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When straight and square boundaries are 60 to 65 meters long, 300 runs aren't enough
I heard Indian batsmen played about 150 dot balls. Thats 25 overs!! Even with the best of six hitting ability, to play half of the innings as dot balls is criminal.When straight and square boundaries are 60 to 65 meters long, 300 runs aren't enough
What you are talking about is an IDEAL situation which can actually be worked out with Hardik and Jadeja/Washington at 6 and 7 but apart from them, we don't have anyone who can be called as reliable genuine allrounder (Shardul, Axar and Deepak Chahar are obviously bowling allrounders) and I am afraid neither of them would make a cut based on their batting.
IIRC, Kedar Jadhav was a keeper early on before he started to roll his arm over. Now this might not be the most appealing option given the performance in the recently concluded T20I WC but KL Rahul can try and emulate something similar so can Shreyas (would really solidify his spot at 4 against Sky in ODI team) and Gill.
Rahul has been phenomenal at 5 with the bat if you ask me but then again, he would be keeping wickets if he wants to make a cut. That leaves us with Rohit who used to bowl off spin earlier. Not sure what induced him to give up bowling. An extra option is always a bliss if any/both of Hardik and/or Jadu gets injured. That way, we would be able to play an extra batsman/specialist keeper such as Sanju/Pant/Kishan.
Rohit
Gill
Virat
Shreyas
Rahul (keeper)
No matter what the experts say, I absolutely loved watching Umran bowl today. Was a breath of fresh air. This format suits him well compared to T20I where he would have less chance to turn the tables if he gets tonked early on. I am eagerly waiting for Natarajan to get at his best. He is such an exciting bowler too.
Can we have an all left arm pace attack once again for India with Natarajan-Arshdeep-Mohsin in the future? Reminds me of Zaheer-Nehra-Irfan-RP Singh era. Pakistan did the same few years ago by having the likes of Mohammed Irfan-Junaid-Amir-Wahab in their ranks. England are trying follow suit with Willey-Topley-Mills-Curran in their ranks.
Given the recent success of left armers, it is evident that all teams are looking to have left arm seam options in their ranks which (the inclusion of left arm pace bowlers) was reflected in the T20I World Cup as well.
When straight and square boundaries are 60 to 65 meters long, 300 runs aren't enough
New format, same old template. 300 on NZ grounds in this day and age is easy. Totally destroyed us today.
You know what he'd really benefit from, going to do a season in the BBL like Haris Rauf had done when he was still a raw talent.I must say Umran is winning me over slowly as a prospect for the future and a player who can contribute now. The times he went awry in this game were only due to inexperience. In a sense he looked like he belonged to this stage of international cricket unlike in those T20I games he played once. The India A games have definitely helped him out. With some proper guidance he can easily be our most threatening pacer in the WC that’s two years away.
I get your point about the team formation and I am all in for Shahbaz but the thing is he will have fight with Jaddu for a place and at this point, Jaddu has made #7 of his own. Good shout though. Shahbaz is a better option for ODIs rather than Axar or even Washington upto a certain extent in my opinion. I personally would want Axar nowhere near the ODI/T20I team. He is good in Tests but his slight lack of batting may become an issue in ODIs. For T20Is, I don't think he gives confidence as a bowler.We do have all-rounders in domestic cricket. The problem as always is that we seem content to shoehorn them into roles where their secondary skill is gradually laid to waste away until it challenged infrequently.
I’d say Shahbaz is the closest we have to a true all-rounder other than Hardik in Indian cricket. He’s got a track record of also being Bengal’s Ben Stokes chipping in with vital performances in either discipline when needed. Any other team would have earmarked such a talent and groomed them for the national side but he’s just been in and around the squad a few times with a couple of games so far.
Our attitude towards bowling all-rounders is also terrible IMO. Just off the top of my head.. these are the names that other sides have played at various points in international cricket at seven….
Ashton Agar
Mitchell Santner
Chris Woakes
Liam Plunkett
Sam Curran
Akeal Hosein
Jason Holder
Chamika Karunaratne
Rashid Khan
Mehidy Hasan Miraz
None of these guys are close to being called a proper all-rounder who can bat in a good top six. Yet teams have played them when needed because every side knows that it is far more important to have six bowling options even at the cost of a weakened batting order because the sixth specialist batter is seldom useful. A sixth bowling option is always useful. The only exception to this was South Africa until they got Markram capable of bowling when needed. It’s also important to note that Markram was always kept in and around the team despite his horrible returns as they wanted him to focus mainly on bowling improvement. Now will the Indian side or it’s fanbase afford such patience towards a Shreyas Iyer for instance if he loses form temporarily whilst practicing his bowling? We see our fans call for the heads of Rahul who was world class just 18 months ago and Hooda who is the readymade option that you crave for because he can’t bat properly against good bowlers. Why is Shreyas going to risk throwing away his chance at making the Indian side as a pure batter in the vain hopes of chasing the all-rounder dream without any backing?
No effing Lord can beat the King's Medium Pace SupremacyGood Lord!
WTH? I don't recall VK bowling that many. I could hardly remember 5-10.Good Lord!
WTH? I don't recall VK bowling that many. I could hardly remember 5-10.
Good Lord!
WTH? I don't recall VK bowling that many. I could hardly remember 5-10.
Stat says that he has bowled that many 107 overs yep . 641 balls ...