India tour of South Africa

[Yash.]

He can be definitely tried again if he hits form and puts himself into contention. For now, Karthik, Pant or even Parthiv Patel is set to take Dhoni's spot once he retires. Sanju needs to try to get ahead of them by scoring runs and keeping well.

I dont trust his keeping. He is more of like a part time keeper for me. He can be kept as a pure batsman tho.

 

[zwarrior]

Manish Pandey could've utilised this opportunity but what he did was just to increase his average, played a defensive run a ball game.

I don't think so. If you saw the match yesterday, he was trying to connect the ball but failed to time it well and the bowlers especially Morris and Shamsi bowled really well in the middle overs and in the end of innings.

 

[Targaryen]

I don't think so. If you saw the match yesterday, he was trying to connect the ball but failed to time it well and the bowlers especially Morris and Shamsi bowled really well in the middle overs and in the end of innings.

It happens when you don't get chance to play even after getting selected to the squad after performing in domestic circuit.

 

[Velocity]

It happens when you don't get chance to play even after getting selected to the squad after performing in domestic circuit.

So by stating that, you can't just blame Pandey for scoring at just a run a ball even though he hasn't played a game in South Africa. A bit unfair, but he deserves some more chances. I see him as one of those blokes that can win you games.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

From the period after the 2007 WC debacle till the time MS was the limited overs captain, our biggest strength in my opinion was our stability. This is not just a term, it means selecting people for roles and giving them a fair go at it. I understand people develop but Rahane was no.4 in the 2015 WC and I've not seen an ounce of development in his limited overs game. To complicate matters, the game has taken a giant leap forwards in the middle overs and unless one of our top 3 shepherd his tortoise like pace in the middle overs, it's harakiri to even think of him at 4. You have to handpick 4 blokes now and run with it for 4-7 in limited overs. Dhoni and Pandya pick themselves.. it's about the two other batters and for me that's Pandey and Raina. At this point our only other options are Jadhav and Yuvraj? I don't think we can pick someone new and take them into 2019 now. It's too late.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Pandey is a very solid batsman, whoever doubts it might not have seen him play enough. I agree this management has to define roles for players. We need to have players playing at fix positions. I don't see Iyer in the ODI XI tbh. I somewhat agree with the view that Rahane is not suited in ODIs in any position other than an opener so I will have him as a backup opener. But I still feel if this management would have defined the roles much earlier and not pressurised people who are not natural big hitters of the ball to go out and smash each ball, Rahane could have sealed that no. 4 spot for himself with Dhoni at 5.

We look at our team now, only the top 3 are fixed. After that it depends on Ravi Shastri's wild fantasies who will come out. The constant chopping and changing will come to haunt the team for sure. I hope it doesn't happen in the major comp. like WC. Atm people are blinded by individual brilliances of players like Kohli and can't see the major problems in this setup. There will be matches they will fail and that is when people will see the obvious. Shastri is a complete idiot!

 

[AliB]

Harsha on the Top 3:

 

[abhi_jacko]

I hope Raina grabs the T20 opportunity to get back into the ODI squad. We sorely miss some extra part timers too who can roll over their arms for 2-3 overs when needed and get wickets against the run of play. Earlier we had Sehwag, Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj who could do that and do it well.

Now the top 3 and wicket keeper are complete non-bowlers. Rahane, Pandey, Iyer are the same. Jadhav and Raina become important for this purpose. Moreover, our bottom are pure bowlers. Bhuvi does better in Tests than in ODIs with the bat. So we have a long tail as well. I feel like resurgence of Raina could really serve us well in balancing the ODI side

 

[abhi_jacko]

Pandey is a very solid batsman, whoever doubts it might not have seen him play enough.

Pandey has been the X Factor for KKR in IPL ever since their resurgence. Winning them close game with his big hitting and also being able to control the game in the middle overs. I think he would be a much better fit in the lineup than both MSD and Rahane as a batsman. He has a solid sweep shot and loves to play down the ground. Both major assets in today's limited overs game

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I think while all these squad building exercises are on, if I was the coach of India, I would really try and develop Bhuvi's power game with the bat. I think we are really weak from 8-11 and the reason I say Bhuvi is because he's a 5 star cricketer but extremely unassuming. He takes on responsibility and roles without making a big deal about it and just goes about his business. His evolution and improvement as a cricketer, along with his very undeniable and underrated batting talent tells me he can really become a bloke who can give me 15-20 of 10 odd balls when needed.

We are talking little things, but that's what makes unbeatable sides.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I think while all these squad building exercises are on, if I was the coach of India, I would really try and develop Bhuvi's power game with the bat. I think we are really weak from 8-11 and the reason I say Bhuvi is because he's a 5 star cricketer but extremely unassuming. He takes on responsibility and roles without making a big deal about it and just goes about his business. His evolution and improvement as a cricketer, along with his very undeniable and underrated batting talent tells me he can really become a bloke who can give me 15-20 of 10 odd balls when needed.

We are talking little things, but that's what makes unbeatable sides.

Oh no! I would not do that. We have already lost Irfan Pathan in doing that I cannot see Bhuvi going that line

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Oh no! I would not do that. We have already lost Irfan Pathan in doing that I cannot see Bhuvi going that line

Bhuvi is not Pathan. His commitment is beyond our understanding. A bloke whose body structure is that of a batsman now bowls 135-140, bowls up front, in the middle and at the death is not a season's swan song. He's a cricketer who will just keep getting better.. his career graph is proof of it. Also, I'm not expecting him to bat any higher than 8. Just some tweaks and some muscle to put away a few lusty one's at critical stages.

 

[SaiSrini]

Hooda is more like the spin version of Pandya. We can't have him at #5 I feel. Same with Tripathi. Suryakumar is a good shout and although I like his batting I feel he's a bit inconsistent in T20s. How about his Mumbai team mate, Shreyas Iyer? He's pretty consistent. He plays in the top order domestically but he can switch gears easily so #5/#6 spot might suit him if we don't consider Lokesh Rahul or Kedar Jadhav.

I've lost all confidence in Sanju's batting tbh. I don't see him making it big in India colors anymore.

Disagree. Sanju Samson is currently being sidelined and put in the backburner because Pant came in and his slam bang style of batting triggered the neuron receptors of the general public who want someone of the mould of Dhoni when he first entered the scene. They thought Rishabh Pant will be that answer. I would actually say Sanju Samson is a far better batsman technically than Rishabh Pant and can hit the big shots as effortlessly as Pant. If you give him some backing, Sanju Samson can easily break into the Indian test team and replace Wriddhiman Saha.

Some FB pages have been comparing Kohli's captaincy with Dhoni's captaincy in terms of a statement made by Kohli during presentation ceremony of ODI series. Some don't even understand English lol. Kohli credited his wife for his own performance in the series but people say that Dhoni was always crediting the whole team for series win. Seriously? There has been a huge difference between the individual performance and team performance right?

Getting back, Dhawan has been brilliant throughout this tour. A very good asset for oversea games. He can shift the gears and can play all the shots. While there was surely zero need for switching Raina and Kohli's batting positions. Seems that Shastri wants to keep Raina away from the squad. And due to internal pressure, they had to give a chance to Raina. And Shastri is trying his best to keep him away. Manish Pandey could've utilised this opportunity but what he did was just to increase his average, played a defensive run a ball game.

Dhoni is no more a T20 product. Better to move on imo. Bhuvi has been fantastic. It's good to see a player improving so much in past 2 years. A clever bowler who can think even in pressure situation. Unadkat has been average. Same goes with Chahal and Bumrah. But given the conditions, they were good enough. Hardik was a bit expensive though.

I too felt the same (that Raina was pushed out there unnaturally) but I kept it to myself because I didn't want arguments. But glad to see someone else also share the same sentiment. It was highly unnatural for the team to push a guy who is making a comeback after more than a year, into a spot that has been owned by the best batsman in the world right now across any format. And this is a team management that has been averse to making any experiment, be it a dead rubber or against lower ranked teams, etc. They dont mind even if Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli saunter the team to victories without giving the middle order batting time.

 

[Yash.]

Disagree. Sanju Samson is currently being sidelined and put in the backburner because Pant came in and his slam bang style of batting triggered the neuron receptors of the general public who want someone of the mould of Dhoni when he first entered the scene. They thought Rishabh Pant will be that answer. I would actually say Sanju Samson is a far better batsman technically than Rishabh Pant and can hit the big shots as effortlessly as Pant. If you give him some backing, Sanju Samson can easily break into the Indian test team and replace Wriddhiman Saha.

His keeping is nowhere near Saha’s. Saha is just too good a keeper to be replaced for batting, especially in Tests where the quality of your keeper is very important.

 

[zwarrior]

His keeping is nowhere near Saha’s. Saha is just too good a keeper to be replaced for batting, especially in Tests where the quality of your keeper is very i portant.

Agree. But when we tour overseas, batting should be decent too. Atleast batsmen should be capable of getting 30s. Saha is the best wicket keeper in the country but his batting is just not good.