Indian Test Bowling Attack for Down Under

[Statsman]

Who should be selected?

Since Pakistanis are known to have a knack at gauging bowling talent well, what is your take on Umesh and Aaron? Will they succeed in Australia?

Pool:

Fast: Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Varun Aaron.

Spin: R Ashwin, P Ojha, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Sharma.


My pick:

Fast: PK, Ishant, Umesh, Aaron, Zak (if fit)

Spin: Ojha/Ashwin, Mishra

[Desi]

your batting will score runs there, you just need a bowling attack to back that up.

go in with ishant, aaron, yadav, and zak (kumar/sreenath if not fit) and it will be a very good series.
spin is always useless in ozland, not sure what the batting lineup is atm but sachin, tendulkar, yuvraj can all bowl part-time spin when necessary.

[Statsman]

your batting will score runs there, you just need a bowling attack to back that up.

go in with ishant, aaron, yadav, and zak (kumar/sreenath if not fit) and it will be a very good series.
spin is always useless in ozland, not sure what the batting lineup is atm but sachin, tendulkar, yuvraj can all bowl part-time spin when necessary.

It would be sad if they drop PK for Varun Aaron...

PK averages 25 in International Cricket and was the best Indian bowler in the England tour. Varun averages 40+ in domestic.

I understand that its not all about averages, but still isn't this injustice to PK?

England tour:

PK - 15 wickets in 3 games @ 29
Ishant - 11 wickets in 4 @ 58
Sreesanth - 8 wickets in 3 @ 61

Zak - 2 in 1 inning (13 overs) @ 9 :facepalm: miss him badly :(

[freelance_cricketer]

Looks like a fit bowling attack , that's the most crucial thing. Our bowling is always good enough when it's fit.

[freelance_cricketer]

My bowling line-up

ZAHEER ( ONLY IF 110% FIT)
ISHANT / KUMAR
AARON
YADAV
ASHWIN
OJHA

[Mobashir]

Zak, Parveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav and give a last chance to Ishant.
Spin : It will be Ojah and Ashwin. Maybe singh will be in the squad but no way mishra is going to australia!

[Mobashir]

Zak, Parveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav and give a last chance to Ishant.
Spin : It will be Ojah and Ashwin. Maybe singh will be in the squad but no way mishra is going to australia!

[freelance_cricketer]

Both Yadav and Aaron should be thrown in,.

[Desi]

i honestly think kumar will struggle. maybe give him a test to prove the doubters wrong but his style is not suited by ozzy conditions or wickets whatsoever.

[freelance_cricketer]

Kumar won us the CB series 2007 actually :))

But i always think he wont be successful in tests

[MMHS]

I 'll go for Zak, Ishant & Umesh, backed up by Ashwin. Though, I am not sure, all 4 can keep themselves fit for 4 consecutive Tests.

Aussie wickets are harder with more bounce; I think "hit the deck" bowlers with good pace 'll do better there. Also, in Australia, they 'll use Kookaburra ball, which doesn't swing much after few opening overs. Traditionally, Aussies are vulnerable to Off-spin (I think, over generations, Laker, Gibbs, Pras, Venkat, Tausif, Saqui, Murali, Bhaji, Bracewell, Swan, Embury even Hooper troubled them most than Leggi or SLAO), therefore Ashwin should get the starting nod.

As a back-up, PK, Ojha & Sreeshanth.

I haven't seen Aron, but these Aussies are very good on back-foot; fast bowlers without direction 'll go at least at 5/over. In Australia, wickets' top surface hardly breaks up, rather it cracks & the Leggies target the foot-marks & the cracks outside right-handers' leg. Unless, a Leggi is a big turner like Warne or McGill, he 'll have hardly any impact; that takes out Mishra. Moreover, he is not accurate enough to keep things tight, like Kumble did, despite not being the best turner.

Australia is looking to improve their position; I think all the Test wickets 'll ensure direct results, unless it rains. Most of the Tests should finish with very tight margin, but due to home advantages, better catching & most importantly, better tail, probably Aussies 'll finish 3-1 winners. We might see the last of Panta & surely for the last time 7 of the all time great batsmen together in a Test.

[Statsman]

i honestly think kumar will struggle. maybe give him a test to prove the doubters wrong but his style is not suited by ozzy conditions or wickets whatsoever.

But Aussies are having problems too many against Swing bowlers these days. I know PK isn't in the class of Anderson or Asif , but they have reduced Australia to less than 100 scores in the recent past. Also that Philander guy with his outswing in the last match.

[Desi]

But Aussies are having problems too many against Swing bowlers these days. I know PK isn't in the class of Anderson or Asif , but they have reduced Australia to less than 100 scores in the recent past. Also that Philander guy with his outswing in the last match.

Right but then again they're in australia now. the balls won't swing like the english balls did. plus philander wasn't really swinging the ball, he was seaming it off a cooperative pitch. all i saw of kumar was in england but i never saw him seam the ball, it was just straight swing. it's going to be hot and humid, the swing you'll be banking on is reverse and not conventional - and kumar isn't really capable of reverse.

[freelance_cricketer]

Pathan got the MOM in Perth test. But he struggled on other tracks :facepalm:

[Statsman]

Being the Devil's advocate now, what exactly has Ishant done to get a nod?

[Ahson Afzal]

Yadav was very impressive against the Windies so should definitely get the nod
I would go with Aaron as well.
I don't see why a fit Zaheer Khan wouldn't make the squad
Praveen Kumar also did pretty well against England
Ishant Sharma could be the backup bowler

For the spinners, I'd stick to Ashwin and Ojha who did well together against the Windies. I guess you should also give Ravindra Jadeja a chance since he did well in the England ODI's so the squad should be something like
Dhoni (capt & wk)
Tendulkar
Sehwag
Gambir
Jadeja
Kohli / Rohit Sharma / Yuvraj Singh
Laxman
Dravid
Ishant
PK
Zaheer
Ashwin
Ojha
Yadav
Aaron

Should be cracker of a series.
Good luck for it

[MMHS]

But Aussies are having problems too many against Swing bowlers these days. I know PK isn't in the class of Anderson or Asif , but they have reduced Australia to less than 100 scores in the recent past. Also that Philander guy with his outswing in the last match.


Actually, to trouble batsmen in Australia with swing, you need minimum speed of 130 Km or higher. These are hard, true wickets, ball 'll come at even pace & bounce. Without that pace, Test batsmen 'll stand a foot out-side the crease & 'll play him constantly on front-foot, making it half-volley, whenever he 'll try to pitch it up to swing.

[Statsman]

Ishant Sharma (after 4 years of International experience):
Average in Australia: 59.66
England: 58.18
South Africa: 48.14

Deserves a chance?

[freelance_cricketer]

I actually think we should say bye bye to Zaheer now, his time is up. Suffering from injuries, lets us down after every few months in a big series by getting injured :Facepalm:

Go for the future, throw in Aaron and Yadav. They have a lot to learn from this tour. Zaheer has done enough for us, thank you for that. Now enjoy the IPL bro

[Statsman]

Actually, to trouble batsmen in Australia with swing, you need minimum speed of 130 Km or higher. These are hard, true wickets, ball 'll come at even pace & bounce. Without that pace, Test batsmen 'll stand a foot out-side the crease & 'll play him constantly on front-foot, making it half-volley, whenever he 'll try to pitch it up to swing.

True maybe. But he did fairly well in Australia last time around. Although he didn't play any tests but.

Averaged 17.50 (15.83 against Australia) in ODIs and took important wickets of Gilchrist (each time), Ponting (each time) and Clarke. Was his debut series and got MoM in the one of the finals.

[Statsman]

Yadav was very impressive against the Windies so should definitely get the nod
I would go with Aaron as well.
I don't see why a fit Zaheer Khan wouldn't make the squad
Praveen Kumar also did pretty well against England
Ishant Sharma could be the backup bowler

Yup, something like this, if Zaheer is fit.

For the spinners, I'd stick to Ashwin and Ojha who did well together against the Windies. I guess you should also give Ravindra Jadeja a chance since he did well in the England ODI's

Jaddu in tests? :13:


Should be cracker of a series.
Good luck for it

Thanks! :)

[hur rizvi]

True maybe. But he did fairly well in Australia last time around. Although he didn't play any tests but.

Averaged 17.50 (15.83 against Australia) in ODIs and took important wickets of Gilchrist (each time), Ponting (each time) and Clarke. Was his debut series and got MoM in the one of the finals.

ODIs are a different ball game altogether....

I have never seen a bowler of PK's pace being successful in tests.he should be in squad but YAdav,Aaron and Ishant all should be ahead of him for final XI

[Random Aussie]

Zak, Parveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav and give a last chance to Ishant.
Spin : It will be Ojah and Ashwin. Maybe singh will be in the squad but no way mishra is going to australia!

I would consider the leggie, they do much better here than off spinners.

Dont know if it is worth bring two off spinners out here.

[Statsman]

ODIs are a different ball game altogether....

I have never seen a bowler of PK's pace being successful in tests.he should be in squad but YAdav,Aaron and Ishant all should be ahead of him for final XI

For Ishant, read post - 18 once. :iamlegend

[hur rizvi]

I would consider the leggie, they do much better here than off spinners.

Dont know if it is worth bring two off spinners out here.

thats true off spinners tend to struggle a lot in Australia...

[Statsman]

I would consider the leggie, they do much better here than off spinners.

Dont know if it is worth bring two off spinners out here.

the reason I opted for Mishra (the best available).

RA, What's your pick for the pace attack?

[Random Aussie]

The pst saying off spin bothers our batsmen is right, but not in Australia. Very little spin here now, even the SCG only spins a little.

At the moment, just bowl a consistent line and our batters will get themselves out anyway.

[AZ]

Varun Akhtar
Malcom Yadav
Ishant Lillee
Pragyan Singh Bedi
Muttiah Ashwin
Parveen Hadlee
Zaheer Akram

[AlizeeFan]

I would consider the leggie, they do much better here than off spinners.

Dont know if it is worth bring two off spinners out here.

Leggie should always be first choice, but unfortunately there aren't many decent leg spinners in Indian domestic circle. Mishra is just way too bad for international standards. He hasn't fixed his no ball issue yet.

Ashwin and Ojha are best spinners in India and I don't think selectors should pick a leggie just because leggies have done well.

However it would be good if Rahul Sharma plays third test against windies and he gets a ticket to Australia if he is good enough.

[Random Aussie]

the reason I opted for Mishra (the best available).

RA, What's your pick for the pace attack?

Zaheer, Yadav and Ishant pretty simple to me. Not sure about Kumar out here with that pace and Ishant can get bounce.

Its a long tour though so I wouldnt expect all bowlers will play all Tests, the depth is important.

[AlizeeFan]

Zaheer's career is more or less over. He can play 1 or 2 tests in the series, but I don't think he would be able to play whole series.

I would be surprised if he actually becomes ready for first test. Selectors shouldn't play him unless is fully fit and played few matches.

Indian team can't plan with Zaheer anymore.

Yadav, Ishant, PK and Aaron should be 4 main bowlers. If Zaheer can play then it will be bonus for the team. Ashwin can play 4 tests. I don't think we will need Ojha there.

[AlizeeFan]

varun akhtar
malcom yadav
ishant lillee
pragyan singh bedi
muttiah ashwin
parveen hadlee
zaheer akram

:)) :))

[freelance_cricketer]

Yea which is why going in with Zaheer in a big series is a risk.

[freelance_cricketer]

Yea which is why going in with Zaheer in a big series is a risk.

[Statsman]

Yea which is why going in with Zaheer in a big series is a risk.

Averages an Un-Indian 23.93 in the last 2 years. :(

[withlovefrom vizag]

RP Singh??no way.....his attitude is the worst.He seems to be happy to play IPL for 2 months and enjoy his life.

[freelance_cricketer]

He has been a great servant but now is the time to move on. Zaheer even at 50 % is better than any of our other bowlers but we need to move forward. Zaheer will not be playing regularly for us, him moving in and out of team disturbs the momentum.

[pun500]

we should go with 17 players with 1 ready replacement for zak

bowlers (8)
zak
ishant
yadav
ashwin
aaron
PK
bhajji --- i will still take him he mentally frustrates the aussies like no one else
ojha

batters (7/8)
sehwag
gambhir
dravid
vvs
sachin
kohli
pujara/r sharma

Wk
dhoni
Parthiv Patel ( PP isnt that bad keeper now but he is a better bat esp with pull shot)

[AlizeeFan]

we should go with 17 players with 1 ready replacement for zak

bowlers (8)
zak
ishant
yadav
ashwin
aaron
PK
bhajji --- i will still take him he mentally frustrates the aussies like no one else
ojha

batters (7/8)
sehwag
gambhir
dravid
vvs
sachin
kohli
pujara/r sharma

Wk
dhoni
Parthiv Patel ( PP isnt that bad keeper now but he is a better bat esp with pull shot)

He will make things easier for Aussies.

[freelance_cricketer]

ICC doesn't approve that many :13:

[Statsman]

RP Singh??no way.....his attitude is the worst.He seems to be happy to play IPL for 2 months and enjoy his life.

I don't agree with that. Plus at least he's been good at IPL, in fact one of the best. Likes of Pathan show that they are crap at every level.

Plus, he's started to do really well in the domestic competitions (test) these days. Much much better than Sreesanth, Irfan an all.

Th guy has had potential...

5f7bs53MORI

Right now, he should not be in the side, but lets not leave him out of the scheme of things forever.

[freelance_cricketer]

RP has lost it as a test bowler.

[Statsman]

lool at his official web site

http://rpsinghworld.com/cricket.html :))

[Statsman]

RP has lost it as a test bowler.

Just got a 5 for against Punjab a few days back. But yeah, he's no good currently. I still have faith in him for the future though. He's 2 years younger than Irfan Pathan and 3 years than Sree, the monkey. :sami

[freelance_cricketer]

I expect some IPL video clips in there :))

[freelance_cricketer]

Just got a 5 for against Punjab a few days back. But yeah, he's no good currently. I still have faith in him for the future though. He's 2 years younger than Irfan Pathan and 3 years than Sree, the monkey. :sami

Sounds good but when i saw him in England, i lost hope.

[Justcrazy]

Zaheer. / Ishant / Praven / Aaron / Yadav.

Bhajji / Ojha / Mishra.

[Itachi]

Zaheer as bonus? :facepalm:

he is the backbone of our bowling! All others are supporting bowlers. He's the striker. His 5 overs will be more lethal against 20 overs of another bowler!

[Statsman]

Zaheer. / Ishant / Praven / Aaron / Yadav.

Bhajji / Ojha / Mishra.

No Ashwin? :13:

[velu]

Zaheer , Ishant , PK , Umesh , Aaron

Ojha , Mishra.

[Statsman]

Zaheer , Ishant , PK , Umesh , Aaron

Ojha , Mishra.

post 49.

[freelance_cricketer]

Zaheer as bonus? :facepalm:

he is the backbone of our bowling! All others are supporting bowlers. He's the striker. His 5 overs will be more lethal against 20 overs of another bowler!

I'd rather groom my young supporting bowlers from now on.

[AlizeeFan]

Zaheer as bonus? :facepalm:

he is the backbone of our bowling! All others are supporting bowlers. He's the striker. His 5 overs will be more lethal against 20 overs of another bowler!

He has to play matches for doing all this. In last 2 years or so, he has played only half of the matches. Bolwed 20 overs in last 11 matches.

[hur rizvi]

ODIs are a different ball game altogether....

I have never seen a bowler of PK's pace being successful in tests.he should be in squad but YAdav,Aaron and Ishant all should be ahead of him for final XI

still he looks better than PK for sure

[freelance_cricketer]

The dependency on Zaheer has to end. We need to develop a bowling unit that can keep performing for us without any individual. Adopt rotation policy.

[Itachi]

I'd rather groom my young supporting bowlers from now on.

should not be at the expanse of experience and maturity.

For example, why our batting is strong? Because it has both young guns and old players.

Same goes for bowling. Without experience, these young bowlers will be like a boat lost direction in sea. Supporting young is fine, but you need an experienced leader to show them the directions.... Otherwise, they'l have a hard tour>lost of confidence>won't know how to cope it>will try different styles> will become rubbish bowlers even more.

[Itachi]

He has to play matches for doing all this. In last 2 years or so, he has played only half of the matches. Bolwed 20 overs in last 11 matches.

yup. His fitness is big concern. But i still think you need experience against top teams. Except ishant, other bowlers haven't played 10 matches even combined! How do you expect them to show a marvellous effort? A bad tour and it may end career of a bowler.

[freelance_cricketer]

The experienced batsmen are always available and they look good enough to carry on for 2 more years easily. Zaheer on the other hand has serious fitness issues.

I don't want to see us being reduced to 3 bowlers again in the middle of an important test match with our ranking at stake :facepalm:

He's a gem of a bowler but don't go ahead with him if his fitness is not up to international standards.

[JibranAnsari]

I would say.ZK, Yadav ,ishant and PK. combination of swing ,pace and bounce. Finger spinners are hardly successful in australia , you better take mishra with you. This attack should do well against not very good batting attack of australia.
Yadav should be preffered over ishant at least for the first test.

[freelance_cricketer]

Every Australian ground offers something different. They should go with a 7 men bowling line-up and select 4 bowlers every time depending upon conditions.

[Poison]

He has been a great servant but now is the time to move on. Zaheer even at 50 % is better than any of our other bowlers but we need to move forward. Zaheer will not be playing regularly for us, him moving in and out of team disturbs the momentum.

lol. Zaheer is far and away your best bowler. Stop getting excited about one series against the West Indies, your team got absolutely pummeled without Zaheer in England. You don't just take out the bowling spearhead and expect the rest of the bowlers to just bowl normally and get results.

[Itachi]

The experienced batsmen are always available and they look good enough to carry on for 2 more years easily. Zaheer on the other hand has serious fitness issues.

I don't want to see us being reduced to 3 bowlers again in the middle of an important test match with our ranking at stake :facepalm:

He's a gem of a bowler but don't go ahead with him if his fitness is not up to international standards.

eh.... That happened one time. Give poor zaheer a break. ;-)

[Itachi]

lol. Zaheer is far and away your best bowler. Stop getting excited about one series against the West Indies, your team got absolutely pummeled without Zaheer in England. You don't just take out the bowling spearhead and expect the rest of the bowlers to just bowl normally and get results.

+1. Totally agreed.

[Ambi]

lool at his official web site

http://rpsinghworld.com/cricket.html :))

:))) :69:

[freelance_cricketer]

lol. Zaheer is far and away your best bowler. Stop getting excited about one series against the West Indies, your team got absolutely pummeled without Zaheer in England. You don't just take out the bowling spearhead and expect the rest of the bowlers to just bowl normally and get results.

That is on basis of his performances in last 2 years. He has been one of the best in the world and not just from India but what we now have to think about is whether Zaheer is a safe investment today. I believe it's about time we look further and try out the young guys even if they don't quite produce the same resuts.

We have milked Zaheer enough, i don't think there is much left now.

[DadaFan]

If we don't have Zaheer, our chances of winning go dramatically down.

If we have an unfit Zaheer, our chances of winning go dramatically down.

i.e. pray for a fully fit Zaheer, otherwise this series is going to end like all our Australia series, in tears.

We need someone else to eventually take the role of spear head from Zaheer, like he did from Srinath. Ishant ain't it.

[DadaFan]

That is on basis of his performances in last 2 years. He has been one of the best in the world and not just from India but what we now have to think about is whether Zaheer is a safe investment today. I believe it's about time we look further and try out the young guys even if they don't quite produce the same resuts.

We have milked Zaheer enough, i don't think there is much left now.


Poison is right, and until we have someone to take the leadership role in the pace attack (no-one is currently eligible) we need Zaheer. PK is definitely not going to be our spear-head ever.

[Bullet Drive]

Remember, off spinners do poor in Australia.

[freelance_cricketer]

No, we need a 100 % fit Zaheer Khan or we don't need him.

[Cricfan4eva]

Zak, Ishant, PK, Mishra - Ideal bowling lineup to beat Aus. Their batsmen are more weak against swing and bounce, playing Aaron, Yadav and Ishant together would be futile. And leggies always do well in Australia.

[Poison]

i.e. pray for a fully fit Zaheer, otherwise this series is going to end like all our Australia series, in tears.


http://chzjustcapshunz.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/funny-captions-i-know-that-feel.jpg

[ads101]

Got to be honest, your bowling and bowling potential is looking better than it has for a long time.

Praveen looks decent (needs to be just a little faster though), Yadav actually looks like a real good prospect (unlike the other masses of overhyped guys ). You've finally got Ashwin in the side, who you should have turned to ages ago (even if his action or his style of bowling may not suit tests from first impressions, the guy's got the brain and the cunning to make it work). Ohja also seems to have upped his game too.

[freelance_cricketer]

Got to be honest, your bowling and bowling potential is looking better than it has for a long time.

Praveen looks decent (needs to be just a little faster though), Yadav actually looks like a real good prospect (unlike the other masses of overhyped guys ). You've finally got Ashwin in the side, who you should have turned to ages ago (even if his action or his style of bowling may not suit tests from first impressions, the guy's got the brain and the cunning to make it work). Ohja also seems to have upped his game too.

Bowling to thheek hai, yeh bowling kya hai ? :yk

[Statsman]

Pat Cummins will be playing against India. The batsmen better prepare themselves well against this lad.

[Itachi]

Pat Cummins will be playing against India. The batsmen better prepare themselves well against this lad.

how the hack australia, SA produce such bowlers? Look at philander. Must be the genes.

[freelance_cricketer]

They need some batting tips from Steyno :D

[MMHS]

True maybe. But he did fairly well in Australia last time around. Although he didn't play any tests but.

Averaged 17.50 (15.83 against Australia) in ODIs and took important wickets of Gilchrist (each time), Ponting (each time) and Clarke. Was his debut series and got MoM in the one of the finals.



Yes, but in ODI they use white ball & often bowls at night, when the machine sewn ball swings more. Also, in ODI, batsmen often are forced to go after, which 'll not be the case in Test.

[Statsman]

Yes, but in ODI they use white ball & often bowls at night, when the machine sewn ball swings more. Also, in ODI, batsmen often are forced to go after, which 'll not be the case in Test.

True. Thanks.