India's squad to be announced today for tests against SA

Indeed a tough time for selectors.

Squad for 1st test only::

Playing IX: Sehwag, Gambhir, Vijay, Tendulkar, Kohli, Badrinath, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Mishra, Zaheer, Ishant Sharma

Bench: Karthik, Ojha, Kaif, Sudeep Tyagi, Suresh Raina

I don't really know what Kaif is doing there, but his recent batting exploits warrant a second look. Maybe he'll play in place of Badrinath, who has promised much but delivered little..

Umm.....

Raina? Kaif????

And I thought England's selectors were bad. I can't believe those guys can get in ahead of Pujara, Rahane, Pandey, and Rohit. Raina's first class record is very moderate for an Indian batsman, and when you see him bat in ODI's you can see why. He's a leg side slogger. Kaif has always been crap.

Henry wrote:Umm.....

Raina? Kaif????

And I thought England's selectors were bad. I can't believe those guys can get in ahead of Pujara, Rahane, Pandey, and Rohit. Raina's first class record is very moderate for an Indian batsman, and when you see him bat in ODI's you can see why. He's a leg side slogger. Kaif has always been crap.

If only the new Sobers wasn't injured ....

What the hell?

Kaif???? And Raina????????????????????

So this is India's real first test squad.

MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha.

Thanks Indian selectors for not picking Raina and Kaif.

So they've run out of patience with Dinesh Karthik? His glovework seems to have gone downhill recently.

Mithun and Saha in India squad
Cricinfo staff

January 28, 2010

Text size: A | A Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha have been included in the 15-man squad for the first Test against South Africa in Nagpur on February 6. Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath has also been called up to bolster a team that lost Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh to injuries sustained in Bangladesh.

Dravid, who fractured his cheek bone after getting hit by a Shahadat Hossain bouncer in Mirpur, was advised three weeks' rest, while Yuvraj was also ruled out of the series against South Africa. Sreesanth, who picked up a hamstring injury in Chittagong and missed the second Test against Bangladesh, was also not in the squad. The Indian board said it would review the status of the injuries after the first Test against South Africa before selecting the team for the second in Kolkata.

Saha's selection, ahead of Dinesh Karthik, was prompted by the back problems MS Dhoni has suffered of late. Saha scored a century on his Ranji Trophy debut in 2007. He was signed up by Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural edition of the IPL, and managed 318 runs in five games at 39.75 in 2009-10 Ranji season.

The Indian selectors also named a squad for the Board President's XI's two-day match against the South Africans in Nagpur. Rohit Sharma was named captain while Mithun was also part of that squad in order to give him a look in ahead of the Test.


Squad for first Test: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha.

Board President's XI: Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma (capt), Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhishek Nayar, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony.

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His glovework seems to have gone downhill recently.

Recently?

He has been crap with gloves except may be for first 2 seasons.

IMO this would be India's XI for the 1st test,

Gambhir
Sehwag
Vijay
Tendulkar
VVS
Badri
Dhoni
Zaheer
Bhajji (as much as I hate to say that)
Ojha
Ishant (again an iffy inclusion in my books)

MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha.

How come Badrinath and Vijay only get initials?

Submariner is a bit of a mouthful ...but Murali?

My jungle drums were wrong, I see. There was much talk of Kaif and Raina in the media.
I don't think dropping Karthik was the right move. For that matter any deputy wk has bad cards in this set up with Dhoni as captain. The deputy will perpetually be short of match practice. Mithun? Good heavens. One swallow (or even a few) doesn't a summer make. Wish him success though...... if he plays.

SG wrote:IMO this would be India's XI for the 1st test,

Gambhir
Sehwag
Vijay
Tendulkar
VVS
Badri
Dhoni
Zaheer
Bhajji (as much as I hate to say that)
Ojha
Ishant (again an iffy inclusion in my books)

He was bowling a lot better against Bangladesh. Even though it was only Bangladesh he was putting the ball in the right areas. His pace was down a bit, though- Low 130's.

Don't quite understand why Mishra should be ignored. The guy made 50 runs and took 7 wickets the last time he played - more than Harbhajan and Ojha put together. Yet no one bats for him. The Sardar has been deteriorating consistently, to say nothing about his fielding and batting. Yet he seems to have a whole army of backers,

i would have preferred one of the youngsters instead of badrinath, but srikkanth seems to have some kind of man-love for him

else not too bad. not fantastic, not terrible. the core picks itself, hopefully mishra gets picked over harbhajan (wishful thinking i know)

mirchy wrote:My jungle drums were wrong, I see. There was much talk of Kaif and Raina in the media.
I don't think dropping Karthik was the right move. For that matter any deputy wk has bad cards in this set up with Dhoni as captain. The deputy will perpetually be short of match practice. Mithun? Good heavens. One swallow (or even a few) doesn't a summer make. Wish him success though...... if he plays.

Mithun is not a bad pick imo. Looks well built and seemed like giving his 100% in both the matches I've seen.

I'd prefer someone like Mithun over players like Munaf, RP Singh etc. who are plain lazy.

mirchy wrote:My jungle drums were wrong, I see.

That'll teach you to listen to a monkey.

The One wrote:i would have preferred one of the youngsters instead of badrinath, but srikkanth seems to have some kind of man-love for him

else not too bad. not fantastic, not terrible. the core picks itself, hopefully mishra gets picked over harbhajan (wishful thinking i know)

Yep. Badrinath is neither the present nor the future of Indian batting. I'd have preferred Pujara/Rahane/Kohli/Pandey.

Would have preferred it if Patel and Saha traded places in their squads. Should have taken an extra batsman and ditched one of Mithun or Tyagi, neither is likely to get into the XI anyways. The only place up for grabs is the 2nd spinner's slot, and given Bhajji's bowling and absolutely retarded fielding you'd have liked Ojha and Mishra both getting in. But that's not going to happen. So, one will undeservingly be left out.

The BPXI is interesting though, and may throw up the next replacement if Badri fails in the first test.

Dhawan/Mukund
Patel
Rahane
Pujara
Sharma
Pandey
Nayar
Chawla
Mithun
Vinay Kumar
Yadav

philcric wrote: Mithun is not a bad pick imo. Looks well built and seemed like giving his 100% in both the matches I've seen.

I'd prefer someone like Mithun over players like Munaf, RP Singh etc. who are plain lazy.

I saw Mithun bowl in the Ranji Trophy. He was successful, yes, but more so because there was some assistance from the pitch AND through the air. If I remember right, though he is well built, he was bowling in the high 120s - low 130s, which puts him in the category of Praveen Kumar - only Kumar brings some experience in the ODIs. Mind you, I might be wrong in my assessment of Mithun but there is little to make him conspicuously stand out from the other medium pacers in the country. You are definitely right as far as RP or Munaf is concerned. Even Ishant, had he not got the height and hence bounce, would be a pretty ordinary bowler (to borrow Sehwag's expression). Ghony too has the build of an ox, yet he is and remains a trundler, IMO.

doremi wrote:The BPXI is interesting though, and may throw up the next replacement if Badri fails in the first test

i wouldnt have picked badri in the first place. but i doubt one test is fair enough to replace him on the basis of form

I'm highly suspicious of the international capabilities of any player called Mithun. Reminds me immediately of our chocolate face disco dancer herrow of the 80s and 90s.

Edit: Just saw that he's named Abhimanyu Mithun. Well, that's a little different.