From: sidi@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Sadiq Yusuf)
Subject: Re: Comments: Ind vs RSA: ODI-3
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 02:33:04 GMT

In article <Bz619n.63E@cs.uiuc.edu> bharat@cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>pvr@argo.rice.edu (PVR Narasimha Rao) writes:
>>BATIING ORDER: But, the point is Amre will be better utilized if
>>he plays at #3. In an ODI eleven, Amre is an utter waste unless he comes
>>in with a lot of overs to go (which doesn't happen too often - and, if
>>it happens, anyway India will lose!). OTOH, Azza and Scahin don't need
>>too much time to settle down and they can slog as well as play clean
>>strokes. Amre, BTW, made 1 in this match coming in at a situation where
>>the run rate was to be increased a lot. He got out trying a big shot.
>
>Good point, but unfortunately I don;t think the selectors will see
>this.  They will reason as such "aha, Shastri does well at #6 or #7 in
>ODIs" (which we have been saying for a long time); "Amre is a #6 bat"
>(!), so we will take back Manjrekar, and play him at one down.  That
>will probably work out well.
>
>Actually, I think we are really missing Kambli for the ODIs, as he
>would have provided an excellent bat at #5 or so.
>

	Actually, I don't really know what the selectors will do,it's hard
to fathom their minds ( tho if I had to guess I'd say they'll stick with
the winning team for the next ODI ) .
	As for the batting order, I just think we're in a genuine
conundrum. We just don't have the type of inspired bludgeoners we would need in
the latter part of a ODI in case of a good start, and we do have a few too
many #3 contenders and too many strokeplayers to actually _give_ us the
solid start we need :-) 
	I suggested before the tour began that I felt ( and have felt for a
while) that Manjrekar would be great as a OD opener. I think he can't play
as OD late order ( or at least ought not to ), I feel Azhar is a better ODI
#3 by far ( for reasons made clear in another post ), and Tendulkar is set
at #4. Of course, SRT could switch to #5, but why change one of the few
things that works ?? I had also suggested that Shastri ought to play down
the order and come in with instructions to slog - he's one of our better
clean sloggers. Glad the selectors had to sense to listen to me there :-)
:-) Anyway, hopefully Shastri's success means he's probably set at #6 for
the ODi's ( unless they've lost all their marbles ). 
	Now, the Amre story. I've long been an Amre fan, so Iam a little
torn here. He is not cut out to come in and slog, and is not going to be
very good at it ( at least not right away). But Iam firmly convinced that
Azhar is not very much of a slogger either, unless he's set beforehand. Iam
also convinced that Azhar's a better ODI #3 ( looking at the track record -
and Amre hasnt played #3 very often in his career. In fact , one of the
supposed strikes against him - which he's rightly shattered by his
performance- was that he was suspect against pace - they said he "squared
up" to pace ) . Really, we dont have an ideal bat for the #5 spot on tour -
he's sitting in Bombay at the moment. So, it has to be Amre or Azhar, and I
think it ought to be Amre . ( Tho, BTW PVR, I disagree that he's a waste at
that position. With experience he'll learn that he ought not to slog for
his first few balls at least - and other than that he's a fine
strokeplayer. Remember , in the Duleep he once had 113 of 87 or so balls,
and once hit Maninder for 24 in an over ! And I think that Azhar isn't a
good _pure_ hitter either - unless he's set. We've only seen him succeed at
slogging when he _is_ set ). 
	So, anyway. The team. Briefly., no change. If slogging needed at
the end - last 5 overs or so - send in Kapil and Shastri ahead of Amre.
And that will be only if we've reached the 45 over mark losing no more than
3 wickets, which is pretty much impossible anyway :-) 
	As for Manjrekar, I dont know what we can do about him right now. I
still like the opener idea ( hey, it's _my_ idea, I _have_ to like it :-)
), but there's no room for this game. Unless, of course, Jadeja fails or
continues to usurp Shastri's position :-) If Shastri is in the side, he can
share the 5th bowlers spot with SRT and so Jadeja's value as a bowler is
minimized. But Manjrekar is an opener possibility only if Jadeja fails (
and I hope he doesnt ). 

			Sadiq [ analysing away ] Yusuf
P.S. I thought I was the #1 Azhar fan on the net, but that position has
been usurped  I see :-) Well, #2 Azhar fan then ! And I have dibs on the #1
Amre fan position, as well as Ankola for the future. And I guess I'd better
book Amol Muzumdar and Manoj Joglekar before someone else does :-) :-)