[Bibendum90949]

The 10 has turned 50, a well crafted and nicely composed one at that. Long Live to one of the GOATs of modern era.

P.S : Surprised to see no birthday posts on this thread for SRT

[deathwalkr]

Thanks to his form in the IPL, Rahane is now included in the test squad

https://www.onmanorama.com/sports/cr...hip-final.html

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Thanks to his form in the IPL, Rahane is now included in the test squad

They realised that if Rahane too can play like SKY when required, then why have SKY in the test squad.

[PPS]

Once Shreyas Iyer was injured & KL lost his form, the Selectors were left with no choice but to go for Rahane. I don't mind this move provided its a one-off! Rahane is a very good slip fielder & his skills will be useful at the Oval. The Team Management should stop talking about 'process' which they keep harping about since there is none of it!

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Thanks to his form in the IPL, Rahane is now included in the test squad

Originally Posted by Fx14

They realised that if Rahane too can play like SKY when required, then why have SKY in the test squad.

Originally Posted by PPS

Once Shreyas Iyer was injured & KL lost his form, the Selectors were left with no choice but to go for Rahane. ...since there is none of it!

I find this perplexing.
Include players in test squad, based on IPL T20 matches. First SKY and now Rahane.

Why have first class matches at all then?

What next? Pick players for ODI WC squad based on how they perform in a T20 series?

[Eddy]

I know this is out of the oridinary but who if not Rahane? Remember it is a one-off game against Australia in England and a World Cup final. Whatever I have seen of Sarfaraz, I dont think this game is the right time to blood him. And a confident Rahane is better than the strokeless Vihari anyday.

But the question is - Will KL Open? If yes, then I hope Gill slots in the middle ahead of Rahane.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

I find this perplexing. Why have first class matches at all then?

The likes of Sarfaraz,etc should have been tried in Bangladesh & home series, so you can't pick them now in a WTC Final. Hopefully we'll see them in the next cycle.

What next? Pick players for ODI WC squad based on how they perform in a T20 series?

Thats already being done. SKY & even Arshdeep have got chances in ODIs based on their T20 exploits. Selectors are experts in mixing formats. SKY has been dropped after playing just 1 Test.

Originally Posted by Eddy

But the question is - Will KL Open? If yes, then I hope Gill slots in the middle ahead of Rahane.

Various journos have been claiming through sources that KL will be keeping wickets since Management doesn't have much confidence in Bharat's batting ability in English conditions. So in that case KL might slot in at no.6 or 7.

[KPR]

If KL is selected as keeper let him do that job what Bharat would've done and bat at 6 or 7 and even behind our prime allrounder Ashwin. Hope he gives some company to Ashwin lower down the order. If management trusts him as opener for the one off WTC final I'm sure we are going to start our batting with 5 for 1 in 5 overs. It is the deeper batting order that has won us games in Australia and not opening pair.

[VWAllstar]

My playing XI for WTC:

R Sharma (c)
S Gill
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
KL Rahul (wk)
R Jadeja
A Patel
R Ashwin
M Shami
M Siraj

S Thakur (reserve)

I wish Bhuvi was considered for WTC. Adept swing bowlers like him should be given a chance in playing conditions like that in England & NZ.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

R Jadeja
A Patel
R Ashwin
M Shami
M Siraj

2 seamers and 3 spinners? I don't think that is going to happen.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

My playing XI for WTC:

R Sharma (c)
S Gill
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
KL Rahul (wk)
R Jadeja
A Patel
R Ashwin
M Shami
M Siraj

S Thakur (reserve)

I wish Bhuvi was considered for WTC. Adept swing bowlers like him should be given a chance in playing conditions like that in England & NZ.

Originally Posted by Eddy

2 seamers and 3 spinners? I don't think that is going to happen.

I don't think we are going to play 3 spinners either. It would be Umesh instead of Axar (who is pretty much useless overseas).
Or it might be Lord Thakur.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by KPR

If KL is selected as keeper let him do that job what Bharat would've done and bat at 6 or 7 and even behind our prime allrounder Ashwin. Hope he gives some company to Ashwin lower down the order.

Don't see Ashwin playing in the XI at all, unless the pitch is really really dry & the sun is beating down on most days! Jadeja is the better batsman in English conditions. Unadkat would be my 3rd seamers choice ahead of Umesh who can be wayward.

My playing XI for the WTC Final:-
R Sharma
S Gill
C Pujara
V Kohli
R Jadeja
A Rahane
KL Rahul (wk)
Shardul
Unadkat
M Shami
M Siraj

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by PPS

Don't see Ashwin playing in the XI at all, unless the pitch is really really dry & the sun is beating down on most days! Jadeja is the better batsman in English conditions. Unadkat would be my 3rd seamers choice ahead of Umesh who can be wayward.

I think KL should play as the keeper and at No 6. KS Bharat has been kind of underwhelming with the bat and we need to bat deep in England. Interestingly the Oval has also been pretty good for spin in recent times. Average and SR for Spinners compare favourably with pacers so we could play both Ashwin and Jadeja.

If we only had to pick one spinner, there is a strong case for playing Ashwin in the final. Australia have 4 left handers in the top 7 (Warner, Khwaja, Travis Head, Carey) and Ash is just brilliant against lefties. His batting is pretty decent too. I'd also play Unadkat as it gives us a left arm variation. Umesh can be pretty deadly if only it's dry and the bounce is low. So he could come in based on conditions.

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by Eddy

2 seamers and 3 spinners? I don't think that is going to happen.

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

I don't think we are going to play 3 spinners either.

Originally Posted by PPS

Don't see Ashwin playing in the XI at all, unless the pitch is really really dry & the sun is beating down on most days! Jadeja is the better batsman in English conditions.

In the 2018 Lord's test with first day washed out due to rain, our team management went and picked Ashwin and Kuldeep despite conditions suiting pace and swing and more rain predicted during the course of the test match. Kuldeep bowled 8 overs in that match and we lost by an innings. We had pace bowlers in the squad who were not picked.

More recently, in the WTC final against NZ and in a similar case of first day washed out due to rain and with rain being forecast for the other days and the entire match being only 2.5 days long due to rain, our team think tank went ahead with 2 spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja despite having pace options in the squad. Bumrah had an off match and we were found wanting in the pace department and we lost. Infact both Ashwin and Jadeja in the second innings were used as pressure release with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor coming down the track and hitting them for boundaries. Not the typical 5th day pitch for spinners to run amok.

Point is, our team think tank takes absurdly crazy decisions like these and doesn't take weather conditions into consideration when picking spinners overseas. FYI our bowling average is 23.52 in the last 5 years and is the best by any team in the world in Test Match Cricket. Yet they are nowhere near their potential and nowhere close to being world beaters due to absurd team decisions.

[Eddy]

You can still try and understand why India would try to fit Jadeja and Ashwin both in the eleven, but no chance that we are playing 3 spinners in England.