Select your player who will sit out to accomodate Sachin in the final eleven...

I guess Yuvraj should be out... but who is to join Sehwag as opener, in that case? Parthiv Patel? Kaif? Anyhow, Yuvi doesn't deserve a place in the team, certainly not as an opener.

Unni Ji,

Hope your lookin forward to the Nagpur test, and with Tendu back, I have to back India, though I read Harbhajan is doubtful with fever.

I hope its not as one-sided as the SL-Pak affair @ Faisalabad

Tendu hasn't batted for 2 months. Let's see how he fares. Ironically, it looks as if Kaif will be dropped, and he has done better than Yuvi and VVS. Murli Kartik will get another chance in Harbhajan's absence.

But speaking about SL-Pakistan, in my opinion, Pak fans are being too critical about their team. It is a new-look, re-constituted team after the World Cup and they are a bunch of talented newcomers who need to get some more experience. Except Inzamam and Yousuf and Moin and Shoaib, the rest are all virtually new faces. Come on guys, give them a break!

Agree.

Moin is one of the nicest cricketers I've met, but he has to go in my opinion. His batting is quite poor, and I feel a younger optoin should be groomed. I feel Pakistan need another quick, perhaps Mohammed Irshad.

Kaif will be dropped, but I would drop Singh, hasn't really done much recently and is poor technically V spin.

I guess the axe can fall on Laxman... as he is not in the good books of captain and the sponsors.. lets see..

Pavan

The skipper has been quoted that Parthiv will not open, that either Yuvi or Akash Chopra will partner Sehwag.

Form wise Yuvi should sit out... Laxman is not doing well either but that Kolkatta innings will do the trick for him again I guess... But given that Patel won't open and that Yuvraj is very much favoured by the Captain I guess poor Kaif will have to sit out...

If Ganguly is foresighted, he will not have Kaif dropped... He is the player for future...

Cheers,

I wonder if Harbhajan will play? Reports here in Australia say he is down with flu.



Anil

On current performance VVS should be dropped. However most of his best performances have been against Australia. Who knows, he may just come good in this test like SEhwag did in the last test.


Anil

His chances are 50-50

Hey unni ji and akhtar ji

I think Australia are still the favourites going into the third test. I don't know why they're dropping Kaif when he's one of their in-form batsmen compared to the others. He should come in for Yuvraj or Chopra. Yuvraj isn't suited to open, he'll be eaten alive by McGrath and Co. . It'll be interesting to see how Sachin performs. They're saying the Nagpur pitch is going to be batsman friendly but anything can happen as seen earlier in this series. I admire Australia's conditioning and determination. No Asian team comes close to them in both those departments. That is why currently they are by far the best team in world cricket. Hope India ties the series so the fourth one is do or die for both teams.

Agreed Pakistan is a young side but they still lack the discipline of most cricketing nations. Having not played test cricket for a while is just not an excuse because as Inzi said, they are professionals and they should be able to adapt to both forms of the game. I agree Moin should be replaced and he has been for the second test. Pakistan have to instill discipline within the team, only then will they be a threat. Having Woolmer as a coach is the right step. They are a talented bunch of players though. Azhar should be in the team as he's a talented allrounder but being ignored and wut about Saqlain ?. A world class off-spinner being ignored just because Malik is a better batsman, that's not fair as his record speaks for itself. Also, their opening pair is a big problem. Without a solid pair you cannot build a foundation. Ever since Anwar and Sohail, Pakistan have been lacking in this dept. Hameed is good but he needs a consistent partner and not one every match (Farhat, Butt, Umar etc lol).

Nice to see cricket fans here in this forum. It's fun to discuss the game with you two !!

Regards

Ali

I think Pakistan has the best upcoming talent as far as the top 3 slots are concerned.. specially the likes of Yaser Hameed, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Salim Ilaahi, Saman Butt and not to forget Shahid Afridi (on his day he can conquer the world)... and then they have Shoib Malik, who is not as much talented but have been quite useful and succesful in recent times.. but I do believe Pakistan have to have a lethal spinner in the team (of the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq) and they are definately lacking in that department..

as for the lack of discipline is concerned, I think you need at least one player who doesn't play disciplined cricket as such players can turn any match on a specific day.. players like virendra sewag, shahid afridi, ricardo powell and dilhara fernando can destroy any team on their day...but what you need is a cool head on the other side.. the other player is very important.. be its a batsman or a bowler on the other side..

The problem with Pakistan in recent time was that their bowling department doesn't had a right combination. Sami and Akhtar, with both firing in aggression is not a good approach.. and the third and fourth combo (razaaq and malik) is a defensive pair... recetly moving sami/akhtar to the third bowler spot (with naved rana, dont they have a better opening bowler?) has given good results.. but they do lack a top quality spinner...

pavan

Razzaqs bowling is non existent now, a couple of seasons back he was consistently hitting the 88/89mph mark, now he just ambles in and bowls at 82mph. Very sad to see that, as he is only 24.

Saqlain is badly injured right now so we won't see him in the team for another 6 months at least.

I agree Azhar should be in the ODI team, and Allah hi jaane what Razzaq is doing in the test team as a 1st change seamer!


I was not impressed with Kamal, I would pick Younis who has a good record against SL.
I would go the route of the aussies and play 6 specialist bats, a keeper and four bowlers:


Taufeeq Umar -->Good opener with good track record
Imran Farhat --> Just got a 50 in the 2nd Inns
Yasir Hameed --> Classy bat
Inzamam --> Nuff said
Yousuf Youhana --> nuff said
Younis Khan -->Good track record V SL
Zulqarnain Haider --> u19 keeper, avgs 47 in FC Cricket
Shoaib Akhtar --> Nuff said
Mohammed Irshad --> Said to be the next Shoaib
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan --> Deserves a chance
Danish Kaneria --> Promising leggie

India did ok today ! Not a bad performance !

Martyn was sheer class as always, what a player. However, was dissapointed with the captaincy, during the last session, there was a clutter of wickets, and the field was too defensive for my liking. Another slip and gully, with Kumble and Karthik bowling from both ends, with perhaps another close cathcer in.

Once again Martyn showed he is one of the best players in the Aussie side with that classy hundred....it was a priceless innings......and Clarke is showing why he deserves a regular place in this Aussie side.....but with Ponting may be set to return in the last test, who do u drop ?.....Lehmann scored 70 yesterday so you can't drop him, besides he is one of your most experienced batsmen....and Katich has shown in this series that he is one of the best Aussie batsman against quality spin. If the Aussies reach about 450, the Indians will have their work cut out for them, even though the pitch looks a good batting track.....a score of about 400-420 would still be a challenge.....Sachin hasn't had match practice in a while, so the Indians have to come good......it'll be interesting to see how McGrath and company bowl to the Indians.



Yes a player like Afridi or Sehwag is always good to have in the side, but those types of players do not always win you matches every time.....discipline needs to be instilled within the team. If you look at Pakistan's performance in the past few months, they have played well in tournaments leading up to the finals but in the cruch matches they have thrown the game away.....for example against the Aussies in Holland, those needless runouts cost them the match, who told them to take quick singles when they were chasing such a small total and well set.....in the ICC trophy, against the West Indies, bad shot selection cost them the match and the pitch which was said to be favouring bowlers was not the deciding factor as the WI managed to pile up runs without losing many wickets......the recently concluded Paktel final where they lost the match....and now the first test against SL.....it seems at times they really want to win and at times they do not seem interested.....Woolmer really has to turn that aspect around.

Yes they have excellent upcoming talent but they need a solid opening pair.....Razzaq as akhtar ji pointed out is not the same bowler as he was a few years ago.....i remember he was knocking down Tendulkar's stumps in Australia back in 99, that is how quick he was....he is better suited for the one day game as he still lacks the proper technique for the longer version......Saqlain's place in the team has been reduced to politics.....a world class spinner like him should be and automatic selection......Malik has the talent as a batsmen, but one thing he has to work on is playing across the line and it is here where he gets cramped....he also needs to improve his bowling......Azhar should be in the test team.....Danish is not bad but he can improve, and Asim Kamal is a good batsmen for the longer version but maybe he should be given a few more tries. As far as their bowling is concerned, Sami and Shoaib are the only two main threats as of now.....but Pakistan have upcoming bowlers that need exposure.....I still think Afridi can merit a place in the test side down the order.....if he bats responisible he can be very dangerous.....his bowling is useful.....those fastish leg breaks are similar to Kumble....and he's a very good fielder....its sad to see he is only being branded as a one day player.....remember his 140 odd against India at Chennai ?.

Would not have Afridi in the test side. Too rash. I'd rather keep Taufeeq and Imran. Well Moin has been dropped, but I saw Riaz Afridi in the u19 WC, despite being the highest wicket taker, he has a bit of a dodgy action.

Agreed Afridi is rash, but i was saying only if he plays with some responsibility, he can be a dangerous player.....he could be of use at say #6.....not as an opener.....besides he gives u a good spin option as a fifth bowler.....Riaz Afridi may be used in the second test now that Shoaib is out.

YEah he is bolwing well today sofar