[mukul32]

India limited-overs squads for South Africa home series have been announced; young all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann from Punjab (also KXIP in the IPL) has been included in the ODI squad.
Karnataka pacer Srinath Aravind also is a part of the side.
Ravindra Jadeja dropped, while Rayudu and Binny have been retained. Mishra and Harbhajan also have been included in only the ODI and T20 sides respectively. Mohammed Shami has not been selected in either of the sides, as he is going through rehab from a knee injury. Also, none from Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, or Varun Aaron have been selected, the selectors opting for Mohit Sharma and S Aravind in the seam department instead.
The selectors have also kept their faith in skipper MS Dhoni, therefore virtually bringing an end to rumours of Kohli being made the limited overs captain ahead of the World T20.








Though I am happy for Gurkeerat and Aravind, I don't see them getting games straightway. They may have to wait for their chance. One slightly surprising exclusion was that of Jadeja, in a home series. With the World T20 (also at home) coming up, he could have proved his worth at home.
But at the same time, the selectors have sent out a strong message that the players have to perform to stay in the side, and may not take their place for granted.

Another question is about the batting order. After Kohli at 3 and Rahane at 4, there is no certainty about anybody's position, though Raina looks the best bet to me at 5. Perhaps, Dhoni could bat up the order at 4, thus pushing down Rahane to 5 and Raina to 6, which is also a fine strategy. Dhoni is a quick scorer and fantastic between the wickets, so he could keep the score ticking in the middle overs.

The spin bowling looks set to me, with Ashwin, Mishra and a third spinner in Patel/Mann. It is the seam bowling that looks quite feeble, with only Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma in the reckoning. Against the likes of Amla and DeKock I doubt they'd be able to attack at the start of the innings.
And though our spinners are quality, pray that DeVilliers doesn't get set. He is too good for anyone at his best, and our wickets are generally very good to bat on.

Another thing to note will be how the lower middle order performs, with a new look to it, in the form of Binny, Mann, Patel, etc. Though the selectors have preferred full-time bowling options, if they struggle to attack at the death and throw away their wickets, we could be in a spot of trouble. The team is still heavily dependent Raina and Dhoni for that job.

[vamsi.kona]

One of the best decisions taken by selectors in a long time was dropping Sir Jadeja from ODI squad. He had been given too many chances at others cost. And apart from his fielding nothing is exceptional which cannot be replaced. And even in fielding the new breed of players aren't the lazy kind we used to get earlier.

[Marauder]

I believe they could have given more youngsters a chance in the T20s keeping in mind the T20 World Cup. Don't think India have many options at No.6,7 &8.

One problem the team has if they stick with the One-day line up for T20s(i.e. Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni, Raina) is that at No.6, Raina is totally wasted.
Also, Rahane wouldn't play much of a role at No.4. IMO, they should all play at their IPL positions.

Rahane, Kohli, Raina, Rohit, Dhoni is a much better line-up for T20s. At 6,7,8 they could play all-rounders/bits and pieces players like Mann, Rishi Dhawan, Binny, Axar Patel, Jadeja etc.

[hemanth.anand]

This is some analysis!
https://gramener.com/cricket/?country=World

Some surprises and some obvious batsmen in there.

[mukul32]

Meanwhile, the new 2015-16 Ranji season was off to a good start today. Score updates and highlights, along with performances of some well-known players after first day of play:
#Andhra 170/2 vs Mumbai (M Kaif 66*)
#Karnataka 187 (S Bhavane 65, S Mohammed 7-44) vs Assam 21/1
#Haryana 303/6 vs Maharashtra (Sehwag 92, H Rana 138*)
#Hyderabad 246/5 vs Goa (Vihari 82)
# J&K 247/7 vs Kerala (Rasool 54)
#Punjab 235/2 vs Railways, (Mandeep 100, Kaul 92)
#Delhi 138 (Gambhir 24) vs Rajasthan 74/3
#Saurashtra 270/6 vs Tripura (Pujara 10, Jadeja 91, Jackson 82)
#Jharkhand 45 (Pathania 6-19) vs Services 131/9
# Tamil Nadu 125 (Karthik 1) vs Baroda 33/1
#UP 260/2 vs MP (Shaukat 110)
#Vidarbha 256/6 vs Odisha (Jaffer 1, Badrinath 6)

[Eddy]

Karnataka being bowled out for 187 is the biggest surprise there. Delhi team is in the pits anyway, player wise and management wise.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Karnataka being bowled out for 187 is the biggest surprise there. Delhi team is in the pits anyway, player wise and management wise.

Yeah. There is trouble in the Delhi management for sure. Stalwarts like Sehwag and Manhas parted ways, Bhatia was omitted, Ishant dropped, coach Ajay Jadeja absent for the first game. Don't know what's going on.
Nehra is not to be seen. Possibly out with injury.

[Eddy]

Nehra doesn't play the long format anymore I think. Rumour is that Gambhir and Bhatia fell out during the IPL, and hence the latters non-selection. And Gambhir himself is down in the dumps form wise.

[achyu]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Meanwhile, the new 2015-16 Ranji season was off to a good start today. Score updates and highlights, along with performances of some well-known players after first day of play:
#Saurashtra 270/6 vs Tripura (Pujara 10, Jadeja 91, Jackson 82)

Sir Jadeja yet again scoring runs at the domestic level. I am almost certain that the game is being played on the flat track at Rajkot .

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Nehra doesn't play the long format anymore I think. Rumour is that Gambhir and Bhatia fell out during the IPL, and hence the latters non-selection. And Gambhir himself is down in the dumps form wise.

So a lineup that was star studded not too long ago, with the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Nehra, Chand, Dhawan, Bhatia, and occasionally Kohli and Ishant, now looks exposed and inexperienced.

[kisharchit]

What a sad state of the match now. 69-7.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by kisharchit

What a sad state of the match now. 69-7.

Exactly. Now lost it officially by six wickets. And sadder state was of the crowd. Threw bottles on the ground and set the stand on fire. All for a small bilateral T20 game. Not even some World Cup playoff. But a World Cup playoff against the Proteas would've had different results!

[Eddy]

I hope that Cuttack does not get an international game too soon. Pathetic behavior !

Read a gem on Twitter:

Even our cities aren't united. Cuttack throwing bottles at Bhuvneshwar

[PPS]

A match we should have won! Not sure whether Dhoni has lost his sheen or if he's rusty due to lack of match practice over the last couple of months. The situation was tailor made for him. Him struggling to hit boundaries is a rare sight. Hope he bats higher up the order.
Credit also to the SA team. They were the better bowling attack. We rely too heavily on Ashwin & Mishra to get the wickets. And now with Ashwin injured things will only get worse.
This is going to be a difficult home series!

[amit_snk]

Time is a great leveller, 4 years back, dhoni could have finished today's match even with a stick in his hand. Such was the aura of this great man, seeing him coming onto bat, half the match would have been lost by the bower in his head.

But at the fag end of his career with young players gunning for every spot, change of captaincy debates going on, to deal with faltering form and at 34 he is not going to get any younger. Dhoni seems like a pale shadow of his great days.

He may be able to get his form back and rejuvenate his career but the job needs double the effort now compared to his younger days. This shows the greatness of our little master, how he constantly evolved and changed his style to extend his career up to the age of 40. That's why he's called LEGEND.