Opening slot and keeping - Before 1st test against Australia
There has been a lot of talk about who will open because of Ganguly's comments some months back regarding Yuveraj opening with Sehwag. Personally, I think the idea stinks, but Ganguly has been spot on many times in his analysis and this could be one of the blinders he pulls off.
However, one thing puzzles me. Mumbai play against Australia and India (Seniors) play against India-A just before the first test on October 6. Ok, so when are we planning to check out Yuveraj's opening skills - straightaway in the first test?
First of all the Mumbai team ... there was a talk that the first practice match for the Australians would be the Board President's XI which was later changed to Ranji champions mumbai. So tell me, is the match simply meant as a practice match for the Australians or also for checking out the options we have? In the Mumbai squad, except for Powar (to a big extent) and Salvi (to a lesser extent), is there any possibility of any of the others walking out as part of the Indian XI on October 6? What is the point of this match?
Then to the India - India 'A' practice match ... According to reports, Sehwag and Chopra will open for the seniors and that means Yuveraj will play in the middle order. So does that mean there is no plan to make Yuveraj open at least for the first test? If Chopra - Sehwag combination fails in the first test, will Yuveraj be brought in then? Without a trial?
Seriously, if we had a Board President's XI against Australia match, we could have checked out S. Ramesh's form (though I doubt if they take him even if he scores a double century ... there is something rotten in Denmark where Ramesh and selection to the national team is concerned) and maybe made Yuveraj open alongside him. We don't really want to find out whether Chopra can open or not; we know he can; same with Sehwag. But we DO want to know if Yuveraj can open.
One good (or is it bad) thing in the practice matches also is the presence of three keepers ... Patel has done well in tests when u consider his keeping + batting (though keeping is still dicey) and with MS Dhoni and Karthik also in the match, we should get to see some serious competition out there, coz one of them will play the first test on October 6. On this note, wouldn't a Australia vs. Board President's XI match allowed us to play all three keepers - one in that match and two in the India - India 'A' match? What r Karthick and Patel gonna do - each keep for 15 overs each? A better idea might be - we know Patel's capabilities; check out Karthick and Dhoni and let Patel play simply as a batsman. Hell, why all this nonsense when they could have played all three keepers and let them keep for the full duration.
Anyway, Cheers
The Chuckster
However, one thing puzzles me. Mumbai play against Australia and India (Seniors) play against India-A just before the first test on October 6. Ok, so when are we planning to check out Yuveraj's opening skills - straightaway in the first test?
First of all the Mumbai team ... there was a talk that the first practice match for the Australians would be the Board President's XI which was later changed to Ranji champions mumbai. So tell me, is the match simply meant as a practice match for the Australians or also for checking out the options we have? In the Mumbai squad, except for Powar (to a big extent) and Salvi (to a lesser extent), is there any possibility of any of the others walking out as part of the Indian XI on October 6? What is the point of this match?
Then to the India - India 'A' practice match ... According to reports, Sehwag and Chopra will open for the seniors and that means Yuveraj will play in the middle order. So does that mean there is no plan to make Yuveraj open at least for the first test? If Chopra - Sehwag combination fails in the first test, will Yuveraj be brought in then? Without a trial?
Seriously, if we had a Board President's XI against Australia match, we could have checked out S. Ramesh's form (though I doubt if they take him even if he scores a double century ... there is something rotten in Denmark where Ramesh and selection to the national team is concerned) and maybe made Yuveraj open alongside him. We don't really want to find out whether Chopra can open or not; we know he can; same with Sehwag. But we DO want to know if Yuveraj can open.
One good (or is it bad) thing in the practice matches also is the presence of three keepers ... Patel has done well in tests when u consider his keeping + batting (though keeping is still dicey) and with MS Dhoni and Karthik also in the match, we should get to see some serious competition out there, coz one of them will play the first test on October 6. On this note, wouldn't a Australia vs. Board President's XI match allowed us to play all three keepers - one in that match and two in the India - India 'A' match? What r Karthick and Patel gonna do - each keep for 15 overs each? A better idea might be - we know Patel's capabilities; check out Karthick and Dhoni and let Patel play simply as a batsman. Hell, why all this nonsense when they could have played all three keepers and let them keep for the full duration.
Anyway, Cheers
The Chuckster
posted by The Chuckster @ 6:06 AM
2 Comments:
At Monday, September 27, 2004 7:38:00 AM,
Chugs said…
i suppose they just want to lull them into over-confidence by making them play mumbai :p
the aussies themselves make the tourists play university sides on benign pitches before making them play on a fast pitch with 4 fast bowlers :)
i guess they will go in with all 3...chopra, sehwag and yuvi...and play musical chairs depending on who fails :p as they have done before.
parthiv will/should keep...deserves a few more chances. and he has some experience keeping for kumble and harbhajan. keeping for the spinners will be very important throughout the series
At Monday, September 27, 2004 9:14:00 AM,
anantha said…
Wow man... You seem to be asking the questions that matter.
The opening conundrum is such that no one seems to want it to be settled. If they wanted it to be settled, it would have been settled the moment Ramesh came off that injury after Sri Lanka.. But someone said he does not have a good technique and everybody agreed and decided that an Indian opening batsman needed to have a good techinique. I mean look at Sehwag now! Awesome techinique and the leg goes where it needs to be, as defined by the puritans :p Whatever man.. its all fucked up.
I think the same goes for the keepers! After they picked Patel for England a couple of years ago, I thought he is gonna be the first choice soon. But even before he is 20 and settled in, you bring someone else for him to fight with. The kid has not done anything wrong as yet, I mean the kind of wrongs Deep Dasgupta accompalished on the first day of a first test against West Indies a couple of years ago - total butter fingers! Well Karthik might be a good bat, but then at best he is gonna be as good as Patel is and even if he is, what message are we sending out? The same message that we have been sending out for the last half a dozen years or so by shuffling our openers around! In 2001, I'd have expected them to persist with someone like Ratra for a couple more years with Patel as understudy and then ease him up. But that did not happen. So atleast they should persist with Patel and keep a close watch on the likes of Karthik and Dhoni.
Sorry for the long post and sorry for calling your comments about Sachin stupid :( Mebbe I just judged you much earlier than I should have!
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