India's Tour of Sri Lanka

[Cricketman]

We'll hit back.

Karthik will hit back.

 

[pal]

Karthik has had success as an opener. In fact, he ended up leading the run tally for the Indian team in the series against England from that spot. I think they should let Sehwag bat down the order and bring Karthik back to the opening spot again.

 

[Cricketman]

That would mean separating the Sehwag-Ghambir duo, though...

 

[pal]

They've definitely been successful in ODIs, but I don't see that success translating to the Test format. Sehwag's little explosive innings, which, unfortunately, seem to be the only ones he's playing now, will be much more useful down the order. He could possibly assume the role that Gilchrist played for the Aussies. Karthik seems more comfortable opening in Tests. It's worth a try.

 

[SaiSrini]

They've definitely been successful in ODIs, but I don't see that success translating to the Test format. Sehwag's little explosive innings, which, unfortunately, seem to be the only ones he's playing now, will be much more useful down the order. He could possibly assume the role that Gilchrist played for the Aussies. Karthik seems more comfortable opening in Tests. It's worth a try.

But pal, Sehwag has had much more success when he has batted at the top.. His majority of the test success comes there. He hasnt performed as well when he bats anywhere else.

 

[Cricketman]

Sehwag was originally a middle order batsman, and hit a century on debut down the order IIRC.

It's worth a try, but it might be tough on KKD to open and keep.

 

[angryangy]

Dude, facing Lee and Clark in top form on Australian pitches (that's exactly what we got) is pretty much the equivalent of facing Murali and Mendis in Sri Lanka.

Not quite; Lee and Clark have a comparable strike-rate to Murali at home, but they both concede substantially more runs. Lee's form in the last two years has been notable with a very good strike-rate, but it doesn't equate to the sort of 10 wicket maulings that the spinner dispenses. The Australian bowlers traditionally do well at home because of the shared workload rather than the devastating mastery of conditions. In Sri Lanka, Murali takes the mantle rather disproportionately to his cohorts.

Mendis we can't really judge too much, but his domestic record is ridiculous and obviously, there is potential to be as dominant as anyone ever has been. It also improves the balance of the attack, instead of being completely focused around Murali taking wickets. In theory, it boosts the attack to a new level, but with Vaas not looking quite as sharp, it probably just restores a bit of the power that they had maybe 5 years ago.

 

[sohum]

I disagree with Sehwag batting down the order. The pace bowling thus far has no tooth and it is only up to Sehwag to get himself out. He played one silly shot and got one bad decision in the previous match.

A settled Sehwag against Murali/Mendis is far more potent than a settled Karthik under the same conditions.

I trust Sehwag to get us off to a good start but I do not trust him to be able to hang in there and bat with the tail. He would be batting at number 7 after Gambhir, Karthik, Dravid, Sachin, Sourav and VVS. One wicket and he will have to bat with the tail.

 

[karnog]

India should make 1 change: Harbhajan Singh.
Sehwag
Gambhir
Laxman
Tendulkar
Dravid
Ganguly
Kartik/Patel (how awesome if Parthiv played)
Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Ohja

How has parthiv's batting in domestic test been (i saw his twenty20 were complete flops)...

 

[shravi]

I think Zaheer needs to come back after losing a little bit of weight. He's too fat to be a fast bowler at the moment.

 

[Cricketman]

Parthiv can't keep. If you guys think KKD is bad, Parthiv is about a gazillion times worse.

His batting is good though.

 

[SaiSrini]

Parthiv is a better batsman, but a worser keeper than KKD.

I would not make any changes to the Indian lineup that played the first test. I would give them one more chance. It was an off test for them. Nothing went right for them.

Have placed 50,000 vCash on India's victory in the 2nd test. Considering India's record after a humiliating defeat, I am not a fool to place this much confidence on this team. On a more serious note, I am at least expecting a far improved performance and a closer test

 

[sohum]

I would have put a lot of vCash on India had I not been bidding in the PCPL. I don't know if India can recover in time, but I'm sure hoping they do.

 

[SaiSrini]

ODI start for India. Whats Sehwag and Gambhir upto? Don't they know to play test style of game?

Sehwag seems to be boiling with revenge inside him against Mendis and Murali. The first over Mendis bowled in this match, Sehwag thrashed him for a six and a four, Murali's first ball of the match is hit for a four. I just hope Sehwag keeps his cool. If he keeps scoring at his natural rate, India can set the platform for a mountain of a total. he shouldnt try silly things

 

[sohum]

Promising start here from India. That's why you can't drop Sehwag or move him down the order.

The lacklustre Sri Lankan "pace" bowlers allowed him to get his eye in and now he is denting the confidence of Mendis and preventing Murali from getting into rhythm.

Let's hope he sticks around for longer.