From: sidi@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Sadiq Yusuf)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
Subject: Re: Test 11 to SA and ODI 11 too (Looooong !)
Date: 3 Oct 92 01:52:32 GMT
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.

In article <BvI5LM.5rE@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> bharat@cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>KSRAO@power.ee.ndsu.nodak.edu writes:

>
>Actually 3 spinners (counting Shastri).  Even so just 7 batsmen..
>Raman, Shastri, Jadeja, Azhar, Tendulkar, Manjrekar, Amre seems too
>few...  I wish they had gone with 17 and taken Kambli as well.  

	I dont know about an extra bat. I agree , if you mean as a 17th
player. But definately not at the expense of dropping a bowler or extra
keeper from the side of 16.

>Lets break it down for the Tests (I personally don't care overly about
>ODI's but will talk about that at the end briefly).
>
>Openers: Shastri should (and will) open; Its between Jadeja and Raman
>for the 2nd slot.  Probably go with Raman for the Tests unless Jadeja
>is sensational in the early games.
>
>1. Shastri
>2. Raman
>

	I agree here. Jadeja is unlikely to make it ahead of Raman to the
test team.

>The middle order looks set.  Manjrekar will play, at lezst for the
>first 2 Tests.  I suggest moving him to number 5 and letting Azhar
>come in one down.  Lets see.
>
>4. Tendulkar
>3,5 Azhar, Manjrekar
>

	Here, I dont agree. Iam fairly certain it will be Manjrekar at #3,
Tendulkar at #4, and Azhar at #5.  Things have been hellish here for a
while ,  I haven't been able to write all the stuff I wanted to on the net
recently. On my trip back, I met and talked to Harsha Bhogle, the
commentator - great guy, will write more about it sometime. Anyway, I
mentioned the same thing to him, that I thought Azhar at #5 is a bit low.
He answered that Azhar has often played at #5, the entire England tour
where he went crazy was at that spot. Plus, he's a bit of a friend of
Azhar's, has known him for over a dozen years. And he said that Azhar is
probably most comfortable at 5. He's more of an attacking bat now, the
strokleplayer type, and its better for him to come in and be able to play a
few shots. That sort of decided it for me, if Azhar is most comfortable at
#5, let him bat there. Whats good enough for Azhar is good enough for
me :-) :-) 
 
>6. Amre/Jadeja:  It is brutal on poor Kambli, but dropping Amre would
>		be unfair as well.  It would have been so much better
>		to take both to Australia and let the Colonel go
>		(brutal as that sounds)... BUt, of course the
>		selectors would then promptly pick Vengy for the World
>		Cup:-) 
>

	No,no how could you drop the Colonel from the team to Australia ??
And anyway, why did you have to ? Sure both Kambli and Amre ought to have
gone, but have we forgotten that one spot ( what I refer to as the Kambli
spot) was taken up by Saurav Ganguly ?? See, that's the worst part about
some of those stupid selectorial decisions - they reverberate for a while.
Kambli hasn't received the kind of experience, and we haven't been able to
make a judgement of his capabilities yet, because he didnt go to Australia
when he should have. Kambli could have played the OD's ahead of Amre (he's
more of a natural than Amre at the OD game), and we could have made some
judgements about his ability to play longer knocks in the 3 day games. An
opportunity for a great prospect to learn and gain experience was thrown
away due to the quota system.
 
>Wicket Keeper: More
>
>Opening  Bowlers Kapil, Prabhakar
>
>3rd Pacer: Chetan/Srinath
>
>Spinner Kumble (or possibly Raju, but I hope not).
>
>Total waste of a spot: Bannerji;
>
>SO *my* eleven (unless someone flops miserably or is superb) for the
>Tests;
>
>Shastri
>Raman
>Azhar
>Tendulkar
>manjrekar
>Amre
>Kapil
>More
>Prabhakar
>Chetan/Srinath
>Kambli
^^^^^^^^^
(Freudian slip ? ) :-) 
>
	Actually, agree mostly except for the batting order. As I said,
Azhar at #5. Plus, Prabhakar ahead of More, maybe even ahead of Kapil
depending on the situation ( new ball and a need to defend ? Send in
Prabhakar ahead of Kapil ). 

>For the ODI's here are some radical suggestions.  Drop Manjrekar
>altogether!  Play Shastri, but only down the order!
>
>Openers:
>
>Raman, Jadeja
>Azhar, Tendulkar, Amre,
>Shastri
>
>Now, the *BIG* problem is that there is no one to pressure Manjrekar
>for a spot, as it will be hard to replace him even if he flops.  Also,
>I think Manjrekar should be dropped for ODI's and there is no way to
>do that as you would like to play all of the above plus Manjrekar with
>Shastri coming in at number 7.. so sigh Manjrekar will probably be in
>over one of the above people and Shastri will open...
>
>More
>Kapil
>Prabhakar
>Kambli
>Srinath/Chetan/Bannerji
>
>Yadav won't get a look in barring injury to More, but thats OK, as
>this is purely to gain some valuable experience.
>

	Now, here I have very different views. In my book, Manjrekar has
waay too much class to be dropped from the Indian team in anything ( tho I
too dislike  seeing a purist like  him slogging ). The #3 spot in the OD's
is clearly Azhars now, and Iam delighted. ( I've been an advocate of that
for years and years , saw him make 108 n.o. off 99 balls v/s SL at the
Wankhede at #3. Plus, he's gotten runs at Sarjah  and against England and
lots more besides , all at #3 in the OD's. ) . You have to play SRT at #4,
clearly. 
	We all know how Shastri has played as an opener in OD's, crawling
and unable to accelerate , and we all know  ( at least those of us who
have a memory , knowledge, and comparatively less bias ;-) that Shastri IS
capable of slogging, and doing it very effectively, that at his best he may
be one of our cleanest strikers of the ball. But, as an opener, Shastri has
gone into a mental shell and been unable to slog when needed - he's been
unable to bat one way for a while and then turn on the slogging switch, so
to speak, and accelerate as needed. (BTW, tangent, Bhogle said that Shastri
claims he felt his role in the WC was similar to that of Haynes - hold the
inning together. As I said in reply, that's fine , I agree with that. But
when Haynes has been around 35 overs, he starts taking the bowling apart,
he doesnt keep batting at the same pace. Making 20 off 50 balls is
reasonable , but making 40 off 100 balls is unacceptable ! It isn't just
ratio, when you've been around that long and gotten your eye in, and when
the asking rate is climbing rapidly, it's unforgivable to keep batting at
the same pace ! Anyway .) 
	So, coming to the point, the Grand Design , the reason for me
blabbering away this long :-) Open the innings with Jadeja and Manjrekar.
Manjrekar is maybe our best player of pace, clearly he can handle it.
Manjrekar is good for the opening role in ODI's, his style is to build an
inning with placements - singles and twos that keep the scoreboard ticking
along. And he has shown the ability to accelerate once he's gotten his eye
in ( witness the India/Australia ODI, and the India/SA ODI in Delhi last
year ) . Plus, as an added bonus, you don't ruin maybe the best technique
in India, as an opener he doesnt have to try the crazy slogs that he almost
certainly would have to at #5 or 6 in a ODI. 
	Jadeja ahead of Raman, because if you aren't going to use him , why
are you carrying him ? :-) Actually, he may be fine. Not a bad bat, a
terrific fielder , and a useful OD bowler. A very very good cricketer for
the OD game. 
	Then, Azhar at #3, perfect. He too starts slower but works the
singles beautifully, just the right pace for a #3. And his placement and
timing is immaculate  , he can take boundaries pretty easily when the field
isn't as spread out as it is in the last 5 overs. He has trouble with the
pure slog - can't clear the ropes that easily. Tendulkar has no such
trouble - a great #4. Then, bring on Shastri with the express instructions
to slog in the last few overs - no mental idea of holding the inning
together and getting into a rut ! ( Frankly, I would have gone without
Shastri in the OD's , much rather have Kambli. But with the selectors
deciding to go without Kambli, there's little choice. Amre is not a
slogger, that's not his style. Plus , it's really hard on him - we
shouldn't judge a player who isn' established in the side and fails because
he has to play an unnatural game and slog in the last 2 overs of the game.
And, of course, there's the option of sending in Kapil and then More or
Srinath when a pure slog is needed.
	BTW, the above team is if you want to go with 5 specialist bowlers.
I doubt they'll do that, so maybe an extra bat will make the team. But bat
Raman or Amre lower down the order , this order is fine. If you lose early
wickets, then of course things change. And then you have 4 specialist
bowlers, and Shastri,Jadeja and Tendulkar for the 5th, and to help out if
someone has trouble on the day. That at least gives Azhar some options,
doesnt leave him  absolutely having to have Tendulkar bowl 10 great overs.
I mean , Sachin is a phenom , but he's human . He _is_ a bat, a part time
bowler at best. He's come thru for you as a bowler often , but one
shouldn't _expect_ him to bowl 10 overs for 30 runs every time out - it's
asking a bit too much. 
	Anyway, that's the OD team. Plus points in that you've succeded in
playing one of your better bats and have him play a natural game, used one
of the better fielders your side has ( Azhar at cover, Jadeja at cover
point - no boundaries on the off side :-), ensured options in case of a
collapse ( Shastri and Amre , if neccessary, backed by Prabhakar ahead of
Kapil) , and ensured that the captain has options on the field. Say , for
example, that Srinath has a terrible day and is hit all over his first 5
overs. Well, take him off and bowl Jadeja and Shastri and Tendulkar a total
of 15 overs between them , a feat they should be able to manage reasonably
well. This way, IMHO, our OD team might not do half badly ! :-) 

		Sadiq [ he keeps going and going and going... ] Yusuf

>Bharat