SA or India : The Real Challengers To Australia`s Throne.

[Shri]

Fab4 retiring will not affect India to be honest. Even with those guys in side India never dominated so what gonna change if they leave.

I think its time Pujara gets in. He is being wasted at first class level. Only Tendulkar out of Fab 4 will do for me anyday in India side atm. That also because he inspires young players. Nothing cricketing about it.

If Pujara replaces Dravid, I agree that our test line-up will get a huge boost. But it will be better if he plays some county cricket in England and shows that he can adapt to different conditions. BTW, did he play for India in the U19 WC that the Indian side won recently?

 

[shravi]

No, he played in the last one that lost to Anwar Ali in the finals.

 

[Cricketman]

He was like 16 then though, really shows how good he is.

Anyways, predictions for a future Indian batting order (Imo)

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Subramanium Badrinath
Ajinkya Rahane
Chet Pujara
Yuvraj Singh (Will porbably stay because of the yearly England drubbings he does )
MS Dhoni

1st reserve: Someone like Raina. He'll probably have to wait it out until one of them get injured, similar to what Yuvraj had to do.

 

[Shri]

He was like 16 then though, really shows how good he is.

Anyways, predictions for a future Indian batting order (Imo)

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Subramanium Badrinath
Ajinkya Rahane
Chet Pujara
Yuvraj Singh (Will porbably stay because of the yearly England drubbings he does )
MS Dhoni

1st reserve: Someone like Raina. He'll probably have to wait it out until one of them get injured, similar to what Yuvraj had to do.

Dhoni might promote himself to No.4 in the test line-up. Its not sane but if there is one person who can pull off insane things in his favour, its Dhoni.

 

[Big Man]

South Africa.

Better balanced side and when Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar pull the pin, it will be struggle street for India.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Rahane and Pujara are still far off - give them some time! Heck, Yuvi probably would have retired by the time Pujara will actually debut

I made a prediction a while back that when Dhoni is skipper, we'd see the three keepers in the starting XI. Patel, Karthik and Dhoni.

I'd like to see Dhoni drop keeping and take up part-time bowling. With some coaching and a longer run up, he should hit 85 MPH easily, what with those big arms. And all the secrets of reverse swing are available to him, so he should do very well.
And if he's bowling, then Karthik should keep, as I still feel he is the best keeper in India.
And my third prediction was Parthiv Patel returning as a batsman alone. He's been awesome in domestic cricket, and was excellent with the bat when he played for India.

But this is unlikely now. I'd still like to see this happen:

Sehwag
Gambhir
Patel
??? (Sharma/Raina/Badrinath/Uthappa/Tiwary/etc.)
Yuvi
Dhoni
Karthik

And 4 bowlers. Problem is, there are so many good bats, and we don't need a part-time bowler (Can always play 3 seamers and one spinner with Sehwag/Yuvi doing part time duties), so it is unlikely Karthik will return. And Patel isn't the only one doing great domestically, and the selectors don't seem to have much faith in him....

 

[Shri]

Uthappa is a long way off from playing test matches for India.

 

[m_vaughan]

India have actually done well against better and more in-form Australian sides than the current one.So,to compare just the most recent of the 2 sries is not fair.When India toured last year,the Aussies were in a much healthier state and their batsmen were all in much better form.A 2-1 loss in the series last year was far closer than the margin would suggest.We broke the Perth jinx and exposed he chinks in the Aussie side for the first time and then followed it up with the CB Series win as well as by regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home.India have actually played a major role in the Aussie decline.I bet the Indians would have come back with a better result than a 2-1 loss had they toured Australia now.

Dont be so sure. I doubt Australia will ever lose a test series at home for some time after this, even with their current side.

 

[shravi]

Uthappa is a long way off from playing test matches for India.

Shows you know nothing about domestic cricket.

Also, Zorax, check out Uday Kaul. He's a much better prospect than Parthiv. He's a keeper but could make it on his batting alone.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Ah, I've heard of him. He sound(ed) good. Didn't know he kept though!!

 

[angryangy]

Shows you know nothing about domestic cricket

Players don't automatically play Tests after a certain number of domestic runs. All one needs to know is how many batsmen stand between him and playing in a Test match. There only need be 3 or 4 for it to be a long shot.

 

[.Mob]

If Vengasarkar was still a selector, Robin's name would have been on the "shortlist", but I don't think he could hack it at Test level, to be honest. I love the guy, but, I can't see it happening at all.

But, if can do a Sehwag/Kris Srikkanth like job at the top, then I wouldn't be too displeased.

 

[SciD]

Now Zorax wants 3 keepers in side.

Dhoni is best with gloves in India. Why drop them. There are enough batsman ready to take place in Indian side and we dont need Patels or Karticks in side. India will always produce quality batsman and we should be last thing worried about is batting.

Bowling was our problem and its fixed for 5 years atleast till Zak is available.

 

[King Cricket]

Our selectors should give Dinda a try, he can be a handy bowler especially in the T-20's.

 

[shravi]

Players don't automatically play Tests after a certain number of domestic runs. All one needs to know is how many batsmen stand between him and playing in a Test match. There only need be 3 or 4 for it to be a long shot.

I didn't say he should be playing test cricket, I meant that he is quite close actually. He's been doing very well and dropping him seems have made him more determined as I heard in an interview with him. He is closer than he thinks. If he keeps scoring runs as he has this season he will be inching closer to the shortlist of Badrinath, Vijay and Pujara.