Asia Cup 2010 in Sri Lanka

India have now announced their squad and Sachin Tendulkar has been rested. That is a huge disappointment for all Indian fans who were keen to see him back after India's abysmal performance in WT20 and in Zimbabwe. Yuvraj Singh has been dropped and Sehwag makes a welcome come back into the side.

India need a boost in their pace stocks. I think Sreesanth is one of the more penetrative fast men in the country and he needs to be given a shot, no matter how insolent the man is. I also think R Jadeja is a waste in the side, he's useless, can't bowl and can't bat. Same goes with Yusuf, and good on the selectors for not picking him. If they want a serious spinner in the side then Murali Kartik should play, he's older but he's one of the best left arm spinners in the world - no doubt about it. Mishra bowls too slow I feel, Chawla can't bowl a leggie and Ojha is a bit one dimensional for mine. Albeit they are all very decent and the selectors must stick with one and continue play him and not chopping and changing.

I'd like to see Praveen Kumar take responsibility with that new ball and be as consistent as he can be, India need him to perform alongside Zaheer !!

I think India is unnecessarily giving ODI caps to so many players and a lot of them don't really deserve it. India's bowling continues to look very thin but yes, overall they have a decent line up.

Regarding Sreesanth, well I think he along with Ishant and Munaf should have been regulars in the side by now. unfortunately for India they have all gone down and then never looked like going up again!

I thought Zuhair will be very excited about his favorite Shoaib Akhtar coming back to international cricket. Surprisingly he isn't! 


Edited by sam_ahmed - 08 June 2010 at 7:47pm

Right Milky, India have lost their 2nd Rank in ODI's to RSA and it really has been quite stupid to send such a young side to ZIM, it is showing disrespect to the game.

Jadeja is absolutely unnecessary in the team, he actually went for 6 sixes in 6 balls in WT20 against AUS, last 3 balls of one over and then first 3 balls of his next over! India is wasting time by playing Nehra and Praveen Kumar... they will be much better off by playing Ishant, Sreesanth and perhaps even Munaf.

Wonder if he'll be hitting the 150kph mark, I'm assuming he wants to play til next year's World Cup and quit?

Ideally Aamer, Gul, Asif and Akhtar will be the four fast bowlers Pakistan would want to select for WC 2011, I doubt if Akhtar will play in tests Zuhair, his fitness is a major concern and it's unlikely that he'll last 5 days. I think Afridi has also said that Akhtar has a role to play in the ODI's. Perhaps they want him for WC2011.

can't see him touching 150K Milky, he is not as young anymore but his experience will be very very important esp on tour of England and WC2011 should he get selected.

He's aggressive, when he bowls 145kph you can 'feel' it more than when say Peter Siddle bowls 145kph... he's an enforcer. If he plays in tests he'll certainly not be bowling long spells, I don't know if he can justify his position if he only bowls 15 overs an innings. Aamer on the other hand is really quick, left handed and can bowl for long spells. I think Pakistan will be looking for a few more Aamer's for sure

That's true. I think he will bowl 4 overs spells. Aamer and Asif can both do the job for longer spells and both of them are attacking bowlers too. so that should not be much of a problem to really get long spells from Shoaib.

Razzaq should play because of his Batting. Pakistan need Akhtar, Aamer and Asif to play on England wickets. Ajmal could play ahead of Kaneria to give the variation. Afridi can bowl his leggies.

Butt
Farhat
Younus
Umar
Malik / Razzaq / fawad
Afridi
Akmal
Aamer
Akhtar
Ajmal
Asif

That would be my team.

Afridi is the real problem - his must inclusion has taken the balance out of the team. they cant drop Kaneria because is the premier spinner - Ajmal wont play because as Milky said, he is not effective in tests. You cant drop any of Akhatar, Asif, Aamer or Kaneria. Afridi is the skipper so he will play. Akmal is the only keeper. Butt, Umar and UYounus are certain starters.

Butt
Yasir Hameed (Please no more of Farhat)
Younus
Umar Akmal
Malik or Umar Amin
Kamran
Afridi
Aamer
Akhtar
Asif
Kaneria

Now that is a weak batting line - because Afridi and Akmal both will be batting one position too high.

Brining Razzaq in the mix will be tough because for that to happen you will have to drop a specialst bowler - which cant be Kaneria. Bringing Razzaq for Akhtar will provide enough support to batting though and might well happen.

I just very sincerely hope Afridi gets 4 ducks in the first 2 matches and drops himself from the England series, that will give us the right balance.

That is exactly the problem - even if Yousuf gets back then we can probably afford having such a side. But having Malik or anybody else coming at 5 just does not look good. i think Razzaq will play - because it is a weak batting line otherwise.

actually Afridi has a much better record than Malik and Razzaq. He has 5 100s and 8 50s in his 26 matches. An average of 37.40 isn't that bad. He bowled well. He won more test matches for Pakistan that Malik and razzaq. If he can play according to his record then he can only do good to that team. For me he is as good as Kaneria, if not better. If Kaneria can get 5 wickets with his 40+ overs then Afridi can do this too.
Malik was never test material. He was need when he could bowl his doosras. Now he can be replaced by a prober Batsman.
Farhat should be also dropped. I never liked him, but he didn't do his job so badly on last tour. Fawad should be given a chance.


Edited by kahmad - 11 June 2010 at 1:01pm

My Lineup would be:

Edited by mystery - 11 June 2010 at 2:15pm

Originally posted by zuhair_abbasi Tendulkar is rested on request and I guess he deserves it and he can play on his terms knowing that he is not getting any younger. India have a decent side for Asia cup but that's about it - they will find it hard to be in the finals.

But which is the team that can trouble India ?

Originally posted by MalhotraRaj84 Originally posted by zuhair_abbasi Tendulkar is rested on request and I guess he deserves it and he can play on his terms knowing that he is not getting any younger. India have a decent side for Asia cup but that's about it - they will find it hard to be in the finals. But which is the team that can trouble India ?

Any of the other three teams can trouble India Raj. I agree on past form (last 18 - 24 months) India are clear favorites but as of now they are not high on confidence.