Blogs Third Cricket Test - India playing XI
January 10th, 2008 by marauderIts been an action packed week, and there has been no shortage of any high intensity news. Ponting and team have for once realised that Winning matches isn’t always a pleasure. I wonder what might have happened if India had managed to draw this test match. I am pretty sure, things would not have been so worse for Aussies if the match had ended in a draw. Anyways its done and over and lets focus on the third test that kick starts in less than a weeks time.
Its gonna be a typical Perth pitch, and Australlians would love to shut their critics with a thumping victory and Indian’s would love to beat the Aussies. This pitch is for sure gonna have good bounce and both the teams have well equipped bowlers to do the trick with the new ball. Ofcourse Zaheer is a big loss to India, but nothing could be done about that. I personall feel, team India should make some dynamic changes and try out how luck favours them. My playing XI for the third test is,
1) Virendher Sehwag
2) Wasim Jaffer (Good knock in the Canberra practise match)
3) Rahul Dravid (his favorite batting position)
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Saurav Ganguly
6) Laxman
7) Dhoni (in form or out of form, always a better player than Karthick)
8) Pathan
9) Kumble
10) RP Singh
11) Ishanth Sharma (no options open)
Cos’ its the Perth pitch, three fast bowlers are mandatory. RP & Pathan form the backbone, and i certainly have no clue but have no choice either but to pick up Ishanth. Well if Bhajji is given the go ahead to play on, then i think Bhajji can replace Ishanth. Ishanth maybe a fast bowler, but he showed absolutely no signs of picking a wicket. Anyways its a debatable decision. Ganguly ofcourse can bowl some seamers and assist the bowling balance.
Yuvaraj doesn’t finds a place in my XI, cos’ he’s terribly out of sorts and lets not risk it anymore gambling with him. The advantage of taking Sehwag is not just to play attacking cricket, but also to allow Rahul to bat at his premiere batting spot. This gives more balance to the team, and Irfan is no less a batsman. This looks the team that can probably challenge the Aussies. Ishanth Sharma is still not in my XI, but i may have no choice but to pick him 
What do you guys feel about my XI for the third test ? What changes do you think should be made ? Do we have a chance of winning ? Well i certainly feel, there’s absolutely no chance India can win, but still i will give India a 10% chance to win this match. Good luck 
January 10th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The team looks good. I would select 10 out of the 11 players. I do not think Sehwag should be in the team. Even with a club side (not even a first class side) he barely managed to make any runs. He is a complete waste. And just because Dravid should bat at no. 3 doesnt mean we get Sehwag in. So Instead of Sehwag I would play Bhajji. This will at least give the team 5 bowlers to bowl out the Aussies. Remember, a team cannot win without taking 20 wickets, and we have not managed to achieve that in the first 2 tests.
So here is my playing 11:
1) Wasim Jaffer (no other choice)
2) Rahul Dravid
3) Laxman
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Saurav Ganguly
6) Dhoni
7) Pathan
8) Kumble
9) Harbhajan
10) RP Singh
11) Ishanth Sharma
But I think the team you have chosen will be selected for the Perth test.
January 10th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Bhajji ? Will he feature in the third test ? As in i thgt he was banned from playing three tests, wasn’t he ?
Sehwag might click, you never know !! So i would still gamble taking him in place of Ishanth/Bhajji. Ishant to me, somehow fails to look dangerous. Even on a pitch like Perth, i dont think he’s got it in him to intimidate the Aussie batsmen. So i would rather drop Ishanth and pick Sehwag.
What say jatanr ? Is that fine with you ?
January 11th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Sorry marauder… I have lost ALL faith in Sehwag… earlier I also used to think that he will click.. but instead of clicking… he fails every time… one 50 in 10 innings is terrible… and I dont think he does even that…
Bhajji’s ban is suspended until the hearing takes place. So he is free to play.
Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets in 6 overs in the on going practice match. For lack of other pacers, I would stick to him for now. He will perform much better than VRV and Pankaj.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Sehwag just hit a 73 ball century against ACT Invitational. Is that going to be enough for him to be selected for the Perth test? Karthik is playing well too in this inning. As of now he is 90 n.o. Interesting stuff going on!
January 11th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
In any case, currently Yuvraj is the weakest link and would be dropped. Interesting what difference a month makes.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Sehwag responds back in style. Wow, its gonna be really intersting what’s gonnn happen to Sehwag now. Well, i do feel he ll make it to the playing XI. Sehwag will replace Yuvaraj, wat say guys ?
I believe Jaffer will be given one last chance again. Ishanth will play, then who drops out ? For god sake dont tell me, its enough if India goes with 6 batsman. Nowayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!
January 12th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Whether 6 batsmen or 7.. it wouldnt make much of a difference.. either the batting succeeds or fails and it doesnt matter if there are 6 batsmen or 7.
As for Sehwag, well it is good to see him make those runs, albeit against a club side. He was not able to make any runs again Ranji bowlers also last year (2007).
Yuvraj is sure to be dropped and Sehwag is sure to get a place in the 11. So in the playing 11 I gave above, I think Sehwag will open with Jaffer and Bhajji will likely sit out.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
@jatanr : in other words, my pick would be the playing XI for the Perth test, am i right ?
January 13th, 2008 at 1:17 am
yes you are correct… that is what the XI will be i think.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am
@jatanr : Indian XI might be the one i’d pickd. But do you think its good enough to beat the invincible Aussies ?
January 14th, 2008 at 11:05 am
@marauder: I know the question is directed towards jatanr but I hope you won’t mind me commenting on it as well!
Comparing the teams in the second test and the one you picked, I think that the one you picked is marginally better. I think because there is not much to choose between Bhajji and Pathan at this point. Both can bat, though Pathan is a better batsman. The pacy pitch of Perth will also help him. Bhajji might miss out on this test only because of the nature of the pitch and not his performance. Sehwag definitely is a better bet than Yuvraj simply because of his recent fine performance. So, I think that this team is a little better (of course the on-field performances will be a better judge of that).
As far as conditions go, they are far worse - from a spin friendly Sydney pitch to an all out ‘red hot’ WACA pitch at Perth, Indians will definitely find the going more difficult. Having said that, I do believe that this team is good enough to beat the Aussies. It was good enough to beat the Aussies in the last test as well. Who knows what would’ve happened had all the umpiring goof-ups not happened. So, India definitely has the capability to beat the Aussies. I just hope that it translates to on-field performances as well.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Another thing to note is Ganguly’s illness. He is down with fever and had to miss the team’s practice session. If he is not fit in time for the third test, it will be interesting to see who will be picked. Will Yuvraj be lucky to retain his place in the side, or will Karthick be picked in his place?
January 14th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
@marauder: To answer your question in one word… YES
Well, I personally think at 134 for 6, with Symonds out when the score was 190, and India going on to make over 500, India would have won the 2nd test. So the Aussies are not really ‘invincible’. Yes, they win more matches than other teams. That does not make them invincible. Remember the T20 World Cup semi final???
About the Perth test, yes they are the favourites to win there… but then if the ground would have been the Kotla instead, then India would have been the favourites even though Australia are the world champions. I think India can definitely beat them.. but there is a bigger chance that Australia will win.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:26 am
@shivraj : yeah, the conditions at Perth is just gonna be very challenging. it will be interesting to see how India approaches this game. lets keep our fingers crossed.
@jatanr : you are so opmistic, i appreciate that. but done make foregone conclusions, cos’ you should realise its the australlians you guys are confronted against.
assuming Symonds was given out when the score was 134/6, how can you be so sure that Aussies would have been bundled out less than 200 ? I believe Hogg&Lee played brilliant cricket and they still would have helped the Aussies put on a challenging score. What if Ponting was not given out wrongly when he was 54 ? Let’s not talk of if’s and but’s buddy. Cricket is a game of uncertainity, and no wonder the umpires got it wrong this time.
how the heck can you compare a T20 with a 5 day test match ? to me, this would go down as one of the worst ever comparisons anyone could have ever made
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Your belief that India can beat Australlia is reasonable. But your reasons as to why you think they can beat the Australlian’s arent simple acceptable !!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Yes.. Ponting was given out incorrectly on 54.. he was out when he was in the teens and was not given out … haha
I am not saying Aussies would have been bundled out for 200.. thats what you THINK i want to say.. but I didnt say that. Without Symonds to support Hogg and Lee, it would have been difficult for Aussies to reach 300.. and India made more than 500… so with a lead of 250, i do not think I would be called a stupid to predict an Indian win.
There are no ifs and buts in Cricket… I know that… I am just saying that your ‘invincible’ aussies could have easily been 1-1 tied right now if not for the umpiring decisions… I frankly do not find them invincible.. just because they are the best side in the world and are favourites to win the Perth test doesnt mean they are ‘invincible’… i am not sure if you know the meaning of ‘invincible'’… dictionary.com gives it as “incapable of being conquered, defeated, or subdued”. Which means they cannot be defeated… but India did beat them in the last series in Australia.
I did not compare T20 and Tests… I am well aware of the difference between the two formats of the cricket, thank you very much. I am just saying that India are quite capable of beating Australia, no matter what the format of the game… and they have proved more than once…
I still think Australia is favourite to win this test, but they are not ‘invincible’
I guess you can use this tone because your favourite team is the strongest and the favourite to win the Perth test. I hope that India does something good in the Perth test .. would love to see your reaction after that… maybe you will then say that it was ‘fluke’.. haha
January 21st, 2008 at 5:20 am
I rest my case….