In my opinion, this approach would be good had the scoreline been 5-0 and we were looking for a white wash. But since that's not gonna happen, wouldn't it be best to test the bench strength now?
Not sure who that is pointed to, but numbers have always been one of the most important things that matter. I don't think anyone here has called Kohli a great captain yet. He has done many things wrong in the Test series, especially when it comes to selection, but he has done many things right as well. Moreover, this is his first series in non-subcontinental conditions and he will have learnt plenty from it. If we can give MSD a chance post an 8-0 drubbing overseas and losing to England at home in 2012, surely we can give Kohli some time to prove his worth after scores lines of 1-2 in Tests and 4-1 in ODIs. And its not like we have to wait too long. England series this summer and then a tour to Australia followed by the world cupPlenty to criticize him on I am sure
Shami in for Bumrah. (Bumrah has played a lot. He needs rest) or Bhuvi.
To be fair to Iyer the last 2 odis he played at home scored a 70 odd and 80 odd against Sl and looked good for his 30 of 36 balls in the last ODI although Pandey deserves a long run in the squad after the management squandered his position by making him bat too low earlier in the home season.
I am not telling we should dump Iyer. I am saying he should not be batting so low down the order as he doesn't fit there. When he scored 70 and 80, he was playing at #3. But here he is playing at #5 and he doesn't belong there.
I feel it's enough of testing and he should be given a longer run.
I posted that since I felt that is what they'd do and guess I wasn't wrong..
Well thats the biggest problem with our lineup too many top order players batting lower down the order - Rahane , Iyer (KL Rahul too) started their career as an opener in domestic circuits the former even opened when he made his international debut but were made to play in the middle order and the guy who started as a middle order player is a our premier opener and one of the main players in the LOI. We need to fill specialist middle order players in the playing 11 the likes of Raina, Pandey and too some extent even Jadhav the management needs to stick with them for a series or two to achieve anything substantial... if we look our playing 11 since the champions trophy people have been consistently dropped from the middle order or there is too much chopping and changing in the batting positions which did no good for the team nor for the players. KL Rahul was no.4 in the SL series but was dropped after 3 matches , Manish Pandey batted at 4 a couple of times vs Australia at home but was pushed down the order for the remainder of that series in expense of Pandya then Dinesh Karthik was our no.4 in the NZ series. So how on earth are we going to find a stable middle order with not only the batting positions but also the players are replaced just after a a series or couple of matches by this absolutely brilliant team management led by the Ravi Shashtri and co.
We just think on very different tracks I guess. We are starting to go around in circles, so lets continue with discussing the series. I am going to hold judgement on Kohli and his captaincy until the end of this year.
I just take umbrage to only one statement of yours above - the bolded part. Maybe you did not mean it in an offensive manner, but I do not think you and a select few people are the only ones with the awareness that numbers do not mean everything in cricket. Almost Everyone here follows cricket religiously and understands the intricacies of the games beyond the scorecard
