India's tour of Australia - December/January 2015

[Yuvi.]

Hilfenhaus has got some pace too!

 

[greymatter776]

India's Test squad for Australia MS Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha*, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron
*Ojha has been included only for the first Test.

Looks a good squad.I persume the final XI for first test to be;

M Vijay
S Dhawan
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
S Raina
W Saha
R Ashwin
B Kumar
M Shami/ Varun Aaron
Ishant Sharma

If any of the seamer under performs in the first test,Umesh Yadav or Aaron may replace him accordingly.

 

[Aalay]

India's Test squad for Australia MS Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha*, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron

India news : Rahul, Karn, Raina in Test squad for Australia | Cricket News | Australia v India | ESPN Cricinfo

Some surprising decisions in the squad. Firstly that they have decided to go with 19 players in the squad. Dhoni was apparently injured and they didn't think it was important to tell the fans about it, Funny thing is that Dhoni won't even travel with the team for the first test and will arrive before second test. As soon as Dhoni arrives, Naman Ojha will leave. That is some weird decision. So Kohli will be the stand in captain for the first test. Suresh Raina is in the test squad for a test series against Australia in AUSTRALIA.

I am actually excited about our bowling attack for the first time. It is also good to see KL Rahul being rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic cricket. Dhoni being rested will also allow us to see how Kohli performs as a captain overseas in a test after a disappointing England series.

 

[abhi_jacko]

This is very strange about MSD .. when exactly did he pick up this thumb injury ? And when did it suddenly become so serious that he will end up missing the first Test now ?

Very odd

Good squad otherwise. Wonder who will be the first choice between Jadeja/Raina

 

[lion100lion]

This is very strange about MSD .. when exactly did he pick up this thumb injury ? And when did it suddenly become so serious that he will end up missing the first Test now ?

I have got a feeling that he might be out of the entire test series (which I don't want !)

 

[greymatter776]

Good squad otherwise. Wonder who will be the first choice between Jadeja/Raina

Raina would be my choice.He certainly has better batting skills than Jadeja and could bowl a bit as well.Anyway given how the conditions are,Jadeja's slow left arm is not going to help much.So its much better we go with 6 batsman+1 Keeper+1 spinner+3 seamer formula.Even if we have to bring in other bowler I would like a 4th seamer than Jadeja.[DOUBLEPOST=1415634105][/DOUBLEPOST]

I have got a feeling that he might be out of the entire test series (which I don't want !)

Nope.As the reports say,he would be unavailable only for the first test and after that Naman Ojha would fly back and Dhoni would come in.

 

[lion100lion]

Nope.As the reports say,he would be unavailable only for the first test and after that Naman Ojha would fly back and Dhoni would come in.

Yeah... but that's what reports say. I said it out my thoughts

 

[Aalay]

This is very strange about MSD .. when exactly did he pick up this thumb injury ? And when did it suddenly become so serious that he will end up missing the first Test now ?

Very odd

Good squad otherwise. Wonder who will be the first choice between Jadeja/Raina

I think he picked up that injury in Champion League T20 but still carried on playing rather than taking rest at that time. In couple of matches, I saw him shaking hands with players after the match with his left hand and that was a bit odd. He still played the whole CL T20 and than the WI ODI series.

Now what would be really funny is that if Ojha can't prove his fitness for the first test and Naman Ojha ends up playing the first test.

 

[lion100lion]

Frankly, for the first time I have seen MSD with injury.

 

[greymatter776]

Frankly, for the first time I have seen MSD with injury.

I still remember him being suspended for slow over rate during 2012-13 Australia tour and Saha replacing him,but an injury..... I think no.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Dhoni was ruled out of a test against BD due to an injured back a few years ago (whenever we went to BD last time). Sehwag captained. Nothing since then

 

[SaiSrini]

Whoaaa.... Why is Dhoni unavailable for the Brisbane test? Anyways, its a pleasant surprise because it gives a chance for a new captain to start out the series, and if India do decently in that game, probably the new captain's ideas can rub off for the rest of the series inspite of Dhoni's return. I don't think it will be too bad a thing.

Very good to see KL Rahul and Karn Sharma being selected. Seems like Rahul Dravid's opinions are being given a lot of weight, which is good for the team. Naman Ojha is just for the first test, so its no big deal. Raina was expected to return to the test side. Lets see if he plays. And if he does, lets see if his work on the short ball pays dividends. It will be a massive test for him after the work he has done with people (e.g. Ganguly) on the short ball thing. Expected and good team selection.

 

[Aalay]

Some interesting things that I found out through Freddie Wilde's account on twitter today.

(1) In the morning, there were reports that Dhoni had injury in his arm and in the afternoon, Sanjay Patel said in an interview that it was a thumb injury.

(2) He also posted a photo of Dhoni goalkeeping for his ISL team and this took place about 2 weeks ago I think.

(3) Last one and the most important one that I thought was very weird is the Mudgal report case.

[HASHTAG]#Mudgal[/HASHTAG] Probe part I: Feb-Mar Dhoni "injured" for [HASHTAG]#AsiaCup[/HASHTAG]: Feb-Mar
[HASHTAG]#Mudgal[/HASHTAG] Probe part II: Nov Dhoni rested from First [HASHTAG]#AusvInd[/HASHTAG] Test: Nov

 

[SaiSrini]

I have got a feeling that he might be out of the entire test series (which I don't want !)

Frankly, if Dhoni is out for the entire test series, I wouldn't mind at all. Due to the World Cup happening right after this tour (i.e. right after the tri-series also featuring England), I would like Dhoni to be fresh and raring to go for that showpiece event. And I have wanted Dhoni to give up captaincy from tests immediately, which can be served this way if Dhoni cant play this test series.

So I would be happy if Dhoni cant play the entire test series.

 

[abhi_jacko]

And I have wanted Dhoni to give up captaincy from tests immediately, which can be served this way if Dhoni cant play this test series.

Haha .. I was thinking the same. We all had a pretty intense, marathon-discussion regarding this after the England series with @PokerAce, @grkrama :P. We wanted a new Test Captain starting from the WIndies series. And it seems to have played out exactly like that - but for very different reasons lol