New Zealand's Tour Of India Aug-Sep 2012

[Epic]

I would start Pujara at #6, use Kohli at #3 and Sehwag to #5. That way you can follow Sehwag with a more responsible player. When Tendulkar retires, then Kohli would drop to #4 and Pujara up to #3.

Anyway, Sehwag will be fine as opener on home soil but for overseas Tests he should be moving down to shield himself.

I personally think Pujara will make a better #3 and should be started there, but we'll see how Kohli and Pujara go about their business, that #3 spot is theirs for the taking really.

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Have a look at this, from about 2 and half years ago.

Virender Sehwag "would love" to bat at No.4 | Cricket News | Awards 2009 | ESPN Cricinfo

Senior batsman wants, senior batsman gets, at least that's how it works India.

 

[VC the slogger]

I have a strong feeling that our 'brilliant' selectors will select Badrinath & Raina ahead of Rahane & Pujara.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Me too..

I have a feeling that this would be our lineup

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Virat Kohli
Sachin Tendulkar
Cheteshwar Pujara
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
R Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav

Instead of this the lineup should be this

Virender Sehwag
Ajinkya Rahane
Gautam Gambhir
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli
Cheteshwar Pujara
MS Dhoni
R Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav

That middle order now looks awesome

 

[Aalay]

Me too..

I have a feeling that this would be our lineup

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Virat Kohli
Sachin Tendulkar
Cheteshwar Pujara
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
R Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav

Instead of this the lineup should be this

Virender Sehwag
Ajinkya Rahane
Gautam Gambhir
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli
Cheteshwar Pujara
MS Dhoni
R Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav

That middle order now looks awesome

I was thinking we could go with this lineup.

Sehwag
Gambhir
Pujara
Sachin
Badrinath
Kohli
Dhoni
Ashwin
Zaheer
Umesh
Ojha

Straight to straight replacements.

Pujara = Dravid
Badrinath = Laxman

Let Kohli stay at no 6 for now and see how he goes.

 

[VC the slogger]

Let Kohli stay at no 6 for now and see how he goes.

Kohli's not meant for no 6. He is a builder of an innings and can score big hundreds when he bats higher up.

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Ideal lineup for me would be:-

Gambhir
Sehwag
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Badrinath
Dhoni(c & wk)
Ashwin/Chawla
Zaheer
Ishant/Ojha
Yadav

 

[SaiSrini]

Kohli shouldn't bat any lower than No.5 now that Dravid and Laxman have retired. He should definitely play higher. Pujara at No.3 and Kohli at No.4 would be best when Sachin retires. Till then, Kohli at No.5 would be great.

 

[Epic]

I see a lot of tinkering and switching going about in the next 2 years or so, how long did it take for us to find a permanent replacement to that #6 spot left by Ganguly? 4 years? Exciting times ahead for sure.

 

[SaiSrini]

I see a lot of tinkering and switching going about in the next 2 years or so, how long did it take for us to find a permanent replacement to that #6 spot left by Ganguly? 4 years? Exciting times ahead for sure.

I have a feeling Yuvraj might still return and reclaim that spot vacated by Ganguly, even if its temporarily till he retires. I will never write off Yuvraj's chances from test cricket. He is certainly far better than both Ganguly and Suresh Raina as far as playing bounce is concerned (he is a good hooker). His issue is more with his mind where he needs to develop that patience to bide out the testing period and wait for the good times. He often nibbles at that ball outside off and gets caught in the slips

Don't write off Yuvraj yet.

 

[Prithvi]

Guys, please pray that India will bat first.

 

[SaiSrini]

Guys, please pray that India will bat first.

Why? We can do well if we bowl first too. Or is it because it would be convenient for your watch times?

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Well whatever will be the toss I am excited to see the new look Indian middle order tbh

 

[Prithvi]

Why? We can do well if we bowl first too. Or is it because it would be convenient for your watch times?

I'm attending tomorrow.

Jokes apart, I'd love to see Sehwag, Gambhir and Tendulkar blast hard, so that New Zealand lose the early confidence what they got during Laxmans retirement. The out field will be definitely dry and fast (unless it rains today), because there was no rain since couple of weeks. It is a bit cool here, but without any rain, I don't see any harm to out field.

Added to that, the ground dimensions are very less, when compared to other stadiums.

 

[Epic]

Well whatever will be the toss I am excited to see the new look Indian middle order tbh

Same, I just want to see which 2 players Dhoni opts for, hoping it's Pujara and Rahane though.

 

[SaiSrini]

I want to see a Pujara hundred and a Kohli hundred too. The future of Indian cricket scoring big runs would be something that would be great to watch. If Rahane or Badri play, a hundred from them too.D

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Same, I just want to see which 2 players Dhoni opts for, hoping it's Pujara and Rahane though.

There is a whole lot of confidence that Pujara is going to be in. Its probably going to be between Rahane, Raina and Badri for that Laxman spot. I want it to be Badri.

 

[VC the slogger]

how long did it take for us to find a permanent replacement to that #6 spot left by Ganguly? 4 years?

Still there's no proper replacement for that spot yet! But I'm confident that Dravid's & Laxman's positions can be taken up because there are many good young batsmen in the domestic circuit who bat well in those positions like Pujara, Rohit etc. Rohit has a phenomenal FC batting average and can play gems so hoping that he gets back to form soon and clears his lazy mindset.
Apart from Yuvraj there are some other contenders for no.6 like Saurabh Tiwary who's done well there in domestic cricket.