From: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)
Subject: Re: Ravi Shastri (Indian team for 1st test)
Reply-To: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 15:30:57 GMT

sbasu@spock (BASU) writes:
>In article <C19Iyn.3B0@cs.uiuc.edu> bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)  

>> In the absence of Shastri you have to eiter weaken the batting 
>> and go with 5 bowlers and 5 bats plus More (why not Yadav???),
>> and use Prabhakar to open the batting!!  Thats just great -- we
>> ask the most consistent bowler overthe last two series to
>> opne both the batting and bowling -- a good way to burn him out...

>How does he then get his highest Test AND one day scores when he opens the  
>batting - 
>100 vs Pakistan '87(Imran & Akram) (odi)
>40 vs NZ '90(Hadlee & Morrison) (test)
>64 vs SA '92(Donald & Pringle) (test )

First of all, I never said anything about ODI's -- Shastri would most
assuredly NOT open for the ODI team.  For ODIs, either Prabhakar or
Raman can partner Sidhu -- I don;t care.  Shastri would fight for his
place in the ODI teamm as a 5th bowler plus slogger and could be
dropped fairly easily -- my arguyments were primarily for Tests.

I am by no means suggesting that Prabhakar will fail as an opener --
after all stranger things have happened (Asif Iqbal going from a
bonafide tail-ender to a world class bat).  But, this is a short term
solution -- 

You answer the question -- who do we need more, Prabhakar the pace
bowler who has been the only consistent bright spot in the last year
or Prabhakar the opener??  My point is that you cannot have him both
open the inning and have him be one of the two main bowlers -- this
may work for a while, but I doubt it.  Imagine having him toil for 30+
overs in Madras under the hot sun and humidity, and then go open the
innings 20 minutes later .  Even if he does manage it it will take a
toll, and I for one don't think the Indian team can sacrifice his
bowling (as in "lets not bring him on for the tail as he needs to be
rested as he has to open", or "lets bowl someone else") to let him
open.  And that WILL happen over the long run...

Note, this is NOT a problem in ODIs as you are limited to 10 overs
only so he is far less tired and there is typically a 45 minute gap to
rest up.

>In case you haven't noticed, he is generally a flop anywhere else in the  
>batting lineup.

Actually, I hadn't noticed.  I thought he was doing pretty well lower down
the order in Australia at least -- in fact at one stage didn;t he have
one of the highest batting average with Tendulkar and More.

>> Sidhu,Raman/Prabhakar,Azhar,Tendulkar,Amre,Kambli,Kapil there
>> is only ONE grafter in the first 7 bats -- Amre -- in fact only
>> one person capable of putting his head down and building an innings
>> in the entire side.  Everyone else is a strokeplayer -- dazzling
>> when he comes off, but as Shamim said "a surefire recipe for disaster
>> in the Tests".

>Pick Manjrekar, who deserves to walk into any Indian TEST side, & that  
>problem is solved. Besides, Manjrekar has more gears than Shastri - not  
>just 1st & top.

Manjrekar would be very nice IF he comes it at number 3 -- but he has
flopped at that positions for the last 9 Tests.  I for one believe he
will be back though, but it would be a BIG mistake to rush him back...
maybe by the 3rd Test or later...

>Prabhakar has shown himself to do a better job of opening then Shastri.

But for Tests, Prabhakar has done it very few times, and I suspect
Shastri's average over Australia and SA is not that bad --- look, as I
said, I do not like Shastri, but I try not to let my bias versus him
blind me to his obvious value.

Do not mix up the ODI's with the Tests.  Shastri is a HORRIBLE ODI
opener.

To me its simple -- do you want Shastri or Raju as your 5th bowler? 
THIS IS NOT A CHOICE BETWEEN Prabhakar and Shastri, as Prabhakar makes
it in the team anyway.  
 
If Raju was a proven match-winner (and he may prove me wrong -- I
hope he does), I would say to go with Raju.  But I think Shastri does
not lose that much as a bowler especially if we have another spinner
in the side (though raju would be much better on a turning track I
agree), and he is *much* better as a bat.  Also, this lets Prabhakar
bat at a lower position saving him as a bowler and has added benifit
in both the short and long run...

Not, that if you think Raju deserves to be in along with Kapil,
Prabhakar, Srinath, and  Kaumble then I won;'t argue with you.  But
you are comparing the WRONG players IMO when you say its between
Prabhakar and Shastri.  Now if Chauhan is a success as a bowler and a
good bat as well, then he may well supplant Shastri in the team and
Prabhakar will open.  While this will still be less than ideal for
Prabhakar, at leat with 5 front line bowlers, the call on Prabhakar to
be a strike bowler will be less....

Also, I think that again if you go in with 4 seamers, then Shastri
must make it purely as a bat (and he may not) as he should not be the
only spinner on the team -- this cost us dearly in Australia wheh I
wager if raju had played instead of Bannerjee we might well have
won... 

Bharat
--
R. Bharat Rao                         E-mail: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
AI Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801   (217)-333-5978 (O), 337-6498(H)
Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
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