Before Martin Crowe yet again steals my ideas by reading this blog, let me put down a few things which are clear after just the Day 1 of Test #5:
1) Dhoni is by far the best wicket keeper batsman we have. Please do not confuse this with - he is the best captain we have. That is another thing all together
2) Gautam Gambhir's test match (and for all purposes, ODI) career is all but over, barring a miraculous 3 digit match saving score in 2nd innings. The bigger implication however of this is, there is no other senior player left who can be named as captain
3) Test matches are won by bowlers, you need to take 20 wickets and only then you can win the match. Second half of the series showed glimpses of decent team selection (so what if we didn't win the matches). Umesh Yadav needs to be tried out as well. Together with Aaron, Bhuvi, Shami and reluctantly Ishant, they are a decent bunch who if rotated well can form a semi-WI like quadret
4) Out of the current team, who can be left out? This is basically the all important question. Yeah everyone knows that changes need to be done but what changes?
Murali Vijay, Rahane, Dhoni, Bhuvi, Ishant (sadly), Aaron are the automatic choices (they can't be left out now as the explanation required will be a much greater pain). Need a new opener for sure. Pujara and Kohli form the toughest decision. Neither can be dropped BUT can neither be served a warning yet? I don't think they have yet reached the Sachin status, one of them needs to be told that much more is demanded out of them (I think Kohli deserves to be kicked - not just for poor batting but sloppy fielding as well)
5) Last but not the least - I have maintained this for a while now, India is always too focused on centuries, fast strike rates etc etc. Test match is not just about that. In a team where 7 people score ducks, what can a lone century do? what can a 150% strike rate achieve? You first need to score 200+ to give your bowlers some chance. You need traditional test match batsmen, who occupy crease, who atleast give someone a chance to score runs, blunt the opposition attack. That is where Dravid and Sachin were gods and that is why Binny, Rohit Sharma need to be taken out of the squad. They are not cut out for Test matches. You need people who prize their wickets, stay for 60 balls without scoring a run if need be.
MA
1) Dhoni is by far the best wicket keeper batsman we have. Please do not confuse this with - he is the best captain we have. That is another thing all together
2) Gautam Gambhir's test match (and for all purposes, ODI) career is all but over, barring a miraculous 3 digit match saving score in 2nd innings. The bigger implication however of this is, there is no other senior player left who can be named as captain
3) Test matches are won by bowlers, you need to take 20 wickets and only then you can win the match. Second half of the series showed glimpses of decent team selection (so what if we didn't win the matches). Umesh Yadav needs to be tried out as well. Together with Aaron, Bhuvi, Shami and reluctantly Ishant, they are a decent bunch who if rotated well can form a semi-WI like quadret
4) Out of the current team, who can be left out? This is basically the all important question. Yeah everyone knows that changes need to be done but what changes?
Murali Vijay, Rahane, Dhoni, Bhuvi, Ishant (sadly), Aaron are the automatic choices (they can't be left out now as the explanation required will be a much greater pain). Need a new opener for sure. Pujara and Kohli form the toughest decision. Neither can be dropped BUT can neither be served a warning yet? I don't think they have yet reached the Sachin status, one of them needs to be told that much more is demanded out of them (I think Kohli deserves to be kicked - not just for poor batting but sloppy fielding as well)
5) Last but not the least - I have maintained this for a while now, India is always too focused on centuries, fast strike rates etc etc. Test match is not just about that. In a team where 7 people score ducks, what can a lone century do? what can a 150% strike rate achieve? You first need to score 200+ to give your bowlers some chance. You need traditional test match batsmen, who occupy crease, who atleast give someone a chance to score runs, blunt the opposition attack. That is where Dravid and Sachin were gods and that is why Binny, Rohit Sharma need to be taken out of the squad. They are not cut out for Test matches. You need people who prize their wickets, stay for 60 balls without scoring a run if need be.
MA
