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ZAK returns for SA tests!

ODI sqaud: MSD, Dhawan, Rohit, Virat, Yuvraj, Raina, Jadeja, Ashwin, Bhuvi, Shami, Ishant, Rayudu, Mohit, Umesh, Mishra, Rahane

India Test squad: MSD, Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit, Rahane, Ashwin, Bhuvi, Shami, Zaheer, Rayudu, Umesh, Saha, Ishant, Ojha, Jadeja

Ishant makes it in both squads. Wow. :Frustrati

I can already see the South African batsman rejoicing after hearing this news! The only reason perhaps he could be picked was so that one could climb onto him & kiss the African Giraffe's in the zoo!:uncontrol

Good to see Umesh Yadav back in the team also, though he can be wayward at times. I guess as & when both Yadav & Shami play it would be our quickest bowling attack in a long time with both consistently touching 140km/hr!

Apart from Ishant, what are Vijay and Raina doing there? because of these guys Rahane is sitting on the bench and wasting his talent.

Vijay has the blessings of Dhoni as they are CSK teammates. Raina too is down in form needs a small whip to him to make him work hard and get back to form.

Some things never change, Indian bowling continues to be hopeless in South Africa as well!:deadhorse
India also have the dubious distinction of conceding most 300+ scores in ODI's.
Time has come for Dhoni to use Ashwin in the slog overs. He anyways isn't going to be taking wickets in the middle overs on such pitches.

After all those huge run chases (and wins) against the Aussies, the real test for India's new batting lineup is against the South Africans with the chase for 359 in the very first match.
During the break this is what the experts said - Pat Symcox expects them to get around 200 and Arun Lal didn't seem too confident too about India getting those runs :D

It's sad that our trundlers cannot exploit even good bowling conditions. Time for Umesh Yadav I guess the next game onwards.

And how do our batsmen, who scored tons after tons recently on our home pitches, suddenly have no clue when they are overseas? It looked like Dhawan and Rohit have never seen a ball move off the pitch in their lifetime during yesterday's match.

Pretty idiotic on part of BCCI not to schedule any practice matches. At least there must have been one if not two. South Africa is not Sri Lanka to just walk in & start playing.

Even I was surprised at the inclusion of Mohit Sharma in the team. Was certainly expecting Umesh Yadav to have a chance keeping in mind the conditions.

Rohit Sharma had become Nohit Sharma in the first ODI. To get beaten continuously for 3 overs was like a replay. A person quite fresh from back to back centuries was struggling. Of the runs he scored, most of it were due to edges :Frustrati. Somehow always fell, he is another over rated player.

Raina and Yuvraj have always been flat track bullies - rayudu and rahane "should" fare better than them but then do they have Dhoni's blessings ? Sometimes I wonder if Dhoni is too loyal to the CSK franchisee ? Raina over Rahane, Mohit over Umesh - how much of his decisions are taken with CSK in mind ? Vijay is still in the mix and Saha gets in as the 2nd WK - what was wrong with Dinesh ?

I would blame this on the BCCI. Our players have inflated averages because we play on absolute roads (read Ind-Aus series) and yesterday the in-form Sharma struggled against Steyn. Can't entirely blame them because of lack of practice matches but surely BCCI should have learnt its lessons post Eng-Aus tours.

Still fail to comprehend how a top-rated ODI team has no idea of how to bowl in the death overs. Bhuvi and Sharma were absolute disasters yesterday.

Yuvraj, although in terrible form can play short bowling as he's proved previously but Raina is hopeless. Need to pick either Rayadu, Rahane or Kartik for the number 5 position. I would go for DK since he's opened the batting in England about half a decade bank and had performed reasonably well in the lead up to the Champion's trophy.

Also I don't understand the reason for this 'loyalty' to the CSK franchise. DK is a better batsman than Saha and should have easily been the next option as reserve wicket keeper for test matches.

When exactly can Yuvraj prove this? I have watched Yuvraj since his debut. He can play short bowling on slow pitches and not anywhere else.
Rayadu is someone who has never ever even dominated in domestic cricket (like Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rahane etc). He was an average player till 2 years back with a first class average of around 40. He had 2 decent domestic seasons after that raising his average to 45. I don't see why he is even picked in the tour squad in the first place.

Which makes me wonder why Pujara isn't in the squad. He's not the fastest guy in the field but at least is technically more correct than Raina or Rayadu.


Yuvraj, If you have followed him through his career, you would know of his contribution in the VB series 03-04. Jason Gillespie wasn't exactly the slowest of them all. I am not saying he is the best player of short bowling but he's had a decent run much better than Raina, who seems desperate to get off the strike as soon as a fast bowler comes on.

Pujara i somehow feel will eventually come into the ODI side keeping in mind that the next World Cup is in Australia.Indian team will be touring a lot overseas in the next 12 months & that is where the likes of Yuvraj & Raina will be exposed. Both of them struggled at home against quality seam bowling! Those two left handers are more comfortable coming into bat in the last 15 overs on such pitches but for that to happen the top 3 have to occupy the crease for the first 30 overs.

I think BCCI has the tools and techniques to make some of the next venues have flat surfaces ( guess Durban already has a flat pitch). Once we get to those pitches the root cause will be soon forgotten and we will see a whole page advt. of the cricketers.