Indian test team for England tour(merged)

[Luton Bad Boy]

News ticker on BBC Sport:

Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh have been left out from squad for tour to Ireland and England.

So that means they are going ahead with Dinesh Karthik and Ramesh Powar, good decisions I say, but, Sehwag would have feasted on a off-key Harmison, Plunkett, Sidebottom and surely would have attacked Panesar and not stay bogged down like Karthik.

[cornered paktiger]

Just been announced - no Sehwag, Dhoni, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan, Kaif or Irfan Patel.

I know some of these are desperately out of form but surely they should be Backed. I'm sure England will be happier with Gambhir opening rather than Sehwag.

Seems surprising - weren't these the players India were building their future around. Seems strange especially since the likes of Dravid, Tendu, Laxman and Ganguly are not going to be around that much longer yet they've all been selected.

[Luton Bad Boy]

India in Ireland, 2007

Sehwag, Harbhajan and Munaf out for England tour

Cricinfo staff

June 12, 2007

Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel have been left out of both India's Test and one-day teams for the tour to Ireland and England, starting later this month.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have returned to the one-day side, while expectedly retaining their spot in Tests, while Ranadeb Bose is the only new face in both the squads.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was picked as the one-day vice-captain while Sachin Tendulkar was entrusted that responsibility for Tests.

India's one-day squad Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth.

India's Test squad Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-capt), Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Ramesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose.

[indfan82]

Just been announced - no Sehwag, Dhoni, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan, Kaif or Irfan Patel.

I know some of these are desperately out of form but surely they should be Backed. I'm sure England will be happier with Gambhir opening rather than Sehwag.

Seems surprising - weren't these the players India were building their future around. Seems strange especially since the likes of Dravid, Tendu, Laxman and Ganguly are not going to be around that much longer yet they've all been selected.
rahul dravid is the captain till the england series .How can you not select the captain .Indian test team without gangu tendu and dravid is weak and its a important series .For odis however its another story

ps .dhoni is there in both odis as well as tests Infact he has been named vice captain for odis

[sehsan]

rahul dravid is the captain till the england series .How can you not select the captain .Indian test team without gangu tendu and dravid is weak and its a important series .For odis however its another story

i thought IRFAN should have beem selected. I am not sure why munaf have been ignored.

[indfan82]

i thought IRFAN should have beem selected. I am not sure why munaf have been ignored.
munaf is probably not 100% fit ...pathan was unlucky

[Luton Bad Boy]

munaf is probably not 100% fit ...pathan was unlucky

Pathan would be a handful on English pitches but, they now have Sreesanth and VRV Singh as replacement, I thought he was worthy of a punt, this could have been the tour that would give him retribution.

[Amir]

I see alot of mistakes in that team. First of all Pathan should be selected for ODIs. The guy can bat and the English conditions will help his style of bowling.

Ramesh Powar is not a test bowler. The guy only has one delivery which is a flighted off spinner. In tests you need to have variety. And Bhajji provides that with his doosra. Big mistake on the selectors part to select a one trick pony like Powar over a proven test bowler like Harbhajan.

Then why not select Munaf Patel? Seems like the selectors have a revolving door policy for pacers in India. You never kow what three pacers will be playing amongst RP Singh, Sreesatnh, Agarkar, Zaheer, Munaf and the odd Sharma, Balaji or nehra. Munaf Patel would have been good in these conditions and I think he is probaly India's best pacer after Zaheer.

Well anyways, wrong team selection and best of luck to India.

[indfan82]

Pathan would be a handful on English pitches but, they now have Sreesanth and VRV Singh as replacement, I thought he was worthy of a punt, this could have been the tour that would give him retribution.
ithink they wud select rps over vrv singh he did well against banglas and i believe he was selected as alternative to pathan as both of them depend on their swing bowling

[indfan82]

I see alot of mistakes in that team. First of all Pathan should be selected for ODIs. The guy can bat and the English conditions will help his style of bowling.

Ramesh Powar is not a test bowler. The guy only has one delivery which is a flighted off spinner. In tests you need to have variety. And Bhajji provides that with his doosra. Big mistake on the selectors part to select a one trick pony like Powar over a proven test bowler like Harbhajan.

Then why not select Munaf Patel? Seems like the selectors have a revolving door policy for pacers in India. You never kow what three pacers will be playing amongst RP Singh, Sreesatnh, Agarkar, Zaheer, Munaf and the odd Sharma, Balaji or nehra. Munaf Patel would have been good in these conditions and I think he is probaly India's best pacer after Zaheer.

Well anyways, wrong team selection and best of luck to India.

Munaf is not 100% fit bhai pathan (maybe unlucky) has to first prove in domestic circuit before getting a team berth so does harbhajan singh .

[kablooee87]

Powar over Harbhajan is just silly.

I don't agree with dropping Sehwag but he's been no out of form that I won't object too much.

Aside from that, I guess they want to give some new pacers a shot in friendly conditions.

[Amir]

Munaf is not 100% fit bhai pathan (maybe unlucky) has to first prove in domestic circuit before getting a team berth so does harbhajan singh .

Well they could prove themselve if it is domestic season in India?!?!? I think it is bet for Pathan and Bhaji to go to the county scene and get soem valuable experience. I think you really need a spinner with some variety against england. England is not weak against spin as they once were. And I don't think Kumble will be all that effective. The pitches will not assist him much and he will probaly be treated like a medium pacer since there is not much turn.

[Amjid Javed]

Well finally the axe comes down on sehwag and about time. looks like kartik and jaffer will open in england. I guess powar/pathan have been picked on basis they can bat and turn their arms over and i guess india are worrid about having a lengthy tail in the series.

[indfan82]

Well they could prove themselve if it is domestic season in India?!?!? I think it is bet for Pathan and Bhaji to go to the county scene and get soem valuable experience. I think you really need a spinner with some variety against england. England is not weak against spin as they once were. And I don't think Kumble will be all that effective. The pitches will not assist him much and he will probaly be treated like a medium pacer since there is not much turn. pathan said he will be playing for kent if he doesnt get selected so maybe if does well in the counties he maybe up for selection for th odis ...true abt the spin thing they shud have selected piyush chawla instead of powar

[James]

Dismal squad.

Sehwag may be a poor starter, but he is one of the few Indian batsmen who can win the match on any given day. Jaffer, Gambhir and Kartik are solid players but this is the 'safety first' route. Sehwag was worth the risk.

Harbhajan is another player who has taken a few beatings, especially away from home. However the English mid-late summer pitches are changing, they are dry and slow, and as the game goes on they increasingly favour bowlers who turn the ball. As mentioned, he also possesses the doosra and England are rubbish at playing the doosra. He is another risk that should have been taken if India actually aspire to win the series instead of being happy with a 1-1 again.

Pathan would be very effective if the ball swings in the series, as it usually does in England. They seem to have gone for RP Singh instead, who has played a few games against us before and got mullered.

The old guards of the batting lineup look more useless every series, but I guess Ganguly, Sachin and Dravid have all done the business in these conditions before so its hard to argue against their inclusion.

The good? Zaheer and Sreesanth; and no complaints if Yuvraj, Dhoni and Laxman are trusted to play in the same lineup. Three top batsmen with a lot left in the tank.

[James]

Overall I was pessimistic enough about us, but after seeing this squad Im not sure who will have the worst team during this test series. If Tendulkar is his same washed-up self and their bowling attack does as badly as I think it will, we might even win it. No idea why the WI get four tests and India get three though...really poor stuff.

[James]

From looks of things, our best chance of winning will be to pile up a 600 score in the first two days and then bowl India out twice. If the groundsmen surprise us and prepare sporting wickets - which I hope they do because the most recent test against WI proved that sporting wickets lead to much more entertaining games - then its a different story and we could be looking at closely fought, 4-day matches.

[Saj]

Jaffer wouldnt fill me with confidence if I was an Indian fan, against the likes of Harmison. I think I'd liked to have seen how Sehwag approached his batting in England.

I wonder if the Sehwag / Harbajhan alliance being dropped is just coincidence or a message in there for the pair of them.

[James]

To be fair, Sehwag himself was a joke in 2006 against Hoggard and Harmison, maybe thats the thinking.

[Easa]

England will win comfortably - India dont have the bowling to consistently bowl England out for low scores. No idea why India only got 3 and West Indies got 4 - some very daft people behind that one.

[dinakar]

so, no fun in watching the first 15 overs while India batting :( Ganguly is no longer an entertaining opener.

[pak4life]

on paper apart from tendulkar and dravid looks an very ordinary squad. I will be suprised if eng dont win 2-0 or even 3

[Sheikh]

I really hope Karthik and Jaffer do a good job because that will ensure that Sehwag doesnt play against us in November!

[Romali_rotti]

Just been announced - no Sehwag, Dhoni, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan, Kaif or Irfan Patel.

I know some of these are desperately out of form but surely they should be Backed. I'm sure England will be happier with Gambhir opening rather than Sehwag.

Seems surprising - weren't these the players India were building their future around. Seems strange especially since the likes of Dravid, Tendu, Laxman and Ganguly are not going to be around that much longer yet they've all been selected.


I dunno where u got ur info from but DHoni is in both one dayer and test squads. Munaf as per Vensaker is still unfit, I think they are hoping he will be ready for the Oz tour after ENG..
http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/engvind/content/current/story/297784.html

[Daoud]

Yeah, it does make you wonder if its been their poor form and performance or their childish and unprofessional attitude that got Sehwag and Harbhajan dropped

[dinakar]

I dunno where u got ur info from but DHoni is in both one dayer and test squads. Munaf as per Vensaker is still unfit, I think they are hoping he will be ready for the Oz tour after ENG..

In thi first report, Cricinfo missed Dhoni's name from the test squad. I have noticed it and was wondering what wrong Dhoni did to be axed from the test squad. later realized that it was a mere error from the reporter.

[Wasim_Waqar]

England will win comfortably - India dont have the bowling to consistently bowl England out for low scores. No idea why India only got 3 and West Indies got 4 - some very daft people behind that one.

I have been debating this with England fans I know and furiously defended my idea that it should be the other way round: they say 'we have a great tradition of playing the Windies' and they have such a lack of knowledge that they believe Kumble is rubbish and so are India!!

[volcyz]

Who follows Indian cricket anyways.... its been a joke for the past year, the highest paid team with a supposedly star studded batting lineup that can't perform in anywhere but the flattest of pancake picthes...
Their bowling has done much more than their batting, they've been in as much of a fiasco as Pakistan, with supposedly more monetary funding they cannot even outperform other weaker funded teams like Pakistan,

Anyways the advertising through the Indian cricketeres absolutely a joke... seriously just watched some on Youtube, what total time wasting rubbish.

[Wasim_Waqar]

I agree they've been rather poor. But I just think that they played really well in the SA tests in SA. They humiliated SA in Jo'burg of all places. They outbowled SA totaly, and 'flat track bullies?' The third test was close.

If they picked their very best team, which they haven't clearly, I'd back them to get at least a draw in England, against a side that looks as though it's struggling too.

[Big Harvey]

I have been debating this with England fans I know and furiously defended my idea that it should be the other way round: they say 'we have a great tradition of playing the Windies' and they have such a lack of knowledge that they believe Kumble is rubbish and so are India!!

I agree that India have been a far better team than WI in recent years. I think the reason the WI got 4 Tests is simply down to tradition, dating back to when the WI were good, and the TCCB controlled cricket. Also, the arrangements for longer series are reciprocal, and it may have something to do with ECB officials preferring to spend their winters in places like Barbados and Antigua with their sun-drenched beaches, rather than, say, Delhi and Ahmedabad, which don't have quite the same appeal to most Westerners.

As far as Kumble is concerned, his record speaks for itself, but having said that, he's hardly set the world on fire in English conditions, has he?

I don't know enough about the new crop of Indian players picked for this tour to be able to make a confident prediction, but I can see a lot of runs being scored by England. Whatever the shortcomings of England's bowlers, it's going to take some very special Indian bowling to bowl England out twice. I must admit that I was astonished by Powar's inclusion in the Indian Test squad.

[nedian21]

How can u drop a batsman with a Test Average still close to 50 based on his ODIs failures. Dropping Sehwag from Tests is a big mistake. Karthick is a decent bat and is better at No 5 or 6 as a replacement for Sachin, Gangs, Laxman.

[Wasim_Waqar]

I agree that India have been a far better team than WI in recent years. I think the reason the WI got 4 Tests is simply down to tradition, dating back to when the WI were good, and the TCCB controlled cricket. Also, the arrangements for longer series are reciprocal, and it may have something to do with ECB officials preferring to spend their winters in places like Barbados and Antigua with their sun-drenched beaches, rather than, say, Delhi and Ahmedabad, which don't have quite the same appeal to most Westerners.
As far as Kumble is concerned, his record speaks for itself, but having said that, he's hardly set the world on fire in English conditions, has he?

I don't know enough about the new crop of Indian players picked for this tour to be able to make a confident prediction, but I can see a lot of runs being scored by England. Whatever the shortcomings of England's bowlers, it's going to take some very special Indian bowling to bowl England out twice. I must admit that I was astonished by Powar's inclusion in the Indian Test squad.

I think that has a big say in it. BUT I reckon it'd be easy to have 4 tests in India and just add 3 tests in WI to winter tours. Does not take much doing.

Or is it just to elevate England's win ratio?

WI should be invited with Australia next time and given 2 tests, or along with SA/Pak/Ind and given 3 tests, with the other team given 4.

[Big Harvey]

I think that has a big say in it. BUT I reckon it'd be easy to have 4 tests in India and just add 3 tests in WI to winter tours. Does not take much doing.

Or is it just to elevate England's win ratio?



I don't think England's win ratio has anything to do with it. Traditionally England have always tended to play longer series against the best teams. In fact, when the WI were at their peak, series against them used to be 5 matches, rather than 4.

[Wasim_Waqar]

Yeah, true Big Harvs, I'll say that.

But there's no logical reason behind it....

I just think that there's too much international cricket and that touring sides should get more warm-ups before the tests start. Not that I'm tryin to excuse WI's poor performances, apart from OT 2nd innings.

I just feel that the first test of a series is not what it used to be. It used to be bowlers steaming in with good rhythm, whereas now, they have to get used to the conditions, bowling etc during the course of a test, which is wrong: England have suffered because of central contracts too- Plunkett has suffered because he's been experimenting in the middle of tests.

[Sheikh]

How can u drop a batsman with a Test Average still close to 50 based on his ODIs failures. Dropping Sehwag from Tests is a big mistake. Karthick is a decent bat and is better at No 5 or 6 as a replacement for Sachin, Gangs, Laxman.
I agree completely. Sehwag is such a dangerous test batsman as he can single-handedly demoralize an opposition. I could see him reducing Harmison to tears with just a few uppercuts over 3rd man for 6.