[NPV]

Kapil Dev undergoes Angioplasty after suffering a heart attack. Praying for his speedy recovery.

https://www.wionews.com/sports/kapil...ery-337402/amp

[Venkatesh]

Team India’s T20I, ODI and Test squads for Tour of Australia announced.







The BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma.


https://www.bcci.tv/articles/2020/ne...alia-announced

[PPS]

^^ Ridiculous decision to include KL Rahul in Test Squad on the basis of IPL form! How can selection committee make such an elementary mistake.

In the T20 squad, most batsman in the top 5 are in the same mould!

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by NPV

Kapil Dev undergoes Angioplasty after suffering a heart attack. Praying for his speedy recovery.

Oh man, this is sad news. Praying for his speedy recovery.

Originally Posted by PPS

^^ Ridiculous decision to include KL Rahul in Test Squad on the basis of IPL form!

Risky call, but hope it pays off. Australia is a tough place for batsmen and we really don't have any batsmen from Ranji knocking down the door. I' hope I'm not wrong, but I think KL Rahul is a player who relies on confidence. The last 12+ months have been his "coming of age phase."

Plus, some test match success in Australia means that he'd feel confident about getting his test career back on track. I just hope he respects the bowlers and leaves the ball in the initial part of his innings.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by PPS

^^ Ridiculous decision to include KL Rahul in Test Squad on the basis of IPL form! How can selection committee make such an elementary mistake.

In the T20 squad, most batsman in the top 5 are in the same mould!

Isn't KL Rahul regular Test opener for India, along with M Agarwal, with Pujara coming at 3?

Infact KL Rahul came to Indian team as test batsman and later acquired IPL skills.

[Eddy]

The squads seem good to me. KL definitely deserves a place in the squad. Cannot think of anyone more deserving who has missed out, except maybe Shreyas Iyer.

SKY and Aksar will be feeling a little disappointed on the non-selection. Navdeep Saini in all three squads is good. Hope he lives up to the expectations.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I just hope he respects the bowlers and leaves the ball in the initial part of his innings.

Thats the difficult part for most modern day white ball players- smooth transition from white ball to red ball cricket. Hope, the physio ensures Rohit is fit in time for the Test Matches.

Originally Posted by msdivy

Isn't KL Rahul regular Test opener for India, along with M Agarwal, with Pujara coming at 3?

KL was dropped after a lean run in England if i remember correctly, though he scored a 100 in the very last inning.

Originally Posted by Eddy

SKY and Aksar will be feeling a little disappointed on the non-selection.

Surya Kumar should feel incredibly unlucky. I think he's already in his 30's, so if not now then when! As posted earlier there's too much of sameness in the T20 batting squad with Hardik being the only hard-hitting batsman.

[extreme_torque]

Keeping fingers crossed for the boxing day test match. I am in Melbourne and our premier just announced that crowds may just be allowed for the test match in Decembers. Fingers crossed!

[whencut86]

It is going to be tough this time with Smith and Warner back in Aus team and Labuschagne in good form of late. There was no scoreboard pressure last time when we won. The only time there was pressure on the batsmen was when we were chasing in the Perth test and we lost it.

No Ishant and Bhuvi is going to be tough on Bumrah and Shami. Shami is indeed a second innings specialist but he gives away runs at over 3.5 in the first innings without taking too much wickets. That is a cause for concern if the same happens in this tour. Ishant Sharma was the go to bowler for the middle overs. He normally gives away runs at 1.5-2.5 RPO and ends up picking couple of wickets. His services will surely be missed this time. Bhuvi's omission is puzzling. I remember Bhuvi having a good SA tour though he was included only in the last match which we won and he got MOM.

I am not sure if the likes of Siraj are purely picked up based on a hattrick in an IPL game because he is not even in the top 3 wicket takers in the RCB team in IPL. Not sure what is the rationale behind that.

I don't remember the last time Kohli won us a test match against the big 4 teams away from home. I am not bothered about averages in away matches. To make matters worse Kohli has a habit of getting out regularly to spinners and even part time spinners. Averages matter nothing if it doesn't result in a win or a crucial draw. Smith has a better record of having good knocks in away wins and draws compared to Kohli.

KL Rahul maybe a good white ball cricketer but on tough pitches he doesn't seem to have the will and defiance to last in test cricket. I would be happy to be proved otherwise. Except Pujara, Rahane and Mayank and maybe even Vihari, the other batsmen including Kohli don't have the patience and perseverance to last it out on tough pitches. I have very rarely seen Kohli batting it out in the second innings on a tough pitch to save a match. They have excellent skills but the patience and defiance in most modern day Indian batsmen is missing.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by whencut86

It is going to be tough this time with Smith and Warner back in Aus team and Labuschagne in good form of late. There was no scoreboard pressure last time when we won. The only time there was pressure on the batsmen was when we were chasing in the Perth test and we lost it.

Agree. The batting line up is much stronger, and it will be a tough series to crack.

Bhuvi's omission is puzzling. I remember Bhuvi having a good SA tour though he was included only in the last match which we won and he got MOM.

He has been perenially injured in the past year or so. Limped out of the IPL with a serious injury, so was not selected. Fair call.

I am not sure if the likes of Siraj are purely picked up based on a hattrick in an IPL game because he is not even in the top 3 wicket takers in the RCB team in IPL. Not sure what is the rationale behind that.

You are confusing formats. Siraj has a stellar red ball first class record, and is selected for the test team. Again, a fair call IMO.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by whencut86

No Ishant and Bhuvi is going to be tough on Bumrah and Shami. Bhuvi's omission is puzzling.

Bhuvi even if fit I doubt would have made it to the Test Squad. He has been a bit indifferent in that format + has been plagued with injuries. His bowling style is more suited for English conditions I feel.

I am not sure if the likes of Siraj are purely picked up based on a hattrick in an IPL game because he is not even in the top 3 wicket takers in the RCB team in IPL.

Siraj has a decent domestic record + has performed decently in 'A' games.

Except Pujara, Rahane and Mayank and maybe even Vihari, the other batsmen

Mayank is currently injured & the others haven't really had a hit, not sure how many warm-up games we play there.

[anandhsub]

Given the ODIs and T20s are before the Tests I hope they manage the workload of Bumrah and Shami properly. Without Ishant can't afford to have either of them injured ahead of the tests. Apart from Saini/Thakur/Chahar even the 4 back up bowlers have to be given chances in T20s even if it means we lose the series.

When will BCCI get serious about T20Is? With Dhawan/Mayank and Rahul opening and Kohli at No. 3 how does it even make sense to have Samson/Iyer/Pandey in the team? Need to have specialists for 4/5/6 and not play regular no. 3s there. Pandya is the only genuine T20 bat in the team although if he doesn't bowl it wil be tough to have him at No. 7 and is too high at no. 6.

[Anjadekar]

I made a colour-coded list of the Indian squad that makes it easier to see the overlaps and differences between the teams for the three formats.

Would be great to hear which players friends here think are shoe-ins for the starting XIs.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

The BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma.

So assuming Rohit is fit, will they drop someone or there's room to add another player.

[AutoConsultant]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

Given the ODIs and T20s are before the Tests I hope they manage the workload of Bumrah and Shami properly. Without Ishant can't afford to have either of them injured ahead of the tests. Apart from Saini/Thakur/Chahar even the 4 back up bowlers have to be given chances in T20s even if it means we lose the series.

When will BCCI get serious about T20Is? With Dhawan/Mayank and Rahul opening and Kohli at No. 3 how does it even make sense to have Samson/Iyer/Pandey in the team? Need to have specialists for 4/5/6 and not play regular no. 3s there. Pandya is the only genuine T20 bat in the team although if he doesn't bowl it wil be tough to have him at No. 7 and is too high at no. 6.

Yes, the entire workload cannot be put on Bumrah and Shami, they are the premier fast bowlers in all formats. Saini/Thakur/Chahar will have to take the responsibility in T20s and ODIs. The 4 backup bowlers have done well in IPL and should be tried out in T20s.

Iyer/Pandey are good enough to fulfil the no. 4 slot, Samson is a backup for KL (WK). Unfortunately, we do not have many Indian dashers available for the no. 5/6 role, neither do we have competent seam bowling all rounders which would give more flexibility to the team. I don't have much confidence on the spinning all rounders we have - Sundar has done well in IPL but without any spin he will be found wanting at the international level, and Jadeja hasn't done much with the ball in IPL even with the wickets being slightly spin friendly. It's sad to see that even with so many Indians doing well in the IPL, we cannot produce a competent and balanced playing 11 for the country.