India in England/Ireland/Scotland

[sohum]

Not a very pleasant outing for Dhoni as captain for the first time. It was good to see him delay the powerplays a bit when the England Lions were going well. I think India wanted to get a good look at the bowlers here, because we'll have to trim down from the four in the squad to three. Though Zaheer's performance may influence his selection, I now believe we'll go with Zaheer, Munaf and RP. I think RP just edged out Agarkar, but let's see what Dravid believes on the day.

 

[manee]

Not a very pleasant outing for Dhoni as captain for the first time. It was good to see him delay the powerplays a bit when the England Lions were going well. I think India wanted to get a good look at the bowlers here, because we'll have to trim down from the four in the squad to three. Though Zaheer's performance may influence his selection, I now believe we'll go with Zaheer, Munaf and RP. I think RP just edged out Agarkar, but let's see what Dravid believes on the day.

How did Munaf bowl? Pace? Accuracy? Seam movement?

He has so much talent, it pains me to see him wasting it from a simple lack of loosening prior to and after a spell which results in him not getting loose, sometimes for a whole spell and being incredibly stiff after a spell, which impacts on his fielding.

 

[sohum]

How did Munaf bowl? Pace? Accuracy? Seam movement?

He has so much talent, it pains me to see him wasting it from a simple lack of loosening prior to and after a spell which results in him not getting loose, sometimes for a whole spell and being incredibly stiff after a spell, which impacts on his fielding.

Not too much swing or seam movement. He was accurate for the most part but suffered at the hands of Wright and his economy shows that. He also bowled a lot of short deliveries that really did nothing and were pulled away easily by Solanki and Wright. He looked to be getting back into rhythm but still easily living up to his tag as lazy. On one occasion the batsman (I believe Bopara) chipped an easy caught and bold chance maybe half a foot to the right of Munaf, and he did not even attempt to take the catch.

 

[Leggie]

well i think powar will just edge chawla and the three seamers will be RP, zaheer and munaf, although munaf hasnt hit form yet. with powar batting at 8

 

[sohum]

well i think powar will just edge chawla and the three seamers will be RP, zaheer and munaf, although munaf hasnt hit form yet. with powar batting at 8

India has actually looked happy with going 6-5 in the last few ODI matches we have played. I strongly feel our team could look something similar to the one below:

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sourav Ganguly
3. Yuvraj Singh
4. Rahul Dravid*
5. Dinesh Karthik
6. MS Dhoni+
7. Piyush Chawla
8. Ramesh Powar
9. Zaheer Khan
10. RP Singh
11. Munaf Patel

Early wickets would obviously put us in a lot of trouble but with Chawla and Powar able to handle the willow a bit, we may not be in too much trouble.

 

[manee]

He has such a massive problem with getting loose. I just saw the figures and his first over went for 16 runs. As is the case with most people who suffer from stiffness (like me), I bet he got better in his later spells.

Was there a speed gun? If not, how quick did he look like he was bowling.

 

[Leggie]

India has actually looked happy with going 6-5 in the last few ODI matches we have played. I strongly feel our team could look something similar to the one below:

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sourav Ganguly
3. Yuvraj Singh
4. Rahul Dravid*
5. Dinesh Karthik
6. MS Dhoni+
7. Piyush Chawla
8. Ramesh Powar
9. Zaheer Khan
10. RP Singh
11. Munaf Patel

Early wickets would obviously put us in a lot of trouble but with Chawla and Powar able to handle the willow a bit, we may not be in too much trouble.

this would be risk i feel, because we all saw how england ripped through our top order at the oval, i think we need one more batsmen, because chawla has never faced the likes of panesar, anderson and flintoff....

 

[sohum]

He has such a massive problem with getting loose. I just saw the figures and his first over went for 16 runs. As is the case with most people who suffer from stiffness (like me), I bet he got better in his later spells.

Was there a speed gun? If not, how quick did he look like he was bowling.

There was no speed gun. I'm not sure how quick he was but the batsmen were playing him with ease. Probably limited by 140. He was getting quicker towards the end, though, and also getting some away swing.

this would be risk i feel, because we all saw how england ripped through our top order at the oval, i think we need one more batsmen, because chawla has never faced the likes of panesar, anderson and flintoff....

Yeah... although we went with a similar side in the 2nd ODI match against South Africa (though we were suffering from injuries galore during that time). I think we may play it safe but I think Chawla may get picked just because he's a leg-spinner and thus a rare commodity in itself.

 

[Leggie]

I'm quite confident that this will be the line-up, not necessarily the batting line up though....:

1)Sachin Tenudlkar
2)Sourav Ganguly
3)Robin Uthappa
4)Rahul Dravid*
5)Yuvraj Singh
6)Dinesh Karthik
7)Mahendra Dhoni+
8)Ramesh Powar
9)Zaheer Khan
10)RP Singh
11)Munaf Patel

12) Piyush Chawla

But i think if Powar doesnt take any wickets or contribute with the bat when nessecary in the first 2/3 matches i think Chawla will come in for him....

 

[sohum]

Don't know why we would play Uthappa at three if he is a specialist opener. It would be like the time India played Sehwag, Uthappa, Ganguly and Tendulkar in the same match, thus having 4 openers and 3 middle-order batsmen.

 

[pal]

I think Gambhir will most likely be in the side after his innings against Scotland.

 

[Leggie]

I think Gambhir will most likely be in the side after his innings against Scotland.

yes but there was an article on Cricinfo that Gautam Gambhir needs to step it up to the big teams, not minnows, (no offence to scotland, they really showed a fight).

 

[baburao]

I think the time has come to groom one player as a number three player for the future.

 

[manee]

Don't know why we would play Uthappa at three if he is a specialist opener. It would be like the time India played Sehwag, Uthappa, Ganguly and Tendulkar in the same match, thus having 4 openers and 3 middle-order batsmen.

I think Ganguly absolutely has to go 1, 2 or 3. Sachin Tendulkar is a fantastic ODI opener and as the Future Cup showed (especially the second ODI), he can still attack at the top of the order and if his body is attacked, he will bring out the pull shot; as long as there is noone at deep square leg. Robin Uthappa is a specialist opener and can make use of the powerplays very well with attacking strokeplay, often ungraceful, but very effective.

So...in theory

1) Tendulkar
2) Uthappa
3) Ganguly

Would be best...

But then there is the issue of Gautham Gambhir who scored well against Scotland. He scored briskly without looking in any trouble whatsoever. However, in List A cricket, Uthappa not only has the higher average, but also the higher strike rate and it does not seem that the step up to international cricket affects him too much; for that reason, I feel he will be the better long term choice in one day matches. Not only that, but I feel that with the solidity of Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj and Dhoni (when needed, he is very solid), an attacking opener would be the perfect fit into the team.

 

[Leggie]

I think the time has come to groom one player as a number three player for the future.

you don't say.....: