From: sidi@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Sadiq Yusuf)
Subject: Indian team (was Re: (none)) + SA team observations + nostalgic ramblings
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 23:25:48 GMT

In article <BxILF4.CC1@rice.edu> pvr@argo.rice.edu (PVR Narasimha Rao) writes:
>In article <9211100123.AA24278@planck.ece.scarolina.edu>, rajagopa@charlie.ece.scarolina.edu (Sundararaman Rajagopal) writes:
>
>
>|> 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.
>
>
>Very sanely said.
>
>We must decide between Raman and Jadeja and play _only one_ of them. If we
>are indecisive and play both (with one of them coming in the middle order),
>it doesn't look convincing.
>
	Agree completely. Our selectors have often fooled around with the
batting order, playing people all over the place. We have to have
specialists - let Raman/Jadeja be openers OR middle-order bats, not both!
(except, of course, in ODI's , where I think Shastri ought to bat down and
Manjrekar open :-) 

>Jadeja has never played in the middle order (I'm not considering first down
>as a part of the middle order) except in the World Cup match against Aus.
>There's no point in mindlessly manipulating the batting positions to fit
>the guys we want. Of course, it may pay off, but it's a risk not worth
>taking.
>
	Exactly. In fact, I'll go even further and say that Jadeja has
_never_ scored as a middle-order bat ! I mean, until the Ranji Trophy last
year (admittedly only about 2 seasons worth) Jadeja batted at #4 and had
never scored a century, even in the Ranji's !! (His highest score was a 94,
I believe). Now, of course, he was pretty young and inexperienced, but I
still don't see why we ought to take him out of a spot in which he _has_
scored runs, and put him where he hasn't !!
  
>I think the only decisions to be taken are
>
>(1) Who should be Shastri's opening partner: Raman or Jadeja?
>
>(2) (a) Should Amre make his test debut or should we play 5 specialist
>        bowlers?
>
>    (b) If it is the second, should we play Raju or should we play
>        Banerjee/Chetan as the fifth specialist bowler?
>
>Definitely (1) is a tough one. Though a double century against a pretty bad
>team doesn't mean anything as far as the ability to face Donald's pace is
>concerned, it seems to be unfair to young Jadeja to ignore him. But, Raman
>hasn't done too badly against Zim. However there's a difference between Zim
>and SA. It's a very interesting situation. Let's wait and see what they'll do.
>
>I think it makes sense to play Amre because Shastri seems to be getting back
>his bowling rhythm. He can be the 4.5th bowler. Moreover, Banerjee, Chetan,
>Raju are not in a great form either.
>
>

	I think we cn forget about the 5 specialist bowlers thing. I say
this with regret, as I was an advocate of this before we left India - I
felt we ought to go with 5 for the first test at least, showing a positive
attitude and clearly going for a win. However, with the batting in the
state tht it is (164 against an attack that , tho good, is not upto the one
we will face in the test), we have little choice but to go with the extra
bat and hope the batting won't let us down. 
	As for the bats, they ought to go with Amre because, as I said, I'd
rather they didn't move an opener to the middle order. Basically, the
choice for me comes down to Raman and Jadeja. Now, as I've said in the
past, Iam not the greatest Raman fan in the world [:-)]. Still, looking at
it objectively, I think Jadeja seems to be in form while Raman does not. I
too don't think the 254* against weakish opposition doesn't mean much in
terms of showcasing ability. However, it _does_ mean that Jadeja has the
temperament and concentration to play long innings, and hhis mental form
(the concentration part) is very good at the moment. Secondly, he as got
runs in both games (social fixture as well as BowlsXI), and Raman didnt do
much in those very same games. And finally, I think Jadeja ought to have a
big edge because of the bowling- on a seaming track his medium pacers could
be very useful indeed. It's rough on Raman after Zimbabwe, but looking at
what's best for the team I would have to go with Jadeja. 
	However, these are only my views ! If I had to bet, I'd say the
selectors will go with both Raman and Jadeja , and Amre will be left out in
the cold once again. And I think they may well open with Raman/Shastri, and
come with Jadeja at one drop. ( Something I really disagree with, this
insurance policy of openers ! And it means that Azhar is at #6, which isn't
much good either. I mean, 3,4 and 5 are perfect positions for
Manjrekar,Tendulkar and Azar. ANd , if  wicket has gone early, I frankly
have much more confidence in Manjrekar's ability to handle the situation
than someone making his test debut).
	Now, for the SA team. Nice to see Jimmy Cook make the team (though,
as an Indian, I probably shouldn't be !) Still, he's been around for so long,
never gotten a chance to play  tests as he should have. I hope he does OK,
gets a couple of 50's maybe ( 50's, mind ! Not 100's !! Only 50's !! :-) )
Similarly, would have been nice to have Rice make it, but I guess that's
asking too much. Maybe for the ODI's ?? 
	And can someone comment on the selection of Omar Henry ?? I know
he's been doing great in the Castle Cup (or decently, anyhow), but I didnt
think he had any chance of making the team here ! I mean, is Kingsmead
expected to take turn ??? Considering it was the home ground of Van Der
Bijl and Procter (and Le roux?) when it was supposedly really fast, the
spinner was the last thing I expected. Has the ground changed character ??
(BTW, if Henry has the sense and enough of Kep's confidence to toss it up
and try to buy wickets, I'll bet he gets bags of wickets in this series.
The Indians aren't as good against experienced and class spinners who have
control over flight as they're supposed to be ) 
	**( Tangent mode on)** 
	Somethings I've wanted to say for a while, can't resist now :-) How
good are the Indians against quality spin ? I used to say, best in the
world !! Look at how we played Qadir - when he was befuddling the rest of
the world, we were destroying him, he took 1 wicket in 4 tests in India and
was dropped for the final test. But I think that Vengsarkar, Gavaskar etc
were probably better players of spin than anyone we have today. And also,
Qadir came with a reputation, he was the greatest spinner in the world , the
destroyer. And while the Indians never believed it, I think they never were
caught off guard either. Plus, there was the added incentive of
demonstrating they could "handle" him with ease ! ( Heck, I remember
listening to the commentary in Australia and England, and the commentators
lauding Qadir , claiming he was unreadable and all. I remember wishing we
could play Pakistan right then, in Australia or England if possible, just
to prove that he _wasn't_ unreadable !! _They_ couldn't read him, _we_
could !!! ) 
	Anyway, those were the good old days. I don't think we're as good
against quality spin anymore. I remember reading about the Duleep quarters
between Central and West , and the young Central spinners running thru the
star-studded West batting line-up. Sure, it was a spinners track. But these
were young and fairly inexperienced spinners - Rajesh Chouhan, Pritam
Gandhe and Gyanendra Pande.The well-known Central spinners, Gopal Sharma
and Narendra Hirwani, were missing. . I think it was Gyanendra Pande
specially ( the left armer at any rate, I think that's Pande) who ran rings
around the batsmen ( Shastri and Manjrekar). Picked up only 1 wicket or so
in the first innings, but ought to have had a lot more. Got Manjrekar by
beating him in the flight. Manjrekar said later that he found Pande very
hard to play, he said Pande kept tossing them up, no Indian bowler did
that nowadays and that he found it very hard to judge the flight. Coming
from one of the most technically sound batsmen in the country, I felt it
was a sad commentary on the state of our spin. And, really, wasn't
Manjrekar proved correct in Zimbabwe ? After all, an experienced spinner of
the old generation (Traicos) was willing to toss 'em up, and he reaped a
rich harvest. From the reports I read, Tendulkar and Azhar both misjudged
the flight and bounce created by it, while Kapil was beaten completely in
the air and bowled. When was the last time one heard of Raju beating
someone in the air ???  ( I don't mean to rip on Raju - it applies to all
Indian spinners today. Maninder is the same today as well. The difference
is that Mani at his peak - the Pakistan series in India- _did_ toss them up
and get batsmen out on flat tracks, Raju has never done it ).
	**(Tangent mode off)**
	
>|> Discussions welcome!
>|> 

	Well, you got it !! 


		Sadiq [ one of the Bombay Bombing Brigade :-) ] Yusuf

>|> Raj.
>
>PVR



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