South Africa in India

[Will_NA]

You cannot drop Sreesanth. He is your fastest, most hard-working bowler. He bowled the best last Test and he can swing the ball. He is a handful and RP didn't look as if he troubled the Saffas.

 

[manee]

Umm, India bowled awfully in the last test, so are fixing that by bringing in Munaf Patel, Lol. Wouldn't be the choice for me. I'd rather have Sree and RP tbh.

Trust me - if he plays, you will eat your words.

What has happened to Sreesanth? I remember him in South Africa, he was beast.

Sreesanth gets a lot of swing, but is quite slow off the pitch and in the air - in South Africa, where the pitches are naturally fast and bouncy and the air is thin, this deficiency is hidden and his naturally fast release speed decellerates less...

At least, that is what I think.

*****

I'd probably go with this XI, based on the squad

1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. VVS Laxman
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. Mohammad Kaif
7. MS Dhoni
8. Anil Kumble/Piyush Chawla(fitness pending)
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Munaf Patel

However, I believe that the management will likely chose Yuvraj Singh over Mohammad Kaif and favour Sreesanth over Munaf Patel.

You cannot drop Sreesanth. He is your fastest, most hard-working bowler. He bowled the best last Test and he can swing the ball. He is a handful and RP didn't look as if he troubled the Saffas.

RP Singh should have been and has been rightly dropped. As for Sreesanth, it is not always about hard work - it is about mental stamina, something which I feel that Sreesanth lacks. He does not possess the self control to persevere for sessions on end with the outswinger and simple bowling action; he always has to by trying something new. You note that he is our fastest bowler, but Munaf Patel (in Pakistan) and Ishant Sharma (in Australia) have hit the same, if not higher readings on the speed gun, whereas I also believe that Sreesanth loses a lot of pace through the air and the batsman has much time to react to him. However, the latter is more a theory than proven.

 

[King Pietersen]

I've only ever seen you Manee talking Munaf up, he's been pure awful whenever i've seen him play, which granted isn't particularly much. He's never looked fit, looks mentally all over the place, can't bat, is one of the worst fielders in the game from the evidence i've seen, I'd rather have Monty in the field over Munaf. He may be quick and talented when on form, but this only seems to happen very rarely, i've not seen anything special from the lad personally.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

No Now India don't need Munaf Patel.
People saying like He gonna make any big Difference.He would not able to bowl 25 overs a day even.
I still doubt Ishant play or not.And Even Ishant alone won't able to change the Game.India need to perform as a Team.
One person can't change the game until He is Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[Cricketman]

Wow, Jaffer still isn't dropped?

How many chances is that now? How many did Karthik get?
Hmm....

Sree is out,Ishant will be the only bowler.And the stupid selection panel has ensured that the Mumbai lobby stays by persisting with Wasim Jaffer,shocking indeed.
Ramesh Powar comes in as a cover for Kumble.I'd rather have Pragyan Ojha in there.

Once again, Politics.

Jaffer and Powar, both have not done anything to play for their nation's side, have been given a look in simply because of where they are from. Crap, absolute crap.

What about Murali Kartik? He was dropped after a 6-fer, against the Aussie's! :

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Well I Never got that one about Mumbai!!!
Why they always try to keep some number of players from Mumbai?
Is this because of Vengsarkar?

Whatever but wiered.Powar has no argument for himself to make return.
I feel same for Munaf.Because of N Shah He is there.

 

[Leggie]

I think Pathan deserves to play, I think the fact that he was given a ball that was smacked all around the park and therefore had a dull ball has to be considered. He should open the bowling.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Pathan has no problem what so ever.Big Plus point for him is that He can bat a bit.Its always give you an extra batsman when you plaing with him.

Although personally I feel these team Changes won't gonna help India so much until they show some Intensity towards game.
South Africa were preparing for 2 nd test when our great players were busy in IPL.
How amazing is that for players now IPL means more than Country win?
Sehwag was with A Kumar just before 2 days of 2nd test.

 

[Leggie]

Pathan has no problem what so ever.Big Plus point for him is that He can bat a bit.Its always give you an extra batsman when you plaing with him.

Although personally I feel these team Changes won't gonna help India so much until they show some Intensity towards game.
South Africa were preparing for 2 nd test when our great players were busy in IPL.
How amazing is that for players now IPL means more than Country win?
Sehwag was with A Kumar just before 2 days of 2nd test.

Vaibhav Bhai, your so dumb :

Where do you think they will get their money from when they get dropped? :

 

[manee]

I've only ever seen you Manee talking Munaf up, he's been pure awful whenever i've seen him play, which granted isn't particularly much. He's never looked fit, looks mentally all over the place, can't bat, is one of the worst fielders in the game from the evidence i've seen, I'd rather have Monty in the field over Munaf. He may be quick and talented when on form, but this only seems to happen very rarely, i've not seen anything special from the lad personally.

He is extremely inconsistent - which is why I feel that RP Singh was the right choice for the first Test match, but after his failure, India should not have hesitated in picking him.

He is extremely talented and has an impressive FC record which shows pure ability in the FC game. Tbh, a lot of his under performances have come from constant injuries which have plagued him. He is inconsistent, but I feel that it is due to simply not using his front arm. A stronger body and a slight tweak to his action is all that he needs. I believe that a reason why I rate him highly is because he reminds me of the Glenn Mcgrath of 1996-1999, the most dominant bowler of when I first started watching cricket - a sharp medium pacer who bowls a good length and gets seam movement.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

ha ha.
Ya you are Right.Future planning.

 

[Leggie]

Isn't comparing Glenn McGrath to Dadaji offenseive to Australians?

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Its even offensive to me..
MCGrath was something more than a Bowler.Accurate,and Always has been top of his game..
He had the Capacity to change the Match on his own.
Munaf well He has not fitness to Qualify for Grand father-11..

 

[.Mob]

1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. VVS Laxman
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. Mohammad Kaif
7. MS Dhoni
8. Anil Kumble/Piyush Chawla(fitness pending)
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Munaf Patel

Oh god, anyone but Munaf Patel, Sree for sure. Or, I'd rather play three spinners, and Ganguly as the second seamer.

 

[manee]

You say that Sreesanth tries hard and gives it his all. I respect that and would far rather that he be the better bowler than Munaf Patel - but tbh, Sreesanth maxed himself out against South Africa and did not take wickets nor was he particularly unlucky.

PS: I can see that to the neutral eye, I am a blind follower of Munaf Patel and in a few years, if he is not the star that I say he will be - then I will admit being wrong - I was also wrong about Ishant Sharma, but I see a lot of talent in Munaf Patel and think that the simple use of his front arm will aid his consistency massively. I am sceptical about the BCCI embarking him on long term fitness work though, but believe that TA Sekhar and Dennis Lillee (great fast bowling coaches at the MRF Pace Foundation) should be able to spot what I, an unqualifyed observer, can.