Indian domestic cricket/ players

[prasen9]

Agreed. And, I will allow any players from these lower teams to play in another state in Div 1. Unfortunate for the state, but needed to find out how good the player is against top performers. I want something like the Sheffield Shield in India but there is too much politics for that to happen.

[PKBasu]

Jalaj Saxena has been treated even worse than Manoj Tiwary by the selectors. Consistently the best allrounder in first class cricket (Ranji trophy) for the past 5 years or so, but he has rarely played even for India A. Today, opening for Kerala on a tough pitch with Shami in full flow, Jalaj (71*) single-handedly took Kerala to a first innings lead (148/5 in response to 147) at lunch on Day 2. Sanju Sansom made a duck. (Shami is not allowed by the India selectors to bowl more than 15 overs in an innings, so it is Advantage Kerala post-lunch, as Shami's done with his 15 overs, which yielded 3 wickets).

[Prem]

Agree with PKB. What else a player needs to do to get into the A team consistently?

[prasen9]

I agree with his performance. I think the A-team is not only populated by performance only. It should have what we call an explore-exploit functionality. Jalaj is 31. If there is no young all-rounder who is worth his salt, then by all means Jalaj should be used. Also, ideally, we do not really need a spin-bowling all-rounder. We have Ashwin and Jadeja for tests and even someone like Jayant Yadav, who performed very well was discarded. We should use the A-team all-rounder spot to hone a pace-bowling allrounder. The issues we have had with Hardik injured shows us what we need. This TN guy Vijay Shankar or something like that should have been groomed. Or else, make whoever is the best batsman among the pace-bowlers to keep practising their batting. Jalaj's batting is not good enough to merit a place just on the basis of his batting. He averages under 40 in the domestics.

[Sin Hombre]

The A team is in NZ and Vijay Shankar is making a strong case for himself as lower middle order bat / 5-6th bowling option in the 50-over format.

[prasen9]

Well, you forgot. The best List A batsman in the series from the Indian side was your favorite Manish Pandey averaging 155 with a SR of 101. And your other favorite Iyer played well too averaging 45 at 90ish SR. The guy you don't like as much Gill struggled a bit showing that he is perhaps not as ready for primetime as the other two.

K. Gowtham bowled well in the ODIs and the tests. An off-spinning allrounder, sort of.

[Sin Hombre]

Hah.

I am against Pandey's inclusion in the T20Is for sure. He is unable to get going from ball 1 which is a must for a middle order bat in that format.

In ODIs, he has the ability as he showed against Australia a long time ago. He just hasn't shown it since with a highest score of 50* in his last 18 matches.


Shreyas Iyer deserves a chance in ODIs. I think he is a bit of a hack though but I also think the same about Mayank Agarwal who also deserves his opportunity. Maybe you are mixing Iyer and Nair; do not rate the latter.

As for Gill, honestly it wasn't terrible for a kid playing in an unnatural position for him. I want him fast tracked into the middle order, not as an opener.

[prasen9]

Gill scored a double-century. He should be fast-tracked into the national team assuming those who watch him find no significant flaw in his technique/temperament.

[PKBasu]

I hope Gill is drafted in for the final two tests, replacing Vijay. He shouldn’t necessarily open, but that can remain an option. Hardik Pandya took 5/81 and 2/4 (off 6 overs!) and made 73 against Mumbai. He too is clearly ready to return to the test side, and give it the balance it lacks.

[Sin Hombre]

Gill's first-class tally now stands at 990 runs in eight matches and 14 innings, with three hundreds and six fifties. Gill fell 10 short of completing 1000 first-class runs in under nine matches, a feat achieved by no other Indian. Overall, Gill has at least one half-century in each of his eight outings in first-class cricket.

990 runs at an average of 82 and s/r of 77 in his FC career so far. He needs to be fast tracked.

[prasen9]

He is already in the A-team. I agree he should be fast tracked. As the #6?

[Sin Hombre]

In tests, could also be as the backup opener.

In ODIs, he needs to be in the middle order asap.

[prasen9]

I think they do not want to make changes before the WC. Imho, that may be an error. When a player is obviously highly talented and ready, we should get him in.

[Atithee]

This is another guy to keep an eye on. I read an article about how his dad has devoted his life to make him better. I’ve followed him since then and he usually comes through. Abhimanyu Easwaran plays for Bengal and is an opener to boot. Any other scouting news on him? Opinions?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/conte ... 99491.html

Here is the aforementioned news item about his dad. There are several more articles on him from as long as two years ago:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/conte ... 29746.html

[prasen9]

I have not read the articles but he has been fantastic for Bengal in both FC and List-As. He has been playing for Bengal since he was 18 I believe. Now that Prithvi and Mayank have graduated to the first team. I would hope that he is given a chance in the A-teams maybe along with Rahul if we want to rehabilitate him (after he gets his form back in the domestics).