Australia in India

First topic message reminder :

Srinivasan stays....puts his own men is the big event that will have it's impact on Indian and global cricket.
meanwhile Indian squad for the ODIs vs. Aus is announced.

the only noteworthy change is the return of Yuvraj....who will most likely play instead of Dinesh Kaarthik....who should have no complains at being dropped.
he blew so many chances of establishing himself as an India regular......his international career is over  from what I can see.
Yadav is not in the squad...I hope he has not picked an injury....and it's a case of preserving him for test matches.....whihc would be a wise move.
Shami ahmed should be the first choice 3rd seamer in that case


Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat

Shanky, I didn't say anything about test cricket there did I? The point is that the likes of KP, Sehwag and Gayle can, and have won matches with their very attack style of batting. Every now and then, they can play one shot too many. Such players have a bit of room when using the 'That's my natural game' argument, not an international liability for 6 years who has been carried around by the team, hoping for some consistency and substance.
You say Rahane was exposed by Finn on flat tracks. Do you remember Rohit's 13 run series in Sri Lanka? I can't remember any Indian specialist batsman in such consistent awfulness in the last 10 years, perhaps Kaif in 2006......
Rahane, before being dropped from the ODI side, scored 47 just 2 games ago. For Rohit, that would have been enough for the next 15 failures and for his supporters to gush over the kind of 'Special Tallent' he is.......
Rahane was picked as replacement opener for Sehwag and Gambhir in England, and he has been backup otherwise. The only time he was picked as a first choice player, all that got was 4 games, in one which he scored the above mentioned 47. Rohit has been first choice mostly throughout his career despite the long list of failures and enjoyed decent runs in the team until he really played himself out of it.
and oh yes, Christopher Gayle has 2 triple hundreds in test cricket. Perhaps his game is power oriented. But would take that any day over a stylish and goodlooking 25!.

Rohit would be no-where if he did not have the undue / unreasonable  backing of selectors.
 
Tiwari scored hundred in ODI andas dumped.....Nor did Rahane get the run.
 
Now Rohit has improved since the Chmapions Trophy and he has been lucky to be singled for such a long run of chances.........and in the end it's good for India is he can deliver.
 
But the likes of Tiwari, Rahane and Nayar would believe they have been unfairly treated compared to Rohit

KP_fan wrote:Rohit would be no-where if he did not have the undue / unreasonable  backing of selectors.

But the likes of Tiwari, Rahane and Nayar would believe they have been unfairly treated compared to Rohit

Agree here mate, Rohit is selected in the one day team all the time in spite of crappy performance.


Series averages
Series Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s Start Date Winner
India in Ireland ODI Match, 2007
1 - - - - - - - - - - - - 23 Jun 2007 India
Future Cup (India, South Africa in Ireland), 2007
1 1 0 8 8 8.00 9 88.88 0 0 0 0 0 26 Jun 2007 India
Australia in India ODI Series, 2007/08
1 1 0 1 1 1.00 4 25.00 0 0 0 0 0 5 Oct 2007 Australia
Pakistan in India ODI Series, 2007/08
1 1 0 52 52 52.00 61 85.24 0 1 0 3 1 18 Nov 2007 India
Commonwealth Bank Series (Australia, India, Sri Lanka in Australia), 2007/08
10 10 3 235 70* 33.57 311 75.56 0 2 1 20 1 3 Feb 2008 India
Kitply Cup (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan in Bangladesh), 2008
3 3 0 59 26 19.66 97 60.82 0 0 0 6 1 10 Jun 2008 Pakistan
Asia Cup (Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates in Pakistan), 2008
6 6 2 116 58 29.00 160 72.50 0 1 0 8 0 25 Jun 2008 Sri Lanka
India in Sri Lanka ODI Series, 2008
5 5 0 72 32 14.40 93 77.41 0 0 1 4 1 18 Aug 2008 India
England in India ODI Series, 2008/09
4 4 2 50 28 25.00 72 69.44 0 0 0 5 0 14 Nov 2008 India
India in Sri Lanka ODI Series, 2008/09
3 3 2 44 25* 44.00 58 75.86 0 0 0 4 0 28 Jan 2009 India
India in New Zealand ODI Series, 2008/09
2 1 1 43 43* - 74 58.10 0 0 0 1 1 11 Mar 2009 India
India in West Indies ODI Series, 2009
4 3 0 15 11 5.00 23 65.21 0 0 1 0 0 26 Jun 2009 India
South Africa in India ODI Series, 2009/10
1 1 0 48 48 48.00 61 78.68 0 0 0 3 0 27 Feb 2010 India
Zimbabwe Triangular Series (India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe), 2010
4 4 1 260 114 86.66 284 91.54 2 0 0 13 6 28 May 2010 Sri Lanka
Asia Cup (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka), 2010
4 4 0 132 69 33.00 150 88.00 0 1 1 12 0 16 Jun 2010 India
Sri Lanka Triangular Series, 2010
4 4 0 20 11 5.00 43 46.51 0 0 1 2 0 10 Aug 2010 Sri Lanka
New Zealand in India ODI Series, 2010/11
2 1 0 44 44 44.00 48 91.66 0 0 0 4 1 7 Dec 2010 India
India in South Africa ODI Series, 2010/11
5 5 0 49 23 9.80 100 49.00 0 0 0 5 0 12 Jan 2011 South Africa
India in West Indies ODI Series, 2011
5 5 3 257 86* 128.50 299 85.95 0 3 0 11 5 6 Jun 2011 India
NatWest Series [India in England], 2011
1 1 1 0 0* - 1 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 3 Sep 2011 England
West Indies in India ODI Series, 2011/12
5 5 1 305 95 76.25 339 89.97 0 3 0 24 4 29 Nov 2011 India
Commonwealth Bank Series (Australia, India, Sri Lanka in Australia), 2011/12
5 5 0 79 33 15.80 111 71.17 0 0 1 6 1 5 Feb 2012 Australia
Asia Cup (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka in Bangladesh), 2011/12
3 2 0 72 68 36.00 89 80.89 0 1 0 5 1 13 Mar 2012 Pakistan
India in Sri Lanka ODI Series, 2012
5 5 0 13 5 2.60 37 35.13 0 0 2 1 0 21 Jul 2012 India
Pakistan in India ODI Series, 2012/13
1 1 0 4 4 4.00 14 28.57 0 0 0 0 0 30 Dec 2012 Pakistan
England in India ODI Series, 2012/13
2 2 0 87 83 43.50 102 85.29 0 1 0 12 1 23 Jan 2013 India
ICC Champions Trophy (in England), 2013
5 5 0 177 65 35.40 233 75.96 0 2 0 22 1 6 Jun 2013 India
West Indies Tri-Nation Series (India, Sri Lanka, West Indies), 2013
5 5 1 217 60 54.25 352 61.64 0 2 0 16 3 30 Jun 2013 India
India in Zimbabwe ODI Series, 2013
4 4 1 99 64* 33.00 158 62.65 0 1 0 9 1 24 Jul 2013 India
Australia in India ODI Series, 2013/14
2 2 1 183 141* 183.00 170 107.64 1 0 0 23 4 13 Oct 2013 -

If we look at the records, his average has gone above 50 in only four or five series of all he has played till now. And if we will be more specific, mostly against WI. So this is not a performa for trusting an one day batsman. But again, if we look at his temperament way of batting, it suits like a first class game. Selectors, instead of testing him in test matches all the time put him in odis.
Regarding Rahane, whenever I see him batting I feel like new Dravid is batting on the field. His approach is excellent. Indian bench strength in batting is quite strong, So I feel selectors should pick a XI with all these new talent, and each one of them should get a chance in order to prove themselves, not like only one is getting 100 odd matches and the other with only 20 and then we are comparing both.

ShankyCricket wrote:On which planet did Rahane have a good start to his ODI career?
Btw, I like the lad too but I can't really understand how he's automatically being portrayed as having a better temperament than Rohit just because he has got fewer chances (his shot in the Delhi Test was more stupid than anything I've ever seen Rohit do on a cricket field). Yes, he hasn't played 104 ODIs but the ones he has played have all been at the same position unlike Rohit, who batted at 6 one day, 4 the other, then at 7 before finally settling down as an opener. Also, I'd argue Rohit was probably picked a little too early and in the wrong format. Rahane too perhaps got his chances in the wrong format first but at least he had a wealth of experience at first class level, A tours, Emerging tours, etc. before being asked to make the step up at int'l level as opposed to Rohit, who was picked early as we were looking for fresh blood after the dismal 2007 WC campaign and Rohit was thought of as an extraordinary talent. As far as him having a better technique than Rohit is concerned, his technique was ruthlessly exposed by Steven Finn on FLAT wickets, where he kept playing across straight deliveries. Rohit was given a go instead on a SEAMING wicket at Mohali and scored 83 in his first innings as a full time ODI opener and hasn't looked back since. Yet people cry over why Rohit is ahead of Rahane in the pecking order? Rahane is already an automatic pick for the WC in the eyes of some without having done ANYTHING at int'l level as yet, whereas the guy who replaced him and has produced consistent performances ever since should be below him in the pecking order?

I'm not denying that Rohit has underperformed in the past. But that doesn't automatically make the untested players better. Those who follow the domestic scene a lot closer than we do, will tell you that Manish Pandey has a far greater penchant for throwing away his wicket than Rohit but because we haven't seen him do that for India in international cricket, we automatically assume he must be better. This is what annoys me. You haven't even seen Juneja bat by your own admittance (your opinion is based on what you've "heard" of him) and you think he should be ahead of Rohit in the pecking order. Btw, I'm not opposed to picking him. But please stop assuming that untried players will definitely have a better temperament than Rohit. They may or may not. But you seemed rather comprehensive in your judgement that players, whom we haven't even seen a lot of, are definitely better than Rohit.

I think Rohit's temperament and the way he bats, is like a test batsman. Again If you back him, I must say that equal chances should be given to all. Manoj Tiwary has last played a ODI against WI and he scored a century there and since then he is out, but Rohit is consistently getting matches.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/story/597140.html

And while we are at it, have a look at this as well.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013-14/content/story/680347.html

The 3rd ODI about o start. George Bailey has won the toss and he has decided it is better to chase. Dhoni to said that he would have done the same. Both sides are unchanged, meaning that Ishant Sharma and R Vinay Kumar get yet another opportunity.

And Dhawan goes early, having hit 2 boundaries of Clint McKay's first over, Dhawan edges the last bell to Haddin and he walked. India 14-1.

Watson gets Rohit in his first over. Rohit's attempted pull shot resulted in a top-edge that was taken by Finch at slip. Only 11 from Rohit today. Raina in at 4. India 55-2 after 9.

India 68-2 after 12 overs. Raina getting a few short ones from Mitch J, he has managed just about OK so far, but not a very pretty sight really.

Raina gone...rubbish innings.

Kohli showing how it should be done.

Still reckon 300 +..,

Maybe not ! Yuvraj gone first ball !

Has the ever been a more overrated player than Yuvraj Singh?

Hopeless against pace and bounce. Can't play quality spin

If he was born out Asia, his career would've been over years ago.

Gerry SA wrote:Has the ever been a more overrated player than Yuvraj Singh?

Hopeless against pace and bounce. Can't play quality spin

If he was born out Asia, his career would've been over years ago.

Is he really overrated though Gerry ? He is a good - sometimes spectacular - basher in limited over games and that is about it. I think most rational fans would agree with that assessment. Not sure he has many people suggesting he is anything more.

alfie wrote:

Gerry SA wrote:Has the ever been a more overrated player than Yuvraj Singh?

Hopeless against pace and bounce. Can't play quality spin

If he was born out Asia, his career would've been over years ago.

Is he really overrated though Gerry ?  He is a good - sometimes spectacular - basher in limited over games and that is about it.  I think most rational fans would agree with that assessment.  Not sure he has many people suggesting he is anything more.

Apart from a hundred in Australia, a hundred in the carribbean and one in Zimbabwe.

Yuvraj slogs all his runs is Asia, on flat dead pitches.

He's consistently hyped up.

Anyone can lay waste to bowlers on some of these subcontinental bowlers graveyards.

Yuvraj is a quality ODI player who's technical limitations prevent him being a good player in tests. Yuvraj has scored runs and won many ODI games for India both in Asia and outside. The 2002 Natwest Trophy, the World T-20 in 2007 in South Africa and many other games. And he's the best parttime bowler for India, and he has won a few games with his bowling as well.
But most people in India do realize his limitations, he's not as good as some of the other Indian batsmen against spin, and the moving and bouncing ball has created more troubles for him in comparison to some others in the team.

Has Bailey missed a trick by not giving Johnson one more over? He has been on fire, and India are on the mat, if one of Kohli and Dhoni are gone, then Australia are thrugh to Jadeja and the lower order.

Alfie, what do you reckon would be Mitchell Johnson's chances to start that first Ashes test? Pattinson won't be available for the first test any way. And also George Bailey?

Glenn Maxwell gets the massive wicket of Virat Kohli. Kohli goes for 68, Australia back in control as India are down to 150-5 after 30 overs. Jadeja walks in at least 10 overs earlier than it would have suited him.

But Bailey is continuing with Bailey and hasn't called Johnson back.

And yes, Johnson's back on and Dhoni gets a single first ball.

All it took Johnson was 2 balls to get Jadeja. India looking like they won't bat out their overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin joins his captain. Ashwin has been struggling a bit with his primary job in this series so far, time he makes up for some of that with some solid support with the bat.
Good start from him, has played a fine shot to yet another short one from Johnson to get going.
Perhaps India should bat him at 4 in place of Raina!.

Gerry SA wrote:Has the ever been a more overrated player than Yuvraj Singh?

Hopeless against pace and bounce. Can't play quality spin

If he was born out Asia, his career would've been over years ago.

Spare a thought for Suresh Raina, Gerry.

msp83 wrote:Alfie, what do you reckon would be Mitchell Johnson's chances to start that first Ashes test? Pattinson won't be available for the first test any way. And also George Bailey?

Sorry , msp ...have been away for a while (can only watch so much carnage on these Indian roads - me being a bowler   though it seems this time the bowlers have actually taken some wickets . Still not betting against 300 )

I expect Johnson to start in Brisbane , along with Harris and Siddle. Starc is out of action , and the Aussies do like a left armer... Taking a few wickets in these ODIs won't hurt his chances either.
Not really too many alternatives - Pattinson won't be seen before Perth , and possibly not at all. Have even heard people talking about Hilfenhaus as a chance , though I can't see it myself. Could be a new one will put his hand up , but judging by selections in these ODIs they are liely to look for experience early on.

I would pick Bailey at five. I know his Shield record isn't fantastic , but he has shown an ability to cope with pressure in ODIs , and I think he is well worth a chance. Can hardly do worse than Khawaja Warner or Hughes...

Another hundred from Dhoni

Damn good player to have in your middle order in ODIs...

Going to run out of partners though.

Bad drop by Bailey ! Might cost a few in the last two overs...

303 as predicted ! Dhoni 139 slaughtered them...

That flick over mid on for six in the last over   "helicopter shot" they call it...I think it is reason to start putting restrictions on what they are making these bats out of  

Be surprised if India lose from here. Pitch is good , but unless Finch or Watson goes nuts...

India finish with 303-9. An absolutely brilliant effort from the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. MSD remained not out on 139 of 121 balls to power his side pass 303 and he marshalled the lower order superbly to recover the innings from 154-6 when they lookd out of it. Good support from Ravichandran Ashwin, and the bowlers have a decent score to bowl at.
Superb effort from the captain, will the bowlers be able to back it up? There is no real movement available on this track, and none of the Indian bowlers can bowls at 140 KMPH, forget the 150+ stuff from Mitchell Johnson.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is most certainly among the greatest ODI batsmen ever.

alfie wrote:303 as predicted !  Dhoni 139 slaughtered them...

That flick over mid on for six in the last over     "helicopter shot" they call it...I think it is reason to start putting restrictions on what they are making these bats out of  

Be surprised if India lose from here.  Pitch is good , but unless Finch or Watson goes nuts...

Alfie, I won't be surprised if they chase 500!.

60/0 off nine...

You could be right !

90-3 after 20 overs. Finch, Hughes and Watson are back in the hut. Vinay Kumar, Ishant and Jadeja with the wickets. Watson and Finch falling to LBW calls that might have gone the batsman's way on another day.

The Watson call was particularly harsh on the batsman, the Indians can consider themselves pretty lucky with that one.

Its 92/3 in 21. They have slowed down their speed. Bailey is one of the most trusted for Aussies this series.

Australia 126-3. No Ashwin yet.

Here he's Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack for the first time, in the 29th over of the Australian innings.

And Bailey on the attack against Ashwin, Bailey has been making a career out of destroying the confidence of offspinners, he did that to James Tredwell last month, now he's taking Ashwin on, Sweeps the first ball though just for a single, and then launches the 5th over cow corner for 6. 9 of Ashwin's first over, not a good start for India's led spinner, in a series in which he has been struggling so far.

Australia 137-3 after 30 overs. They need another 167 in the next 20 overs. Bailey is nicely settled and Voges too has spend some time at the crease and Glenn Maxwell is yet to come. And the dew is settling in on the ground as well. Test time for the Indian bowlers........

Ashwin continues to be a problem for India rather than Australia. His 3 overs have gone for a wicketless 23 runs so far, his line and length have been all over the place.

Vinay Kumar replaces Ashwin, and right away starts making up for that rather economic first spell. He had 1-17 in his first 5, the new over goes for 7.

Ravindra Jadeja ends a fabulous spell under the circumstances, 1-31 in his 10 overs.

Hughe over for India in the context of the game. First, Vinay Kumar got George Bailey, the in-form batsman out LBW for 43. Then Glenn Maxwell, who could have effected some real damage in a critical situation like got run-out of the last ball of Vinay's over to reduce Australia to 174-5. Brad Haddin's in.

Dhoni trying to finish the 5th bowler's overs quickly, doesn't seem that Ashwin and the 3 overs from Yuvraj can do the job, so he turn to Kohli, but he has gone for 18 in that over. The 5th bowler has gone for 68 in their 8 overs combined so far. Australia need another 96 runs to win the game in the last 10 overs. It is pretty much gettable I'd say.

Haddin's looking good, Voges has moved along to 50, and there is Johnson and Faulkner to come. Another 300+ successful chase is still pretty much on the cards.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes over from Kohli, and gets Haddin first ball. Not the best ball he bowled in his career, a short one asking to be hit, Haddin obliged but he found the fielder in the deep. Bhuvneshwar would take that, India would take that. Australia 213-6.

Another good spell comes to an end from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 1-50 of his 10.

Australia aren't giving up as yet. They are 252-6 after 46, needing another 52 of 24 to win the game. By no means impossible in this day and age.

Australia need another 44 more of 18 balls. Voges on 72, Faulkner on 24. Can they do it?

Make that 34 of 16 as Ishant Sharma is smashed for 10 of the first 2 balls of his over.

Australia need 26 of 14 as Ishant Sharma is being smashed around by Faulkner. Australia the favorites now.