My two cents...: Yuvraj for Ganguly?

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Yuvraj for Ganguly?

What does one make of Yuvraj coming in at 3 in the second essay against the Plions?

29 comments:

Anonymous said...: Homer,

I'd reckon that if anything the possibility is that Yuvi will come in for Jaffer (or Dhoni) - but gut says - thats contingent on 1st test failures.; 4:35 PM, July 15, 2007
worma said...: Homer: Tour matches are not primary selection indicators. Ganguly did well in SA, so, no matter what we feel - logical reasoning or gut feeling - he has to fail first, and then be considered for the bench.

I would also go with Sfx on this. First test spots are all decided - except maybe a toss-up between RP and Powar depending on pitch and weather conditions.; 4:39 AM, July 16, 2007
Chandan said...: Sfx and Manish are right. Yuvraj might have been sent to avoid any other wicket loss,especially that of Laxman because he is a confidence player and Indians want him to go in the first test in a confident mood!; 5:51 AM, July 16, 2007
Anonymous said...: homer

i would stuck my neck out here! i think this series will be a turning point in yuvi's career if he gets the chance to play i.e.

the guy has matured a lot and is eager to prove his test match credentials...

if we have to cope for failure then better be it of yuvi than jaffer... anyway all top six batsman scoring is distant possibility even for austrlia so better bet on player who seems hungry and eager...

moreover if we dont give him chances under the comfort and guidance of ageing seniors then when we will???

one day he will be suddenly playing in test matches too with no one to look up to...; 7:43 AM, July 16, 2007
Homer said...: Sfx, Worma and Chandan,

In this tour thus far, the follwing batsmen have scores of 50 or more in an innings

Karthik 2*50
Gambhir 1*50
Dravid 1*50
Laxman 1*50
SRT 1*150
Yuvraj 1*50
Dhoni 1*50

Voila - 7 batsmen!

If Ganguly comes in ( and as Worma said, there is no reason to drop him), it will have to be at the expense of Gambhir.

Which then gives us

RD, DK, VVS, SRT, YS, SG, MSD - and that is not a bad batting line up at all.

And we get three backup bowlers. What we lose is a good close in fielder ( both Gambhir and Jaffer are way better than Yuvraj under the helmet close in).

And I think both Dhoni and Karthik will play, it will be stupid of us to play Karthik at 2 and have him keep wickets ( and the think tank will not drop him to 6 or 7).

Cheers,; 8:05 AM, July 16, 2007
Homer said...: straight point,

I agree. Yuvraj should get his break in this tour, although it will be tough to slot him in the team given the depth and reputation of the current middle order.

But then again, what better time than now :)

Cheers; 8:09 AM, July 16, 2007
Cricket Guru said...: "if we have to cope for failure then better be it of yuvi than jaffer..." - by straight point.

Well said, straightpoint.

Although if it boils down to Yuvi Vs Gangs, the former would sit out only because Ganguly will have a role to play as a bowler all through this series.

If I were a selector, I would not let such a situation (Gangs Vs Yuvi) arise and would go with seven bats + 4 bowlers for the first test atleast.; 8:30 AM, July 16, 2007
Homer said...: so what would be your playing XI cricket guru?; 8:34 AM, July 16, 2007
Chandan said...: "RD, DK, VVS, SRT, YS, SG, MSD"

You expect Rahul to open then, Homer? That is a recipie for disaster in my opinion!; 10:46 AM, July 16, 2007
Homer said...: Chandan,

Then the choice boils down to Gambhir for Yuvi given that neither VVS nor SG will be dropped.

Jaffers current batting form does not merit him a place for the Lords test.

The rejigged batting line up will be

GG, DK, RD, SRT, SG, VVS, MD

But is GG a better option than Yuvi?

And for the Lords test is SG a better option than Yuvi?

And the reason I ask that question is - Batting wise both may be on par or SG may shade it a touch, but Yuvi is a part time left arm spinner while SG is a part time medium pace bowler. With 3 pacers and Sachin bowling his all sorts medium pace, what will be the better option? A leftie spinner or another medium pacer?

And it is a no contest in the fielding stakes.

Now, Dhoni does not have the best of techniques against the moving ball ( batting and keeping). And if DK has to keep wickets, we have to account for a couple of lapses on account of his workload. Which could potentially turn the game against us. And moving him down the order is not an option.

decisions, decisions :)

Cheers; 11:26 AM, July 16, 2007
Chandan said...: Jaffer can't be dropped for the first test, and you can be assured of that. Only if he fails even in the first test are we going to look for other options.

As far as Ganguly is concerned, he is a must in the MO, being the player who can deal with SLA Monty the best. We need him.

So, unfortunately, there is no place for Yuvi or GG, at least in the Lords test.; 12:58 PM, July 16, 2007
Homer said...: Chandan,

Then, speaking strictly on the basis of current form, we will be carrying two batsmen who haven't troubled the bowlers much in the recent past.; 1:26 PM, July 16, 2007
Chandan said...: You mean Jaffer and ?

Ganguly was the highest run-scorer of the series in SA where batting was tough! I hope you remember that. And potentially, he can hurt England more than Yuvraj Singh who struggles against quality spinners.

Jaffer, I agree. And I am also sure, he will fail miserably in 5 out of 6 innings, if played that long that is!; 12:40 AM, July 17, 2007
Cricket Guru said...: Jaffer
Karthk (wk)
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
VVS
Yuvraj
Zaheer
Sreesanth
R P Singh
Anil Kumble; 1:10 AM, July 17, 2007
Sam said...: Jaffer should not be in the 1st Test. he has been failing and in similar fashion every time. Why are we affording a sitting duck in our team. What wrong had Sehwag did for dropping him out of the tour. Any day he is a better batsman than Jaffer.

For now it has to be Gambhir and Karthick as openers and Yuvi have to wait untill Lax or Ganguly fail in at least 2 Tests.

Dhoni, he is the wktkeeper and would remain so. he can be always relied for quick runs and in situations where fast runs are needed or target has to be set or chased.; 1:33 AM, July 17, 2007
Kartikeya Date said...: I predict that Wasim Jaffer will make runs at Lord's...

I also think Yuvraj may get the nod ahead of Dhoni at number 7, and the decision will have hinged on Dhoni's wicketkeeping and not the relative merits of the two batsmen.

Ganguly not surprisingly has not troubled the scores once better opposition came along (South Africa, Sussex, English Lions), but i would stick with him simply because his temperament is unmatched. He might also be extremely useful against Monty Panesar. With Flintoff absent, there is unlikely to be that testing round the wicket line that left handers across the board struggle against.

In the end, Jaffer, Karthik, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Yuvraj, Kumble, Zaheer, Sreesanth, RP is what i think is most likely at Lord's.

If Dhoni's wicketkeeping is a cause for concern, then i don't think he will be tried at Lord's.; 3:31 AM, July 17, 2007
Homer said...: Chandan,

On current form alone ( and that is the only factor I am considering), who is the better bet - Yuvi or Ganguly?; 7:43 AM, July 17, 2007
Homer said...: cricket guru,

Yuvi for Dhoni I agree. but isnt Karthik then over burdened with keeping and opening? Not that he is incapable of both roles ( and with rain featuring prominently over the 5 days of the test, he may not be stretched either). But with both roles so closely coupled together, overload on one could cause a slippage in the other. And the last thing India wants is for both openers to fail.

What if RD opened and Karthik slipped to the 7 spot?; 7:51 AM, July 17, 2007
Homer said...: Maverick,

Thanks for your comments.

I agree with the Gambhir bit, the rest ( on current form) I am not sure of.

When we go into the game, do we want to pick the best XI of current form or current reputation?; 8:10 AM, July 17, 2007
Homer said...: Kartikeya,

same question as posed to cricket guru - does it make sense to burden Karthik with the openers role and the keepers gloves?; 8:12 AM, July 17, 2007
Samir Chopra said...: Why is making Dravid open such anathema to folks? I feel the role of opener is ridiculously fetishized. The fundamentals remain the same, and Dravid has them in heaps. If team strategy demands it, Dravid will do it, and probably score a ton in the process. So there.; 10:08 AM, July 17, 2007
Kartikeya Date said...: homer,

if dhoni is not keeping well, then there is no choice....; 2:31 PM, July 17, 2007
Homer said...: Kartikeya,

If Dhoni has to be replaced, then why not Dravid and Jaffer/Gambhir opening and Karthik at 7?; 2:35 PM, July 17, 2007
Kartikeya Date said...: Because Dravid is the best number 3 batsman in the world after Ponting. The point ought to be to have as few disruptions in the lineup as possible in my view. Why sacrifice Rahul Dravid when Dinesh Karthik is a willing candidate?

Its going to be a big ask but thats exactly the sort of thing that wins Test series....

Dravid has indicated in the past that he doesn't want to open the batting in Test cricket just as Tendulkar has indicated that he doesn't want to bat down the order in ODI's. Dravid has opened in Test cricket before, and Tendulkar has batted down the order before - both with distinction, but if they prefer to bat at 3 and 4 in the Test line up, then they ought to have it their way.; 7:20 PM, July 17, 2007
Anonymous said...: I think the opening partnership would decide how the rest fare in the Test. Its going to be a tossup between Dhoni and Karthik for the keeper slot, but if Karthik keeps then why not Yuvraj as opener, remember he did against Aussies in Nagpur which proved to be last for Akash Chopra.

Jaffer s failure compounds the problems for India. Best bet would be recall Sehwag.

Fun apart, Dravid will be playing the role of virtual opener almost !!!!; 7:21 AM, July 18, 2007
Anonymous said...: it seems that we all agree that we have (BIG) problem in opening slot and i would like everyones thoughts to one poor chap akash chopra...

akash chopra is by far one of the best (if not the best) current cricket writer coz they way he lay open the thoughts of what goes in to the mind of player and presents the insights very well…

he kept on performing like true team-man of what might have been “ordered” to him (as new comer) that see off new ball and scoring will be taken care by sehwag and he single mindedly kept on doing the same…

which makes me wonder how he failed to figure out (given his brilliant thinking and dissections of game as his articles suggests) that he too needed to score some runs for himself too while he was playing for india. may be he didnt presented his case strongly and india as long record of treating team man “well” in the drop of so many superstars!!

i really feel for this guy who was dumped without even given a chance and i do feel if given a chance now we may discover an altogether new opener (in attitude and approach) india is looking for in test matches....; 7:55 AM, July 18, 2007
Homer said...: superunknown,

Yuvraj opening in India and England are two different propositions altogether. The reason Jaffer gets the nod ahead of Gambhir despite indifferent form is because Jaffer has a tighter technique.

Yuvraj, like Gambhir, can be flashy outside the off stump. And against the new ball, with some nip in the air, Yuvi will be a dead duck.

And will have to kiss his chances of making the team good bye; 10:34 AM, July 18, 2007
Homer said...: straight point,

Akash Chopra would have been a good candidate for this series proviso we had an injury or two.

Again, the XV selected are not a bad selection, it is current form that is the basic cause of the problem India face today before the first test.; 10:36 AM, July 18, 2007
Kartikeya Date said...: straight point.... akash chopra was not under "orders" to see of the new ball. Thats common sense. If you check the score, Sehwag himself was extremely careful in the first 10-15 overs of the innings.

Akash Chopra didn't score runs simply because he couldn't score in front of the wicket against quick bowlers. Its that simple. Chopra never got to 40 in a Test innings without getting atleast 1 life and Jaffer (and possibly Gambhir) are far better than him, mainly because they've actualy proven that they can score big runs.

The opening stand in 2003-04 was phenomenal because Sehwag was playing brilliantly. Chopra in my view was carried by Sehwag.; 2:27 AM, July 19, 2007

My two cents...

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Yuvraj for Ganguly?

29 comments:

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