I think after the series against zimbabwe the Indian seam attack may undergo changes.B Kumar has secured his place in ODI. But I Sharma and Yadav has not been upto expectations. Oh yes theuy picked wickets in the triseries but has been too costly and has not been so convincing. India has sent many young seamers to Zimbabwe like Mohit,Shami Ahmed and Unadhkhat.One of them may replace Yadav or Sharma in the SA tour.
Are you kidding me? Umesh Yadav is a certainty for the SA tour atleast for the test matches. Yadav has had better success in the tests, and he should play for India in the tests against SA. He is a frontline bowler for us in tests. I would also keep Ishant Sharma too for the test matches due to his experience. Sreesanth would have been a good pick for the SA tests, but then he tarnished his image/reputation so badly with the spot fixing thing that you can't even think of him anymore in India cap. Bhuvi needs his test cap soon, and the rest would be Shami Ahmed and Unadkat. Unadkat for the left arm variety, and the fact that he has played test cricket for India before.
I would`nt write off Zaheer yet for tests. He is only 32/33 and still can get in a couple of years of test cricket. From the news, it looks like he has been training hard under a professional fitness trainer in France. Knowing Zak, every time he comes back fit, he looks different as a bowler. I would go with the same seam bowling squad as yours with Zaheer coming in for Unadkar.
I would`nt write off Zaheer yet for tests. He is only 32/33 and still can get in a couple of years of test cricket. From the news, it looks like he has been training hard under a professional fitness trainer in France. Knowing Zak, every time he comes back fit, he looks different as a bowler. I would go with the same seam bowling squad as yours with Zaheer coming in for Unadkar.
Lets not forget, along with all the energy and enthusiasm you would still need pedigree and skill in the tests in SA.
The good thing is, Varun Aaron in recovering well. He can definitely move the ball off the pitch, and much much faster than anybody in India. Looking forward as to where he lands up in the coming 6 months.
As you would remember, he wasn't a part of the team which toured down under, because just before that, he had some kinda injury! I was really excited to see Aaron and Yadav bowling in tandem in Tests down under, but unfortunately, it was not to happen. For the update, a month ago he has started training again, and has shown good signs of recovery.Where the Mark is Varun Aaron?
Jaydev Unadkat is total waste. He is not quick and does not even move the ball. I am not sure why selectors have picked him. I still remember him playing insted of injured Zaheer Khan in a test match against South Africa on a green track even though we had Umesh Yadav in the squad and he bowled total ----. He has definitely matured since than but still he is not that special.
So nobody except me wants Kaif and Jaffer back
Its time for you to forget about their returns. India is moving forward, it would be totally stupid to move backwards now. What's Kaif doing/did anyway right now in domestic cricket? Regarding Jaffer, scoring runs for Mumbai or a domestic team is different from scoring for India. A lot of domestic veterans/run machines have failed badly for India. Examples are S Badrinath, Sridharan Sriram, Amol Muzumdar, Jaffer, etc.