Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Fixtures:
http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-series/ ... 18/matches


Crucial points for Indian team selection:

1. Opening combination. (Which two will get in playing 11 amongst Shikhar, Murali and Lokesh)
2. Only one spinner. (Whether Ashwin or Jaddu will get in playing 11).
3. Pace bowling attack - Shami and Bhuvi have earned the spot for next tour. Ishant too is now ahead of Umesh. I expect Umesh to be in the squad though. Hardik is likely to get into playing 11 as pace bowling all-rounder.

IMO,

Vijay and Rahul should open, and i would take Mukund as reserve opener ahead of Dhawan, Ashwin should be the spinner, better batsman and bowler than Jadeja, class act, Shami, Bhuvi and Ishant should be the seamers, with yadav as back up, Hardik will bat 6

My side would be

Vijay
Rahul
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Hardik
Saha
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Ishant

12th: Yadav

also 6 ODI'S is a silly number...make it 5 or 7...

I don't think that Abhinav Mukund will be in squad. There is no chance of that imo.

Openers - Shikhar, Murali, Rahul
Middle order - Chet, Virat, Ajinkya,Rohit,
Wicket-keeper - Saha
All-rounder - Hardik
Pacers - Shami, Bhuvi, Ishant, Umesh
Spinners- Ashwin, Jaddu

I would add one more player. Most likely selection panel will pick Kuldeep, however i don't think we need 3 spinners in the squad considering the wickets in SA. Would rather pick a player who is not a spinner.

Wondering if Vijay Shankar might get in squad somehow. He is there in squad for the SL test series and is a pace bowler + batsman all rounder.

yeah probably him instead of Kuldeep...like you say no point in taking 3 spinners to SA, only reason you take 2 is because of injury

The pace bowling all-rounder has always been a weak link in the Indian international cricket.

Kapil was awesome. Manoj Prabhakar was good. Irfan Pathan did a decent job. Since Irfan Pathan we have struggled to find a pace bowling all rounder.

Hardik Pandya is being groomed as one. Vijay Shankar is the backup all rounder replacement for Hardik in this SL test series. Overall this is the pain point in test cricket on pace friendly wickets. The team balance is just not there because of lack of a decent pace bowling all-rounder when we on tours where pacers are assisted more.

Hardik seems a very good option, you have seen more of him than i have adi, can he rein it in and play a long innings if he needs too, or does he only play one way?

andy wrote:Hardik seems a very good option, you have seen more of him than i have adi, can he rein it in and play a long innings if he needs too, or does he only play one way?

He made debut in recent test series on our tour of SL. Made some good contributions with the bat, however not impressed with the ball.

His bowling has always been usually wayward in the sense that he drift towards the leg stump. The control of the specialist bowlers is not yet there, but we have to consider he i not a specialist bowler to pitch it in right spot more often than not. If he pitches on the off stump line then it takes care even if the length is slightly wrong. Better to pitch it on wrong length on off and get away with it than pitch it on leg and go for runs. There is good scope to improve his line imo, otherwise he will keep leaking runs as well as lessen his chances of wickets.

His most impact will be in the fielding aspect. Hardik is now India's best out fielder. Previously it was Ajinkya who hardly dropped any catches in out field and is kept in crucial catching positions in out field.

His batting is good for the shorter formats, but i am not yet sure he will succeed on wickets in SA against the likes of Steyn, Rabada and Morkel. Even Indian specialist batters struggle there.

Pace bowling allrounder will be crucial to balance our playing 11 and i am sure that will help Hardik get in playing 11. It will be worthy imo to give him some experience first on such tough tours, and then start to expect.

Vijay Shankar has better batting technique than Hardik though.

Do you think it's likely Shankar will get a go? Or are the selectors obsessed with Pandya?

Hardik is the first choice all-rounder as of now. He has been rested for this SL test series keeping in mind that he has played lot of cricket in ODI and T20 and one test series recently. They did not want an injury to him as he is crucial for team composition in SA. I think it was sensible decision, if he needs rest then so be it. Otherwise we are going to struggle on the resourcing part itself to begin with. With him being fully fit and available means that at least we have a relatively better team composition. Whether he will perform or not is another aspect. Selection wise it seems to be a good decision to rest him against SL considering he was also having a bit of niggle.

Vijay Shankar will have to wait. They can try him in one warm-up match that we are playing and observe him in nets on those type of wickets.

Personally i also would give Hardik the first go, because he brings more experience, some confidence of test runs versus SL . Also, importantly we would need a very good fielder at Deep Backward Square Leg on those wickets. One or two quickly run and well taken catches at that position on those bouncy South African wickets against pacers (for lofted hook and pull) can change match situation. I think he will be fielding at DBSL in that series. Shami can bowl bouncers at a very good pace. Ishant too can bowl bouncers. Bhuvi has improved his pace. So we need to back the improvement of pace in our pace bowling attack with good fielders at DBSL. Using him in any other fielding position there is waste of his fielding skills.

Dec 30, Sat - Dec 31, Sun South Africa vs India, Two-day warm-up match
Boland Park, Paarl
8:00 AM
08:00 AM GMT / 10:00 AM LOCAL

Jan 05, Fri - Jan 09, Tue South Africa vs India, 1st Test
Newlands, Cape Town
8:30 AM
08:30 AM GMT / 10:30 AM LOCAL

Jan 13, Sat - Jan 17, Wed South Africa vs India, 2nd Test
SuperSport Park, Centurion
8:00 AM
08:00 AM GMT / 10:00 AM LOCAL

Jan 24, Wed - Jan 28, Sun South Africa vs India, 3rd Test
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
8:00 AM
08:00 AM GMT / 10:00 AM LOCAL

My 11

Rahul
Vijay
Chet
Virat
Ajinkya
Saha
Hardik
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Ishant

Ok, so i know it's a bit early, but I thought we may as well start.

It looks like the Ind squad is pretty much a foregone conclusion - my side and squad is as follows:

First XI

Rahul
Vijay
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Pandya
Ashwin
Saha
Bhuvi
Shami
Ishant

Back-Ups

Dhawan
Rohit
D Karthik
Jadeja
Umesh
Bumrah

Openers - for me I think Dhawan is more likely to struggle in SA than the other two. Dhawan would be back in for the ODIs

Ashwin and Jadeja is a tight call - I go with Ashwin because he is a good slip fielder and a better test bat than Jadeja, even though Jadeja is a better all-round fielder.

Ishant - seems to be bowling well so he gets the nod. Umesh seems really down on pace, he needs to get back to the high 140s to come back in ahead of Ishant, if Ishant goes back to his normal ways then I'd try Bumrah even though he's not played tests yet.

Yeah been wondering for a while, when India would blood Bumrah in tests...don't know what he's like in Indian domestic cricket in the longer form of the game..surely an option though?..

Can't argue much with that. Reckon you guys could also use Kuldeep Yadav in the squad as a third spinning option for the sake of variety should the two experienced hands fail to make an impact in foreign climes once again.