India in Australia

[smssia0112]

Really looking forward to Boxing Day now, booked my tickets and am hoping to get there for the anthems and prematch amble.

My tip: Australia by at least 6 wickets or at least 100 runs. A competitive first day to be followed by some Australian fight that results in a fairly comfortable win first up.

 

[sohum]

If we go on record then Kartick does not do bad either. And he has been opening for India this year. Sehwag has lot of uncertanity attached with him. Dhoni is also a doubtful player for these conditions. Yuvraj can anyday walk into side over Dhoni.

Dinesh Karthik has scored 4 first class centuries and doesn't even have a double to his name and you speak of comparing his record with Sehwag's? Yuvraj obviously cannot walk any day into the side over Dhoni because he obviously wasn't in the team for the first two tests against Pakistan when all our batsmen were fit.

Well 12 man team has been announced and Pankaj, Sehwag,Kartic and Pathan have been left out. This means final spot fight is between Bhajji and Ishant. Therefore Ishant will score in this department. I still think Zaheer should not have been risked in first test of the series. Last time also he bolwed in 1 innings and then wnet home. A 10 day rest will mean he will be available for whole tour.

That's bad news. Why take 3 openers in the team if you only use one?

Apart from 1 inning in England Dhoni has done nothing of note in foreign conditions. Also England does not have bouncy tracks as Australia. He will not get bowls to drive in Australia.

And how do you know Karthik will excel in these conditions? Karthik has only really had two good series--which is fewer than the number of good series Sehwag has had, for one.

Kartick has been our best batsmen oversees and hes also an openor.

In all of one or two series you have already elevated him to our best overseas batsman? How fickle.

 

[Cricketman]

Ishanth is going to get plundered IMO.
Anyone know the start time EST?

 

[Adarsh]

11.30 pm. Not good, but I'll try to watch as much as possible. Can't wait for this to start !

 

[SciD]

Ishanth is going to get plundered IMO.
Anyone know the start time EST?

It will start at 6:00 AM in India.

In all of one or two series you have already elevated him to our best overseas batsman? How fickle.

Well he has been top scorer if you consider the SA and England tours. Look im no fan of Kartick. To me he should be no where near the team. But that does not mean I will have Sehwag opening. Hes horrible with bat these days. Last time he came to Australia he was having scores behind his name. To give side stability it would have been nice if Kartick was picked ahead of Dhoni. That would have given us a openor and keeper with Yuvraj in side.

Dinesh Karthik has scored 4 first class centuries and doesn't even have a double to his name and you speak of comparing his record with Sehwag's? Yuvraj obviously cannot walk any day into the side over Dhoni because he obviously wasn't in the team for the first two tests against Pakistan when all our batsmen were fit.

Sehwag has played almost 10 times more games than Kartick in domestic level. Yuvraj is best batsmen in India right now. You have to admit it. If we had aussie way of selecting then definately one of the four oldies would have been sitting at home spending christmas with his family. No comparison can be made between Yuvi and Dhoni. Dhoni is only in team because of his wk skills not because hes batter bat than Yuvraj.

Ok, here is my playing 11 (considering that Zaheer is injured) :

1) Wasim Jaffer
2) Rahul Dravid
3) Sachin Tendulkar
4) Sourav Ganguly
5) VVS Laxman
6) Yuvraj Singh
7) Mahendra Dhoni +
8) Irfan Pathan
9) Anil Kumble C
10) RP Singh
11) Ishant Sharma

Obviously the weak point here is our bowling, unless we want to play Bhajji and use Dada as our 3rd Seamer, but that is a gamble as the Aussies tend to slaughter part-timers, even in tests. RP wiil have to spearhead our attack along with Pathan.

This is what our final XI will be considering the final 12 list of players released.

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

 

[Leggie]

Well he has been top scorer if you consider the SA and England tours. Look im no fan of Kartick. To me he should be no where near the team. But that does not mean I will have Sehwag opening. Hes horrible with bat these days. Last time he came to Australia he was having scores behind his name. To give side stability it would have been nice if Kartick was picked ahead of Dhoni. That would have given us a openor and keeper with Yuvraj in side.

Ask anyone on tis forum and they will obviously pick Dhoni ahead of Karthik, Dhoni is better at Keeping and batting and he is not only in the side because of his team work ability, and even if he was, he's doing a pretty good job at it. As we have seen Karthik has stuggled considerably outside the offstump against the seriously quicker men (i.e. Shoaib Akhtar), therefore I have a doubt that he will strugle again against the likes of Tait, Johnson and Lee. And maybe to add to his problems will be the consistency of Stuart Clark, teasing him outside the offstump, etc....

 

[SciD]

If India has to win the series it has to bring some surprise to Australia. These two teams have played so much in last few years and most of guys remain same. Therefore I think Jaffer could be a joker in pack for us.

 

[Leggie]

If India has to win the series it has to bring some surprise to Australia. These two teams have played so much in last few years and most of guys remain same. Therefore I think Jaffer could be a joker in pack for us.

Meaning?

 

[King Cricket]

One last question,
This time, which team will "WORLD CHAMPIONS" support?

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I think India should pick Pathan instead of Ishant. Ishant's bowling is too raw and he bowls too many extras. In Australis mistakes have no mercies.

 

[Cricketman]

Ask anyone on tis forum and they will obviously pick Dhoni ahead of Karthik, Dhoni is better at Keeping and batting and he is not only in the side because of his team work ability, and even if he was, he's doing a pretty good job at it. As we have seen Karthik has stuggled considerably outside the offstump against the seriously quicker men (i.e. Shoaib Akhtar), therefore I have a doubt that he will strugle again against the likes of Tait, Johnson and Lee. And maybe to add to his problems will be the consistency of Stuart Clark, teasing him outside the offstump, etc....

Erm..I wouldn't.
Karthik is the best keeper in India. Dhoni is mediocre at best behind the stumps, and face it, he's in the side for his batting. He hasn't done anything considerable with the bat outside the Sub Continent apart from at Lords, whilst Karthik is the opposite. Karthik is technically a better cricketer, he's a team player, and he's good at taking tough catches.
Dhoni has problems when he gets cramped for room outside the off stump, and with the short stuff. We saw that when Anderson had Dhoni trapped twice in that channel in the England series.

Struggled against the quicker men? Only Shoaib has troubled him. He's faced Lee, McGrath, Ntini, Steyn, all in there home grounds considerably well.
Your claims are bogus.

One last question,
This time, which team will "WORLD CHAMPIONS" support?

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I think India should pick Pathan instead of Ishant. Ishant's bowling is too raw and he bowls too many extras. In Australis mistakes have no mercies.

Who cares? I'm pretty sure he'll pick Aus, but who cares really.

Ishanth shouldn't be near Australia in my opinion. He's raw, just like you said. They're going to pwn him if he's in the side

Meaning?

I think he means the trump card - Our edge to victory...I doubt it'll be Jaffer even if he's in good from.

I don't know why everyone is slotting Tendulkar at 3. It's got to be Laxman - He's genius up there. Tendulkar, Ganguly to follow, then Yuvraj, Dhoni.
I hate this set up. The balance is ruined. Only positive is Laxman at three. If we chose 3 openers, lets play two of em, at least!

 

[zub2005]

i read on cricinfo that dravid is playing and yuvraj. so looks like dravid and jaffer to open. i would not play ishant sharma not in the 1st test i would go with pathan. any idea who they will be going with.

 

[icyman]

Indian attack will be headed by Zaheer & RP.
Kumble will be the lone spinner.
Ishant will be playing in Melbourne.

 

[Adarsh]

I think Dhoni's better than Karthik. When I first saw Dhoni, I thought he was awful - poor technique and ugly shot making. However, he's proved most people wrong. He's aggressive, which is important in Tests too. His keeping has improved greatly, and after seeing Karthik keep against Pakistan I have to say Dhoni's better.

Batting wise, he's shown his destructive power. He's also shown that he's got the temperament to bat according to the situation. Batting with the tail which a no.7 would often have to do means that he needs to be aggressive. Therefore, Dhoni > Karthik.

 

[Leggie]

I think Dhoni's better than Karthik. When I first saw Dhoni, I thought he was awful - poor technique and ugly shot making. However, he's proved most people wrong. He's aggressive, which is important in Tests too. His keeping has improved greatly, and after seeing Karthik keep against Pakistan I have to say Dhoni's better.

Batting wise, he's shown his destructive power. He's also shown that he's got the temperament to bat according to the situation. Batting with the tail which a no.7 would often have to do means that he needs to be aggressive. Therefore, Dhoni > Karthik.

Yeah, he hasn't changed his technique or anything, it just doesnt look ugly anymore because he's proved how effective it is...:cool:

 

[aditya123]

Do the teams assemble for the Anthems before every test match in Australia ?
I believe we should have the anthems played before every cricket game.
It just adds to the atmosphere, especially at venues like the MCG and Eden Gardens which can hold close to 1,00,000 people !