lets not forget the reason Zaheer and a few other took a break for the Windies tour was the amount of cricket they were playing for the last 6 months and Zaheer being their strike bowler in all formats was clearly feeling the effects of the workload.

Since last October they had

- Home series vs AUS & NZ
- tour to SA
- W Cup and IPL in India

All of this non stop cricket. So if anyone should be blamed here is the BCCI for putting their team through such a strenous schedule, which will continue to be packed for the remainder of 2011/12

IPL doesn't count, it's 4 overs bowling, an hour in the field and he doesn't bat.

The workload is a lot, I'm not saying it isn't, but Test cricket builds up the bodies strength, not the hit and giggle stuff in the IPL and of course World Cup is more overs, but it's still only 10 in a day, not the 20-25 or so he'll be bowling in a test day.

Also, I was blaming the BCCI, they are responsible for the management of their international players.

 

[sifter132]

All this talk of 4 fast men for India would not help Dhoni's attempts to defy the clock for the rest of the year. He'd definitely be suspended if they have no spinner, he can't get the overs in with one there...

 

[Sobi]

I think India should give this a try:

Bring in Sreesanth in place of Zaheer and replace Harbhajan Singh with Yuvi. Sreesanth should be a better choice for the 3rd pacer as the only other choice is Munaf and he isn't that experienced in Test cricket so India are better off going with Sreesanth. On the other hand, Yuvi is better off replacing Harbhajan than Raina because Harbhajan gives away 150+ runs and takes only 1 wicket where Yuvi can give away that many runs and still be able to get atleast 3 or 4 wickets. Yuvi can also bat so we will have an extra batsman.

Squad should be:

Mukhund
Gambhir
Dravid
Sachin
Laxman
Yuvi
Raina
Dhoni
Sreesanth
Praveen
Ishant

This is perfect!!!!

 

[Owzat]

Broad, Pietersen, Prior, Trott and Anderson all did enough in the 1st Test so they should get the series (in Broad's case not a given beforehand) Tremlett probably too, although I thought I saw somewhere today he might be a doubt. Bell just about, he, Strauss and Cook will be looking for runs.

Swann is our number one spinner, can't see him being left out despite a modest performance (2/114 and 24 runs)

Morgan is the one player I've always wondered if he should be in the Test side. He averages a modest 34.08 from 10 Tests, had a pretty good series against Sri Lanka but didn't make most of two starts against Bangladesh and made two 70s against Sri Lanka without going on. Since his 130 against Pakistan he's made 232 runs in 11 innings @ 23.20. I'd keep him for ODIs, bring in a batsman who can bowl a bit of spin preferably, but bowl something like as well as Collingwood would be very handy (Bopara?) He may well get the rest of the series, I'd be looking ahead to the tour and rest him for the ODI series

 

[cricket_icon]

very good point Owzat, originally I was all for Morgan being in the test side, but after recent performances I firmly believe Bopara would be a better choice, since he is more than handy with both the bat and ball.

 

[Themer]

I firmly believe Bopara would be a better choice

Bopara? No way.

Bring someone like Taylor in, someone with a good domestic record for once!