[vibbs]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Dhawan and Pujara failed in the warm-up game. I'd be shocked to see Dhawan and Vijay open the innings. I think Pujara will still play two test matches, even if he gets two king pairs- I want Rahane to play up the order.

A lot depends on how well Vijay and Rahul play the new ball bowlers and whether Kohli and Rahane can accelerate after in the middle overs. These four will be key to a series victory in England. Remember, they are still an unsettled side.

If we play 4 bowlers (which I think we should)- we better get 400-450 in out first innings.

Best opportunity for Kathik to grab the keeping spot from Saha.

Well I am not sure how much Pujara will contribute in these conditions, but I guess he will start off in the first test.

I think the combination will be

Vijay
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
DK
Kuldeep/jadeja
Ashwin
Shami
Umesh yadav
Ishant sharma

I however would swap either Dhawan or Pujara with KL Rahul.
And no I will not start with four bowlers. I will pick 3 pacers and 2 spinners. To start off with 4 bowlers will be too defensive in my opinion.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by vibbs

I however would swap either Dhawan or Pujara with KL Rahul.

I hope KL Rahul gets a nod over Dhawan, but Kohli may spring a surprise (by playing Dhawan and going against common belief).
Pujara is too good (on paper) to be dropped right now, a possibility in later tests if he fails.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by vibbs

To start off with 4 bowlers will be too defensive in my opinion.

We need to sort out our batting woes first! The reason we lost in SA was due to our insipid batting.
Also, the contribution by the taillenders will prove decisive in this series.
The selection of Adil Rashid & Moeen Ali probably hints at a dry surface in Birmingham.

[y448]

Originally Posted by PPS

We need to sort out our batting woes first! The reason we lost in SA was due to our insipid batting.
Also, the contribution by the taillenders will prove decisive in this series.
The selection of Adil Rashid & Moeen Ali probably hints at a dry surface in Birmingham.

Going in with 4 bowlers, that too without Bhuvi and Bumrah, will not be enough against a long English batting lineup. Our batsmen will have to pull their socks and apply themselves.

Even if the surfaces are dry, I doubt it will provide so much support to spinners to justify a 4 man bowling lineup.

[Eddy]

No Pujara, no Kuldeep. Good that we are at least bowling first with this line-up.

India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma

[comfortablynumb]

Bowling looks slightly one dimensional with Yadav, Ishant, Shami AND Pandya. Jadeja instead of Pandya would have added a little variety, and wouldn't have weakened (for want of a better word) the batting or fielding too much.

Oh well, Que Sera Sera!

Cheers,
Vikram

[hemanth.anand]

Apart from Pandya, rest of the selections look ok to me. Jadeja or even Kuldeep are better choices IMO
If Bhuvi and Bumrah were available, They would've been playing instead of Umesh and Shami.
Dhawan and Rahane will have to play well to keep their places with Pujara, Karun nair waiting. Dhawan's form in England, he being a left hander and the aggressive nature is going for him.
Karthik has to perform well or else Pant is waiting.
Anyway, let's see how it all unfolds.

[PPS]

Unfortunately our test specialist Pujara had to be dropped! He can't blame anyone but himself, he's been in poor form this entire county season. But its only a matter of time before he comes back into the XI sometime in this series itself.

India badly need to improve their slip catching. Already 1 catch gone down.

Bhuvi is going to be badly missed in this series!

[landcruiser123]

India bowled well today! Ashwin was especially impressive.
Anderson was looking like a walking wicket, but we couldn't remove him. Hope India can finish in the first 15 minutes tomorrow.

Pandya doesn't add too much value in the side, I'd rather play Jadeja. To me, Test all rounders must be good enough to get into the side based on one skill alone- Pandya doesn't fit into that category.

Wonder whether Rahul or Dhawan will open.

[hemanth.anand]

Good start to the series from the Indian team!
Ashwin was like some Bhavan in chennai having 100s of different varieties of Dosas on it's menu.
Such were the number of different deliveries coming out of his hand. What was wonderful was that he was bowling all these variations with utmost ease and control. The fact that there were 7 left handers in the English team also was to his favor.
Root's run out by Kohli was the real turning point however IMO.

Originally Posted by PPS

India badly need to improve their slip catching. Already 1 catch gone down.

One at the beginning and one right at the end in the last over by Karthik. Otherwise Englan would've been closed their innings on the first day itself. Anyway these 2 drops won't cost too must IMO. But they can't do this often going forward in the series.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Wonder whether Rahul or Dhawan will open.

At the Toss, Kohli told that KL will be at No.3

[kavensri]

Except for Pandya (instead of Jadeja), rest of the team selection seems okay for me. When we are already playing 3 genuine seamers, there was no need for a player like Pandya. I know, I still need to wait for Indian innings to get over before I can comment about 'Pujara's omission'. But, considering his recent form (not that Dhawan has been playing great in test matches), Dhawan's decision is justifyable. If he can play Sehwag kind of innings, it will give a positive start to the Indian innings. Before that, I hope that we can remove that last wicket quickly. Many a times, we often tend to get 7-8 wickets quickly and then allow number 9-11 to elongate the innings, especially when we are play away. So, hoping for a positive start today

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Except for Pandya (instead of Jadeja), rest of the team selection seems okay for me.

True. Seems ok to me as well except Pandya. I think we have decent batsmen who if they do their job, we don't need a bits and pieces player like Pandya to strengthen the batting. However the recent performances from our batting lineup would have tempted team management to take that step. Looking at how Ashwin bowled, in the hindsight I would have liked one more spinner in the team instead of Pandya.

Regarding Pujara too, I guess choice is correct to leave him out. He has not done too well overseas and his form in county too had been woeful.
Dhawan won the confidence perhaps due to his Limited overs for and team may be expecting a quick positive start from him.
I think Pujara may still come back in team if Dhawan does not do well.

All in all I think quite close to the strongest team we could have fielded in absence of Bhuvi and Bumrah.

[Eddy]

IMO, both Pant and Karun Nair will eventually make their way into the 11 in this series.

I could not catch all the action yesterday but read somewhere that Umesh was not bowling at his usual speeds. Is that so ?

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by vibbs

All in all I think quite close to the strongest team we could have fielded in absence of Bhuvi and Bumrah.

I would not say the strongest we could have fielded. Pandya and Umesh don't seem to be doing well enough to justify their places.
Perhaps Kuldeep and Jadeja would have been better options. It does seem though that Kuldeep is being saved for later in the test series on what would be more helpful tracks for him.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

IMO, both Pant and Karun Nair will eventually make their way into the 11 in this series.

Not too sure about Nair but if Karthik keeps dropping catches & doesn't score too many runs, Pant will come in for sure. Our captain loves ringing in the changes! I don't even think Rahane's place is secure in the team.

I could not catch all the action yesterday but read somewhere that Umesh was not bowling at his usual speeds. Is that so ?

Saw a bit of the last session & the highlights, Umesh was the least impressive of the bowlers, was getting the ball to reverse a bit but his line & length have always been a bit of an issue. He bowled much better in the IPL!
Ishant was unlucky not to pick too many wickets though. Shami surprisingly looked sharp.