India A Series ....

[prasen9]

But the last day, Yadav got hit hard. He is quite inconsistent now. Of course, that is better than those that are consistently bad. Anyway, Yadav looked like the best of the Indian medium pacers in the last two A-team matches. Mishra bowled decently too --- which is again better than the others who have been bad. Bumrah possibly got sorted out after his initial burst. He is a good prospect and should be given more chances to develop.

[PKBasu]

It was a meaningless last day, with no pressure on the batsmen since they were just starting the second innings with no prospect of any result other than a meaningless draw. I wouldn't draw any conclusions based on second innings bowling figures. Yadav stood out in the first innings of this match, and should be in England as soon as possible. So, I think, should Mishra!

[Atithee]

Still 202/0 speaks a lot about the futility of the bowling attack that is a de facto India bowling attack for the most part (as the A team should have). The batsmen may not have had any pressure, but why would that prevent the bowlers from plying their trade? I would support Yadav being in England, but it is no silver bullet. Mishra's case is less clear to me. Simply put, we need bowlers who can bat. We do not have any bowler who gets in just on merit for being a bowler. Yadav included. Our bowlers just fill the roster.

[prasen9]

The whole series is meaningless anyway by that token. The Indian bowlers know that their performances are being watched. If some fast bowler wrecked havoc and got 3-4 wickets in the second innings that would have been noticed. If these bowlers want to rest on their first innings laurels and think they have done enough, these players should not be in the team. Many players play in a cavalier way when their place is secure and only really buck up when their place is on the line. See Vijay in the last test. Next test, I expect that to be Dhawan. He will be serious. Now whether he can or cannot translate that to runs is an open question. Umesh and Mishra by no means ran through the batting in the first innings. They should have bowled to the best of their abilities in I2. We should read the whole performance and not only the first inning one. I fully agree with Atithee.

[PKBasu]

The series isn't meaningless. Once a result is ruled out, and a team is starting the third innings of the match on the morning of the last day, there is absolutely no pressure on the batsmen. It makes that innings much more meaningless than bowling on the first day -- with everything still at stake. Similarly, if a batsman comes in with his side at 50/3 or 55/4 and makes a big score, that is more important than making a century after coming in at 200/3.

Mishra didn't bowl in the second innings, so the attack on him at least doesn't stand!

[prasen9]

I am not attacking anybody. Sorry to have made that mistake on Mishra.

I have asked for Yadav to be in the England series team. I just wish that these players looked at every ball as an opportunity to show that they belong. 1st day or 3rd.

[PKBasu]

Big win for India A over South Africa A in the limited-over series. India A won by 70 runs, after big innings from Manoj Tiwary (93) and Manish Pandey (91) and a 5-for for Dhawal Kulkarni:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/735787.html

[prasen9]

Very good win by India-A. They kept their nerves to win at the end. I am glad that our juniors are learning not to panic. Overall, a brilliant series for Sampson. Is he ready to backup Dhoni in the ODIs?

Batting: Kedar Jadhav and Rishi Dhawan took us to the win in the final and played well throughout the tournament. Chand played well in 3 matches and should have been given more chances. Rayudu and Vohra batted decently too.

Among the specialist bats, Pandey and Tiwary failed. Tiwari scored a 50 in the final. I hope he is given a few more chances to grab one of the two spots in the middle order. [Assuming Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli, Dhoni and Jadeja are confirmed for the five spots. I would prefer to see Rayudu and Tiwari given chances. I would also like Pujara to be the backup for the higher order batsmen and Kedar Jadhav or Sampson for the lower order.]

Among the all-rounders Rasool and Patel, they did not get enough chances to bat and in the few they got, they did not do much except Patel who played a vital innings in the final.

Among the bowlers, Dhawal Kulkarni bowled very well.

[PKBasu]

Good job by the India A team to win the quadrangular one-day series. They were deserved winners, having gradually got the better of Aus A toward the end of the tournament -- and having dominated the other two sides throughout.

Rishi Dhawan and Akshar Patel showed good batting temperament to take us to the title. But neither of them really advanced his case as a bowling allrounder in the tournament. Dhawan played four matches, and bowled decently in each match without doing anything special (like taking more than 1 or 2 wickets in an innings), and Akshar Patel (now a capped ODI player) was not a dominant bowler in any match. His best figures (3/30) came in the penultimate match against Aus A, but Manoj Tiwary overshadowed him in that match with 5/34.

Sanju Samson shone with the bat: 81, 24*, 2*, 28, 55*, 49*, 5 (run out) and almost always scored rapidly.
Skipper Uthappa failed: 25, 2, 19, 46, 17, 13, 12. (I think his lack of back-foot play is a big limitation outside India; he shouldn't open).
Tiwary was inconsistent: 2, 93, 11, 9, 0, 8, 50. But he also bowled in most matches, and came up with one match-winning bowling performance.
Rayudu was similar (slightly better with the bat, modest with ball): 40, 6, 32, 70*, 0, 77, 7.
Manan Vohra started well, then faded: 88, 56, 25, 9, 8.

Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni did reasonably well with the ball.

[PKBasu]

Perhaps this explains why Rayudu got into so many scrapes with administrators early in his career, and failed to live up to the enormous potential he showed as a youngster:
http://sportzwiki.com/cricket/ambati-ra ... ustralia-a

[prasen9]

It is okay to be a bit hot-headed. It is okay to want to bat and be upset when robbed. It is okay for a bowler (see Praveen Kumar) to be hyped up on the field. The cricket administration today is hypocritical. They just care for themselves. They want to protect the umpire and nobody else. Jadeja gets physically hit and Anderson goes scott-free. You can only act in self-defense when there is eminent danger of serious harm. If someone says something and aggressively moves towards me, that does not give me the right to shove him. In a public court, Anderson would have been found guilty given his admission.

The BCCI should help Praveen Kumar and Ambati Rayudu by providing them counseling support so that they can channel their anger and zeal for the game. It is shameful that they try to keep PK and AR out. We need to give Rayudu and Tiwary a fair run (20 innings) in ODIs and then judge. All extraneous aspects should not be taken into account. PK should be sent with the A-team; we should try to rehabilitate him.

[jaydeep]

India A side is announced which will tour Australia later this year to play two four-day matches against Australia 'A' and a quadrangular series also involving South Africa 'A', Australia 'A' and Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad (NPS) ... Nine members from the India squad that toured Zimbabwe have been included into the 'A' side ... But for me surprising omission is of Yuzvendra Chahal, who was impressive in Zimbabwe.

India 'A' Team -
Naman Ojha (captain), Faiz Fazal, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Barinder Sran, Varun Aaron, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sanju Samson.
Coach - Rahul Dravid

One-day Series
13 August, South Africa A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
14 August, Australia A v India A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
16 August, Australia A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
17 August, South Africa A v India A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
20 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
21 August, India A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
24 August, NPS v Australia A, Harrup Park, Mackay
25 August, South Africa A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
27 August, NPS v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
28 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Harrup Park, Mackay
30 August, Australia A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
31 August, South Africa A v NPS, Harrup Park, Mackay
3 September; Final 3 v 4, Harrup Park, Mackay
4 September, Final 1 v 2, Harrup Park, Mackay

Four-day matches
8-11 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
15-18 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

[indiansportsfan]

Disappointed by non-selection of Unmukt Chand. He is one of the best upcoming talent in the country, especially in the ODI format. He should have been selected over Karun Nair, who IMO has been given too many chances at this level. Also selection of Vijay Shankar is baffling. Do we really need to select an allrounder for allrounder's sake? Overall team selection is quite uninspiring. Someone amongst Mandeep Singh/Baba Aparajith/Sheldon Jackson should have been considered.

[kna]

India A won the Quadrangular one-day series beating Australia A by 57 runs in the final.

In the group stages, India A was 0-2 against Australia A (lost by 8 wickets after being skittled out for 55, lost by 1 run 302-301), 2-0 against Australia's National Performance Squad (won by 86 runs, won by 6 wickets), 1-0-1 against South Africa A (won by 3 wickets, no result due to rain).

Captain Manish Pandey was the highest run scorer in the tournament with 359 @ 59.83, 2 100s 1 50). He was well supported by Kedar jadhav, Mandeep SIngh, Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer,

In bowling, Dhawal Kulkarni (9), Yuzvendra Chahal (7), Jaydev Unadkat (6), Axar Patel (5), Hardik Pandya (5) were among the wickets. Varun Aaron got 4 wickets, but was very expensive.

Next up are two 4-day Tests against Australia A in Brisbane. The Brisbane wicket should be a good test for our batsmen.

[prasen9]

There is no excuse to not giving Dhawal Kulkarni and Jaydev Unadkat a decent run in the ODIs. They have been treated very badly. Ok, Bumrah and Shami are our top two bolwers. But, if we need a third pacer, it should be Kulkarni and if they need variety Unadkat. If anyone is hurt or is rested, then one of these two should be in the team. I would also give Axar Patel a few more matches.