From: karnik@deci.cs.umn.edu (Neeran M. Karnik)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
Subject: Re: (none)
Date: 11 Nov 92 02:42:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: deci.karnik.721449720
Organization: University of Minnesota

In <9211100123.AA24278@planck.ece.scarolina.edu> rajagopa@charlie.ece.scarolina.edu (Sundararaman Rajagopal) writes:


>And that is whether an extra batsman is to be played or to stick with the same
>composition that played against Zimbabwe.Looking at past records it is only
>prudent to go with the former option.Indian team has always done badly in the
>first test match of a series after which we have come back strongly in the rest
>of the test matches.Infact under Azhar's captaincy there is a 100% record of
>India losing its first test except for the one test match against Zim.

	.... and the win against SL I guess. I agree, given the recent history
of batting collapses (not just in first Tests!) what the team needs is a 
stronger batting line-up. The bowlers have acquitted themselves reasonably well
except for this last test against Zimbabwe.

>Going with the first option the man to be left out is definitely Raju who had
>a real bad test against Zim.Also the faster tracks in SA,would tend to help
>Kumble better than Raju if we are going in with a spinner.I also think we shouldgo in with a specialist spinner rather than 4 pacers since if 3 of them cant do the job then it is unlikely that the fourth one is going to do it.

	Right, four pacers would be overkill, and even the third pacer isn't 
exactly an inspiring choice anyway.


>Raman should be retained although it was not by any means a great performance
>against Zim.Shastri is our best opener after Sunny retired.It is infact true
>that Shastri's performance as an opener has been remarkable.He has scored 
>atleast 4 centuries since then and everyone of them as an opener.Add to that
>the matchwinning 89 against sriLanka in India.Remember all the 4 tons came in
>foriegn soil - 1 against WI,2 in England and a double century in Australia.
>Hence it is tough to drop him although he is not in the best of nicks.

	Yep, gotta admit it, he's the best we have! :-) Going by recent form,
he is one of the most prolific openers in the world today. Coming to Raman,
it is too soon to axe him, despite Jadeja's good form. If however he fails in 
the first couple of tests, he is likely to lose his place to Jadeja. However,
I don't think this is his last chance! He will undoubtedly score heavily in
the Ranji trophy and force himself back into the reckoning in the space of a 
year or two!

>That leaves us with either Jadeja or Amre.I would say Amre since he is a test
>match player and has played well in the limited chances he has got.Also Jadeja
>primarily being an opener will not fit into the middleorder.Also it is not
>advisable at this stage to keep changing his order in the batting lineup.

	Yes, let's not spoil the best opening prospect in the country by 
sending him as low as #6 in the order. Amre should make the team at that spot, 
although I wonder if it may not make better sense to utilize Amre at #4 or 5.

>Hence my team would be:

>Shastri
>Raman
>Manjrekar
>Tendulkar
>Azhar
>Amre
>Kapil Dev
>Prabhakar
>More
>Srinath
>Kumble

	Just what I would go for, except for a sneaky suspicion that Srinath
hasn't quite got what it takes. I'm not advocating dropping him, not yet. But
Chetan Sharma might just be more dangerous on helpful wickets, despite his
tendency to be erratic at times. He was our most successful bowler on his last
tour to England, and should do well on the bouncy wkts in SA. I believe he 
already has one 5-wkt. haul on this tour....

>Discussions welcome!

	Oh, no need to *ask* for discussion! You'll get it anyway :-)
>Raj.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Neeran   Karnik  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dept. of Computer Science,      | Email: karnik@cs.umn.edu
University of Minnesota         |        karn0001@student.tc.umn.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket