India the Test Future?

[shankycricket]

ok then well what if, ashwin had been in cracking form before IPL for india, would you still drop him for an in-form harby, even in ashwin had been in the form of his life?

In Tests,yes. In ODIs, I'd stick with Ashwin.

[andy]

hmmmm not sure i agree with u to be honest.

[shankycricket]

As an England fan, I'd rather our batsmen face an in form Ashwin than an in form Harby in Tests later this year.

[mikesiva]

There is a rumour that Gambhir and Kohli don't like each other....

Given that they are the future, that doesn't augur well for team spirit.

[ddb]

Yeah don't like each other, just have the highest partnership average in chases.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... s;type=fow

[meninblue]

Ajinkya, Kohli and Cheteshwar are the three frontline prospects in long formats now. The batting bench strength is looking reasonably good even though it is not tested enough at international test level.

Pankaj Singh has good bowling skills, but at 27 he might not be in selectors long term plans. However, i would still like to see him given a chance in tests. Also, Dhawal is another bowling prospect , though not as good as Pankaj.

[dan08]

Ajinkya, Kohli and Cheteshwar are the three frontline prospects in long formats now. The batting bench strength is looking reasonably good even though it is not tested enough at international test level.

Pankaj Singh has good bowling skills, but at 27 he might not be in selectors long term plans. However, i would still like to see him given a chance in tests. Also, Dhawal is another bowling prospect , though not as good as Pankaj.

What do you think of Abu Nechim? I like the look of him and he has decent pace.

[andy]

i agree about Nechim no7!

shame RP singh has got the nod over nechim this year.

[shankycricket]

Yeah Nechim was impressive in the CLT20. Getting steep bounce from a good length on slow pitches.
Pankaj is a good bowler IMO. Dont think much about Dhawal though. Just looks another Vinay Kumar.
Batting wise, I like the look of Rahane, Kohli, Pujara and the guy who isnt spoken much of on this forum but is an incredible talent IMO - Manish Pandey. Manoj is decent.

Dont rate Rohit though. Forget his temperament. His stamina seems to be very low.

[ddb]

Rate Pandey over Rohit? Whaaaaaaaaaaat? More of a flop than Rohit.

[shankycricket]

Pandey is younger though. Rohit is an international veteran and yet continues to show mental fragility. And the fact that a 39 year old Sachin has shown better stamina than Rohit tells a story.

[shankycricket]

Not saying Pandey is ready for international cricket and if I were to pick one of those 2 at the moment, I'd have Rohit. But IMHO Pandey has the ability to blossom into a top quality batsman. Just needs to tighten his game up a bit. A county stint would help.

[shankycricket]

Rohit, to me, seems the Indian version of Bopara with a bit more natural talent than Bops but same in terms of temperament. Though Rohit is 3 years younger than Ravi. So there is still time to develop but the lack of improvement over the last 4 years is the reason why I am not too confident. Would be premature to write him off completely just as yet but with the kind of batting talent waiting in the wings I dont think you can afford to keep on picking a guy who has failed repeatedly.

[meninblue]

Ajinkya, Kohli and Cheteshwar are the three frontline prospects in long formats now. The batting bench strength is looking reasonably good even though it is not tested enough at international test level.

Pankaj Singh has good bowling skills, but at 27 he might not be in selectors long term plans. However, i would still like to see him given a chance in tests. Also, Dhawal is another bowling prospect , though not as good as Pankaj.

What do you think of Abu Nechim? I like the look of him and he has decent pace.

Abu had a good Ranji 2012 season. He has pace but only decent pace as you say. Nothing like South African, Aussie or Umesh Yadav type to get a differentiating advantage over other bowlers in the line before him. The other reason is, Assam in spite of being in the weakest group of Ranji plate group, could not win a single match. I would expect that the first bowler to be promoted from East Zone would be Ashok Dinda, second would be Basant and third would be Abu . So even in his zone he is the third best pace bowler. When you include the current test bowlers then North, Central, West and South zone bowlers, he is lagging very much behind in the selection order. The selection aspects are expected to change next year when they will restructure the current 5 selectors committee with another structure. The details of that structure are still awaited but i hope that it should be such that it benefits top players of weaker teams. At the moment his selection will raise severe criticism and rightfully so.

[shankycricket]

My India Test XI would be

Rahane
Gambhir
Pujara
SRT
Sehwag
Kohli
Dhoni
Zak
Dinda
Ojha
Yadav

Whilst comparisons with Donald are beyond ludicrous, I believe Dinda is a talented bowler and deserves a go having done well at the domestic level.
I still believe Ishant is a very talented bowler but he needs some time out of the side to work on his wrist position. I have no doubts that he will come back stronger. Again, a county stint would do him no end of good.