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25th March 2011, 11:23
Should we go with 2 spinners and 2 fast bowlers, or should we drop ajmal and go with 3 fast bowlers?
Reasons to go with 3 fast bowlers
The Mohali track in general has offered a bit more for Pace than other Indian tracks.
India play spin a lot better than pace. On most grounds, we'd go with 3 pacers.
If we go in there and the track is more suited for spin, we are in trouble even with 2 spinners. India are better players of spin, more spin options. Arguably the strength of our spin attacks is a lot closer. Also as the underdog in this match, perhaps it's worth gambling and having a different attack than India. If the conditions prove badly for their spin bowlers, but good for our quicks, then we've got an immediate advantage playing 3 quicks.
I have a feeling that on this Mohali pitch, if India had a good 3rd fast bowler they would have played him on this pitch. We don't have that problem so much.
Another thing to note is all the main spin bowlers except Afridi are right arm off break. Ashwin, Harbajan, Raina, Ajmal, Hafeez. The ones that aren't are Afridi and Yuvraj. We've got a distinct advantage in my opinion having a good leg spinner in the side. One of the reasons perhaps Dhoni wanted to persist with Chalwa. They've already got too many bowlers of the same type.
We've already seen that in this tournament, it's the quicks who trouble India more, especially at the death. Steyn successfully limited India at the death. If we have spinners bowling at the death or the last 10 overs (providing that India have lots of wickets left), they're likely to get tonked.
Reasons to go with 2 spinners
If the track's turning then it's better we have more spinners to take advantage of it.
It's a winning formula already, why change it?
If we have razzaq, and he performs, then we won't miss that extra pace option so much.
I don't think there's much point of playing Rehman here. Containment just isn't going to work.
However Ajmal's stats are interesting. He's played India 3 times, but he's been successful. Bowling average of 22.31 against them. He has never played India in India however. There aren't many spinners who've troubled India. Afridi's record is poor against India, it's a bowling average of 55.50. In India it's even worse, with a bowling average of just over 82.
Gul has had limited success against India too with a bowling average of over 40. Akhtar is the only fast bowler/bowler to have had consistent success against India, averaging just under 27 against them. Question is whether he's still the same bowler, and with a lack of pace, will he trouble the Indian batsmen as much?
What are your views?
Reasons to go with 3 fast bowlers
The Mohali track in general has offered a bit more for Pace than other Indian tracks.
India play spin a lot better than pace. On most grounds, we'd go with 3 pacers.
If we go in there and the track is more suited for spin, we are in trouble even with 2 spinners. India are better players of spin, more spin options. Arguably the strength of our spin attacks is a lot closer. Also as the underdog in this match, perhaps it's worth gambling and having a different attack than India. If the conditions prove badly for their spin bowlers, but good for our quicks, then we've got an immediate advantage playing 3 quicks.
I have a feeling that on this Mohali pitch, if India had a good 3rd fast bowler they would have played him on this pitch. We don't have that problem so much.
Another thing to note is all the main spin bowlers except Afridi are right arm off break. Ashwin, Harbajan, Raina, Ajmal, Hafeez. The ones that aren't are Afridi and Yuvraj. We've got a distinct advantage in my opinion having a good leg spinner in the side. One of the reasons perhaps Dhoni wanted to persist with Chalwa. They've already got too many bowlers of the same type.
We've already seen that in this tournament, it's the quicks who trouble India more, especially at the death. Steyn successfully limited India at the death. If we have spinners bowling at the death or the last 10 overs (providing that India have lots of wickets left), they're likely to get tonked.
Reasons to go with 2 spinners
If the track's turning then it's better we have more spinners to take advantage of it.
It's a winning formula already, why change it?
If we have razzaq, and he performs, then we won't miss that extra pace option so much.
I don't think there's much point of playing Rehman here. Containment just isn't going to work.
However Ajmal's stats are interesting. He's played India 3 times, but he's been successful. Bowling average of 22.31 against them. He has never played India in India however. There aren't many spinners who've troubled India. Afridi's record is poor against India, it's a bowling average of 55.50. In India it's even worse, with a bowling average of just over 82.
Gul has had limited success against India too with a bowling average of over 40. Akhtar is the only fast bowler/bowler to have had consistent success against India, averaging just under 27 against them. Question is whether he's still the same bowler, and with a lack of pace, will he trouble the Indian batsmen as much?
What are your views?