[Eddy]

Originally Posted by PPS

Expected better from Ganguly being an ex-player.

Ganguly the administrator has been the BIGGEST disappointment in Indian cricket in the past couple of years. Terrible management all round. Even worse communication.

[sridhu]

One question / observation on Kohli as captain in the limited overs formats

- how much of his success was due to having Dhoni keeping wickets?

I remember Kohli being in covers or in the deep while Dhoni set the field & made the bowling changes for as long as Dhoni was there.

Or am I mis-remembering things?

[harry10]

Since the time Sachin retired I have always wished him to become our batting coach or consultant even if it's for a short stint. As a player we can argue if Sachin was best, or Lara or even ponting but there is no doubt he was the most correct batsman when it comes to technique and his big match temperament was exemplary which is sorely lacking in our current Top 3 who keep failing in Big matches. His Sydney double century without hitting a single cover drive (his favourite shot) still remains one of the most remarkable innings in test cricket. Dhoni too has same big match temperament and I had hoped his influence would have worked as mentor but sadly it didn't.

Yes, he doesn't needs the money and maybe he doesn't have the time but still BCCI must work something out for him to get some time with these guys. I am sure if they ask he will oblige as his love for Indian cricket is unparalleled.

Btw, I rate Dravid equally high so even if Sachin can't consult I am sure Dravid may be able to change this tide of losing tournaments.

@EDDY- Ganguly can't go against BCCI. He is their employee and has to do whatever BCCI wants even if he has concerns. Can't bite the hand which feeds him. And we all know BCCI only wants money.

[VWAllstar]

Team for Ind vs NZ T20s has been announced. Not many surprises. Thought Rohit would be rested however good to see him leading full time now. Been a fan of his captaincy.

[pandey.jai]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Team for Ind vs NZ T20s has been announced. Not many surprises. Thought Rohit would be rested however good to see him leading full time now. Been a fan of his captaincy.

That schedule is brutal! They have just one day gap between games and they need to fly across - even if it’s just a one hour hop, it must be painful to do this every other day. Besides, when will they train/practice between games?

[PPS]

Originally Posted by harry10

Since the time Sachin retired I have always wished him to become our batting coach or consultant even if it's for a short stint.

Not sure if Sachin can help but I feel Management should seek the services of a part time Sports Psychologist in big tournaments or prior to it! The team did have one during the John Wright era probably, not sure if they've had one in recent times. Also for tours to England, SA, etc they should hire the services of a local coach who would know the pitches well. That could give the team an added advantage.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Team for Ind vs NZ T20s has been announced. Not many surprises. Thought Rohit would be rested however good to see him leading full time now. Been a fan of his captaincy.

Rahul Chahar who was picked for the T20WC because he's faster through the air is dropped & Chahal who was dropped earlier because he was too slow in the air is picked again! There are too many openers & just 1 finisher- Pant.

[yatin]

To all the people clamouring for different teams for T20 and different for Tests, I submit that we can set an example for the BCCI (not that Aus/NZ/UK haven't) by having different threads for Tests/ODI's (this one) and T20 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...20-thread.html (The T20 thread)).

[yatin]

On a cricketing note, in general, we shouldn't expect cricketing sense to prevail in the highly-commercialized world of international cricket. Wasn't it Greg Chappell who pointed out that cricket is made for advertising with so many breaks between overs?

There are so many "innovations" (more like sensible tweaks) that don't make it to the ground through the ICC.

The silly boundary rope rule is one. For a long time, Australian cricket had rules that the ball has to cross the rope to count as a boundary; i.e. first bounce on the rope is a 4 (not a 6 like it is now), and a fielder catching the ball with his feet on the rope, not behind, counts as "Out". This simple minor tweak had the disadvantage that it would take all the artificial excitement and score inflation out of the game (sarcasm intended) so it even got pushed out of Australian cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar had some constructive advice on improving the game: have 2 innings in ODI's too (he was also talking about 40-over games, I think, so 2 20-over innings) so that things like the dew factor don't spoil the match. No takers for this advice!

Even the evening T20 games in the Gulf prove the non-cricketing considerations. They could have started games after dark, and still complete it at a sane time. But no, that wouldn't suit the timings of the viewers in India!

[harry10]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Team for Ind vs NZ T20s has been announced. Not many surprises. Thought Rohit would be rested however good to see him leading full time now. Been a fan of his captaincy.

India should take all T20 seriously now if they want to win 2022 cup. Quite interested to see Rohit and Dravid partnership now.

Chahal was good in IPL and Varun was underwhelming so he gets a recall. Ashwin was impressive so he continues though i would have rested him as we need him in tests.

Good to see Ruturaj and Venky Iyer making it. I believe Venky will be tried at no.6 as an allrounder. We desperately need an alternative to Hardik.

Originally Posted by pandey.jai

That schedule is brutal! They have just one day gap between games and they need to fly across - even if it’s just a one hour hop, it must be painful to do this every other day. Besides, when will they train/practice between games?

The amount of money these guys make I don't see anyone complaining. Plus most of them are used to of doing it since years.

Also, Kohli is resting for first NZ test. Rohit will captain and Rahane will be VC. Seems Rahane's time is up in the team unless he does something great in first test. Kohli will be back for second test as Captain and bcci officials have made it clear test captaincy will stay with Kohli in near future.

[VWAllstar]

My Plyaing XI vs NZ:

R Gaikwad
R Sharma
SKY
S Iyer
I Kishan
R Pant (wk)
V Iyer
A Patel
R Ashwin
H Patel
M Siraj

This will give good game time to S Iyer & the newbies.
It will also make V Iyer bowl all 4 overs of his quota. No worries even if he gets tanked by the NZ batters, he still need to bowl full quota. Harshal's dipping slower ones and getting Kane Williamson bowled will be the 'moment'

[karanddd]

Originally Posted by harry10

The amount of money these guys make I don't see anyone complaining. Plus most of them are used to of doing it since years.

Money cannot buy rest. And the way the BCCI's run, no player is likely to complain about anything, no matter how legitimate the complaint. The players have no say in these schedules, and they cannot afford to ask for rest like the English players do. If they did they'd be attacked by the media and the general public and get called ungrateful, rich, spoilt etc. (for evidence take the Kohli joke tweet about bio bubbles) And boom there goes your career. If an Indian cricketer asked for a mental health break like Stokes did, what are the chances he'd play in an XI again?

No matter how you slice it, the BCCI has mismanaged players and schedules to the point where India is struggling to win white ball tournaments as they come off the back of punishing Test, IPL and bilateral commitments. Eoin Morgan didn't play Tests for England, neither did Finch or Maxwell for Australia, Buttler didn't play the IPL and Warner sat around. Look at those two now. The core of Indian batting and Bumrah have played Test series at home and away, against England and Australia, played the WTC final, and the IPL in two legs. The BCCI couldn't let go of the IPL despite having to sacrifice one test in England and having to squeeze the whole thing in before the WC.

Part of the fault is ours, that as a culture we don't think people who get paid obscene amounts of money to play games are people any more, but rather gladiators or show horses. And the BCCI only cares about one thing, money. No sacrifice is too big at the altar of profit.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

My Plyaing XI vs NZ:

R Gaikwad
R Sharma
SKY
S Iyer
I Kishan
R Pant (wk)
V Iyer
A Patel
R Ashwin
H Patel
M Siraj

This will give good game time to S Iyer & the newbies.
It will also make V Iyer bowl all 4 overs of his quota. No worries even if he gets tanked by the NZ batters, he still need to bowl full quota. Harshal's dipping slower ones and getting Kane Williamson bowled will be the 'moment'

I believe you have forgotten our New Vice Captain and regular opener, KL Rahul

To accomodate Gaikwad Rohit may play at 3. Sky at 4. Shreyas at 5. Pant at 6 and Venky at 7. Don't see Ishan getting a game in first 2 games.

Originally Posted by karanddd

No matter how you slice it, the BCCI has mismanaged players and schedules to the point where India is struggling to win white ball tournaments as they come off the back of punishing Test, IPL and bilateral commitments. Eoin Morgan didn't play Tests for England, neither did Finch or Maxwell for Australia, Buttler didn't play the IPL and Warner sat around. Look at those two now. The core of Indian batting and Bumrah have played Test series at home and away, against England and Australia, played the WTC final, and the IPL in two legs. The BCCI couldn't let go of the IPL despite having to sacrifice one test in England and having to squeeze the whole thing in before the WC.

Part of the fault is ours, that as a culture we don't think people who get paid obscene amounts of money to play games are people any more, but rather gladiators or show horses. And the BCCI only cares about one thing, money. No sacrifice is too big at the altar of profit.

I will agree with you on BCCI not managing the playing schedule well. That's a real concern. They shouldn't have conducted IPL so near to World cup.

However, Morgan isn't a test player and is never selected for it. Same goes for Finch and Maxwell now. Buttler didn't play IPL cos of a new born in family. Warner was woefully out of form in IPL and that's why SRH benched him.

Also, BCCI didn't sacrificed any test, they asked players to play it and players collectively refused because both their physios were positive for Covid and most of them were in close contact and they had families with kids travelling with them. I don't understand how anyone can even believe Indian team will let go of the opportunity of series win in England which they were dominating so well if they weren't afraid for their well being.

People can't have it both ways. They want to make crores and then also decide which games they want to play. Won't happen. Only a veteran like Kohli or Rohit have the luxury to take breaks and walk back into the team but that kind of reputation takes years to build. Can't expect a youngster like Gill or Gaikwad to skip any international series or IPL. Competition is too fierce now and talent is always knocking up.

Look at Shreyas, he was a lock in for T20 world cup at 4. Got injured at wrong moment and SKY took his place. Might take him a while to earn it back and many never do.

Ben stokes could take a break cos he knows he is a 100% walk in back into the team whenever he wants. We didn't had a replacement for Hardik that's why he keeps getting selected, if Venky Iyer clicks or someone else then even Hardik won't get his place back easily.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by harry10

I believe you have forgotten our New Vice Captain and regular opener, KL Rahul

No no was aware of KL being the VC. However, I feel he has almost cemented his place and had good international exposure. This series is perfect to provide relevant international games to batters like S Iyer, I Kishan, R Gaikwad & V Iyer.
I feel for S Samson, he has been in prolific form in the last 3 months. In the earlier stages of Rohit's career, he too was inconsistent like Samson but we stuck with him. Today Rohit is among the top 5 batters in the world. Samson too has similar stroke playing talent but somehow is not able to replicate in International Games. He need to be given 3 T20s as an opener even if he fails and then decide how to manage him.

The team selection, Rohit and Dravid's combo and Ruturaj Gaikwad opening has got me excited. Wont be surprised that even after IPL & T20 WC, only for these factors there will be high viewership.

[padmrajravi]

KL Rahul has cemented his place in all three formats now. His temperament in the England test matches was also impressive. So he is a good choice as vice-captain. The viewership will certainly go up now because of the Dravid factor.

Now that Kohli is not captain, hopefully, there is less of him in camera and that means less of *ben stokes*. So I can safely watch it with my kid.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

No no was aware of KL being the VC. However, I feel he has almost cemented his place and had good international exposure. This series is perfect to provide relevant international games to batters like S Iyer, I Kishan, R Gaikwad & V Iyer.
I feel for S Samson, he has been in prolific form in the last 3 months. In the earlier stages of Rohit's career, he too was inconsistent like Samson but we stuck with him. Today Rohit is among the top 5 batters in the world. Samson too has similar stroke playing talent but somehow is not able to replicate in International Games. He need to be given 3 T20s as an opener even if he fails and then decide how to manage him.

KL will play first 2 games for sure.
If they win series then he or Rohit may rest for last match.

Samson has only himself to blame. Rohit got so many chances because he was good at the beginning of his career. He made good contribution in 2007 T20 World cup and came into limelight. Plus many seniors were retiring and there was space in team. Now there are too many talented players for 1 or 2 spots. Pant is established, Kishan has made his mark recently, KL is another wicket keeping option. So, there is no space for Samson.

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

KL Rahul has cemented his place in all three formats now. His temperament in the England test matches was also impressive. So he is a good choice as vice-captain. The viewership will certainly go up now because of the Dravid factor.

Now that Kohli is not captain, hopefully, there is less of him in camera and that means less of *ben stokes*. So I can safely watch it with my kid.

You are mistaken. Kohli is the selling brand for broadcasters. Look at Dhoni, retired but still whole World cup camera was following him. I expect same to continue with Kohli. Only change will be Rohit will grab more screen time.