South Africa's tour of India - October/December 2015
- Thread starter Prithvi
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The debate right now is - Pujara in or Pujara out? Pujara has made things very tough for his century in his last test vs Sri Lanka. Rohit did not perform as well as Pujara in that game, but he has been in stellar ODI and T20 form. However if the captain does the right thing of not considering LOI form, then Pujara should play ahead of Rohit. Pujara should not be used as a makeshift opening option when we have three specialist openers fit and ready in the side.
And the second thing is - Jadeja in or Jadeja out? According to me, Jadeja can only play if India decide to play three spinners. If its two spinner, Ashwin and Mishra take those spots. If its one spinner, Ashwin takes it.
And the second thing is - Jadeja in or Jadeja out? According to me, Jadeja can only play if India decide to play three spinners. If its two spinner, Ashwin and Mishra take those spots. If its one spinner, Ashwin takes it.
Pujara in or out - IN
Jadeja in or out - IN
Jadeja second spinner or third spinner - Depends on the tour. He is not ahead of Ashwin for sure. He could get in ahead of Mishra on some tours though, depending on the balance in the side required. Mishra definitely second right now. A lot will depend on his mental state, after the whole arrest fiasco he was in.
Jadeja in or out - IN
Jadeja second spinner or third spinner - Depends on the tour. He is not ahead of Ashwin for sure. He could get in ahead of Mishra on some tours though, depending on the balance in the side required. Mishra definitely second right now. A lot will depend on his mental state, after the whole arrest fiasco he was in.
Excommunicado
Club Captain
2 more games before AB De Villier's 100th Test match for South Africa.
What a legendary career this legend has had.
What a legendary career this legend has had.
Gaurav_7
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Pujara in or out shouldn't at all be a question tbh. He should be in the test team and should be in the XI. It's been very frustrating seeing him sitting in the dressing room and I don't really want that to happen again. What wrong has he done to not play? Any day he should be in the team and playing out there and scoring runs hopefully, loads of them.
2 days to go for the 1st test. I would be surprised if the pitch is anything but a proper spin friendly pitch. I think after Shashtri went to the extent of basically abusing the curator after the final ODI, it would be a surprise if any curator produced a pitch anything other than what the team required.
LiveLoveABD
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My teams for the first test-
India
Vijay
Pujara
Rahane
Kohli
Rohit
Ojha
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Yadav
Aaron
(I'm guessing Ishant is banned)
SA
Van Zyl
Elgar
Faf
Amla
de Villiers
Duminy (if he's fit)
de Kock but Vilas will play
Harmer
Steyn
Morkel
Tahir
From a patriotic point of view, I would love to see Philander play because he's the most atrocious bowler in these conditions. I'd not be surprised if he gets carted around the park. I don't know about SA spin reserves but Tahir has to play for me. He's expensive but he can win games by picking wickets.
India
Vijay
Pujara
Rahane
Kohli
Rohit
Ojha
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Yadav
Aaron
(I'm guessing Ishant is banned)
SA
Van Zyl
Elgar
Faf
Amla
de Villiers
Duminy (if he's fit)
de Kock but Vilas will play
Harmer
Steyn
Morkel
Tahir
From a patriotic point of view, I would love to see Philander play because he's the most atrocious bowler in these conditions. I'd not be surprised if he gets carted around the park. I don't know about SA spin reserves but Tahir has to play for me. He's expensive but he can win games by picking wickets.
LiveLoveABD
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I agree completely with you apart from the makeshift opening option. Pujara scored that ton as an opener and frankly, if Dhawan can open anyone really can. I think picking Dhawan ahead of Rohit is a bit unfair. The most practical option is to have Vijay and Rahul open with Pujara at 3. The rest follow, with the keeper at 6 and Jadeja at 7. But, India's management has a fetish for Rohit and that's why I think he should bat @ 6 with Rahul and Dhawan making way. It will be quite ludicrous to drop Pujara.
Also, Jadeja has been picking wickets for fun in the Ranji Trophy. I would guess he has to play. But I agree about your two spinners. I just don't know what frame of mind Mishra is in. What would be utterly impractical is to see Binny play no matter how much grass there is on the wicket.
stefan
International Coach
Philander isn't penetrative in the subcontinent but he certainly doesn't get carted around. He will still do his job for the team. Unless it turns square from day one SA will not play 2 out and out spinners. Our success in the subcontinent has always been with 3 seamers and a spinner chipping in.
Tahir isn't consistent enough in test match cricket so personally I would go with harmer but there isn't that much to chose between the 3 spinners. All 3 has there pro's and cons.
Having just agreed that LOI form should not be a criteria for test selection you want Dhawan dropped from the tests because of his LOI form despite Dhawan having back to back 100s in his last two Tests !!
AliB
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My team would be:
Rohit (When he shifted up in Limited overs his ave changed from mere 29 to 40.2 so why can't he open in tests?)
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Rahul
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Yadav
Ishant/Aaron
Rohit (When he shifted up in Limited overs his ave changed from mere 29 to 40.2 so why can't he open in tests?)
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Rahul
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Yadav
Ishant/Aaron
My team would be:
Rohit (When he shifted up in Limited overs his ave changed from mere 29 to 40.2 so why can't he open in tests?)
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Rahul
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Yadav
Ishant/Aaron
Oh god! You want to drop Vijay, India's best test batsman in recent times and at the moment? I'll drop Kohli and Rahane to keep Vijay. I'm sure a lot will agree with me on this.
Test opening and LOI opening is not the same. There's a gulf difference. In LOI, it's about setting or defending targets. But in tests, you bat time and against new ball where bowlers have license to attack you constantly. That's why Sachin never opened for India in tests even though he was a great ODI opener.
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South Africa’s likely XI for 1st Test (in batting order): Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla (c), AB de Villiers, Temba Bavuma, Dane Vilas (wk), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Simon Harmer / Imran Tahir and Morne Morkel / Kagiso Rabada.
- Murali Vijay vs Dale Steyn
- Ravichandran Ashwin vs AB de Villiers
- Amit Mishra vs Faf Du Plessis
- Umesh Yadav vs Hashim Amla
^Umesh vs Amla, I see only one winner there :P
I think Vijay vs Steyn will be interesting, I would give Steyn the edge, but Vijay has improved by a country mile on the foreign tours. So I think it will be a good contest. The other two duels will be interesting. Mishra's mental state after his brush with the law will be key.
I think Vijay vs Steyn will be interesting, I would give Steyn the edge, but Vijay has improved by a country mile on the foreign tours. So I think it will be a good contest. The other two duels will be interesting. Mishra's mental state after his brush with the law will be key.
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