I feel the following pick themselves.
The 11 member team would be -
uthappa
ganguly
dravid
tendulkar
dhoni
agarkar
kumble
2 out of - yuvraj / kartik / sehwag / mongia
2 out of - sreesanth/powar/munaf / Pathan / zaheer
All these names would be in the final 15 member squad.
I would go with
Uthappa
Ganguly
Dravid
Tendulkar
Yuvraj
Sehwag
Dhoni
Pathan
Agarkar
Kumble
Zaheer
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8 comments:
I'd go with:
Ganguly
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Munaf
Sreesanth
If Sehwag fails in the Eden game against Lanka, I'd take Uthappa instead. I'd take Harbhajan over Kumble because he has a better economy rate and chokes runs in the middle overs (even if he doesnt get many wickets) and has a better chance of getting some boundaries and sixes in the death overs. I'd use Sachin/Yuvraj as the second spinner. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth and Munaf would form the pace attack. I am also tempted to go with Sachin/Ganguly as openers but maybe Sachin is better used as a middle order batsman. On one hand you should always let your best batsman open but again if a top bowler gets Sachin early with the new ball, it freaks the others out. Whether he gets the most runs or not, his staying alive is a positive influence on the rest and vice versa.
I would trust agarkar more in West Indian conditions and probably play him before any of the other three pacers. His batting too seems to be maturing. Maybe he can be a replacement for Pathan, more bowler/less batsman than Pathan.
U are playing pathan + sachin + yuvraj + sehwag + Ganguly as your 5th bowler. Might be better to take agarkar.
Pathan and Sehwag could end up playing for the place of floater - 30 runs / 5 overs type person. Interesting.
Lets go with
Saurav
Uthappa
Sachin
Dravid
Yuvraj
Sehwag
Mongia
Kartik
Dhoni
Pathan
Agarkar
This way we have agarkar at 11. Mongia, Sehwag, Sachin, Yuvraj as our spinners.
Pathan, Agarkar, Saurav at our pacers.
what say :)
Among the new crop - Uthappa and Kartik have shown good attitude. They might be the ones to keep the seniors honest.
I'd probably buy your case on Agarkar and pick him over Pathan. However, I strongly believe a team should be built around specialists and some generalists to support them. Therefore, in the spin department (and WI will have some turning tracks), I would definitely have a Harbhajan/Kumble who are supported by Sachin/Yuvraj. I would not rely solely on 4 part-timers.
If you look at the recent one-day games that Harbhajan has played in, he ends up giving 20-22 runs (leave out the odd exception) and gets a wicket or two even. In the one-day format, my vote goes to him over Kumble.
I dont agree with leaving out Zaheer, he is in better form right now than any of the other fast bowlers. I am also not convinced about Mongia.
I'd go with:
Sehwag
Ganguly
Uthappa
Dravid
Sachin
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Zaheer
Harbhajan
Agarkar
Sreesanth
12th man - Kartik (he is an improving batsman and a more than decent fielder)
If Sehwag fails in the SL series, I'd take Kartik instead and keep Pathan as 12th man.
So, 7 specialist batsmen, 1 specialist spinner, 3 seamers and 3 part time spinners.
I would think that sehwag would have to compete with Kartik, Pathan, Munaf, Kumble/ Yuvraj /Powar for a middle order place.
We do need a guy who can dominate the spinners in our middle order. Sachin and Dravid and Yuvraj are not using able to dominate spinners. Ganguly and Sehwag seem to be the only ones who can fill that role. The middle over in the Windies will be crucial.
Lets assume the target is to pick a team which can beat australia who will come in with -
Gilchrist
Hayden
Ponting
Hodge/Symonds
Clarke
Hussey
White
Lee
Mcgrath
Johnson
Tait/Hogg
The middle overs where Symonds, Clarke / White will bowl will be crucial to any chances of a runaway score.
So the team has been picked, no suprises so far in the 15. As I had hoped and wished, Powar and Mongia are out. I never saw any value in either of them. I hope they pick the playing 11 on pure form and fitness.
powar is probably our best wicket taking option on slow piches on current form. sehwag should consider himself lucky....and kaif/raina will be disappointed
Raina has squandered away too many opportunities already given to him.
Powar is debatable as far as wicket taking goes, he may or he may not. One day cricket is more about choking runs (specially in the middle) from a bowlers perspective and both Harbhajan/Kumble are better than Powar at that. Bhajji is a better fielder than Powar too. Powar may have done his best whenever he had the chance but he just hasnt done enough to displace either Bhajji or Kumble as a spinner.
Kaif may have been unlucky, yes. I do feel he never got a second chance but again I havnt heard him doing great things in domestic cricket in the recent past either.
Munaf seems to be bowling well so thats good news, I wish Pathan finds some sort of bowling rhythm quickly and that will solve a few problems. His batting is not an issue right now and if he can take one or two quick wickets then team India is in serious business. Assuming ofcourse that Zaheer and Munaf do not drop off in the meanwhile. Pathan regaining form means Sreesanth can probably sit as and we can play an additional batsman like Karthik, making our batting strong upto #8. It may not matter to Australia but I am sure teams like Lanka, Pak, West Indies and England will not find that easy to crack.
Sorry, forgot to sign the last post.
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