India Team Discussion

[SaiSrini]

Here is how the WC squad of 15 for India looks as of now, in my very honest opinion:

Batsmen (7):
Rohit Sharma
Shikhar Dhawan
Virat Kohli (c)
MS Dhoni (wk)
Kedar Jadhav
Ambati Rayudu
Dinesh Karthik

Allrounders (2):
Hardik Pandya
Vijay Shankar/Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers (6):
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar
Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yadav
Yuzvendra Chahal
Mohammed Shami
Khaleel Ahmed/Umesh Yadav

I don't think anyone else has a chance of sneaking into this side as of now. Talks of Rishabh Pant sneaking in, sounds overtly optimistic. Pant has not gotten a decent run in ODI's and for him to sneak ahead of Karthik or Rayudu or an allrounder is extremely remote. If he sneaks ahead of an allrounder, India's balance will be hurt because we already have two wicketkeepers in the side (Dhoni and DK) and a third WK at the cost of an allrounder is absolutely stupid IMO.

I think Vijay Shankar might have done his case a lot of good with that innings of 45 against NZ (atleast in my books). It was a super valuable innings that basically lifted India out of abyss and took them to a position from where they could dictate terms to NZ on a tough pitch. And he has shown in IPL and India-A tours recently that he can strike hard too. It should be a run-up between him and Jadeja for the 2nd allrounder spot in the squad. Also I am tilting towards Shankar because we already have a good third spin option in Jadhav (whom Rohit considers a 'proper spinner'). In such a case, Shankar can add in as a 6th seam bowling option since the WC is being held in England.

I am backing Khaleel as the 4th specialist seamer option ahead of Umesh. Historically, India have had atleast one left arm seamer in their most successful ICC tournaments (Zaheer/Nehra in 2003 ODI WC; RP Singh/Irfan in the 2007 T20 WC; Zaheer in the 2011 ODI WC). Though Khaleel is not the front runner to play in the XI for most games, I'd have him in the team ahead of Yadav who provides the same skill as Shami but with a lot less accuracy in terms of saving runs.

 

[aditya123]

Here is how the WC squad of 15 for India looks as of now, in my very honest opinion:

Batsmen (7):
Rohit Sharma
Shikhar Dhawan
Virat Kohli (c)
MS Dhoni (wk)
Kedar Jadhav
Ambati Rayudu
Dinesh Karthik

Allrounders (2):
Hardik Pandya
Vijay Shankar/Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers (6):
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar
Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yadav
Yuzvendra Chahal
Mohammed Shami
Khaleel Ahmed/Umesh Yadav

I don't think anyone else has a chance of sneaking into this side as of now. Talks of Rishabh Pant sneaking in, sounds overtly optimistic. Pant has not gotten a decent run in ODI's and for him to sneak ahead of Karthik or Rayudu or an allrounder is extremely remote. If he sneaks ahead of an allrounder, India's balance will be hurt because we already have two wicketkeepers in the side (Dhoni and DK) and a third WK at the cost of an allrounder is absolutely stupid IMO.

I think Vijay Shankar might have done his case a lot of good with that innings of 45 against NZ (atleast in my books). It was a super valuable innings that basically lifted India out of abyss and took them to a position from where they could dictate terms to NZ on a tough pitch. And he has shown in IPL and India-A tours recently that he can strike hard too. It should be a run-up between him and Jadeja for the 2nd allrounder spot in the squad. Also I am tilting towards Shankar because we already have a good third spin option in Jadhav (whom Rohit considers a 'proper spinner'). In such a case, Shankar can add in as a 6th seam bowling option since the WC is being held in England.

I am backing Khaleel as the 4th specialist seamer option ahead of Umesh. Historically, India have had atleast one left arm seamer in their most successful ICC tournaments (Zaheer/Nehra in 2003 ODI WC; RP Singh/Irfan in the 2007 T20 WC; Zaheer in the 2011 ODI WC). Though Khaleel is not the front runner to play in the XI for most games, I'd have him in the team ahead of Yadav who provides the same skill as Shami but with a lot less accuracy in terms of saving runs.

Seems like the side that will go into the WC. That will be my last comment with regards to the current Indian side. Looks like Indian cricket and the Indian cricket supporters community doesn't like constructive criticism online these days, and every comment is just a step away from you being labeled as `anti-national' or an Indian cricket hater. From now I will refrain from commenting on the Indian side online.

 

[SaiSrini]

Seems like the side that will go into the WC. That will be my last comment with regards to the current Indian side. Looks like Indian cricket and the Indian cricket supporters community doesn't like constructive criticism online these days, and every comment is just a step away from you being labeled as `anti-national' or an Indian cricket hater. From now I will refrain from commenting on the Indian side online.

Hmm... @aditya123 - if you are referring to the comments made on your posts in the "India tour of NZ" thread, don't take them seriously. There are people who give a lot of weight to your posts/thoughts since we know that you have been passionately following Indian cricket for a very long time and you have seen multiple eras and you are better placed to maturely evaluate the changes that Indian cricket has gone through.

I dont think the current generation of followers who have started during the T20 generation can make you refrain from commenting on Indian team. If it happens, please know you have a set of people (like me and others) who will support you

 

[Velocity]

I think Vijay Shankar might have done his case a lot of good with that innings of 45 against NZ (atleast in my books). It was a super valuable innings that basically lifted India out of abyss and took them to a position from where they could dictate terms to NZ on a tough pitch. And he has shown in IPL and India-A tours recently that he can strike hard too. It should be a run-up between him and Jadeja for the 2nd allrounder spot in the squad. Also I am tilting towards Shankar because we already have a good third spin option in Jadhav (whom Rohit considers a 'proper spinner'). In such a case, Shankar can add in as a 6th seam bowling option since the WC is being held in England.

IMO, Jadeja provides a better bowling option than Shankar. Shankar does not seem to a be an adequate 5/6th bowler. He seems to be a more competent batsman to play in the middle order, but it doesn't seem worth bringing in him as a second allrounder. If one of the wristies get injured or if Hardik gets injured, the team balance isn't affected a whole lot and still allows India to play three specialist steamers and two spinners with Jaddu being one of them.

 

[SaiSrini]

IMO, Jadeja provides a better bowling option than Shankar. Shankar does not seem to a be an adequate 5/6th bowler. He seems to be a more competent batsman to play in the middle order, but it doesn't seem worth bringing in him as a second allrounder. If one of the wristies get injured or if Hardik gets injured, the team balance isn't affected a whole lot and still allows India to play three specialist steamers and two spinners with Jaddu being one of them.

I too have the feeling that Jadeja will be picked as the second allrounder although I feel Vijay Shankar can be better for the reasons I had mentioned in that post.

 

[Master Bates]

Why axar Patel has been dropped? He was in the squad during Asia Cup. But now? Nothing. I have a feeling he is better than Jadeja. He can smash the ball better than him. But we know he is not in the scheme of things despite performing well for A team.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Please check Shastri's interview on Cricbuzz. A more humble piece you will not find.

 

[aditya123]

Please check Shastri's interview on Cricbuzz. A more humble piece you will not find.

Why should he be humble? Indian cricket only came into existence since Shastri and Kohli took over. They are the best ever to grace the field of sport.

 

[zwarrior]

Lastly Vinay Kumar should be the last person to say so, considering his "excellent Indian records"

What do you mean by that ? If a person doesn't have good Indian records, shouldn't he tell anything ?

Agree about what happened to Pujara (how crowd behaved and stuff) is pathetic. But I don't agree that if a player doesn't have good Indian records, he shouldn't say anything. He has achieved good amount of things in domestic circuit. Moreover I don't see anywhere about Vinay Kumar's comments ( please direct me if there is any ). He was just upset and rightly so.

 

[Master Bates]

Why should he be humble? Indian cricket only came into existence since Shastri and Kohli took over. They are the best ever to grace the field of sport.

Good joke. I accept Kohli but come on! Shastri? He is Mr. Goti and. Drunkard.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Good joke. I accept Kohli but come on! Shastri? He is Mr. Goti and. Drunkard.

He was sarcastic.[DOUBLEPOST=1549476475][/DOUBLEPOST]Is it just me or is anyone else a little worried about Shastri's bright idea of Kohli batting at 4? It's as bad as asking Tendulkar to not open in limited overs. Hope Kohli realises that he's the best bloke to have at 3 and 3 is a more important position than 4. He can set the tempo of a chase and set a target the best in the world. There's no good reason for anyone else to bat at 3 than Kohli.

 

[SaiSrini]

He was sarcastic.[DOUBLEPOST=1549476475][/DOUBLEPOST]Is it just me or is anyone else a little worried about Shastri's bright idea of Kohli batting at 4? It's as bad as asking Tendulkar to not open in limited overs. Hope Kohli realises that he's the best bloke to have at 3 and 3 is a more important position than 4. He can set the tempo of a chase and set a target the best in the world. There's no good reason for anyone else to bat at 3 than Kohli.

True. And this tells me that the confidence that the team management (which includes Kohli) is showing in "Rayudu at No. 4" is not completely genuine. I wonder what is this sudden love for Rayudu and this newfound rigidity in making sure he plays in the XI, that they have to tinker with Kohli's spot? It's better not to play Rayudu and play Dhoni at No. 4 and have Kohli at his best spot of No. 3. And giving excuses like "protecting Kohli in bowler friendly conditions" is total nonsense. As much as I am a strong opponent of his personality and the influence of his personality on India captaincy, I would put my foot down and say that Kohli's batsmanship needs no protecting. He has shown in the recent England and Australia tour that he can bat in any condition. And a WC is not going to have challenging batting conditions as ICC will not want teams (especially a team like India) bundled out for cheap.

An India game will in all strong likelihood, have good batting pitches that provide entertainment to the audience and it will be a test of who scores more in the end, that will influence the result.

 

[Morphed]

What do you mean by that ? If a person doesn't have good Indian records, shouldn't he tell anything ?

Agree about what happened to Pujara (how crowd behaved and stuff) is pathetic. But I don't agree that if a player doesn't have good Indian records, he shouldn't say anything. He has achieved good amount of things in domestic circuit. Moreover I don't see anywhere about Vinay Kumar's comments ( please direct me if there is any ). He was just upset and rightly so.

He has no right to be upset considering that he himself was wrongly given not out in the quarter finals

 

[zwarrior]

He has no right to be upset considering that he himself was wrongly given not out in the quarter finals

He was bowling to Pujara and was not given out. There is no bowler who wouldn't be upset with that ! And in consecutive two innings Pujara survived ! Moreover the point you made was w.r.t to his Indian records and how he shouldn't comment.

You mean to say he nicked and umpire didn't give out ? I didn't see that ! Which innings ?

 

[Morphed]

He was bowling to Pujara and was not given out. There is no bowler who wouldn't be upset with that ! And in consecutive two innings Pujara survived ! Moreover the point you made was w.r.t to his Indian records and how he shouldn't comment.

You mean to say he nicked and umpire didn't give out ? I didn't see that ! Which innings ?

I believe it was the quarter final match
As for the Indian records point, yeah I had gone a bit too far. Apologies