My eleven for the Sydney test

Jan 1st, 2008

Virender Sehwag It is always fun selecting a team, and this being the Indian cricket team, it is funnier still because you know that each selection is probably going to get mud on your face the next time the selected player goes onto the field. However, since that is life for a sports blogger, here goes nothing!

Let's get one thing clear; if Sehwag does not play the second test at Sydney, it just means that Anil Kumble is a damn big fool and we better think of alternatives sooner than later. All said and done, on tour, the captain is king and if Kumble wants to achieve something on this tour, he needs to pick an aggressive side, and whether Sehwag gets out on the first ball or goes onto hit a double ton, he has to be in the starting eleven. Aggression starts there, and to take it further is then the job of the rest of the members of the Indian cricket team; without Sehwag, they start defensive and Dravid's 5 off 66 odd balls while bad in terms of statistics, is worse in terms of the mindset it reveals.

In my post before the first test, my team selection had Jaffer sitting out and that is still valid today. Again, I repeat, nothing against Jaffer but my best six batsmen in the squad currently touring Australia still reads Sehwag, Laxman, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Yuveraj, where Yuveraj comes in purely on the basis of his red hot form of late and not because he looks like a great test batsman which he doesn't.

Again going back to probably the most important decision the Indian team will have to make for the second test - that of the opening pair - while my list had Dravid as opener before the first test, hindsight says that the man is currently a basket case, and while I believe he has the best credentials to become a makeshift opener among the present lot, his mindset (or lack of it) makes me ponder long and hard about taking him out of opening and into some safer and more familiar slot. To those who advocate bringing in Sehwag in place of Dravid, I definitely say "no way" (to Dravid going out, not for Sehwag coming in) because if he manages to fight his demons, he could give India solidity which could be invaluable. So as of this moment, Dravid stays opener for me but let's see what happens as the list unfolds further down this article; Dravid might still get a different slot.

However, at number 3 I still want an attacking player and Dravid for all his past records is not it; not with the Indian opening gambit in the shambles it is in. While Laxman at 3 sounds good to me, it is still a risk if India loses a wicket to the new ball. Simply speaking, I would prefer gambling a Ganguly at 3 and push Laxman to 4 just to preserve Laxman. Ganguly, for all his faults as a test player, is definitely not going to hang around and his off-side play might blow the stuffing out of the pace attack if they don't crack him on the head first. In which case, Laxman becomes number four for the reasons mentioned in earlier posts; I don't want him batting lower than four and getting stuck with the tail with whom he doesn't seem to know what to do.

SRT played better than I ever expected him to while making his 65 odd runs in the first innings at Melbourne but I was disappointed by the simple ruse that got him out in the second. Lee made his debut when SRT was already about ten summers into international cricket, and for him to sucker Tendulkar so easily into the false shot the way he did was painful to watch. However, based on Tendulkar's mindset of the first innings, I have hopes from him and if India get something of a good start and decent contributions from the number 3 and 4, Tendulkar could yet play a quickie that pushes the match towards India. In fact, he could be the number 3 if Ganguly needs to come lower down. I just hope VVS getting 4, even if it doesn't happen, doesn't become an ego issue.

Yuveraj will be lucky to play the second test and I figure it would be a toss up between Yuveraj, Jaffer and Dinesh Karthick. If India decides to give Sehwag an opening batsman to partner him, Jaffer or Karthick will win out but if India decides to continue with Dravid in the opening slot, Yuveraj would retain his slot.

Dinesh Karthick is one player who suddenly starts looking like a dark horse for selection in the run up to the second test. A keeper-batsman, he would solve the team's problems with the issue of Dravid opening and not sacrifice a place either to get a "specialist" opener since if he plays, obviously Dhoni will not. I wouldn't rule this one out till the last minute though I feel India will go with Dhoni as keeper and Dravid as opener.

All said and done, the batting line up for me would be - Dravid, Sehwag, Ganguly, VVS, Tendulkar, Yuveraj in that order with Dhoni as the keeper.

The bowling at Melbourne was much better than expected simply because of the gallant effort by Kumble. He is the kind of fellow who can be expected to bust his guts trying match after match but one really needs to give him support. Zaheer wasn't great in the first test and he needs to do more as the team's strike fast bowler. RP Singh was listless and really, the biggest challenge would be for RP to edge out Irfan Pathan who was in my bowling list even for the first test. In my book at least, the confirmed bowlers are Kumble, Zaheer and Pathan with the fight being between RP Singh and Bhajji depending on how the pitch looks on the day of the match. From all reports coming in, the pitch at Sydney is most un-Sydney'ish and is expected to aid the faster bowlers more than it has in the past.

All said and done, my four bowlers to complete the eleven would be Kumble, Zaheer, Pathan and RP Singh.

A twist in the tale could be affected if Ganguly pulls up sick for the second test as is being reported in some sections of the media. If a middle order slot does open up because of Ganguly not playing, I think the team management wouldn't think twice about opening with Jaffer and Sehwag and pushing Dravid to number 5 or 6 where he wouldn't be under the same pressure and might get more time to rediscover his touch.

Author's note - as of the moment of publishing the post, reports are coming in of Sehwag being out of the 13 for the test and Zaheer being doubtful because of injury to his ankle. Reports are also coming in of Ganguly being almost certain to play having recovered from his fever.

Here is ending the report with the hope that things change overnight and when I switch on my television tomorrow morning, I see Sehwag's name penciled in.

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Reader Comments

1. okey