India tour of New Zealand - Jan to Feb 2014

[shravi]

If Dhoni gives up the captaincy in tests, he might just retire from that format. My gut feeling is that as long as Dhoni is in the test team, he will remain the captain.

 

[grkrama]

^Think that's what is going to happen he will probably retire from test after WC2015 and pass it off.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

The sub continent matches are back and hope to see India win the Asia cup up first.

 

[War]

Is it time to look beyond Dhoni to lead test matches? - The Economic Times

 

[ferg512]

Would either Jadeja or Ashwin be good enough to bat 6? I really think India need to look at this because its helped us out immensely having Anderson at 6 bowling a few overs giving the other bowlers a rest. Jadeja must have more in him batting wise to have a FC average of 50, but he looked like a slogger in this series.

 

[asprin]

Ashwin is definitely a better batsman then Jadeja while Jadeja seems to be 15% better than Ashwin in bowling (overseas). Playing them both is a luxury India can't afford and playing without either of them is not an option too.

I'm not too convinced about Jadeja's batting abilities. He might have 3 300+ scores in domestic cricket but, as you said, he always seems to be in slog mode. The reason I think is because he doesn't have the necessary skills to play the waiting game/concentrate over a large period of play.

 

[grkrama]

^ any body that gets a triple will have concentration and patience, also jadu fielding is better than Ashwin, but he definitely needs to play as an allrounder bat at 7 bowl as 5th bowler.

 

[karolkarol]

Surely India could accommodate Jadeja at 6, Dhoni at 7 and Ashwin at 8. That's solid enough isn't it? Plus with 3 seamers it gives you 5 good bowling options.

 

[asprin]

^ Yes, good point about fielding. I missed that. But I still consider Jadeja as someone who doesn't have it in him to grind it out in the middle.

A) He doesn't have the temperament
B) He doesn't have the skills

Those triple hundreds might well have been made at a terrific strike rate. The point I'm trying to make is that you won't find Jadeja with a score of 29 (152) against his name.

 

[grkrama]

But I still consider Jadeja as someone who doesn't have it in him to grind it out in the middle.

When he started i also thought of him like that soemone who doesnt have it in him, but he has surprised us a bit in the last year and seems to be improving even in batting, before this series he wasnt even slogging properly. I think he may play a good knock or two in the coming series, if not his place also needs to be reconsidered, he cant be in the team of his bowling and fielding alone.

Surely India could accommodate Jadeja at 6, Dhoni at 7 and Ashwin at 8. That's solid enough isn't it? Plus with 3 seamers it gives you 5 good bowling options.

Problem is ashwin hasnt been effective overseas, jadeja keeps one end tight, Ashwin also does the same less effectively, so it will end up again as a 3 bowler attack, we need some wicket taking bowler there.

 

[Aalay]

Well you clearly won't know if Jadeja has the temperament or not until you allow him to bat higher up the order. His 3 triple centuries have came from batting at number 4 for Saurashtra. When he comes out to bat at number 8 for India, he has no option but to slog because of the tailenders at the other end. Than again, I don't know how we will be able to fit him in the top order because it is pretty much packed.

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Opinion: MSD can't win without proper bowlers | Cricket features

 

[grkrama]

^ nohit sharma is always there....... isnt he

 

[harishankar]

Unfortunately that article linked above defending Dhoni is flawed because it does not take into account his bizarre selection policies.

Easy to blame the lack of bowling resources. Which everybody knows is kind of true. But then how do you make changes to that set up without some changes in selection policy of overseas teams?

Dhoni as captain must take some blame for selecting underperforming players over and over again. Even when losing, he continues playing the same eleven rather than giving a newcomer a chance to change things around. As a result, everything remains predictable for the opposition and poorly performing players keep losing confidence over time.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Did some digging - Jadeja's strike rates during his 3 300's - 66, 54 and 83. So he definitely did grind it out on the first two instances. He clearly has the temperament to hold on for long innings. In SAF and NZ, one felt that he was intimidated by the situation of being the last recognized batsman and tried to hit his way out of the situation (almost 'pull'ed it off too). So maybe moving him before MSD might give him a little more confidence.

As a bowler, he is equivalent to Ashwin I would say. 36 wkts in 8 tests is pretty damn good imo. Infact, he might be more effective when it comes to breaking solid partnerships. The 6 wkts he got in SAF, 4 out of his 6 wickets were settles batsmen playing on 50s or 100s. And one of them was Kallis who was in proper blocking mode (115 in 315 balls).

I think if he works really hard he could turn out to be incredibly valuable. He has age by his side too

 

[used2bcool]

Ashwin generally looks a solid batsman (more so than Jadeja), but his bowling's just not up to snuff outside of India. A radical solution would be to try to convert Ashwin to a batsman who bowls - ala Steve Smith. He can then come in at six (it's not like Rohit Sharma is ever going to work outside of India), Dhoni at seven, Jadeja at eight, plus you get the occasional wicket out of him (provided that his captain gets used to him not being a strike bowler).

I think Jadeja needs a change of approach for test batting. I don't think he doesn't have the skill. But he needs to put more thought into his batting. You get the feeling that he treats himself as a bowler who bats a bit, but he needs to get over that thought when he's batting and apply himself as a batsman.