Jakester1288
School Cricketer
Interesting topic. It all depends on the role of the player needed - would you be going in with 3 seamers and 2 spinners giving you a ridiculously long tail or substitute the third seamer for an allrounder such as Pathan?
Personally, if you are taking 1 spinner in, I would be going with Patel or Kumar. I am not a big fan of Sreesanth, but he was been pretty effective in his tests to date. 50 wickets in 14 matches @ 31.46 isn't overly good, but 37 of those wickets were away, conceding 28.86 apiece. He would be the favourite, and is also quite young, 25 is not very old for a modern cricketer. Since his debut in 2006 he has just been going downhill, averaging 24.37 in 2006, 40.54 in 2007 and 68.50 in 2008.
Munaf Patel would probably be my choice, his 142 first class wickets at 23.55 is impressive to say the least, and in his 9 tests between 2006 and 2007 he captured 28 wickets at 33.57. He also has 49 ODI scalps at 29.80, again, very impressive.
Praveen Kumar has impressed in his limited ODI appearances, taking 26 wickets at 28.57 in his 18 matches. With the ability to swing the ball both ways, bowl in long spells and get movement from unresponsive sub-continent tracks he looks the goods. At 22, he is a long term option.
RP Singh is another option, who swings the ball a lot when conditions suit. I still remember his opening spell against the Australian's in the 2007 boxing day test where Hayden and Jaques could hardly put bat on him - but the Australian's were able to survive with about 15 plays and misses until lunch. He has looked good in patches from what I've seen, and at 23 if he can get into the side on a long term basis the Indian's could use him as opening bowler or first change.
Irfan Pathan has been around for what seems like an age, debuting, like Sharma, at 19 on a tour of Australia (in 2003). He swung the ball lots, and was earmarked as the best Indian swing/seam bowler since Kapil Dev. Suddenly he lost his swing and was not taking wickets. He got recalled and dropped again, but record of 100 wickets @ 32.26 and his handy batting - in which he averages over 31 - makes him the prime contender if India opt to go with 3 seamers and 2 spinners, with Irfan batting at 7.
Personally, if you are taking 1 spinner in, I would be going with Patel or Kumar. I am not a big fan of Sreesanth, but he was been pretty effective in his tests to date. 50 wickets in 14 matches @ 31.46 isn't overly good, but 37 of those wickets were away, conceding 28.86 apiece. He would be the favourite, and is also quite young, 25 is not very old for a modern cricketer. Since his debut in 2006 he has just been going downhill, averaging 24.37 in 2006, 40.54 in 2007 and 68.50 in 2008.
Munaf Patel would probably be my choice, his 142 first class wickets at 23.55 is impressive to say the least, and in his 9 tests between 2006 and 2007 he captured 28 wickets at 33.57. He also has 49 ODI scalps at 29.80, again, very impressive.
Praveen Kumar has impressed in his limited ODI appearances, taking 26 wickets at 28.57 in his 18 matches. With the ability to swing the ball both ways, bowl in long spells and get movement from unresponsive sub-continent tracks he looks the goods. At 22, he is a long term option.
RP Singh is another option, who swings the ball a lot when conditions suit. I still remember his opening spell against the Australian's in the 2007 boxing day test where Hayden and Jaques could hardly put bat on him - but the Australian's were able to survive with about 15 plays and misses until lunch. He has looked good in patches from what I've seen, and at 23 if he can get into the side on a long term basis the Indian's could use him as opening bowler or first change.
Irfan Pathan has been around for what seems like an age, debuting, like Sharma, at 19 on a tour of Australia (in 2003). He swung the ball lots, and was earmarked as the best Indian swing/seam bowler since Kapil Dev. Suddenly he lost his swing and was not taking wickets. He got recalled and dropped again, but record of 100 wickets @ 32.26 and his handy batting - in which he averages over 31 - makes him the prime contender if India opt to go with 3 seamers and 2 spinners, with Irfan batting at 7.
