India v Pakistan, 1st Test, Delhi, 22-26 Nov

Now that ODI series is being sealed, time for cricket in its purest form against India's arch rivals.

"against India's arch rivals"

The Steve Bucknor XI?

There is a tinge of green on brand new Kotla track, which may force it to behave differently than it usually does.

The only FC match played on this new pitch yielded scores of 119 and 85 in first 2 days, though Delhi did score quite a bit in their second essay.

We should win in Kotla. Our top 5 seem to be in good form, Laxman has been on and off recently, and Kumbe hasn't really been that good. Zaheer's form in the longer form has been brilliant.

Jaffer
Karthik
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Kumble
Khan
HSingh
Sreesanth

Pak squad

Shoaib Malik (capt), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Abdur Rehman

No Afridi, no Asif. And Sami is back.

Butt
Hameed
Younus
Yousuf
Malik
Misbah
Akmal/Sarfraz
Akhtar
Gul
Kaneria
Sami/Tanvir/Rehman

They could also open with Akmal and play him as a specialist batsman and keep with Sarfraz Ahmed.

sami? they might as well bring imran back. would have to get him out of jail first though

I would have Yuvraj some where there. May be drop Laxman or even Ganguly.

The One wrote:sami? they might as well bring imran back. would have to get him out of jail first though

If Imran makes a comeback now, there'd be two 'terrorists' playing international cricket at the moment.

prasad14 wrote:I would have Yuvraj some where there. May be drop Laxman or even Ganguly.

Had Dhoni been named India's test captain, Yuvraj's chances of playing this test would've brightened.

Don't think Kumble would be swayed much by Yuvraj's red hot ODI form.

I think India XI posted by doremi would indeed play in Delhi test.

doremi wrote:

The One wrote:sami? they might as well bring imran back. would have to get him out of jail first though

If Imran makes a comeback now, there'd be two 'terrorists' playing international cricket at the moment.

Eh?

doremi wrote:We should win in Kotla. Our top 5 seem to be in good form, Laxman has been on and off recently, and Kumbe hasn't really been that good. Zaheer's form in the longer form has been brilliant.

Jaffer
Karthik
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Kumble
Khan
HSingh
Sreesanth

Maybe RP in for Bhajji if the pitch has indeed acquired the tinge of green?

HH_pink wrote:

doremi wrote:

The One wrote:sami? they might as well bring imran back. would have to get him out of jail first though

If Imran makes a comeback now, there'd be two 'terrorists' playing international cricket at the moment.

Eh?

Yep, Imran and Hashim Amla.

SG wrote:

HH_pink wrote:

doremi wrote:

The One wrote:sami? they might as well bring imran back. would have to get him out of jail first though

If Imran makes a comeback now, there'd be two 'terrorists' playing international cricket at the moment.

Eh?

Yep, Imran and Hashim Amla.

That's so racis .... err, oh.

Shoaib Malik thinks that India will be at a disadvantage by having a new captain for tests.

I think he has a point. Kumble may not find it easy to get going straightaway as India's captain in a high pressure series like this.

I think kumble will handle it well, smart bloke and seems to have the respect of his whole team young and old.

Shoaib Malik thinks that India will be at a disadvantage by having a new captain for tests.

Bit rich coming from a 25 year old who lost his first test series in charge. Malik was 8 years old when Kumble made his Test debut.

doremi wrote:We should win in Kotla. Our top 5 seem to be in good form, Laxman has been on and off recently, and Kumbe hasn't really been that good. Zaheer's form in the longer form has been brilliant.

Jaffer
Karthik
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Laxman
Dhoni
Kumble
Khan
HSingh
Sreesanth

Indian selectors and fans are fukcing crazy. Can't believe Jaffer and Karthik play & Singh and Sehwag are out.

jaffer and kartik have earnt it. theyve scored tough runs in SA and ENG. singh should come in for laxman imho. though sehwag seems to have lost confidence bigtime.

I hope this is a 3 Test series.

It is.

HH_pink wrote:It is.

Good. 2 Tests series make me die inside.

I'd love for Yuvraj to be in the Test team, IMO it would help Dhoni too as they seem to feed of each other and have a great friendship.

Although I don't see him playing, Laxman will be given another go and even if he fails, I think he will be given another chance in Austrailia just becuase of his record there. And I don't see Ganguly being dropped.

I heard that Dhoni might not've recovered from his injury he sustained during Jaipur ODI, which means that Yuvraj will surely get a chance in Delhi to prove his test credentials?

If Dhoni is out then Yuvraj will definetly play. I would have played Yuvraj anyway and saved Laxman for the Australia tour.

Pity we never get to see india vs pakistan here in aus.