India has a jam packed schedule from the 3rd week of June when it'll be on the Europe tour to Ireland, England and Scotland.
It'll start with an ODI series on June 23 vs Ireland and 26, 29 and July 1 in Ireland against SA, on July 3rd at Scotland vs Pakistan and from July 7th to September 8th vs England.
India has already announced 29 probables for this tour who'll go bowlers specific training from June 4-8, in Mysore and batsmen specific training from June 9 to 12 at the National Cricket Academy.
Bowlers are:
Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, V R V Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Ranadeb Bose, Munaf Patel, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.
Leg spinner Piyush Chawla and medium pacer V Yo Mahesh have not been included in the bowlers' camp as they would be leaving for training at the Australian Cricket Academy on June 2.
Batsmen are:
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffer, V V S Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, M S Dhoni, Dinesh Kartik, Rohit Sharma, Mohd Kaif, S Badrinath and Yuvraj Singh.
Unfortunately neither Tiwary nor Raina are fit for the upcoming tour.
These camps would be followed by a conditioning camp for the players selected for Ireland and England tours (on June 12) at the NCA from June 13-16, a BCCI statement said.
What's up with Raina, Chandan? I know Tiwary will be out for still a while, but shouldn't Piyush Chawla be back from Australia long before the actual English tour begins?
So nice to see you Mirchi, after soooo many days! Hope you're fine.
Raina had a knee operaperation and is recuperating. But yes, Piyush will be back and will be available for selection. But they said that the team would be announced on 12th while Chawla will be back from Australia after 15th I suppose.
Yeah, I guess so. Hope he's selected in place of Kumble. I saw most of the BD series and was shocked at Munaf Patel's approach. He needs to be dropped now. I've never seen such a sloppy attitude. I think, if nurtured well, Ishant Sharma will do well. I'm also hoping Irfan Pathan has found his magic touch again. I think he would do well in English conditions.
I was just looking at the list for the 2 camps. For the ODI's I'd go with: Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Gambhir, Uthappa, Dhoni, Karthik, Yuvraj, Kaif, Zaheer, RP, Sreesanth, Pathan, Agarkar, Powar and Harbhajan/Piyush. For such a long tour (12 ODI's) I'd take at least 16 if not 17. If 17, I'd add Ishant.
Bhajji probably set to make a comeback because of a real dearth of quality spinners. Shouldn't have been the case. Pathan's form dropped too low for him to be considered without some sterling performances in the domestic scene.
For my taste Sehwag hasn't really shown that he has changed his approach and I seriously doubt whether he will ever change it. I'd like to see Rohit Sharma in the team too, but couldn't find place for him. Kaif is hungry (going by the reports). Yes, Agarkar is a gamble but the weather conditions in England could work well for him and India. I agree, Pathan is very iffy, but if comes anywhere close to what he once was, he'll be very effective. However, if he isn't, he may cost plenty. Again it's a gamble.
I'm surprised anyone would still want to see Munaf in the team. There isn't a place to hide him in the field and he's got no speed left. He gives the impression of being a squeezed out lemon. Of the two Ishant was just as accurate and surely deserves another go.
I think selectors will choose the team for the 5 ODIs in Ireland-Scotland first and then then the test squad.
The ODI squad for England will be announced in August.
But I'm not very sure about it. Hopefully someone, after they become free from overanalysing the BD series and coach appointment, will write about it.
Personally I'll not like to risk Sachin and Dravid for the meaningless off-shore ODI series in Ireland. They should be chosen for the ODI series vs England though.
I agree Ishant looks excellent, and if his FC performances are taken into account, he could turn out to be a good bowler for India. However he has this real rawness about him and I don't think his career should be jeopardised by thrusting him too early when we do good pace bowlers waiting in the wings.
Kumble to replace Bhajji in the test side, and Agarkar to come in in place of either Sehwag or Gambhirin the ODIs.
As for Munaf, I still think he has just too much talent to be wasted. His ground fielding is worse than Nehra's (that's about as damning as it gets) but he still is a decent-ish catcher. And he will increase his speed if he is more comfortable with his fitness. You can't just go from 150 kph to 125 kph at the drop of a hat.
Having been left out of the BD series, I doubt whether Sachin and Ganguly will be left out of the Ireland/Scotland outing - not if they are to be selected for England.
Doremi, as far as the maturity of beginning Ishant's international career is concerned, I agree totally. However, having once started, even if erroneously, I believe there should be continuity. Munaf is perpetually injured and his presence in the squad could hardly be a solace for Dravid. He used to bowl at 140+, so what motivated him to reduce? Injury-proneness or inability to keep up those speeds consistently?
good to see you back mirchy. have to totally agree with you on munaf. but ishant is too raw atm so we probably need munaf - theres no denying hes a class act when fit. also, sehwag is a must pick for the test side - he should never have been dropped
His first major injury, I guess, dented some of his confidence. He still turned out a much more penetrative bowler post-injury, taking tons of wickets in FC.
filo, Mysore in down south. The place you mean is up north.
His first major injury, I guess, dented some of his confidence. He still turned out a much more penetrative bowler post-injury, taking tons of wickets in FC.
Tickets to Lords and the Oval for both the ODIs and the Test is a bit of a lottery.
Oval has a policy to present all tickets without allocation to its membership. Looks like all ODI and Tests seating was sold - not leaving enough for the general public.
Watch the news and see the number of these "member" purchased tickets suddenly end up in the hands of touts.
The Oval management is one of the worst and combatting ticket fraud and I will go as far as stating that it encourages it - they have been repeatdly complained off ( so people I meet when I am luck enough to get a ticket state ) - and yet there is no discernable action.
But I am expecting a close fought fight between India and England - with India being the underdogs.
I am expecting Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar to get into the runs - the worry is India's opening pair - I still think that both the current may not be able to play well the likes of Hoggard/Harmison too well. Hence my keeness to see Sehwag - because at the end of the day he provides an option that if it works - the game can be wrested away from English control - Jaffer and Karthik don't offer this. I'd also like to see Kaif in - but I can't see who would be left out for him.
Bowling wise - I'd love to see Irfan back - but I doubt it. Someone will need to control Sreesanth and Munaf WILL play. I like Powar flight but he didn't appear to have much other than that and I reckon Harbhie will get a call back. Having two spinners will be a must - the English propsensity to slog sweep will need to be combatted. Chawla is too ineffective. He uses the wrong 'un as stock delivery rather than a susprise and I believe he is too easily read.
So again, India arrive in England with another team not properly composed in structure, form or attitude. When will they ever learn how to tour - this is probably one of the main reasons why they fail so badly in securing an away non-subcontinent series win.
So again, India arrive in England with another team not properly composed in structure, form or attitude. When will they ever learn how to tour - this is probably one of the main reasons why they fail so badly in securing an away non-subcontinent series win.
I share your frustration. But India is truly an underdog considering the current England team. I hope Sehwag is called back and he learns to have some control over himself. I was very encouraged to see that Bhajji was practicing to get his old bounce back. So let us hope for the best.
However sloppy Munaf might be, we need him at present and if there will be swing, Sree can wreck havoc like he did at Jo'berg. How nice it'll be have a Pathan with his swing back!
This is the England tour schedule: Jul 07-10: v Sussex, Hove Jul 13-15: v England A, Chelmsford Jul 19-23: v ENGLAND, 1ST TEST, Lord's Jul 27-31: v ENGLAND, 2ND TEST, Trent Bridge Aug 03-05: v Sri Lanka A, Leicester Aug 09-13: v ENGLAND, 3RD TEST, The Oval Aug 16: v SCOTLAND, ODI, Glasgow Aug 18: v England A, Northampton Aug 21: v ENGLAND, 1ST ODI, Rose Bowl (d/n) Aug 24: v ENGLAND, 2ND ODI, Bristol (d/n) Aug 27: v ENGLAND, 3RD ODI, Edgbaston Aug 30: v ENGLAND, 4TH ODI, Old Trafford (d/n) Sep 02: v ENGLAND, 5TH ODI, Headingley Sep 05: v ENGLAND, 6TH ODI, The Oval Sep 08: v ENGLAND, 7TH ODI, Lord's ------------------------------------------
If India can get rid of those 4 ODI matches in Ireland, it'll get some respite if not much!
Originally posted by doremi: Why are we playing against Sri Lanka A?
I think only ECB can answer that. Most probably because they'll not have to take out their 'A' players from country committments and won't have to get any county to play a warm up with India--killing two birds by one stone!!!
Sekar, head coach, MRF Pace Foundation, Said, "we worked on his run-up. His shoulders were swaying and he was not able to control his body movement. We worked on him moving from smaller steps to bigger strides."
Sekar added, "his load-up was in the same leg as his bowling arm. The load-up was early. We shifted him from a left leg load up to a right leg load up. This has cut out the twisting of his top half. His front arm is now straighter. I always felt Irfan could come out of the problem. A smooth run-up and the load-up on the right leg is the answer. His methods are more efficient now. He is bowling much quicker. He has been corrected up to 95 per cent."
For me, Dravid is the key player. If he scores like he did in 2002 (admittedly in his glory years) then India just might be able to keep England out in this series. Runs on the board will obviously be very important. Also, the more runs you get, the more attacking fields you can set.
