India A Series ....

[suresh]

Impressive comeback from the India A team after a truly disastrous first match where they totalled 55. It is going to be interesting to see how they perform in the "Tests". We need to have such tours regularly so that our second rung players get used to the different conditions that occur in various parts of the world.

[PKBasu]

It is quite absurd that Manish Pandey is not in the Indian team as a regular in the ODI and test squad. His match winning ODI century in Australia -- in a series where we had otherwise done poorly -- seems to have been easily forgotten.

[prasen9]

Strictly speaking, this is not an India-A tour but we are hosting Sri Lanka-A. Will a moderator kindly change the topic to "India-A series" or something like that?

In the two tests, Anmolpreet scored the most averaging 120 odd. He has a fabulous FC average of over 60 in 17 matches. Time to have him be the backup in some home tests?

Bharat did fine with the bat too.

Easwaran and Panchal did pretty well. Easwaran is 23 and averages a shade over 50 and Panchal is 29 and averages around 48. I am not a big fan of having a 29-year-old debut. All our famous batsmen debuted before they were 24. At this point, when we have a solid test team and a very solid bench of budding players, we should try the youngsters as backups. My choice for backup opener beyond Prithvi and Mayank would be Easwaran. Rahul should be told to play more A-team games and prove he has it to succeed abroad. I think he is in an A-team. I would not go back to Vijay, Dhawan, or Rahul right away.

Lad batted well too as did RD Chahar.

On the bowling side, Rajput, Chahar, Sarwate, Dube, Warrier, Yadav all bowled well. Porel did not

[prasen9]

In the unofficial ODIs against West Indies A, Washington and Axar have batted well. This is good for we need bowlers who can bowl and bat. Gill, Krunal, and Iyer have batted well too. Iyer has been very slow. Pandey has been fast (over 100 SR) but averaged a tad less.

I would like to take Iyer, Gill, Pant, and Pandey to the West Indies ODI series. Drop Dhoni. Rahul deserves more chances as an opener too.

[prasen9]

In the unofficial test series, Gill sparkled. As did Saha, Dube, and Anmolpreet. Vihari was pretty good. Panchal so so and Mayank barely acceptable. Easwaran not so well. I was very high on Easwaran. But, may be this is just 2-3 games.

Among the bowlers, Nadeem was stellar. He was very well supported by Gowtham. Warrier and Siraj bowled well. Markande was reasonable to good. Umesh Yadav and Avesh bowled crap.

[sameerph]

Gill certainly needs to be groomed now in the senior team. This is the right time with our middle order not so strong.

[prasen9]

Start with ODIs. And, yes, maybe even tests now.

[PKBasu]

He's already played a few ODIs. But yes, he needs to be nurtured.

[PKBasu]

Shubman Gill is opening the batting (as captain) in the 4-day match against South Africa A, and he’s made 66* against an attack led by Ngidi. A test debut as opener beckons?

[prasen9]

Sin Homebre was on board. And so am I now. Go with Gill. Even if he fails, he will learn and we should have enough to cover.

[Atithee]

I’m on board with Gill too. Always felt that we should always have the best two under-21 types in the national team, especially against the low ranked teams—one bowler and one batsman. But, not sure about Gill as an opener. I’d slot him elsewhere; has he played at other positions in his first class career?

[Atithee]

Shubman Gill is opening the batting (as captain) in the 4-day match against South Africa A, and he’s made 66* against an attack led by Ngidi. A test debut as opener beckons?

But why can’t we bowl the lower order out cheaply? Regardless of the opposition, venue, caliber—this is a worrying development for ALL Indian teams, even at piddly levels. This match is a perfect example of our inability. If everyone else has become better, which I doubt, then we need to make it a priority too. It often comes down to these valuable runs—given or scored—and we need more Ishant in WI like performances from our bowlers when they bat.

[PKBasu]

The India A tail wagged too, with a century stand for the 8th wicket between Jalaj Saxena (who was batting ridiculously low down the order, after being denied even one over of bowling in the first innings) and Shardul Thakur. Jalaj took seven wickets in his last first-class match (Duleep Trophy) so it was ludicrous that he didn't get to bowl here. But he was seeking to make up with a solid 61* with the bat. Clearly one of the most sinned-against domestic players! He has opened the batting very successfully in domestic cricket over the past year or two, and is perhaps Gill's competitor for the test slot -- except that the selectors deliberately ignore him.

[Atithee]

Yes, but look at how the next two batsmen got ducks and both of them were stumped! And, of course, like any other batsmen, I want our tail to wag but not the opposition’s in any given match. In fact, as long as ours does, I’m happy. I do see better signs though. But Shami and Bumrah need to learn to bat, period.

[prasen9]

I’m on board with Gill too. Always felt that we should always have the best two under-21 types in the national team, especially against the low ranked teams—one bowler and one batsman. But, not sure about Gill as an opener. I’d slot him elsewhere; has he played at other positions in his first class career?

Given Rahane's success, the opening slot is the only one open. Try him there but do not hold out bad results to deter his MO career if he fails as an opener. For me, it is not U-21 but U-24. In fact, unless one has a very significant body of work (see Hussey), we should not be very eager to get older folks in. The target now should be to get a solid team in place in case we qualify for the finals, which we have a good chance to.