India's tour of West Indies June 2011

Heard a rumor that the senior players are going to be rested for this tour. From the looks of it, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Sachin and Zaheer ought to be sitting out. Add Sehwag too. I am betting that the squad would be led by Gambhir in the Caribbean.

As for a wicket-keeper, Naman Ojha or even Parthiv Patel may get the nod. The selectors would most likely go for Patel seeing as he can bat as well. Do not forget Ambati Rayadu who has a good chance of making the cut.
 
From what ive seen in the IPL this year, Rayudu is the best keeper replacement for Dhoni in the limited overs format at least.
 
I forgot about the Rayudu wicketkeeping factor completely. If Rayudu can keep wickets, why do we need Parthiv Patel? We can instead go for a more specialist batsman (or have Robin Uthappa who can also keep wickets, and is a far more explosive batsman than Parthiv). I just hope Badrinath is picked for the ODI side (IMO, getting into the test side for Badri is just going to be too tough with Pujara lurking in the wings and the awesome trio unshakeable)
 
Sehwag might rest this? Read that he's stressing in the IPL and risking the England tour.

And Gambhir should lead. I'd love to see Uthappa back in the keepers role.
 
I have a feeling that India would send a second string side for LOIs but a fully strengthened squad for Tests.
 
There would be a second team for the entrie tour I feel. Even our second team is quite a force to reckon with. Gautam Gambhir leading, now that Viru is out of action. Expect Virat to be the deputy here.
As for the keeper- Rayudu should make the cut along with the new comers like Rahul Sharma,who can definitely give some tweakers in India a run for their money as of now.
It is unfortunate that Pujara has a torn ligament now, which means he will be out of action till atleast the Aussie series, seeing as the BCCI will take him on a sight-seeing tour of England.
 
There would be a second team for the entrie tour I feel. Even our second team is quite a force to reckon with. Gautam Gambhir leading, now that Viru is out of action. Expect Virat to be the deputy here.
As for the keeper- Rayudu should make the cut along with the new comers like Rahul Sharma,who can definitely give some tweakers in India a run for their money as of now.
It is unfortunate that Pujara has a torn ligament now, which means he will be out of action till atleast the Aussie series, seeing as the BCCI will take him on a sight-seeing tour of England.

Ashwin should get some decent run now if Harbhajan is not playing. Its been sad to see Ashwin not get enough games because he is of the similar variety as Harbhajan (an off spinner). I would personally pick Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha as the spinners and rest Harbhajan.

Rayudu now looks certain for a call up. Hope Badrinath is also in line for a call up (they can rest Sachin and take Badri).
 
Harbhajan has made himself available for the whole tour, its nice to see that he isn't taking his place for granted especially because he has not been in best of form for quite sometime now.

With Sehwag out now, this is what my playing XI would be from current available players. Wont add too many players from IPL. Rahul Sharma is yet to prove himself in domestic, can't judge him from few T20's, but certainly the one to watch out for in future. I would surely like Irfan to have a go but I think it'll be a while before he can make a comeback.

Gambhir (c)
A Rayadu (wk)
V Kohli
Y Singh
S Badrinath
S Raina
R Sharma/Y Pathan
Bhajji
Ishant
Praveen
Munaf

Ashwin, Uthappa, Sreesanth and Murali Vijay/Manoj Tiwary
 
Sehwag being made fun of by the commentators in the CSK vs RR match for opting for a shoulder surgery now that Delhi is almost eliminated from the competition. Risking his shoulder in the IPL since the West Indies tour is not a big money spinner for the BCCI. Poor decision by Sehwag! Clearly money plays a big part:facepalm
 
I'd love to take in a all new side to West Indies, like how we did while touring Zimbabwe. Not underestimating the Windies here, but all domestic players should be given a chance to play on foreign soil atleast once in an year!

Last time, Zimbabwean tour was a good option and now, for this year, I can't see any better series than this one for sending the youngsters! Moreover, it's just difficult for Indian people to follow the series like how we do for the home tournaments due to the time difference, it'll be good if we send a brand new side to West Indies and lose, rather than sending a 100% side, win by big big margins, create new records/history with most of Indians missing 'em witness live!

Captaincy should be given to Kohli now (if the above thing happens), Suresh Raina got a chance last year! If we send a semi-solid Indian line up, Bhajji should be given a chance to lead the side IMO.
 
Bhajji and captaincy? :noway

Kohli or Gambhir will lead for sure
 
Gambhir will definitely lead if Dhoni is not going. Kohli might be deputy (had the IPL not happened, Yuvraj might have been deputy, but his luck in IPL captaincy will go against him).
 
Bhajji and captaincy? :noway

Kohli or Gambhir will lead for sure

Gambhir will definitely lead if Dhoni is not going. Kohli might be deputy (had the IPL not happened, Yuvraj might have been deputy, but his luck in IPL captaincy will go against him).

What I feel is everyone must be given a chance to lead, atleast in a low profile series. Gauti proved what he is in the series against NZ, now let Bhajji try his luck in captaincy:thumbs. We don't need to find replacement for Dhoni as of now, I'm sure Virat Kohli will take the charges after 2015 World Cup. Whenever Dhoni is not playing, give everyone chance! I'm sure Gauti will not get appointed as captain in ODi's, cause Dhoni is way too better than him and Dhoni will play as long as Gautam plays. May be, Gautam Gambhir might get captaincy in test matches after 2015, and that too if Raina and Kohli turn out to be inconsistent in white kits.

Give everyone chance to lead, which will make them responsible for their nation, atleast once in their life time:yes. It might be just a small thing for the total nation, but for some player, who is leading India for once, he'll feel it! When they are representing nation, let them experience leading it once too.

May be in 2012, experiment Kohli as a skipper in some low profile series.

Indian players who got chance to lead national side so far:
MS Dhoni
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Suresh Raina
Yuvraj Singh
 
We are not here to experiment. This is international cricket. We need to know who will lead in absence of Dhoni and not just guess who will be experimented this time.

Gambhir did not play the Triseries and hence he Raina was the captain. If Gambhir plays he is the captain.
 
Harbhajan ? Captain ? If they wanna do that, they should give him the chance to lead India in Australia :p How about Sreesanth ?

Jokes apart, Gambhir i the best man to take us forwards with the deputy being Virat[first option] seconded by Raina. If they want a bowling captain, it has to be Zak, but am not sure if he is playing the series. Also, he was quite instrumental in setting the fields during India's successful World Cup campaign.

@ Binnu - Yuvraj Singh has never captained India in the past. He has also, contrary to many reports ,never captained the U-19 side too.
 

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