Where to now for India?

Well?

Their chief selector was caught on camera wagging his finger at Duncan Fletcher earlier today. Maybe that's just the way he always talks, but it wasn't a good look all things considered.

Move on from the 39 year old who is well past it for starters.

He is doing his legacy no good.

My guess is that they wont make major changes for the last test, but if they scrape a victory on a doctored pitch to tie the series with a similar team, wont that just be papering over some very large cracks? They seem to be desperate to find a way to convince themselves that everything is fine. Their denials have become comical.

I think Gambhir, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni, and Zaheer should all be unceremoniously booted. SRT? Well, he deserves better than that. But he might need a serious nudge from the selectors. But they wont have the guts to tell him anything, will they. It could be up to someone like Tendulkar's brother to quietly tell him it's time to call it a day. A scratchy 70 shouldn't be reason enough for him to continue beyond this series.

I'd hope that he'll be announcing that Nagpur is his last test. But for a number of reasons, I just can't see it happening, unfortunately.

Henry wrote:Well?

Their chief selector was caught on camera wagging his finger at Duncan Fletcher earlier today. Maybe that's just the way he always talks, but it wasn't a good look all things considered.

If stern words were spoken, then Dhoni and Fletcher have earnt it. I've supported Fletcher saying the team's gash in the past, but this is proper crap. Kirsten didn't seem to have a problem being an effective coach.

Where from now? Problem is that this is the best bowling team India has (if Yadav were fit). There's Dinda and Pankaj in domestic cricket, and Pankaj barely gets to 130. Spinners, nobody else there unless Mishra's picked. Rahane and Tiwary surely have to get in, Yuvraj out and surely Mukund should be selected ahead of Vijay for backup opener. No way is Vijay test quality and going to ever push either of the current pair. If Dhoni gets sacked, then Saha surely. He's not merited his selection performance wise. Then there's Tendulkar too.

clearly they have to bring back sooky Sreesanth.

Doctoring the pitch is fraught with danger considering England's spinners have outbowled the Indians.

Well, doctoring pitches has led to three result matches as opposed to what could've been two bore draws.

Nath wrote:clearly they have to bring back sooky Sreesanth.

Tis a master plan.

Paul Keating wrote:Doctoring the pitch is fraught with danger considering England's spinners have outbowled the Indians.

Aye. Before the series they weren't banking on our spinners being so much more effective than theirs.

Has there ever been a reverse-Trev?

Clutching at straws here..

Paul Keating wrote:Move on from the 39 year old who is well past it for starters.

He is doing his legacy no good.

Seems obvious but the INSP won't have the balls, for fear of the fans ripping theirs off. They let SRT have his 200 Tests and retire on his own terms.

skully wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:Move on from the 39 year old who is well past it for starters.

He is doing his legacy no good.

Seems obvious but the INSP won't have the balls, for fear of the fans ripping theirs off.

I doubt if that is a reason any more for all that the selectors lack cojones.

Even SRT's most vocal supporters are muted these days.

Don't get me wrong, dropping him would even now be a shock for most of us (as it would have been for Ponting in AUS), but I think the majority of fans here would get behind a 'retirement plan', so to speak, for SRT, something that tells them how he's planning to go and when. That is a major shift, BTW.

furriner wrote:

skully wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:Move on from the 39 year old who is well past it for starters.

He is doing his legacy no good.

Seems obvious but the INSP won't have the balls, for fear of the fans ripping theirs off.

I doubt if that is a reason any more for all that the selectors lack cojones.

Even SRT's most vocal supporters are muted these days.

Don't get me wrong, dropping him would even now be a shock for most of us (as it would have been for Ponting in AUS), but I think the majority of fans here would get behind a 'retirement plan', so to speak, for SRT, something that tells them how he's planning to go and when. That is a major shift, BTW.

Have India anyone better to replace him?

Will the replacement be that much worse? We do have Rahane, Tiwary and Rohit Sharma (who's slacking off a bit). The former two are going very well, and Tiwary scored 90 odd against England in the warm up matches.

At least Yuvraj is likely to be gone for the next test.

And sagacity Furry.

I think guys like Rahane and Tiwary deserve a chance. They pile up stacks of Ranji runs season after season, so if they aren't rewarded with a test spot (especially considering how crap the test team is these days) then who would blame them if they thought "bugger this" and drowned their sorrows in the IPL?

The selectors need to show that talented, hard working players will be rewarded.

Partially, the problem for India has been that Sehwag and Gambhir have been decent in this series, statistically they'll be shaping up pretty well by the end of series. But they've gifted their wickets at crucial times and it's ending up telling. They're a big part of why they've been so desperate away from home.

Their major problem, IMO, it's their fitness. It makes such a crucial difference. They've managed to get by with talent alone until now. They simply must push themselves to their physical limits. Poor fitness hinders all three facets of the game. England know that if they keep them out there for 100 overs, they're going to crumble.

Brass Monkey wrote:Partially, the problem for India has been that Sehwag and Gambhir have been decent in this series, statistically they'll be shaping up pretty well by the end of series. But they've gifted their wickets at crucial times and it's ending up telling. They're a big part of why they've been so desperate away from home.

Their major problem, IMO, it's their fitness. It makes such a crucial difference. They've managed to get by with talent alone until now. They simply must push themselves to their physical limits. Poor fitness hinders all three facets of the game. England know that if they keep them out there for 100 overs, they're going to crumble.

Aye, it seems that 'fitness' only lasts until an Indian player is an established member of the side, then it all goes downhill. Remember the 19 year old Yuvraj Singh? Awesome fielder. Right up there with the best in the World at backward point. Now look at him. And he's only 31.

Even Sehwag was a pretty decent fielder 10 years ago. Gambhir too. Compare all of them to someone like Ricky Ponting, who was a top class fielder from beginning to end. It's a cultural thing. A culture of not pushing yourself further when you feel in your own mind that you've 'made it'. Complacency, contentment......Call it what you want. India has it in spades.

It's not just the fielding. If Zaheer had bothered to work hard when he started to knock on a bit, he could still be a threat - there were flashes of it in this game. But instead he was bowling three over spells. Some Indian journo reckon the English spinners are imparting more spin on the ball because they've got strong actions and can wheel away all day without much change in their physical demanour.

Part of the reason England have won the last two is because they could take liberties whilst batting, quick singles, singles into twos, twos into threes blah blah... that's telling on India twofold - they're letting it happen because they're so unfit and hence slow in the field and secondly, I'm not sure their batsmen could keep up the quick running all day.

Move to South Africa.

PeterCS wrote:Move to South Africa.

What a grim thing to say to the country around the Christmas period. You're turning pretty nasty, man...

No, I was answering the thread title.

I know. An acerbic suggestion.

I was trying not to "pontificate" - so as not to give offence to any acid house popes.

Hasn't stopped you on other threads.

Actually don't totally agree on the fitness aspect. Clearly you have to be at an acceptable level, but I don't believe it is the be all and end all.

taipan wrote:

furriner wrote:

skully wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:Move on from the 39 year old who is well past it for starters.

He is doing his legacy no good.

Seems obvious but the INSP won't have the balls, for fear of the fans ripping theirs off.

I doubt if that is a reason any more for all that the selectors lack cojones.

Even SRT's most vocal supporters are muted these days.

Don't get me wrong, dropping him would even now be a shock for most of us (as it would have been for Ponting in AUS), but I think the majority of fans here would get behind a 'retirement plan', so to speak, for SRT, something that tells them how he's planning to go and when. That is a major shift, BTW.

Have India anyone better to replace him?

That's part of the problem too; people are saying that if you look at the losses since that England tour, IIRC his averages while not up to his standards, were as good if not better than everyone else in the team. So, the argument goes, why not sack those other guys first?

However, what we have from SRT is clearly not good enough, is there someone like a Pujara who could do better? Also, they have started to sack those other guys, Yuvraj went out today, so the margin for SRT has become that much smaller. I'm very keen that guys like Rahane and Tiwary - or whoever else is the most promising- play as soon as possible, and SRT's average - while better than most- is not good enough to hack it.

taipan wrote:

............Actually don't totally agree on the fitness aspect. Clearly you have to be at an acceptable level, but I don't believe it is the be all and end all.

You are right in the main, but (not sure if you followed this series closely) in this case our fitness in the past few Tests is as bad as I have seen in almost 3 decades of watching the Indian team play. And honestly, it likely has been worse, but I cannot recall it. This is the Indian team we're talking about so you can imagine how bad it is.