India in Australia

[Cricketman]

Is it raining consistently in Melbourne?, if so, I will not bother staying up the whole night...Are the conditions that bad that days could be washed out?

Anyway here is my starting lineup for Melbourne (If there is play) :

1) Wasim Jafffer
2) Rahul Dravid
3) Sachin Tendulkar
4) Sourav Ganguly
5) VVS Laxman
6) Yuvraj Singh
7) Mahendra Dhoni +
8) Anil Kumble C
9) Zaheer Khan (OB1)
10) RP Singh
11) Ishant Sharma (OB2)

The reason why I'm not picking Pankaj Singh, is because you can't just throw a young player in on his debut against Australia in a match that is vital in India's chances of winning the series. The reason I'm not picking Irfan Patha because his new ball bowling abulities don't seem to be that deadly anymore and I havent picked Virender Sehwag because all the batsmen in my team have fully deserved their place in the team and you can't just put Sehwag in there just out of the blue....

If you're going to open with Dravid, you've got to have VVS at 3. You've just got to. He's probably the third best number three in the game, and it sucks for him that he's in the same team as the best.
I don't like to see Dravid opening, though. I'd much rather give it to Sehwag, or even Dinesh. Yuvraj will have to sit out until there's a slot open that actually makes sense.

Jaffer
Dinesh/Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Irfan
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh

That's my ideal line up. It's worked for us the last two tours, and it should click again.

 

[sohum]

I've been told before on this forum (excuses) that Tendulkar often loses his concentration against part-timers.

Tendulkar often puts too much pressure on himself while playing part-timers by being over-defensive. Instead he should attack poor spinners by carting them out of the ground like he did to Adil Rashid in the tour match in England.

Yuvraj will have to sit out until there's a slot open that actually makes sense.

That's the key point! You're destroying the whole team balance otherwise just to get one guy in. Wait till the middle order clears up a bit.

 

[Leggie]

Why is everyone leaving Yuvi out?!, you simply can't, you have to get him in the team whatsoever!

People are saying that one good inings doesn't secure your place in the test team, but its not one good innings, its a flippin' excellent year he's had!....

And I think this article...rests my case

http://in.sports.yahoo.com/071223/48/6os2n.html

 

[RoboRocks]

I might of said this somewhere before but is there a case for Dravid to open and Yuvraj to go in the middle order? Since Dravid has not done bad opening. He did put on over 300 with Sehwag once.

 

[manee]

Why is everyone leaving Yuvi out?!, you simply can't, you have to get him in the team whatsoever!

Not a valid arguement when you currently have the second best middle order in Test cricket.

 

[Adarsh]

It's second best to no one, in the form they're in.

 

[Cricketman]

I might of said this somewhere before but is there a case for Dravid to open and Yuvraj to go in the middle order? Since Dravid has not done bad opening. He did put on over 300 with Sehwag once.

Yep. 410, or something like that.
It was against a horrible Pakistani attack on one of the flattest decks of all time.

Just take a look at Mike Hussey. He was over 30 when he got into the side, and he has been in Bradmanesque form like all his life. Yuvraj, similar to Huss, just has to wait his turn.

If India are prepared to drop Dhoni, then Yuvraj has a slot in the side. Dhoni, in my eyes, is not suited for this form of the game. He has trouble against short pitched bowling too - as seen in the tour against England.

 

[valvolux]

Gonna be a cracker of a series...but why is the media giving Australia such a hard time (again) about their sportsmanship/cockiness when there is no justification besides their great performances? Is it purely to pump up this series which, let's be honest, lost all of its hype since Australia won in India? I'm sick and tired of the opposition teams pulling the behavior card..and in most cases against india the race card...to try and make them justify their success? It's not fair at all and if anything damages the game. Here is a bloody good team with over a decade of stunning performances to back it up coming up against a side that has a bloody good batting lineup that could trouble a new bowling attack. No need to look back at what...and certainly not what has not..happened before. There are no cocky predictions being made until the media asks for it....there is no ill feeling between the two sides until the media pushes them together to create the conflict....give us a break and let's just see some good cricket. Having said that I think Aus will win 4-0 weather depending....but is that prediction entirely unrealistic or made only because I hate india? No way! I have the greatest respect for the indian greats and know only too well of what they're capable of...as do the Australian players....even this Ganguly character who we are supposeldy expecting to turn up in a golden coach. It's because I believe we have a better team and believe that any less a result is not a reflection of how I know Australia can perform. Best of luck to both teams.

 

[sohum]

Why is everyone leaving Yuvi out?!, you simply can't, you have to get him in the team whatsoever!

At the expense of destroying the balance? I think not.

 

[SciD]

Gonna be a cracker of a series...but why is the media giving Australia such a hard time (again) about their sportsmanship/cockiness when there is no justification besides their great performances? Is it purely to pump up this series which, let's be honest, lost all of its hype since Australia won in India? I'm sick and tired of the opposition teams pulling the behavior card..and in most cases against india the race card...to try and make them justify their success? It's not fair at all and if anything damages the game. Here is a bloody good team with over a decade of stunning performances to back it up coming up against a side that has a bloody good batting lineup that could trouble a new bowling attack. No need to look back at what...and certainly not what has not..happened before. There are no cocky predictions being made until the media asks for it....there is no ill feeling between the two sides until the media pushes them together to create the conflict....give us a break and let's just see some good cricket. Having said that I think Aus will win 4-0 weather depending....but is that prediction entirely unrealistic or made only because I hate india? No way! I have the greatest respect for the indian greats and know only too well of what they're capable of...as do the Australian players....even this Ganguly character who we are supposeldy expecting to turn up in a golden coach. It's because I believe we have a better team and believe that any less a result is not a reflection of how I know Australia can perform. Best of luck to both teams.

I think you should read your post again and you will find answer to your first statement.

The great West Indies side of past is still respected around world for its and its public behaviour. The same cant be said about Australia and you just proved it.

 

[.Mob]

I don't think Jaffer will be keeping this form for very long, so I can see Karthik or Parthiv being in with a shot of the other opening by the end of the Australian series.

 

[aussie1st]

Well Hogg has pretty much secured his spot based on the weather, can't see the selectors picking Tait over Johnson.

 

[smssia0112]

I think you should read your post again and you will find answer to your first statement.

The great West Indies side of past is still respected around world for its and its public behaviour. The same cant be said about Australia and you just proved it.

No, but you just proved his. That's what he said, not what the players said. Everyone confuses players' cockiness with fans' cockiness! Australia can be arrogant at times, but so can everyone. Adam Gilchrist for starters is one of the most well respected and most modest players in the international game, whilst Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath can be arrogant in the media.

Graeme Smith, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, just to name a few off the top of my head. All are arrogant characters, yet the Aussies get criticized the most. Why is that? Because the Australians are the ones who have the results to back their arrogance up.

If a little kid walks up to you and says, 'I'm the greatest,' you think he's cute, but if a 24 year old says it, he is considered arrogant. The reason is that he has something to prove or back it up with. Ricky Ponting is one of the best batsmen in the world, and Australia is the best outfit in the cricketing world. If they are talking themselves up, it is showing off what they have done.

But if Harbhajan Singh says that India are not afraid to stick it to the Aussies, no one bats an eyelid at him because he is being confident about facing a better opposition, not showboating his impressive results.

Sure, some people turn against players such as (Graeme) Smith and Harbhajan, but almost universally (except Australia), the Aussies are considered the most arrogant and unsportsmanlike, because they have the results and they are bragging about it.

And I don't know how many of you are thinking of the same West Indies side as I am, but they were certainly not a friendly bunch of guys.

Well Hogg has pretty much secured his spot based on the weather, can't see the selectors picking Tait over Johnson.

They shouldn't either. Johnson has done nothing to warrant losing his spot, and should keep it as far as justice goes. It's Tait v Hogg for me, and whilst I hope that Tait gets up, it is rather obvious that Hogg will get the nod.

 

[manee]

No, but you just proved his. That's what he said, not what the players said. Everyone confuses players' cockiness with fans' cockiness! Australia can be arrogant at times, but so can everyone. Adam Gilchrist for starters is one of the most well respected and most modest players in the international game, whilst Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath can be arrogant in the media.

Graeme Smith, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, just to name a few off the top of my head. All are arrogant characters, yet the Aussies get criticized the most. Why is that? Because the Australians are the ones who have the results to back their arrogance up.

If a little kid walks up to you and says, 'I'm the greatest,' you think he's cute, but if a 24 year old says it, he is considered arrogant. The reason is that he has something to prove or back it up with. Ricky Ponting is one of the best batsmen in the world, and Australia is the best outfit in the cricketing world. If they are talking themselves up, it is showing off what they have done.

But if Harbhajan Singh says that India are not afraid to stick it to the Aussies, no one bats an eyelid at him because he is being confident about facing a better opposition, not showboating his impressive results.

Sure, some people turn against players such as (Graeme) Smith and Harbhajan, but almost universally (except Australia), the Aussies are considered the most arrogant and unsportsmanlike, because they have the results and they are bragging about it.

And I don't know how many of you are thinking of the same West Indies side as I am, but they were certainly not a friendly bunch of guys.


They shouldn't either. Johnson has done nothing to warrant losing his spot, and should keep it as far as justice goes. It's Tait v Hogg for me, and whilst I hope that Tait gets up, it is rather obvious that Hogg will get the nod.

Harbhajan Singh is an arrogant disgrace, but I think that Sreesanth truly gets lost in the moment.

 

[.Mob]

To be honest, I've never liked Harbhajan, ever.

But, Sree really is not arrogant, he is actually a good guy, he just gets little pumped. If he can find some way of controlling himself if he takes a wicket, he'll be fine.