|
England in India 2008-09
The battle for Ganguly's place begins
There is a battle within a battle, though a friendly one, when the Indian batsmen take on England in the seven-match one-day series starting on November 14
Ajay S Shankar
November 12, 2008
| ||
There is a battle within a battle, though a friendly one, when the Indian batsmen take on England in the seven-match one-day series starting on November 14. Sourav Ganguly has vacated a middle-order spot in the Test team, and indications are that it will go to the man who makes the most of the opportunities in the one-dayers.
The Indian selectors have made it clear they will be guided by current form, even if it is in the shorter format, and the competition is between Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and M Vijay. The first three can expect to be in the starting line-up on Friday, and the fourth is expected to get his chance at some point during the series.
The other contender, S Badrinath, was part of the India squad for the recent Australia Tests but did not play a match and, having lost his place in the ODI team for the first three matches against England, will hope that a recall later in the series will help him state his case once again. Then there's Virat Kohli, the Under-19 World Cup winning captain who, it is felt, is still some way away from the Test grade.
Yuvraj is a proven performer in the one-day arena but his stocks have depleted following a poor series in Sri Lanka; Raina has made an impressive comeback after a season in the sidelines; and Rohit, though not consistent enough at the highest level, has left no one in doubt about his pedigree. But it is the speed with which Vijay has moved from a Ranji Trophy double-century in Nasik to the Test XI in Nagpur and the one-day team that has added an intriguing turn to this race.
Apparently, the selectors are impressed by the assurance with which Vijay handled Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson in Nagpur, especially the time he seemed to have facing balls at 140kph. He has been highly recommended by Dav Whatmore, the India A coach, and he happens to be the only Test player in this group apart from Yuvraj.
Then there is Raina, who caught Greg Chappell's attention with a match-winning 81 against England in Faridabad two-and-a-half years ago, and has resurrected his career after a horror tour of South Africa in late 2006 that led to his banishment. His left-handedness is an advantage, and he is seen as a No. 6 Test batsman for his ability to absorb pressure and shift gears.
Rohit, meanwhile, is well on his way to becoming the complete batsman his batting prowess shows he can be. But then, after a convincing ODI debut in Australia early this year, he has struggled to string together more than two good scores in one sequence. Consider his recent scores in the Challenger Trophy: 2,117*, 1. If it was not for this bewildering lack of consistency, due to what some feel is a lack of focus at times, Rohit would have been the obvious choice to replace Ganguly. But not any longer, unless he finally starts to match the hype and immense potential with a string of consistent scores. And so, it's back to the queue.
Finally, Yuvraj. "What do we do with this boy?," a selector from the previous committee had once wondered aloud, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. "He has played for eight years, he has played in 23 Tests, but just when we think he is the man, he starts losing focus, or gets injured."
Yuvraj is currently going through an appalling run of poor form, which began during the ODI series in Sri Lanka where his sequence of scores read 23, 20, 12, 0, 17. Though he managed a second-innings century in the tour match against Australia, he slipped again in the Challenger Trophy, scoring 6, 3 and 8. He will come in to this series with a duck and 38 in the Ranji Trophy game against Delhi. He has also been battling injuries which have restricted his mobility in the field, and now faces one the biggest tests of his career.
As of now, Raina and Rohit are the front-runners for the job. But a lot could happen in the next three weeks.
Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo
Feeds: Ajay S Shankar
| ||||||
| Comments have now been closed for this article |
||||||
Top
Sponsored Links
Western Union Instant Win Game
NoPurchaseNecessary. Subject toOfficial Rules
Buy Ashes merchandise - clothes, books, DVDs & more
At Cricshop
Get the right speed and online tools
Rogers Business Internet
No Minimum Balance NRI Account
Citibank
and get a calling card
The question is not just Ganguly but planing for Dravid, Laxman & Sachin who will also be around only for another few years. Vijay has actually put pressure on Dravid and appears to be a good forward short leg. India has struggled to get quality forward short legs. Solkar was exceptional and Srikkanth was good but this specialist position has seen very few good candidates in the last 15 years. So Vijay has an unusual advantage. Given the present left and right hand balance in the team, the choices should first be Yuvraj & Raina. Both are lefties and are also brilliant fielders but then so are the other candidates. Team India also needs to develop specialist slip fielders as well as a substitute wicket keeper. Both Dinesh Karthik & Parthiv Patel appear to be focusing more on batting & captaining than on keeping wickets. Dhoni is good enough to fit in as a batsman & can be a specialist slip fielder but then we need to look out for an excellent wicket keeper.
Posted by NKPH on (November 14 2008, 08:30 AM GMT)Yuvaraj & Raina are media stars as they are fantastic players in One day & 20 20 Cricket. You need players who can stick on the wicket for atleast 30 to 40 overs in test cricket and score runs too. Ganguly has gone and next will be Sachin or Dravid or Laxman. These people gave the middle order a stability only because they could stay on the wicket for longer duration and score Runs. I feel Chateswar Pujara among the present bunch of batsmen, is the only batsman who can accomplish the quality of the above great players. Rohit Sharma can also do it but he will have to wait for his turn. Pujara has to be given a look in when he is in full form so that he can establish himself in Test Cricket for a long run
Posted by Alan James Sanders on (November 14 2008, 04:56 AM GMT)I wonder if anyone's thought about giving Ganguly's position to Irfan Pathan? Pathan in form is perfectly capable of batting at 6 in Test matches (I remember that he actually opened in one in Adelaide or somewhere) and he gives the Indian team a fifth bowling option, which I think every team needs.
Posted by anitpatel on (November 14 2008, 03:13 AM GMT)I think Raina is the best potential for Ganguly's place. He is a lefty and has much better technic then Yuvraj. He is also a very good fielder. It is too early to say much about Pujara. He needs to be given more exposure in international cricket. Yuvraj, most likely, will be relegated to be a fringed player if he does not change is attitude, improve his fitness and technic.
Posted by dhavalsoni on (November 14 2008, 02:15 AM GMT)I say Kaif could be a good replacement. He not only is a good batsman but also one of the best fielders india has ever produced. He has never lacked on the fieldingside and they just need to stick with for a while I think he can get back to the form he was in 03 world cup. The 20 runs he saves could also be counted as he has scored eventhough that does not go to his battig stats. His presense in the field while fielding lifts the whole fielding side's energy. One of the reasons why ganguly has been droped is because of his fielding abilities. So why not get a great fielder.
Posted by arun1911 on (November 14 2008, 01:23 AM GMT)Mr Dravid time as come to hang ur boots , Plz fellow Dada and Anil Kumble Plz don't wait for ur form to be back and leave in high note , Look at how Anil Kumble left he didn't leave with a high not but billion of cricket fans thank him for his sportsmanship and his records . So u have a wonderful record and even Sanjay Manjeker told once u are not selfish player india produced and u are servant for india , if u wanna prove him right time is up for younger player to give ur chance PLEASE INDIAN FANS LEAVE GREAT LEGAND TENDULKAR FROM THIS RETAIREMENT HE IS THE GOD OF INDIAN CRICKET
Posted by cruisecontrol on (November 14 2008, 00:49 AM GMT)Caveat: I'm not a snob. I don't care for "good" English but I'd like to see some reasonable sense out here. That said, it will server you well business-wise and every which way (and serve us readers well) if you could spend a few rupees and hire someone educated to moderate this (i.e., think a little higher in selecting the comments). The kind of comments - not to speak of the content - that are posted here makes me sick. A lot of people I speak with agree. If you think I'm in the minority, why don't YOU ask around?! For beginners, you could ask around your own club - talk with your own writers. You do have good ones - Bal, Samiuddin, Premachandran, Bhattacharya, Menon, Martin-Jenkins, other guests, etc. (Where the hell is AMit Verma?). I do believe that there are indeed many Indians with pith and who are not so bloody parochial and base. Moderation will not only filter out the trite but also make this a more meaningful, enjoyable forum for all.
Posted by cricsam2 on (November 13 2008, 21:54 PM GMT)Chateshwar puraja from sourastra may be a good option for tests to try out. He has mad three triple hundred's in the last month. He played for IPL kolkatha Night Riders. He has a great average in Under 19 matches. He would be good option interms of consistency required and facing both spin and pacers.
Posted by anjee on (November 13 2008, 19:13 PM GMT)i think m.vijay will be a good replacement for Indian test side now...though no one can easily replace DADA,though vijay played only one test , the maturity he showed and his temperament levels are too good. which is so much so essential for to be a test cricketer..since dravid is in very poor form , he can bat a little bit down in the order , either in no 5 or no 6 , and VIJAY can fill in the no 3 slot, since he is a naturally good player of new ball..others can wait since retirement of certain seniors is on the cards now... and one more thing : i saw one comment here saying that sachin has gotta go next year..oh my god how can people be so mean like this???he scored 396 runs in 4 tests, against worlds best side just now, and still...?? sachin should and most probably will play till 2011,by then he will be 38yrs of age, and pls remember steve waugh, gavaskar, inzy,gooch,and lot of others palyed till that age and even more.. come on boys whats the hurry to send a legend back to home??
Posted by mrm. on (November 13 2008, 19:10 PM GMT)*For the shorter version of the game we have plenty of options like r.sharma,kohli,raina,uthappa,y.pathan,kohli,m.tiwari,asnodkar etc. *from test crickets point of view i feel it is the ryt tym for the players like raina,kaif,badrinath,s.dhavan,a.chopra.I mean for test cricket the batsman should have experience of 4-5 seasons i.e( 4-5 years of domestic tournaments ) so that they can get used to the various ups & downs associated with the longer form.dis also helps in understanding ur own abilities & for batsman perfection grows as u grow older. *No doubt that M vijay,A rahane ,C pujara have been doing well. off course they are our future.I think let thm get exposed 2 da domestic tournaments for at least 2 more seasons for some resons.Let best of the bowlers in domestic circuit test these young guys.By doing so these young guys will understand thr weak links early n wil b more perfect by da time they get their opportunities.E.g. P chawla brought in early n nw is being poorly treated