[vibbs]

Originally Posted by harry10

Ideal starting top 7 for World cup should be -

1. Rohit
2. Gill
3. Kohli
4. Iyer
5. KL Rahul
6. Hardik
7. Jadeja
.....
No.8 should be Ashwin.
No.9 should be Bumrah.
No.10 will be Kuldeep
No. 11 Siraj.

This gives us proper 5 bowlers + Hardik whose bowling has been very good this year.

SKY and Kishan will play as backups for Iyer and Rahul in case of injury or loss of form. Axar or Ashwin as spin backups. But Thakur just doesn't brings anything special for Indian pitches. He should only be as backup for Hardik.

This is in my opinion the best side that has been brought out in the recent posts. This is India and we need spinners. If we have two spinners who are decent with the bat, then in Indian conditions we should be brave enough to go with 3 of them. So in my opinion too Jadeja, Ashwin and Kuldeep are those three we should bank on. But I really don't know what is the management thought process about Ashwin.

The thought of Ashwin (or for that matter Axar) coming to bat at no 8 pleases me. Axar of course has fallen off track with his bowling now a days.

The pace bowling will and should be limited to Bumrah and Siraj with Pandya being the 6th bowler and 3rd seamer. Three full time pacers in indian conditions is an overkill in my opinion.

100% agree about Thakur. I don't know what was his role in Asia cup. And we had a match that he should have won us with his batting abilities if he is in the side as an all rounder.

[Shumi_21]

Australia have come hard today and are 200/1 in the 27th over. We usually capitulate in situations like this. Rohit's captaincy and the team's gumption for a fightback will be tested today.

[rx100]

So they are throwing Sundar under the bus to check his hitting prowess for the WC audition. Let’s see if he can survive the test.

[kavensri]

Does anyone else also thinks that Jadeja's batting in white ball internationals is in complete contrast to how he plays in IPL?
He does not even play aggresively while batting.
I do not even remember, when was the last time he won us a match with his batting.

Note: He is still a good bowler and outstanding fielder though.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Does anyone else also thinks that Jadeja's batting in white ball internationals is in complete contrast to how he plays in IPL?
He does not even play aggresively while batting.
I do not even remember, when was the last time he won us a match with his batting.

Note: He is still a good bowler and outstanding fielder though.

Today's six was his first of 2023. He is carrying a legacy, but his numbers in ODI cricket in the past 3 years have been below par. Dropping him for Ashwin could be a big decision which Dravid and Sharma won't take. May be it is just you & me, but his attitude or aggression outside IPL feels quite subdued.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Does anyone else also thinks that Jadeja's batting in white ball internationals is in complete contrast to how he plays in IPL?
He does not even play aggresively while batting.
I do not even remember, when was the last time he won us a match with his batting.

Could not understand his approach towards the end to not run and hog the strike even though a victory wasn't even mathematically possible.

Might as well have given the tail-end some batting practice under real match situation.

[vamsi.kona]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Does anyone else also thinks that Jadeja's batting in white ball internationals is in complete contrast to how he plays in IPL?
He does not even play aggresively while batting.
I do not even remember, when was the last time he won us a match with his batting.

Note: He is still a good bowler and outstanding fielder though.

I just posted the same a few days back. Even on the bowling front, in the last 3 years he isn't doing better than Axar. It is only his fielding and expectations that is saving him from larger scrutiny. He is an automatic choice in tests but for ODI or T20 I am not sure. His SR is just 73 and an Econ of 5.06 whereas the same is 106 and 4.93 for Axar.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

I just posted the same a few days back. Even on the bowling front, in the last 3 years he isn't doing better than Axar. It is only his fielding and expectations that is saving him from larger scrutiny. He is an automatic choice in tests but for ODI or T20 I am not sure. His SR is just 73 and an Econ of 5.06 whereas the same is 106 and 4.93 for Axar.

If we have Ashwin and Kuldeep in the final XI, it is a no-brainer that Axar should be preferred ahead of Jadeja on current form. Axar's fitness is a concern though and there is a chance he may not recover before World Cup.

If Axar recovers, then there is no Ashwin in the squad. So in all likelihood, Jadeja plays all the games unless injured.

Edit - I just thought that Shardul maybe dropped to bring Ashwin into the squad. Not sure if that is going to happen though with the team management seemingly a fan of Shardul.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

If we have Ashwin and Kuldeep in the final XI, it is a no-brainer that Axar should be preferred ahead of Jadeja on current form. Axar's fitness is a concern though and there is a chance he may not recover before World Cup.

If Axar recovers, then there is no Ashwin in the squad. So in all likelihood, Jadeja plays all the games unless injured.

Edit - I just thought that Shardul maybe dropped to bring Ashwin into the squad. Not sure if that is going to happen though with the team management seemingly a fan of Shardul.

Favoritism is one of the major reason we haven't won an ICC trophy since 2013. Players aren't selected on recent form and merit but on the whims of selectors and team management. At least in Shastri/Kohli there used to be uproar and some accountability for selecting a bad team but in Rohit/Dravid Era no one does anything.

Jadeja shouldn't be in white ball set up. He has done nothing of note with bat or ball in international scenes since long. Axar has proven to be more reliable with bat although his bowling has declined a bit. If we need 80 to win in 60 balls i have no faith Jadeja will do the Job if he is batting. But with Axar there is always a chance of win. Plus Axar bats wonderfully well with the tail manipulating the field. Jadeja looks clueless with the tail.

Shardul case is even worse. Brings 0 to the team. Not a good fielder, mediocre bowler, once in a blue moon batter. But the infatuation with pace allrounder that too in India won't go with management. I will any day play Axar or Ashwin over Shardul.

[Shumi_21]

It's a tough choice between Axar (if he's fit) and Jadeja. Axar has the edge in batting, while Jadeja is better in bowling on current form. I would pick Axar as a pure batter who can chip in with 4-5 overs. Preferably at 5 or 6.

Last night's loss to Australia, the loss to Bangladesh and the batting collapse against Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup had one thing in common: Our batters surprising inability against spinners. Except Rohit, and maybe KL to some extent, all our batters have struggled to even rotate the strike against spinners, let alone dominate them.

I think the BCCI has scheduled our matches against Australia (Chennai) & England (Lucknow) keeping in mind those team's weakness against spin. While I expect Kuldeep and co to tie the Aussies and the English in knots, our own battery's ability against the likes of Zampa and Adil Rashid is questionable.

Our match against a spin heavy Afghanistan at Delhi may throw a surprise as well!

[shashant]

Originally Posted by harry10

Jadeja shouldn't be in white ball set up. He has done nothing of note with bat or ball in international scenes since long. Axar has proven to be more reliable with bat although his bowling has declined a bit. If we need 80 to win in 60 balls i have no faith Jadeja will do the Job if he is batting. But with Axar there is always a chance of win. Plus Axar bats wonderfully well with the tail manipulating the field. Jadeja looks clueless with the tail.

Shardul case is even worse. Brings 0 to the team. Not a good fielder, mediocre bowler, once in a blue moon batter. But the infatuation with pace allrounder that too in India won't go with management. I will any day play Axar or Ashwin over Shardul.

I think issue is with our top 5 who can not bowl at all and Hardik may not bowl 10 overs in every match. So we need to play 6 bowlers.

Bumrah, Siraj and Kuldeep who will be part of playing XI can not bat.

that leaves only two spots no 7 and 8 where we need people who can contribute with both bat and bowl. We have Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar, Shardul and Sundar and need to find a balance within the limited choices that we have.

If only one of our top 5 can bowl at least few overs like maxwell, stoinis we could have played SKY at no 7.

But agree with you on Jadeja and Shardul. If Axar is fit he should be our 7 and Ashwin at 8.

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by shashant

If only one of our top 5 can bowl at least few overs like maxwell, stoinis we could have played SKY at no 7.

Wonder why Rohit stopped bowling completely. He was decent part time spinner just like maxwell. Even kohli was decent enough to chip in with few overs. He bowled the final over in IPL(although in losing cause). On top of that they are not medium pacers and are fit enough to bowl few overs especially in spin friendly tracks

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

Wonder why Rohit stopped bowling completely. He was decent part time spinner just like maxwell. Even kohli was decent enough to chip in with few overs. He bowled the final over in IPL(although in losing cause). On top of that they are not medium pacers and are fit enough to bowl few overs especially in spin friendly tracks

Rohit has a problem with his fingers and Kohli with his back. Hence both have stopped bowling.

[Shumi_21]

Axar is out, Ashwin is in the final 15.

[AtheK]

Feel bad for Axar, if he was fit, would have been good to have ashwin replace with shardul.