India in England Jun-Sept 2014

[ParkedTheBus]

Very happy with the squad. Pankaj has been one of the best bowlers in Ranji trophy, if not the best. What confuses me is the inclusion of Gambhir and Binny. It can be safely said that there were many players who performed better than Gauti in Ranji. Binny does not seem to be cut for tests, so that is a worry as well.

 

[Epic]

Gambhir's basically there as a back-up opener, I really can't name any other openers off the top of my head that deserved to go, so I'm fine with it, but yeah, Binny, makes no sense, good thing he'll be nowhere near the first XI.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Well whether good form or not Ranji has happened 3 months back. Current form current touch is what I believe in and Gambhir was definitely needed to stabilize as I know one of Vijay and Dhawan is going to fail badly and Vijay's chances are more Binny is just a lucky chap.

Did anyone notice what I guess Dhoni did with Bangladesh squad He gave captaincy back to Raina who wasnt even on Asia cup squad on form. Hasnt done great well in IPL as well. He just dint want Gambhir back in reckoning for captaincy I am very sure. He wants all the power

 

[Epic]

Current form, current touch as in IPL form? Well let's get Uthappa to open for our Test team then.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Current form, current touch as in IPL form? Well let's get Uthappa to open for our Test team then.

Thats not what I meant

 

[Aalay]

What the almighty tweak? How the almighty tweak can Stuart Binny get in test team? Rishi Dhawan should have been there instead of him. Why is Umesh Yadav not there in test team? He was excellent against England in the home series in 2012 but then he got injured and never got a chance again. Some very strange decision by including Ishant Sharma again. He has not improved as a bowler. I can't comment much about Pankaj Singh because I haven't been following his career. Does anyone know how he has been doing in domestic?

Other than that, pretty much expected squad. Good to see Gambhir back in the squad but he needs to remove that push that he does to the third man. He does that way too often and it will definitely won't work in England where there is decent bounce.

So we are likely to see this tam for the first test. If I have to pick my team, I would remove Ishant and bring in Ishwar or Varun Aaron.

Murli Vijay
Shikhar Dhawan
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma
MS Dhoni
Ajinkya Rahane/ Ravindra Jadeja
R. Ashwin
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Ishant Sharma
Mohammad Shami

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It's sad that our selectors fail to realize that Umesh Yadav is an excellent test bowler and Varun Aaron is a good ODI bowler. They always mix them up and end up getting bad result. In the end, they both get dropped.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

The only reason I can see for Stuart's inclusion is his dibbly-dobblers I agree with those pressing for Rishi's inclusion as well, he was very good in Ranji. It would've been nice to see Jadhav or Khadiwale in the test squad, but yeah, they're still unproven on the national front.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Stuart Binny is a joke. I hate saying this, but I am sure if his last name was not "Binny" he wouldn't even be in the reckoning for India B side. Reminds me of Rohan Gavaskar.

Very very disappointed to see Umesh Yadav not being given a go in England.

Don't mind Ishant, because despite everything, he did get two 6fers (and 15 wickets)in the 2 tests in NZ. It wasn't the most convincing effort, but he got wickets.

But whatever the squad, the teams fate will lie in the hands of one man - MSD. Will he continue his abysmal captaincy/selection in overseas tours ? Or will he nut up and go with 4 front line bowlers with Jadeja/Ashwin as the spinning allrounder ?

---

Anyone know what speeds can Pankaj Singh hit ?

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

130ish is what Pankaj Singh bowls. Agarkar mentions him a workhorse who will give you plenty of overs in one spell.

 

[Champagnepapi]

Rasool or Rishi would have been a much better than Binny, what do Indian selectors see in him that we don't?

 

[abhi_jacko]

I believe the selectors find his last name very cute as it sounds like bunny

 

[vaibhavtewatia]

Is Roger Binny a national selector?

 

[PokerAce]

First of all why Tests before ODIs, surely having them play the ODIs first would help them be better prepared for Tests, or I guess its India and it doesn't matter anyway. and a 5-0 defeat ensues regardless.

Test Team
_________

Shikhar Dhawan (Had an excellent CT last year in same tough conditions)
Gautam Gambhir (Its high time his exodus finishes. There is no one else)
Cheteshwar Pujara (Auto Pick)
Virat Kohli (Auto Pick)
Lokesh Rahul (Promising At 22, Avg 68.83 leading Karnataka to Ranji win)
MSD (Auto Pick)
R Ashwin (Auto Pick)
Bhuvenshar Kr. (Last year at CT, used new ball very well in the conditions)
Md. Shami (Make it or break it If he can't deliver on seaming wkts then where)
Varun Aaron (Should be told to just go flat out. Indian who bowls 145+ )
Amit Mishra (Largely cos the Eng cannot play spin to save their lives. Some teams sure figured out how to att him, but not England)
_____

M Vijay (Its really says a lot about the state of openers in India when M Vijay is still around in consideration. What has he done of late)
H Sharath (20 yr fast medium from Karnataka, needs the exposure and good backup. Played a key role in Karnataka win).
Zaheer Khan (Should go on the tour as 'mentor' and is not exactly the worst backup in the world)
S Binny (Because he is afterall the best allrounder we have)

Lokesh Rahul is also a keeper and so could fill in for MSD. So no more keepers required.

 

[Aalay]

Is Roger Binny a national selector?

Yes, poor Rishi Dhawan.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Shikhar Dhawan (Had an excellent CT last year in same tough conditions)