One of my all time favorite players the highly talented and under rated Jiimmy Amarnath once said the selectors were a bunch of jokers, Obviously that did not please the selectors but truth hurts.

Kiran More is just another joker in that regard. He first says that the selectors were looking at the future and neddlessley dropped Ganguly from the 3rd test against SL, not that it mattered but where is the consistency and logic Mr. More.

What happned in these last 10 days, have you forgotten your statement.

Personally I am pleased Ganguly is back and if he is still good enough then he must perform well against an inform Pak team.

What is Zaheer Khan doing in the team, he is arrogant and a poor learner of the game. He will be a liability. I would have preferred Nehra or someone else with a positive attitude and a cool head.

And lastly what is Parthiv doing in the team, he has being an embarasment for us with his keeping that is in shambles. It is clear that the Kiran More connection has influenced his selection.

I am quite happy with most of the team except Kaif who missed out but he will be back, the boy has the talent.

I am actually surprised they got rid of Kaif.


Who is VRV Singh ?

Track,
I do agree with the fact that Parthiv's performances don't merit him a place in the side and really one must ask the question as to what wrong did Dinesh Kaarthick did that he finds himself in the cold. Ok, Dhoni deserved a chance in the test matches as he is not someone whom the selectors could have kept out but if there was room for the 2nd keeper it should have gone to Kaarthick and not Patel.
So, Patel's selection does smell of zonal preferences.

However, I don't agree with you on Zaheer. I know he has been very patchy in the last couple of years but lets' look at his domestic performances since he has been dropped. He has picked more than 30 wickets in around 4 first class games. Now, that sort of performance cannot be ignored. So, I think Zaheer's selection is rather justified. Better to pick him when he is in form, rythym and fit.

Kaif was unlucky but I don't think he really deserves to be in the test team looking at his recent performances. Unfortunately that also means that we have to lose out on our best fielder but then not much can be done about that! Only 16 can be picked.

My prediction is that Zaheer will be the most successful indian bowler in the coming tour. He definitely has attitude and committment problems, but right now he is trying to make a comeback so he will give his best. The problem will come when he gets settled, then he will be back to his medicore ways.

In my view Kaif has been very lucky for all the chances he has got in past. If he has talent he has shown it only with his fielding but not with his bat. Occasional 1 good inning here and there doesn't justify him getting so many chances whereas many other deserving players hardly ever get any opportunity. He needs to prove that he is worthy of being selected to international level by performing in domestic matches.

Im optimistic that Jaffer will do well in the tour. He just needs little bit of luck on his side, but he has in him to succeed at international level.

Ash ji,
you are right about the fact that Zaheer has this tendency to become complacent once he has one good series. It is in fact the case with most of our players and that is why I am happy with what I see with Chappell. I think he is not going to let these players get into the so-called 'Comfort Zone' like the way it happened with Saurav and John Wright at the helm. For so long we have threatened to become a top side only to be brought down by our own complacency. It's time that things change for the better of Indian Cricket.

LR ji u r absolutely right, I could not have said it better. This has been one of the main problems with indian cricket. Once u get settled in the team, there is very little threat to ur position, coz there is hardly any competition for u, and that happens coz players on bench were hardly given any chances. Im not in favour of too much experimentation but Im totally in favour of building our bench strength and for that we need to take some risk time to time. The second thing I like abt Chappel/Dravid is their emphasis on hard work, which was badly missing in previous regime.

Drop Wasim Jaffer and bring in Kaif.

Well, that's not fair! At least let Jaffer play some games before asking for his exclusion! The man has just scored some big hundreds in the domestic season and has therefore got a chance in the side for Pak. Kaif on the other hand has got many chances but has been unable to grab them. So, I don't understand the logic behind your statement. Please ellaborate further so that we can get your point!

LR Bhai

Your point is fair however Jafer too has got many chances in the past. Kaif does not have a great record. fine no one will debate that but the same applies to Gambhir. And when dead wood like Parthiv can be recalled then its harsh for some one like kaif who has a lot of promise, positive attitude and has shown that he is a fighter in many cruch games specially against Pakistan.

Like I said be4, Kaif will be back and IMO will be the key Indian player in the coming years.

regards
T

While Kaif is talented, and I reiterate that he will make a comeback soon, Jaffer has scored well in domestic cricket. And to say that Jaffer has already had his share of "chances" is unfair.

He has played 7 test matches and scored 3 50s, two of them in West Indies and one in England. He has played against stronger oppositions like WI (not the present team), SA and Eng

Apart from this, it is not good to compare Kaif, a middle-order batsman, with Jaffer - an opening batsman. Mind you that our current openers are not performing well.

I would say, lets give Jaffer a chance, he has got it in him to be a regular opener. And he has been in sublime form this season.

Cheers,

Vivek Ji, I agree with your point and that's what I meant when I said that we must give a chance to Jaffer.
Track ji, Sure, Jaffer has had some opportunities but then we really have no other alternative as of now. Gambhir has been very patchy and therefore it is better to have someone who is in good form and confident as an alternative to him.

As far as Kaif is concerned, I have no problems with him as he is a very competitive cricketer and a brilliant fielder (boy, can we do with some more like him!) but my arguement really is that we must pick our best 16 for a tour like this and I don't think that Kaif , in his current form and by virtue of his past test performances, fits into that category. We can't take him on a tour like this for fielding alone. Specially when one considers that apart from Dravid we really can't really on anyone else in the batting order.

They arent bunch of jokers they are bunch of puppets!