West Indies in India, 2018

[PKBasu]

India lost 6 wickets for 59 runs in an extended morning session. Awful session for India, terrific one for the Windies, who have the edge now since they bowl last. India lead by only 56 with Thakur unlikely to be able to bowl.

[PKBasu]

Great bowling effort by India today — particularly Umesh and Jadeja — finished off the series without incident. The pitch was quite uneven on the third day, and the bowlers were on top.

[prasen9]

Is Umesh going to replace Thakur in the ODI squad?

[PKBasu]

Prithvi Shaw opened the batting yesterday for Mumbai against Hyderabad in the Hazare trophy SF. Shaw made 61 off 44 balls, Rohit having fallen for 17 off 24. When Shaw was out for 61, the team score was 82/2...
This fellow should very clearly be playing in the ODI team for India!

For those who don't know yet, Prithvi Shaw's antecedents are Bihari (although he plays for Mumbai): he is from the Magadh region, specifically from Gaya, the holy town where the Buddha attained entitlement. His family's spoken language is Madhesia (a language quite commonly spoken in Magadh, and among the tea-estate workers of north Bengal and Assam, who were brought there from south Bihar as indentured labourers).

[sameerph]

Thanks, PKB. There was some reference in newspapers when he was selected for first test that Kohli said that he would talk to Prithvi in Marathi. I was surprised with that as Shaw does not sound like a Maharashtrian name at all.This clarifies it.

[jaydeep]

There was some reference in newspapers when he was selected for first test that Kohli said that he would talk to Prithvi in Marathi. I was surprised with that as Shaw does not sound like a Maharashtrian name at all.This clarifies it.

His father migrated to Mumbai before his birth. Their surname was Gupta, but why they changed to Shaw, didn't know.

[prasen9]

Their surname was Gupta, but why they changed to Shaw, didn't know.

Elementary, my dear Watson. Who wants to stay hidden?

[jaydeep]

Their surname was Gupta, but why they changed to Shaw, didn't know.

Elementary, my dear Watson. Who wants to stay hidden?

[prasen9]

I have no idea what good it does to us to play Kohli, Rohit, and even Dhawan in the ODIs now. I would rather go in with this XI:

Prithvi, Rahul, Rayudu, Pandey, Iyer, Pant, Jadeja, Kuldeep/Chahar, Khaleel, Umesh, Shami

By playing the top 3 we have, we are not giving the chance to even those in the team such as Rayudu and Pant to play under pressure and learn how to handle pressure that will no doubt be there in an elimination game in the WC.

[PKBasu]

Why is Dhoni coming ahead of Pant? This was a good chance to give Pant his first innings in an ODI. But it seems the selectors are keen to protect Dhoni from the pressure of Pant’s performances.

[prasen9]

If we continue with Dhoni, he should be asked to hit out. Otherwise, he has to bat at #4. He cost us runs that may be crucial in the end

[prasen9]

Stupid Umesh. Cannot defend 14 runs from an over, 6 runs from 2 balls and 4 runs off 1 ball Why do we not have Khalil?

[Sin Hombre]

Kohli is going to continue to hurt his legacy by picking so many poor players. A lot of them should have been binned after WC 15, leave alone be in the starting xi going into WC 19.

Rayadu can only bat at a SR of 20 lower than what would be par.
Dhoni has long been done as a batsman. S/R in the 70s in the last 2 years
Jadeja has always been a poor batsman in the ODI format and to continue picking him as the spin allrounder when you have potentially better options is idiocy.
Shami and Umesh are not ODI fast bowlers either. well the former used to but hasn't been one for years now.


We have the worst middle and lower order hitters in the world, and the worst pace bowling backup.

England will have flat pitches like Vizag. 33 off 40 balls in the last third of the game is completely unacceptable.

[PKBasu]

Amazingly, Shami has been dropped, not Umesh (who was woeful yesterday). Umesh has developed into a fine test bowler. Let's leave it at that!

Dhoni's time as a batsman is up. We should keep him only if we are willing to look at him as a specialist 'keeper, to bat low in the order. I don't see the point of having a specialist 'keeper who adds to the tail.
Jadeja is a poor option as the bowling allrounder. Kuldeep and Chahal are clearly better bowling options.

[prasen9]

Shami was given no matches in 2016, three matches in 2017 and two in 2018. It is wrong to expect a bowler to come back to ODI form given a year's gap in 3 matches and then 2 matches the next year. He has, of course, not been good in the last two matches but given the conditions, he bowled well in the second match.

For some weird reason, Kedar Jadhav is dropped despite being fit. And, Karthik was dumped even though he did fine. Ditto for Iyer. There is no rhyme or reason in our selection policy.