January 06, 2008

Sixteenth

Running ahead of the snowstorm that's struck the American West, I've just spent several hours "watching" most of the last day's play in the Sydney Test. Three wickets to the unlikely Michael Clarke (well, given an earlier performance against India, maybe not so unlikely) turned a probably nailbiting draw into a resounding win for Australia. (Yeah, yeah, the 16th in a row. Tell me another one).

So here's my opinion, for what it's worth, and given that I've been staring at this computer screen so long, I feel like I should inflict it on you:
  • Drop Yuvraj Singh right away.

  • Bring back Dinesh Karthik to open with Wasim Jaffer: they were working well together, feeding off each other, and a few failures for Karthik should not have been allowed to change that. Similarly, a few failures for Jaffer now should not get him dropped.

  • Send Dravid back to his most comfortable spot, #3. That displaces the wondrous Laxman from there, and Laxman likes that position. But overall, I think Dravid's claim to that spot is a mite weightier.

  • Dhoni should be feeling the pressure. I hope he is. I hope he hasn't been overtaken by the complacency that I think consumed Sehwag. In my mind, he's borderline right now.

  • Fly out Murali Kartik, and make it clear to Harbhajan that even though he scored a fine 70+, and even though he has that nice bunny named Ponting, what he's in the side for is wickets in match-winning style, and it's been a while since he last produced that.
My money is on India not allowing Australia to get to 17 in a row at Perth.

4 comments:

Rahul Siddharthan said...

I was with you until the last line. India is playing 9 against 14 -- with two passengers in the line up (Jaffer and Yuvraj -- Dhoni redeemed himself somewhat in the second innings) against 11 Aussies and 3 umpires. That won't change much in Perth. It may sound juvenile to crib about umpiring, but I really think enough is enough: India should refuse to play under Bucknor again, and also send a strong statement about Benson.

Anonymous said...

drop jaffer and yuvraj.

The australian tour always weeds out the lesser lot and it has proved it again.

Dhoni is very borderline material as far as tests are concerned. Never gives you the feeling that
we are safe with him on crease.

Parthiv patel should have been on tour.

Get Karthik, Pathan in the team. Pathan is a gritty batsmen and at least tries to stay there and make a difference.

I often wonder how a victory makes us forget our past heroes.

Where are Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar and the water boy Rajesh Pawar? One T20 victory and they are no where to be seen.

Simply astounding.

Kshitij

Dilip D'Souza said...

Yep Rahul, the umpiring decisions were horrible. Dravid and Ganguly hurt most, but also the let off of Symonds. I think Bucknor is beyond his sell-by date.

It was just a few Tests ago that Jaffer got a double century. I think you have to give him more of a chance. Yes, you could say the same about Yuvraj, but I think Jaffer has scored in tougher overseas conditions more than Y has managed to.

Kshitij, if Pathan is to make it to the team, it should be for his bowling, not for his batting. There are enough guys to bat.

Yes, where is Chawla? And Murali Kartik?

Also, any idea on what happened to L Balaji, and why? He isn't even in the frame any more, and I can't understand why.

Anonymous said...

Dilip

Pathan even as a batsmen has more patience and resolve to stay on the pitch and make a difference.

I am hoping he makes it into the 11.

I seriously cannot remember the last 5 wicket haul from harbhajan.
On the england tour, chawla and Powar are the main spinner, now they are no where to be seen.

With the 2nd test fiasco, dropping harbhajan from the team is even more unlikely.

Kshitij