India v England 2012-13

We have to take a risk with Virat Kohli and give him the captaincy. When Graeme Smith took over the reins from Pollock in 2003 as a brash and an aggressive character with no performance credibility behind him and with renowned performers such as Kallis and Boucher, it looked an outrageous decision at that point. But the decision looking back was one of the best decisions that CSA had ever taken. India are better off now, with Kohli already establishing himself in the team and is the only consistent player in the last year or so. Virat is 24 and given some time can become a strong leader IMO.

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Originally Posted by lscain605

Interesting suggestions, Mukund seemed very convincing to me, he played against England in England which has been a difficult task even for the top teams

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Yes Abinav looked confident and convincing as an opener in the couple of innings he played against England. But the problem right now is that Abinav is not having a great season this year and his troubles began with the India A tour of the West Indies. Needs to get his touch back.

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Originally Posted by lscain605

Push Rahane to 2nd/3rd down and have Mukund open the innings. Rohit needs to prove himself atleast in the ODI's before making a claim in test cricket, he is too casual, better than Vijay still he tends to throw away his wicket

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Rahane has played all his cricket for Mumbai as No 3 or as an opener. He looks like a proper top order player to me and with him waiting in the wings for so long now, Rahane can open IMO esp with Pujara looks good at No 3.

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Originally Posted by lscain605

Sreesanth hasn't been great or doing anything in the domestic cricket. Sandeep Sharma has been very good, or try Awana, Varun. We will need 3 good fast bowlers for overseas tours, we don't have even one

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Unfortunately all pacers who are doing well in Ranji cricket this season including Sandeep Sharma, his Punjab team mate Kaul, Pankaj Singh, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, etc., all are good 'line d length' bowlers. Well, they seem to be picking wickets in flat Indian conditions and hence should be good, but Sreesanth, for all his antics is still a good talent. Sreesanth is one rare swing bowler who also can generate a fair bit of pace.

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Originally Posted by lscain605

Not convinced by Ashwin, his bowling has been poor, not picking wickets and not being economical. Ohja is the better bowler, but Jadeja is also a left arm bowler

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Ashwin has been surprisingly below par this series and I am sure he will learn and fare better in the future. Ashwin is an aggressive bowler and a decent batsman and hence should most certainly be persisted with. Aside, we don't seem to have any talents coming from domestic cricket. There is one chap from the U19 World Cup winning team in 2012 Harmeet Singh who is rated highly. But its mighty early for him.

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Originally Posted by lscain605

Completely disagree with giving captaincy to Kohli, try it out in T20 or ODI and then make the changes in test.

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I guess, he is the best candidate right now with Dhoni looking jaded and uninspiring.

Although Sreesanth is as irritating as Kohli with his on field behaviour, the way he uses the seam is second to none. He will me more than useful in pitches with life.

'Dhoni can be the man to take India forward' - Dravid

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-...ry/597550.html

Am surprised at Dravid's POV on Dhoni.

On Sachin,

Sachin Tendulkar has been having a lean patch for a while. He got a good 76 in the first innings in Kolkata but it is not an absolute certainty that he'll be around when India play South Africa in 2013. Is it time that India started looking beyond him?

He's been a huge servant of the game and been fantastic for Indian cricket. He is a great player and this period has been difficult for him. He is a proud man and this would have hurt him. The thing is, people need to have a conversation with him and see what's his state of mind, what he's thinking and what his plans are. After that conversation, he himself will have to think about a few things because I'm not sure there are many people who can take the decisions regarding Tendulkar. At some stage, Sachin will have to make decisions on his own, if he truly believes that, "Yes, I can be around when India makes these foreign trips, if I can be around in South Africa, New Zealand, England, playing at my best," then I think it makes sense for him to back himself and fight it out. If he, at any stage, doubts himself and believes that he can't then he's got to start thinking about his career, and what's the future of Indian cricket as well. So it's really going to be up to him.

Look, it's a pretty emotional time, should take the emotion out of it, sit back, there's time before the next Australia series, sit back calmly and reflect. And irrespective of whatever decision he takes, in the end we have to respect it.

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Originally Posted by P_R

And Dhoni has said things are not as bad as the 2007 World Cup loss.
:lol:

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:banghead: :nonsense:
what has happened to this guy lately...

If this is the attitude of the captain , then god save Indian cricket

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Originally Posted by SoftSword

:banghead: :nonsense:
what has happened to this guy lately...

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neengellam innum pakkuva padanum ... he indirectly referring to 2011 WC win :poke: adha nenachu sandhosha pattukunga, adhukku captain yaaru?

Poms lose both warm-up games :redjump: :clap: to India A and Delhi team for winning against a fully loaded international team!

Cookie, Belly and Murugan seem to be in fine touch. Given that the national team isn't even half as good as our domestic teams, Poms can walk away with a 5-0 :thumbsup:

Pujara is in the form of his life, 261* of 275 balls against Karnataka today. But he'll be dropped for a certain KKR captain on Friday :@

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Originally Posted by satissh_r

Pujara is in the form of his life, 261* of 275 balls against Karnataka today. But he'll be dropped for a certain KKR captain on Friday :@

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idhu mattum nadandhadhu, full support to Ingerlandhu to whitewash India 5-0 :evil:

Dhoni's fetish for left-right combo is over rated. Rahane-Pujji should be made the permament ODI opening pair for India.