OK this seems like a good time to talk about India's Test XI - as every man and his dog and cat seem to have an opinion. Here's what I would do:
The India masterplan...
Drop Gambhir - why Gambhir and not Sehwag? Gambhir's failed just as hard as Sehwag has in the last 2 tours and Sehwag's the better player (Sehwag arguably has bigger holes in his game, but has bigger strengths IMO), Viru's also the more popular player and also the older player. That means Gambhir's got time to improve his game. He has the talent, but not the technique at present so if he can put in some hard yards in domestic cricket or preferably county cricket to improve himself I think he could come back as one of India's most important players. Either way the opening partnership isn't working and needs to be shaken up.
Encourage Laxman or Dravid to retire - I'd prefer Laxman, because I think Dravid deserves to go out on his own terms (given his 13,000+ runs and excellence in England last year) and his style of defensiveness would be a good fit in a new look Indian team. There just needs to be some new blood in there to gain experience sooner rather than later. Of course maybe Tendulkar shocks everyone and retires with 99 centuries. Whoever 'volunteers' first, I don't think India can afford to retain all 3 any longer, as it's retarding the team's development.
Send Sehwag down the order - This is where he should end up anyway after the big 3 retire, because it will let him play against spin more which he loves and on overseas tours will get him away from the new ball. To replace Sehwag at the top, I'd move Dravid up to open until he retires, with the idea that Gambhir will come back to take Dravid's spot once GG gets his form and technique sorted out a bit.
So here's my adjusted top 6:
Dravid
Rahane
Kohli - looks an excellent long term option at #3, so get him in there now I reckon
Tendulkar
Sehwag
Rohit Sharma
Now to the bowlers...
Zaheer is the leader of the attack and did OK here in Aus. No question about his spot.
Keep the youngsters - Yadav and Ashwin are new to Test cricket and while they didn't have great series, they each showed some potential at times. I think it would be harsh to drop either of them, as they could both use the experiences in Australia to help build their games. More time is needed to evaluate their true abilities.
Drop Ishant - He was unlucky at times in this series, but he just looks a bit lost in what length he needs to bowl. His record before this series has been poor too and I think it's time that he went back to domestic cricket to work on some things and to regain his edge. He needs the Aussie length makeover - bowl much fuller. In fact for this reason I would keep Ishant out of as much limited overs cricket as possible, to learn the Test length again. Like Gambhir, Ishant has the talent to be one of India's best, he just needs to sort himself out a bit.
Tougher question is who would your 3rd paceman be. Vinay Kumar's selection was bagged on these forums and he went ahead and got slathered around the WACA. Praveen Kumar's first in line I imagine. Aaron might be worth an extended go. Or Mithun. Maybe even Sreesanth. I'd put out the challenge to India's pacemen that the 3rd spot is up for grabs and see who puts up their hand.
So India's 5 bowlers for the next Test series would be:
Ashwin
Ohja
Zaheer
Yadav
Praveen (or whoever steps up their game)
I haven't mentioned MS Dhoni, but I think he should stay for the moment. Probably still as captain too. Hard to say, because I don't know how truly respected he is in the dressing room. If the players still want to play hard for him, then I say give Dhoni a chance to keep the job and show some improvement.
So there's my view - tell us yours!
The India masterplan...
Drop Gambhir - why Gambhir and not Sehwag? Gambhir's failed just as hard as Sehwag has in the last 2 tours and Sehwag's the better player (Sehwag arguably has bigger holes in his game, but has bigger strengths IMO), Viru's also the more popular player and also the older player. That means Gambhir's got time to improve his game. He has the talent, but not the technique at present so if he can put in some hard yards in domestic cricket or preferably county cricket to improve himself I think he could come back as one of India's most important players. Either way the opening partnership isn't working and needs to be shaken up.
Encourage Laxman or Dravid to retire - I'd prefer Laxman, because I think Dravid deserves to go out on his own terms (given his 13,000+ runs and excellence in England last year) and his style of defensiveness would be a good fit in a new look Indian team. There just needs to be some new blood in there to gain experience sooner rather than later. Of course maybe Tendulkar shocks everyone and retires with 99 centuries. Whoever 'volunteers' first, I don't think India can afford to retain all 3 any longer, as it's retarding the team's development.
Send Sehwag down the order - This is where he should end up anyway after the big 3 retire, because it will let him play against spin more which he loves and on overseas tours will get him away from the new ball. To replace Sehwag at the top, I'd move Dravid up to open until he retires, with the idea that Gambhir will come back to take Dravid's spot once GG gets his form and technique sorted out a bit.
So here's my adjusted top 6:
Dravid
Rahane
Kohli - looks an excellent long term option at #3, so get him in there now I reckon
Tendulkar
Sehwag
Rohit Sharma
Now to the bowlers...
Zaheer is the leader of the attack and did OK here in Aus. No question about his spot.
Keep the youngsters - Yadav and Ashwin are new to Test cricket and while they didn't have great series, they each showed some potential at times. I think it would be harsh to drop either of them, as they could both use the experiences in Australia to help build their games. More time is needed to evaluate their true abilities.
Drop Ishant - He was unlucky at times in this series, but he just looks a bit lost in what length he needs to bowl. His record before this series has been poor too and I think it's time that he went back to domestic cricket to work on some things and to regain his edge. He needs the Aussie length makeover - bowl much fuller. In fact for this reason I would keep Ishant out of as much limited overs cricket as possible, to learn the Test length again. Like Gambhir, Ishant has the talent to be one of India's best, he just needs to sort himself out a bit.
Tougher question is who would your 3rd paceman be. Vinay Kumar's selection was bagged on these forums and he went ahead and got slathered around the WACA. Praveen Kumar's first in line I imagine. Aaron might be worth an extended go. Or Mithun. Maybe even Sreesanth. I'd put out the challenge to India's pacemen that the 3rd spot is up for grabs and see who puts up their hand.
So India's 5 bowlers for the next Test series would be:
Ashwin
Ohja
Zaheer
Yadav
Praveen (or whoever steps up their game)
I haven't mentioned MS Dhoni, but I think he should stay for the moment. Probably still as captain too. Hard to say, because I don't know how truly respected he is in the dressing room. If the players still want to play hard for him, then I say give Dhoni a chance to keep the job and show some improvement.
So there's my view - tell us yours!
. Surely you mean Abhinav Mukund?
