India in New Zealand 2020

[prasen9]

Again, I am not saying that Nair should be brought back in now. I am saying that in England, he was the backup bat and the main bats were failing left and right and he had not done much wrong and was actually in decent form before that. When we say form, we should look at about 20 innings. If you look at any less, it is random variation.

In general, I hate the politics around Nair. Nair was selected by the selection committee. Kohli said he would not play him and did not. The selection committee wilted and sent in Vihari. If I was in the selection committee, I would have sent back Nair in the team and instructed the captain to give him chances. And, if not, changed the captain. We need a process. We cannot have a single person, the captain, unilaterally have veto power. That is what I am against. I do not care about if it is or was Nair or Vihari or PKB and SH who were on whatever side of the selection to the Indian team.

Good organizations have good processes. The captain should always be consulted and what he wants given a lot of thought. But, he should not have a veto. And, if you are losing, you need to play the youngsters instead of the same old failures.

Right now, after Vihari, we should go with Gill and then Iyer.

We should always have the top U-24 batsman as a reserve. Notice that I do not want to jump to giving the latest U-19 sensation based on U-19 matches unless he or she is an SRT. But U-24, which gives them five years after their U-19 to do and show some things in the domestics. Our U24 players of extraordinary calibre are Shaw and Gill. We should nurture them.

Outside U-24, the pecking order should be our top FC bats: Iyer and Pandey.

[indiansportsfan]

There must have a been a reason why Kohli did not want to pick Nair. Maybe he realized how futile he was in the nets or wherever; which got validated subsequently. We cannot be privy to all that went on in the background.

[prasen9]

Yes, that is what I am against. Often we think that we can just go by the looks but sports analytics has pretty conclusively proved that going by looks is not the best way to choose players. Judicious data-driven methods are the best. Again, whether it is proved or not does not matter to me. I do not like a process where one person can veto the selection of multiple people.

One can spin things many ways. I can say that when Nair was dropped without reason, he got discouraged and mentally shattered and that is why he has not played as well in domestics. Oftentimes, this is a vicious cycle. But, then again, that is not my point.

I do not want a captain to just have immense veto-power based on his eyes only. Yes, we do not know what went on and do not have all the information. But, continuing with the failures in England got us nothing. Trying Nair and getting some more data on him would have been useful.

If you believe that the captain should have complete veto power, then we will differ in our outcomes. If you do not believe that the captain should have veto power, then we may have some discussion.

The reason the visiting captain and coach chose the playing XI when we went abroad and the selection committee used to choose the XI at home was because of communication issues and because the selectors did not often see how the players were playing in the matches. These days with communication and live telecasts, the selection committee can have a lot of data. The data analyst of the team logs a lot of data on their computers that can be shared instantly. In this case, I like a set of people selecting a team instead of a single person vetoing things.

[indiansportsfan]

How can you be sure that the selectors were not part of the loop? Maybe Kohli consulted the selectors before benching him. And the selectors did drop him for the next series, so maybe they were privy to this. Otherwise if they were pissed off with Kohli for not consulting with them, they could have continued to select Nair.
Also I agree in general that in a long series, when it's quite clear that the old hands are not delivering, it's best to make as many changes as possible to get in some new blood. But it's not easy to take these tough calls; and our selectors are usually quite spineless in these matters. It's nothing specific to Kohli, most captains around the world (present or past) fail to do so.

[prasen9]

I am not sure about anything. I am going by what the selectors said in their interviews and what Kohli said. And my most-probable estimation of what happened from what we see. If something else happened, there should have been clear communication from the team and the selectors to the media. The cricketing public should be given an explanation as to why Nair was selected, not played, and then dropped.

[prasen9]

It seems Shaw has a swelling in his foot and is uncertain. Gill may get a match in his place.

Shastri admits he is clueless.

Shastri, also said that he is not a type of a coach who will say to correct something when he himself does not have a solution. "You generally do that when you see something which is not right and then you have a solution for it. I am not one of those coaches you will ask to do something without having an answer. When you are on the road, things can change," Shastri said.

Well, at least he is honest. He admits to being a do-nothing coach.

I am actually not that much anti-Shastri. He had a good record as a captain and used to be a good thinker. His batting of block and six was asinine in ODIs but at that time it worked in some cases. He did fine as an opener abroad too. Not a great but a useful bits and pieces player. He does not seem to have kept up with the times and has sort of become lazy. And, as with several Mumbaikars, he has pushed Mumbai players and in some cases undeserving players. But, right now, it seems he is a no-op with Kohli making the decisions. Again, I am not sure about what goes on behind the doors but extrapolating from comments made to the media it seems Kohli is deciding things.

[Atithee]

Aha, the miraculous injury, just as I had predicted. Did it happen during a pick up soccer game too?

I’ve no issue with Gill being included. Issue is who would we drop? Not miraculously injured during soccer practice just before the match. Pujara isn’t the answer. Who then? Vihari? And Jadeja for Ashwin? Or Bumrah sits out?

I really didn’t understand what Shastri is saying based on quote only.

[prasen9]

He is saying that he does not know how to fix things and so does not give advice to the players.

[Atithee]

He is saying that he does not know how to fix things and so does not give advice to the players.

Then why is he a coach?

[prasen9]

Well, I stretched things a bit He is saying that he does not have all the answers. I presume on how to fix this team. Honestly, I do not too beyond tinkering with the selection a bit, which I still think may not be enough.

Yep, you were prescient about the injury. Rohit Sharma decided to call it quits even before the series judiciously. I mean he had a real injury but would it have gotten better before the test series. Why take a chance? If Rohit failed in New Zealand, which was a possibility against the red ball, his career would have been over. Wrt rehabilitating openers, we will possibly give Rahul the chance. Prithvi decides his technique is too awful for New Zealand too

[Atithee]

I already said that Rahul is the leading candidate in my opinion for any forced or unforced change. I’ll be very happy if he’s included and even happier if he performs well. Of course, I want Jadeja in the team at the expense of Ashwin.

[prasen9]

I think we should give a full, fair run to Mayank, Prithvi, and Gill before going back to Rahul. Unless, Rahul lights it up in domestics and A-team red ball cricket. White ball form does not count.

I actually want Umesh for Ashwin in this match. We need more tooth to the attack and there will be rain on day 2 and day 5. The pitch is green. No point wasting a slot in Jadeja unless we are actually playing him as the seventh bat! article

Shubman Gill seemed to have summed up the issue very well in the article below. India looked unsure as to what to do with the short ball. Sometimes they tried to hit it and sometimes not. Obviously, unless they are sure, the best strategy is to let all the short balls go unless they can play it well. There was never anything fast and bouncy where they could hook well. The bounce was a bit spongy and uncertain. So, the solution should have been that if you can pull it to where there is no fielder go for the shot. Otherwise, duck. Of course, it is easier said than done. article

Actually, Prithvi was pronounced fit Shastri confirms. So, Atithee, your theory has now become a conspiracy theory

[prasen9]

If we play Jadeja, we play with three bowlers. This is Hagley Park. It does not spin at all. Spinners get wickets at 60 runs/wk. If we play Umesh, we play with only 7 bats and a steep tail. If we lose the toss and bat first, the game is over. So, we should figure out what is best if we bat second. In that sense, perhaps it tilts a bit towards Jadeja. And Saini may not be that good yet in his debut test anyway.

Ishant is unfit.

[Atithee]

Before the match, Shastri said that Bumrah is very close
to getting a five or six for. He is high on something.

All the bravado in Kohli is gone. Poor technique by most except Mayank. Loose strokes.

Pujara back to his style of eating up balls. Stuck at 49. But, at least he repaid my faith in him. He’s not the one to discard at first possible opportunity. Just wish he wasn’t content with just blocking ball after ball after ball. Sooner or later, it comes bites his partners or him.

[prasen9]

He’s not the one to discard at first possible opportunity.

This is not true. He has been given a very long rope, and he has failed in swinging conditions in New Zealand and England very consistently again and again and again. I think he has been given at least 25 innings in these two countries and failed to score consistently at over 25. He has been given opportunity after opportunity. I would say this is the fifth or sixth possible opportunity in NE and possibly over-tenth possible opportunity if you consider SENA when he has conclusively failed and still got chances.

Having said that, he has been consistent in eating up balls in this series and in this innings he has looked to score runs whenever possible. Given the abject failure and inconsistency by all else, he may be the best batsman in this short series thus far.

Maybe he is a slow learner. He had failed a lot in SENA and then came through the last series if I recall correctly. Maybe none of our batsmen are good abroad and will only be good in their 2nd or 3rd visits ...