Rebuilding Indian Team for Test cricket.

[Aalay]

Probably the most anticipated question for an Indian cricket fan. What is the future of Indian test team? What changes are required at the test level? This is not just limited to Indian fans, anybody can contribute with their opinion.

-Captain:

• Do you think MS Dhoni is the right man to lead the test team?
• If not, who should be the captain?

-Coach:

• Should India continue with Duncan Fletcher? If no, who should be the new coach and why?

-Openers:

• Sehwag and Gambhir still the best opening pair for India?
• Reserve openers?

-Middle Order:

• Should Sachin retire or does India still need him?
• No 6 position?
• Which middle order batman you want to see after retirement of Sachin.

-Wicket keeper:

• Is there anyone in the domestic circuit who is good enough to replace Dhoni as a WK batsman?

-Spinners:
What should we do with Harbhajan?
Is Ashwin good enough for test cricket?
Reserves in spin bowling department?

-Fast bowlers:

• Is Zaheer still good enough to continue at this level?
• Who will lead Indian bowling attack after Zaheer?
• What are the reserve fast bowling options?

 

[AbhishekS]

This Times Of India article answers all your questions.

India vs England: We've been cleaned up, it's time for a clean-up - The Times of India

 

[Aalay]

This Times Of India article answers all your questions.

India vs England: We've been cleaned up, it's time for a clean-up - The Times of India

I want people to discuss about those topics.

 

[RPHKR]

The problem in the Indian team is it is failing as a whole. Kohli is the best option for captaincy as no senior look promising.

 

[Gaurav_7]

-Captain:

Do you think MS Dhoni is the right man to lead the test team?
If not, who should be the captain?

Yes. He should continue. He has himself said he won't run away from his responsibility and just quit, which tbh many captains would have already done. So, I am backing him up. Right now, we don't really have anyone else as well. People who say give it to Gambhir and all are just reacting to the current state of Indian cricket team and want to see the back of Dhoni when I believe he hasn't done much wrong.

-Coach:

Should India continue with Duncan Fletcher? If no, who should be the new coach and why?

I really don't feel coaches are important. Personal opinion. But, if there is a change, I'd love if the coach is an Indian. Sourav has put his hand up, I think.

-Openers:

Sehwag and Gambhir still the best opening pair for India?
Reserve openers?

I don't know. I think it is about time we give people like Rahane/Dhawan/Mukund chances and try and develop them. I really like Gautam and Sehwag though. But, they have been consistently providing poor starts from some time now. But, when we pick people like Vijay as reserves, things don't look too good.

-Middle Order:

Should Sachin retire or does India still need him?
No 6 position?
Which middle order batman you want to see after retirement of Sachin.

Yes, I feel it's about time. People talk about how he has made his comebacks and all. But, remember he is about 39 now. So, where is the time and age for comebacks? He has been a great player for India, no doubt. He will always be up there as one of the best batsmen. And, the problem is also how he picks up certain series to play. We are not sure what to do with him and when to give players chances and when not to.

For number 6, I think there are a lot of players piling up runs in domestic cricket and they can be tried. Manoj Tiwary? I think he is more matured now and deserves a chance. Much much better than Jadeja or any other junk.

I think we already have Pujara and Kohli. Kohli can move to 4 and take Sachin's position. Rayudu is one batsman I would love to see get some chances. He is such a talent but, unfortunately ICL and stuff put brakes on his career.

-Wicket keeper:

Is there anyone in the domestic circuit who is good enough to replace Dhoni as a WK batsman?

Why should we replace him? When our specialist batsmen keep failing, Dhoni can't do much. It's not like he's not doing anything. He has been averaging pretty good for a WKB. It is the 6 guys ahead of him who need to do the job more often than not. If he always comes in with say 170 for 5 then I don't think we need to criticize him.

-Spinners:
What should we do with Harbhajan?
Is Ashwin good enough for test cricket?
Reserves in spin bowling department?

I don't like Harbhajan's attitude. He was once a good bowler but, now has lost it. He needs to pick up a lot of wickets in domestic and then maybe come back.

I am confused about Ashwin really. He started off with a bang but, has had a shocker of a series this. I think we can persist with him and see if he can develop himself as a better bowler. He is pretty good but, I just feel he gets a bit one dimensional sometimes or does a bit more on other occasions. An expert advice might help!

Ojha is brilliant! I don't get why we never kept Murali Kartik in. That guy deserved it. But, now I think it's not the time to do so. I'd like to see Mishra and Rahul Sharma get a look in. Chawla needs to stay away. Iqbal Abdulla can also be tried. I don't know much about domestic performances though of all these.

-Fast bowlers:

Is Zaheer still good enough to continue at this level?
Who will lead Indian bowling attack after Zaheer?
What are the reserve fast bowling options?

I don't feel so. Zaheer has done brilliantly to lead the Indian pace attack for so many years. But, I think he has done enough.

Umesh Yadav. He has to be the one.

Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Praveen Kumar, Pankaj Singh, Parwinder Awana....

 

[miggo97]

India should stick with Duncan Fletcher as their coach, because he has done a good job with them just a couple of series where they have gone down bank like in England and against England in India.

I would drop MS Dhoni from the captaincy but I wouldnt drop him from the side. Apart from the duck in the second innings in the third test he showed us he can bat and he adds stability to the side. I would give the captaincy to Virat Kohli he hasnt been doing very well in the series but he his a good performer and has good experience for a 24 year old.

Gambhir and Sehwag have proved they are good enough for test cricket for a little longer with some high run partnerships this series. But I can only think of Ajinkya Rahane as a replacement. But I would have to drop Gambhir out of the two as Sehwag can change a game with his style of play.

I think Sachin should retire because he is nearly 40. He has had one half century this series but there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders off the Indian fans like when they scream his name constantly when he is batting. Pujara should stay at number three as he has shown he can bat for very long hours and get really high scores. Virat Kohli at number 4 as captain without a shadow of a doubt, Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina at number five. Tough choice? Raina didnt perform in England back in 2011 he has one hundred to his name in test cricket but has double hundred in first class cricket. Sharma has not played test cricket yet, but it shouldnt be long before he does he can play at a high strike rate or a low strike rate. He also has a triple hundred to his name in first class cricket.

Ravindra Jadeja or Unmukt Chand could fill in the number 6 slot. Yuvraj Singh has come back but has not performed with the bat since his return, Jadeja has played ODI and T20 for India and he can perform very well with the bat and also Jadeja can use the ball very wisely with left arm orhthodox. Unmukt Chand is most probably the future of Indian cricket he performed extremely well in the u19 cricket world cup and should be recognized as a very good batsmen.

I would stick with Ravi Ashwin as number 8 because he can bowl very well in different conditions with his mysterious variations and he can also perform with the bat with a hundred to his name and a 91 not out against England.

Umesh Yadav can be the number 1 pace bowler in the Indian test side as he can perform home and away. He can reach very good speeds, easily above 90 mph. At number 10 can be Ashoke Dinda or Varun Aaron. Dinda has played for the ODI and T20 side because of his mysterious variations and changes of pace. He his a fantastic death bowler. He is a consistent perfomer in domestic cricket, but is he good enough for test cricket? Varun Aaron has played one test match before and collected three wickets which gives him the edge of experience over Dinda.

Finally, depending on the conditions it would be between Pragyan Ojha or Parvinder Awana he has took overr 100 wickers in first class cricket in only 32 games. If the conditions suit the spinner then Ojha but in fast pitches or non turning pitches then i would choose Awana.

Here is the team I would choose for the fourth test:

Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Chesthewar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma
Ravi Jadeja
MS Dhoni
Ravi Ashwin
Umesh Yadav
Varun Aaron
Pragyan Ojha

 

[playkid12]

I'm tired of Praveen Kumar being overlooked when he averages 25 with the ball in tests. Our fast bowlers for tests have to be Yadav and Kumar right now.

ODI fast bowlers should be Yadav and Aaron, with Munaf Patel as the 3rd medium pacer. Praveen Kumar and Irfan should be on the fringes of the ODI team in case of injuries or poor performance from those top 3.

 

[Epic]

India v England, 3rd Test, Kolkata, 5th day : 'Won't run away from responsibility' - Dhoni | Cricket News | India v England | ESPN Cricinfo

After seeing and reading that, I think Dhoni deserves the opportunity and should be given the opportunity to pull his team out of the hole that they've basically dug themselves(no disrespect to any opposition) into.

 

[SaiSrini]

India v England, 3rd Test, Kolkata, 5th day : 'Won't run away from responsibility' - Dhoni | Cricket News | India v England | ESPN Cricinfo

After seeing and reading that, I think Dhoni deserves the opportunity and should be given the opportunity to pull his team out of the hole that they've basically dug themselves(no disrespect to any opposition) into.

Dhoni might say all that to assure people. But the real assurance should come from the way he handles things on the field, and even after 8-0, he doesn't seem to have learnt lessons which tells us that he is not fit for test captaincy. Its probably got to do with the fact that Dhoni the test player looks clueless, and not in command. He is continuously failing with the bat in tests. His keeping is just OK and not great shakes in tests. But in ODI and T20's, he looks like a different kettle fish. He looks as if he was born for the shorter formats.

I like Ganguly's idea of split captaincy. Relieve Dhoni of test captaincy, and make him captain only the ODI side. Have three captains for three formats (or a captain for test and T20's, and Dhoni for ODI).

 

[SaiSrini]

Regarding the main discussion of this thread -

Captaincy: Time to replace Dhoni. Possible Replacement: Virat Kohli or Cheteshwar Pujara

Openers: Time to re-shuffle the openers. Sehwag and Gambhir should have plundered runs in home conditions. Yet they were very inconsistent. For a start, blood Rahane as an opener. If need be, push Sehwag down the order. That will take care of one middle order spot. And put Gambhir on notice.

Possible Openers: Rahane (1) and Gambhir (2)

Middle Order: The big question of Tendulkar. Ask him what his plans are. If he wants to stay, he has to bat lower than No.4. Virat Kohli has to take the No.4 spot. Probably pushing Tendulkar down the order might fast track his retirement just like how it did with Ponting. Since Rahane takes the opening spot of Sehwag, Sehwag will take one spot in the middle order. Pujara at 3, Kohli at 4, Sehwag at 5 and Tendulkar at 6. If no Tendulkar, then they should consider Tiwary or Rayudu for that No.6 spot. Rayudu should get into the radar for a test spot. He started off as a great long innings player before he found success in IPL. He has the technique for tests. Now that Badrinath is a finished case, atleast Rayudu should be thought of for a middle order spot. Definitely NO to Rohit Sharma or Raina or Yuvraj.

Possible Middle Order: Pujara (3), Kohli (4) captain, Sehwag (5), Tendulkar/Tiwary/Rayudu (6)

Wicket Keeper: I would want to see Saha or Naman Ojha as the wicketkeeper batsman. Dhoni feels uncomfortable with batting in tests, and his keeping isnt that good for him to retain his spot based on it. Saha is a classical test mould player. Ojha is an interesting option too

Possible wicketkeeper: Saha/Ojha (7)

Spinners: Pragyan Ojha is a sureshot in the spin department. As much as I was disappointed with Ashwin, I am tempted to persist with him for two reasons. One - obviously his batting which has been excellent. He scored even in Australia when all others were failing left and right. He is a solid bat. Second - he showed positive signs of improvement in that brief second innings of England yesterday when they chased 41. He showed that he can learn from mistakes. The backup cupboard is completely bare. Harmeet Singh and Aushik Srinivas are future contenders, but I don't know what each one of them is doing right now. I havent heard anything about Aushik recently. Is he even playing Ranji cricket? Instead of going to Chawla, Mishra is a better option. Rahul Sharma has obviously fallen out after the dope scandal.

Possible spinners: Ashwin/Mishra (8), Ojha (9)

Fast Bowlers: Umesh Yadav needs to spearhead the attack now. Ishant Sharma doesn't seem to take that up. Zaheer needs to retire now. His fitness is just grossly pathetic. Wonder what Aaron's status is. I am not interested in either Praveen Kumar or Munaf Patel. Both are trash. Praveen needs swing in the conditions, or else he is trash. We all know Munaf and his history. Parwinder Awana is one prospect. Ashok Dinda is another. I think Irfan can be tried again in test cricket to balance the experience out, and also have a variety (a left armer). And if Irfan is there, we might be tempted to keep Ashwin out (sacrifice his batting) and have a different spinner.

Possible Fast Bowlers: Umesh Yadav/Irfan Pathan (10), Parwinder Awana/Ashok Dinda (11)

 

[War]

Just wondering Sasrini, what you mean by Badrinath is a finished case?. I just glanced on his cricinfo profile & saw his last fc innings on december 1st he scored 192.

 

[Epic]

Just wondering Sasrini, what you mean by Badrinath is a finished case?. I just glanced on his cricinfo profile & saw his last fc innings on december 1st he scored 192.

He probably means he's too old. Him and Kaif should've been tried out when Ganguly retired back in '08, but they were too busy giving Yuvraj chance after chance even though he showed no promise whatsoever.

 

[shravi]

Just wondering Sasrini, what you mean by Badrinath is a finished case?. I just glanced on his cricinfo profile & saw his last fc innings on december 1st he scored 192.

One the biggest criticisms of the Indian team is the average age. So why would you just bring another one in? It's counterproductive.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

india's biggest problem is its bowlers, I'd agree their batsmen have been underperforming as well recently but what are they supposed to do when consistently set the task of scoring 500+ an innings.

in both the tests they lost they scored over 300 in their first innings and still surrendered a lead. I'd definitely say they could improve their batting line up but those figures don't point to a batting problem.

dhoni I'd keep as captain as long as he backs up his statement about leading from the front in tough times. unlike ponting had, he has time to take charge and really turn this team around, it's a rare opportunity to really achieve something special as a captain, it will be interesting to see if he's up to it.

 

[SaiSrini]

Just wondering Sasrini, what you mean by Badrinath is a finished case?. I just glanced on his cricinfo profile & saw his last fc innings on december 1st he scored 192.

I said that out of frustration for the fact that Badrinath never gets treated properly by any set of selectors. He was ignored even when Srikkanth was the chairman of selectors (Srikkanth hails from Chennai, from where Badri hails too; and Srikkanth was heavily criticised during his regime for heavily favoring players from his home state, Tamil Nadu). And now with age not on his side, I don't see him getting a good run with the Indian team. And the random 1-2 opportunities he gets, he didn't make use of it (he got a 50, but a few other ordinary scores).

He can be a good prospect in the short term for India (he can easily play another 4 years if given the chance).