When it comes to selection of choosing the correct XI, you have to look at the opposition team. Australia has only one left handed batsman in their XI: Michael Hussey. It is highly unlikely that Indians go for three off spinners against them.
So, What do Dhoni/Indians do in terms of selection. Hoping that Sehwag will return to open the inning with Sachin Tendulkar, Top 6 (Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj and Dhoni) gets selected on the basis of their current form.
In bowling department though, there are lots of question marks other than Zaheer Khan.
Raina can safely put himself in number 12 position and rest assured will be used for at least 15 overs in fielding department to cover Sehwag and/or Sachin.
Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Nehra, Munaf, Sreesanth and Chawla; Seven Stars and 4 Positions. It is very certain that India will at least go for one fast bowler to support Zaheer.
Lets look at PROS & CONS between three seamers.
Nehra:
PROS: Wicket taking option in the middle overs.
He is pretty effective in the depth overs (compare to Munaf and Sreesanth)
CONS: With Zaheer he will be second left arm seamer which gives less variety.
Can go for Plenty of runs and can be wayward under pressure.
Sreesanth
PROS: Better Fielder compare to Munaf and Nehra.
Better Batsman compare to Munaf and Nehra.
Better Wicket Taking Option in first 10 overs
CONS: Bad Temperament.
Can go for plenty of runs at the start and end overs if put under pressure.
Munaf
PROS: Better Line & Length bowler compare to Sreesanth and Nehra
Better economy rate.
Wicket taking option in the depth overs
CONS: Worst fielder/batsman compare to other two.
Least likely to take wickets in first 10 overs puts ressure on Zaheer
Ahemdabad track will not have lot of grass or bounce which means three fast bowlers is highly unlikely scenario. This means, Dhoni will go for 3 spinners out of 4 available (Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Chawla).
Pathan is most likely to get in the playing XI. Ahmadabad is close to his home town. He is match winner in terms of his batting. He is better fielder among the other 3 spinners. Dhoni likes playing seven batsman and hence he gets in.
2 Spots and 3 Spinners much like , “Aadmi 2 aur goli 3, bahut na insaafi hai re.”
Problem in going with Ashwin and Harbhajan is that, then India will have 3 off spinners against Australians who has only one left handed batsman. That will certainly make India’s bowling one dimensional, no matter how different all three off spinners are.
Problem in going with Chawla is that he is short of confidence plus after both the off spinners performed so well, Ashwin and Harbhajan in last game, who should be left out?
Can Dhoni take a risk of dropping Pathan and go with three front line spinners and 5 front line batsmans, considering that Yuvraj has also found the lost form in last game by scoring a hundred. My recommendation is to go with five bowlers and make a statement. After all, What do seventh batsman can do that six couldn’t? There can be a calculated risk taken and send Harbhajan as a pinch hitter in between Gambhir and Kohli somewhere around 20th over when Kretza and Watson are bowling to nullify the need for Pathan at the depth overs.
We have to wait and see what is the strategy Indian think tank come up in terms of selection of playing XI before the game.
So, What do Dhoni/Indians do in terms of selection. Hoping that Sehwag will return to open the inning with Sachin Tendulkar, Top 6 (Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj and Dhoni) gets selected on the basis of their current form.
In bowling department though, there are lots of question marks other than Zaheer Khan.
Raina can safely put himself in number 12 position and rest assured will be used for at least 15 overs in fielding department to cover Sehwag and/or Sachin.
Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Nehra, Munaf, Sreesanth and Chawla; Seven Stars and 4 Positions. It is very certain that India will at least go for one fast bowler to support Zaheer.
Lets look at PROS & CONS between three seamers.
Nehra:
PROS: Wicket taking option in the middle overs.
He is pretty effective in the depth overs (compare to Munaf and Sreesanth)
CONS: With Zaheer he will be second left arm seamer which gives less variety.
Can go for Plenty of runs and can be wayward under pressure.
Sreesanth
PROS: Better Fielder compare to Munaf and Nehra.
Better Batsman compare to Munaf and Nehra.
Better Wicket Taking Option in first 10 overs
CONS: Bad Temperament.
Can go for plenty of runs at the start and end overs if put under pressure.
Munaf
PROS: Better Line & Length bowler compare to Sreesanth and Nehra
Better economy rate.
Wicket taking option in the depth overs
CONS: Worst fielder/batsman compare to other two.
Least likely to take wickets in first 10 overs puts ressure on Zaheer
Ahemdabad track will not have lot of grass or bounce which means three fast bowlers is highly unlikely scenario. This means, Dhoni will go for 3 spinners out of 4 available (Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Chawla).
Pathan is most likely to get in the playing XI. Ahmadabad is close to his home town. He is match winner in terms of his batting. He is better fielder among the other 3 spinners. Dhoni likes playing seven batsman and hence he gets in.
2 Spots and 3 Spinners much like , “Aadmi 2 aur goli 3, bahut na insaafi hai re.”
Problem in going with Ashwin and Harbhajan is that, then India will have 3 off spinners against Australians who has only one left handed batsman. That will certainly make India’s bowling one dimensional, no matter how different all three off spinners are.
Problem in going with Chawla is that he is short of confidence plus after both the off spinners performed so well, Ashwin and Harbhajan in last game, who should be left out?
Can Dhoni take a risk of dropping Pathan and go with three front line spinners and 5 front line batsmans, considering that Yuvraj has also found the lost form in last game by scoring a hundred. My recommendation is to go with five bowlers and make a statement. After all, What do seventh batsman can do that six couldn’t? There can be a calculated risk taken and send Harbhajan as a pinch hitter in between Gambhir and Kohli somewhere around 20th over when Kretza and Watson are bowling to nullify the need for Pathan at the depth overs.
We have to wait and see what is the strategy Indian think tank come up in terms of selection of playing XI before the game.
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