New Zealand tour of India (Sept-Oct 2016)

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

For a change, I feel bad for Gambhir too, he has been performing really well. The duleep trophy scores prove the fight he is showing. I am not sure whether Rohit should be in team or not but I feel unlike Rohit, Dhawan has got too many chances and should have been dropped. Whether Gambhir picked or not we have Vijay and Rahul for opening, we have to start showing players they are not needed if they dont perform.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

For a change, I feel bad for Gambhir too, he has been performing really well. The duleep trophy scores prove the fight he is showing. I am not sure whether Rohit should be in team or not but I feel unlike Rohit, Dhawan has got too many chances and should have been dropped. Whether Gambhir picked or not we have Vijay and Rahul for opening, we have to start showing players they are not needed if they dont perform.

The issue is beyond just scoring runs. I remember Dhawan played in Bangladesh due to some injury to Rahul and scored a hundred. On that account, he was picked ahead of Rahul, who made a hundred in Australia. If you see how many tours Dhawan has been on outside the sub continent and failed, it's miserable. Just look at his ODI and T20 form. He repeatedly gets picked ahead of a lot of other batsmen for a reason beyond me. I feel Rohit Sharma and Stuart Binny come in for a lot of flak while this guy escapes most of it because of his stupid theatrics.

If Vijay was made to sit out a test match to accommodate Dhawan, someone will need to come up with a mighty fine argument to prove to me there's no favouritism in the team. It's ludicrous and I won't be at all surprised to see him start the home summer, because he can have an 'IMPACT.'

 

[aditya123]

The issue is beyond just scoring runs. I remember Dhawan played in Bangladesh due to some injury to Rahul and scored a hundred. On that account, he was picked ahead of Rahul, who made a hundred in Australia. If you see how many tours Dhawan has been on outside the sub continent and failed, it's miserable. Just look at his ODI and T20 form. He repeatedly gets picked ahead of a lot of other batsmen for a reason beyond me. I feel Rohit Sharma and Stuart Binny come in for a lot of flak while this guy escapes most of it because of his stupid theatrics.

If Vijay was made to sit out a test match to accommodate Dhawan, someone will need to come up with a mighty fine argument to prove to me there's no favouritism in the team. It's ludicrous and I won't be at all surprised to see him start the home summer, because he can have an 'IMPACT.'

I`m not rooting for Dhawan either. Going by Kohli`s logic, Dhawan is in the side for his aggressive strike rate (which is a myth if you look at the recent record). Even on that count his selection is baffling as Rahul has shown that he can score briskly as well. Vijay, on the other hand has probably been the best test opener in the world since 2013 if you look at records across different conditions. He scored runs in SA, England, Australia and at home. Yet, the management decides to drop Vijay for Dhawan. As you rightly said, its baffling to say the least.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I`m not rooting for Dhawan either. Going by Kohli`s logic, Dhawan is in the side for his aggressive strike rate (which is a myth if you look at the recent record). Even on that count his selection is baffling as Rahul has shown that he can score briskly as well. Vijay, on the other hand has probably been the best test opener in the world since 2013 if you look at records across different conditions. He scored runs in SA, England, Australia and at home. Yet, the management decides to drop Vijay for Dhawan. As you rightly said, its baffling to say the least.

I remember having a discussion with @SaiSrini on the subject of the selection of the India coach a while back and I said to him that while Kumble was a good choice (Moody was mine, even before he was announced as a candidate), the panel itself making the choice was ludicrous. I mean, how in the world would those guys have selected anyone other than Anil? Now, I hate stirring the pot and creating gossip or believing favouritism stories which is the media's bread and butter but Kohli and Dhawan are supposed to be good friends. I heard a lot of crap in the Dhoni days about Raina and Jadeja and have quashed those thoughts on this forum itself, but something tells me that the extensions of Shastri and Dhawan have a lot to do with Kohli. IF and it's a BIG IF, true then we are in for a rough ride while he's captain.

I personally feel you need an independent selection panel that picks the squad without captain and coach and then they can pick the XI.

 

[Velocity]

I think while Dhawan should be dropped, I think the real big issue is that he's very inconsistent. Inconsistency really makes people think that specific player should be dropped. That's really Dhawan's problem. Now, every player is going to have some serious issues every now and then. Look back in 2014 when Kohli was a complete failure in England. Anyone could say anything then. But I think if Dhawan's form is bad this series, then he needs to be dropped and he needs to go to play in the Ranji Trophy to rediscover his form, just like Pujara did in the Duleep Trophy (P.S I don't think Dhawan's would survive against Bolt and Southee if he ever plays)

 

[SaiSrini]

I dont think going back to Gautam Gambhir is the right way, frankly. Has he gone out of his comfort zone to county or other countries and shown that he can play high quality fast bowling in tough conditions? These Duleep trophy scores don't make much impact especially when you know the guy inside out and you are confident that these scores cannot most likely be replicated by him in the real games for India. Also the issue with Gambhir is his attitude, which is downright negative.

For Gambhir, I would instead stick to Dhawan and have Dhawan as the reserve third opener.

 

[zwarrior]

In tests, I would go back to Gambhir rather than Dhawan. Saying that, I don't want either of them in the playing XI. We have a solid Murali Vijay and young Rahul. In case one of them is injured, I would go back to Gambhir rather than Dhawan, considering their current form (if the choice is between those two).

 

[zwarrior]

NZ is off to a good start in this tour.

Mum 29/1 (13.0 ov, KR Pawar 5*, Armaan Jaffer 24*, MJ Santner 0/10) - Stumps | Live Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Aalay]

Has he gone out of his comfort zone to county or other countries and shown that he can play high quality fast bowling in tough conditions?

Actually he has done this. He went to Essex as we know in 2013 but he didn't have a good time there. He went to Perth to train with Justin Langer in 2015. So you can't really say that he hasn't gone out of his comfort season because he clearly has but the thing is he hasn't ben successful at it. He will score runs in India and that is a given but it's his inability to score outside of the subcontinent which is a problem as you mentioned. Our reserve openers are not that great either. Dhawan can be very dangerous when he is in full flow but he is very inconsistent and at test level, that can't be accepted. Other candidates are Abhinav Mukund, Mayank Aagarwal and young Akhil Herwadkar. Mayank Agarwal is also in Dhawan mould where he is very aggressive but also inconsistent. Akhil Herwadkar looks a good player but he is too young right now and does not have enough experiance. So the likely choice is going to be Abhinav Mukund who's technique is solid and can also help in the slip cordon.

Pujara has probably fixed his place at number 3 with those recent knocks which were not only big hundreds but it also came at a very good strike rate.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I dont think going back to Gautam Gambhir is the right way, frankly. Has he gone out of his comfort zone to county or other countries and shown that he can play high quality fast bowling in tough conditions? These Duleep trophy scores don't make much impact especially when you know the guy inside out and you are confident that these scores cannot most likely be replicated by him in the real games for India. Also the issue with Gambhir is his attitude, which is downright negative.

For Gambhir, I would instead stick to Dhawan and have Dhawan as the reserve third opener.

I'm in agreement about his attitude. I think I mentioned it earlier also. It can really bring a team down. Also, Gambhir and Kohli are like a match and gun powder, so if there is disagreement, they can bring the whole house down, although Kohli has shown tremendous maturity in his career so far.

As far as his recall in comparison to Dhawan goes? I don't think Gambhir is any worse. Like I said before, he is better than Dhawan on every level. I rather pick a chap who can get a bit hot under the collar but cares about his wicket rather than a moustache twirling, thigh slapping chap who can't care less how he gets out every test innings.

I know Gambhir is a very debatable choice, but let's look at things in perspective-

1) There is no doubt that Vijay and Rahul start the season, so unless one gets injured Gambhir is unlikely to play.

2) In the event that there is an injury, we're only looking for a short-medium term replacement. Personally, I think on those turning tracks an opener that can play spin in his 2 am sleep is like gold dust. Gambhir also has a lot to prove and must be very motivated and just like his personality and attitude is outright pukish, sometimes it can spur an individual to great things. At least, in the worst cases of worst, he will be at Dhawan's level.

3) If India go abroad next year, we can start bedding in a younger reserve opener. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a stop gap solution left to fate. If Gambhir can prove himself, good, otherwise farewell.

But why am I continuing this rant? Dhawan is already in the squad.

 

[Velocity]

I don't think there's any point of whether to debate whether or not Dhawan should be in the squad or not since he's in it anyway.... I just think we need a reliable No.8.... Jaddu's not good enough in the batting part of it though he is a fantastic bowler in India. I just hope he can improve his batting then he can add a bit to the batting a bit.

 

[Yash.]

Tim Southee ruled out of India Tests, Matt Henry called up as replacement | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

The problems for New Zealand start as their experienced bowler gets out..

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Rohit Sharma out for 18 whereas Mumbai are set pretty much fine on 194/3.

 

[aditya123]

Rohit Sharma out for 18 whereas Mumbai are set pretty much fine on 194/3.

The guy can change test matches in a session. He should walk into the test side.

 

[SaiSrini]

The guy can change test matches in a session. He should walk into the test side.

I think he should replace Virat Kohli and should captain the test team. He can change test matches in a session.