The Cricket Society III

Yes, I see your point. The reason SRT is at 3 is because he needs time in the middle and he is the filling to the inexperienced sandwich around him - Rahane, Pujara, Kohli. He needs to be able to adapt his game at number 3 esp. since he is no longer going to play after a couple of seasons, imo, or might retire after Aussie series itself. So it allows the young guns to nurture around him.

I know Sehwag and Gambhir in India should open together, but tbh, Sehwag is out of form in test cricket and needs to be able to build his confidence facing the old ball so he can move up the order - and on that basis Rahane gets a chance at the top and I think with these NZ and Eng series it is very important to look ahead and not try and win series.. they need to be sustainable in their Test form and not just good at home and absolutely ***** away!

True - you could put Kohli at number 3 and Pujara at 5 or 6, but we need to remember Kohli hasn't fully nurtured as a Test player - yes he has a century but he needs to start down the order... whereas Pujara is an experienced player albeit played 1 test but judging by his form and the way he plays he would be best suited for number 3 for the time being.

Oh, I thought it was 3-0. Possible but unlikely. Beating SL in SL is very difficult, though we have one great and two good players of spin (Younus, Misbah, Shafiq). I fear for the others. It will be a hard series and I don't think there will be a drawn game except because of weather, so I'm going for 2-1 Pakistan. Our main problems will be getting Kumar out, considering his record against Ajmal and Rehman, and seeing how long Taufeeq, Hafeez and Azhar can survive.

Yes, I see your point. The reason SRT is at 3 is because he needs time in the middle and he is the filling to the inexperienced sandwich around him - Rahane, Pujara, Kohli. He needs to be able to adapt his game at number 3 esp. since he is no longer going to play after a couple of seasons, imo, or might retire after Aussie series itself. So it allows the young guns to nurture around him.

I know Sehwag and Gambhir in India should open together, but tbh, Sehwag is out of form in test cricket and needs to be able to build his confidence facing the old ball so he can move up the order - and on that basis Rahane gets a chance at the top and I think with these NZ and Eng series it is very important to look ahead and not try and win series.. they need to be sustainable in their Test form and not just good at home and absolutely ***** away!

True - you could put Kohli at number 3 and Pujara at 5 or 6, but we need to remember Kohli hasn't fully nurtured as a Test player - yes he has a century but he needs to start down the order... whereas Pujara is an experienced player albeit played 1 test but judging by his form and the way he plays he would be best suited for number 3 for the time being.

Well I don't think Dhawan hasa chance of being in our team tbh but Mukund did alright when he played for us. Pujara has played a few test matches for us but then got injured and hasn't had a chance since.

Yeah i agree, but the winter is gonna be busy so it's not too bad and i'm looking forward to SA vs England.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my Orange Monte Carlo

Rahane hasn't made his test debut yet. And yes, missing cricket so much. Feeling kinda nostalgic although it was only a year ago that India came here and disappointed us ;(

Um... what I think is that Kohli has filled his place in the Test Xl definitely. They should drop Sehwag to number 5, that's where he started off his test career and he needs to go back there!
Rahane should open against NZ. NZ aren't that great a team and Rahane with a FC average of 60 should handle them well esp. with the ball not swinging in India!
Pujara should take VVS's place though only on temporary terms because he is a good chaser as shown recently.


1. Rahane
2. Gambhir
3. SRT
4. Pujara
5. Sehwag
6. Kohli
7. MS Dhoni
8. Aaron
9. Yadav
10. Khan
11. Ashwin

We will beat England just like we thrashed them 5-0 in the ODIs in India last year and had there been a test series we would have mullered them too. Who's their second best spinner? Swann isn't enough especially with MS Dhoni "helicopter-shotting" against him the last time I saw Dhoni v Swann. India has a pack load of spinners and some delightful pacemen coming too. By the looks of it, India has a brighter future than Pakistan

NZ aren't that great a team and Rahane with a FC average of 60 should handle them well esp. with the ball not swinging in India!

Yeah, never been very impressed by Dhawan. Forgot Pujara's already debuted, oops.

Definately, got SL, then NZ then T20 WC, and England after that That's just India's schedule. Agreed, Eng vs SA will be an awesome contest. Hoping to see one of the games live



Agree with your squad, just would re-shuffle the line up, oh and add Rohit over Rahane. Gauti and Viru openers, Kohli at 3, then SRT then Rohit, Pujara and Dhoni.

Tbh, FC averages don't mean as much, when the players will no longer be facing FC bowlers.

Then after England we got Australia. Hopefully we can win all the series

Yeah the series will hopefully be a good one between England and SA. Also will be able to watch the India vs Sri Lanka series in the summer which should also be good

It would be great to beat England good and proper, but I don't think England will fold anywhere near as easy compared to India last summer *shudders at the memories*

Aren't Eng playing Aus in the next couple of weeks as well?

Not only do we have the tests, got the T20 WC

Yeah Aus are coming to England for 5 or 7 ODIs. We have been a dissapointment in T20I recently and hopefully we can rectify that.
I don't expect India to beat England 4-0 but we should at least win the series comfortably.

Cool. I know, we're 7th or something in the rankings

Definitely. I will take 2-1 or 3-1 :L Or even 2-0 or something. So long as we're clearly the better side

Yeah, but as the WC is in Sri Lanka we should have a fairly good chance of getting far in the tournament

Yeah same, we need to get the line up correct though and with our selectors there is a chance they will mess something up.

I know. Hopefully teams like England will be done in by the conditions :L

Either way, we need our T20 squad to be filled with our young guys, who are t20 specialists

Urgh, our selectors are the biggest fools ever.

Yeah, it should be full of youngsters and hopefully they can perform well and not dissapoint all the fans
Yeah I hate our selectors but hopefully they can pick the right team for once

Yeah, should be:

Gauti
Rahane/Sehwag
Kohli
Rohit
Raina
Dhoni
Jadeja
Ashwin
PK
Aaron/Umesh
Maybe Zak?

Yeah, that team looks good, Zaheer will probably play so Aaron will probably miss out. It's a tough one between Rahane and Sehwag, not sure who I would pick actually, Iwould probably still go with Sehwag because in SL he can be very dangerous. The middle order looks very strong too

Yup, providing Zak is fit (considering he's constantly getting injured or isn't fully fit).

Viru and Gauti opening is also a classic opening pair. They conpliment each other well, so yeah, maybe Rahane will miss out?

Yeah, Kohli can't really play lower than 3 'cos he just doesn't have the ability to accelerate, and needs time to play himself in. Then you have Rohit to help and keep the score ticking. Then with Raina and Dhoni to do the 'slog' hitting in the last 5-7 overs. Jadeja and Ashwin give a good hand too. Yeah, not too bad at all

Yeah, but I think if Zaheer isn't feeling 100% we shouldn't risk him because of the England and Australia series coming up after the WC. We have other bowlers to come in and hopefully perform.
I think Rahane will have to miss out, because I can't see him slotting in anywhere in the middle order at all. I think Kohli will play the best at 3, because he can adapt to all situations. If Sehwag and Gauti get off to a great start he can come in and maybe play himslef in for a few overs and then launch. They key will be how the openers perform though.

Agreed, Zak should get match fit for the tests instead.
Yadav and Aaron looking good.

If Gauti and Viru were to bat out say, 12-13 overs, I wouldn't really both bringing in Virat, and instead, bring in Raina/Dhoni to try and completely accelerate. If it were something like 7-8 overs in, then yeah, Kohli will have enough time. If you see him in the IPL, all his big scores came when he played 'second-fiddle' to Gayle.

HAHAHAHA YOU'RE SOOO HILARIOUS!!!...



...uh no . Just 'cos Pak beat Eng in UAE doesn't make it a good team because 1). Eng are always **** against spin 2). they played you before the ODI series by which time they were spanking your ****.
We will beat England just like we thrashed them 5-0 in the ODIs in India last year and had there been a test series we would have mullered them too. Who's their second best spinner? Swann isn't enough especially with MS Dhoni "helicopter-shotting" against him the last time I saw Dhoni v Swann. India has a pack load of spinners and some delightful pacemen coming too. By the looks of it, India has a brighter future than Pakistan