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Laxman at three would carry the fringe benefit of pushing Ganguly down to six. Ganguly has earned a place in Test team against Pakistan and if he performs, he will have earned his berth to Australia, but he should bat no higher than six. Given his fragility against the short ball it would be silly to have him bat above someone like Laxman against an Australian pace battery on bouncy pitches.

Which is why Captain Kumble might turn out to be an inspired choice. He's the one player who can disregard the hierarchies of Indian cricket and force a rational batting order on the team. Dravid was too compromised by his closeness to Greg Chappell to impose his authority on the line-up after the Australian's departure and though Mahendra Singh Dhoni doesn't seem to have a deferential bone in his body, he is possibly too 'junior' and too unproven at the Test level to tell his 'seniors' where they should bat. Kumble has been given the captaincy at the end of a magnificent career, he has nothing left to prove, he's not a batsman (and has no personal stake in the matter): consequently he's the closest India gets to the beau ideal of the selfless, disinterested leader.

With him in charge, I live in hope that the eccentric moves to replace Laxman as a Test batsman with Yuvraj will come to nothing. One reason for not making Dhoni Test captain is that it would have been harder for him to keep players who had done well for him in the shorter versions of the game, out of the Test team. The clamour to include Yuvraj in the Test team is fuelled by his limited-overs performances. A captain like Kumble who doesn't play that form of cricket any more, is insulated from those pressures.

Harbhajan Singh has his critics who argue that he isn't the wicket-taking force he once was. He had a wretched time in Pakistan in 2005-6 and an indifferent series against England soon after, but in fairness, he did pretty well against the West Indies in the last Test series he played. He took eleven wickets in two Test matches. I think he's owed an opportunity to prove himself and the Pakistan series is the right proving ground. If he doesn't take enough wickets, he ought to be dropped from the Australian tour.

It is unusual to have two keepers in the playing eleven. There's an Indian precedent in Farokh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan, but it's an unstable condition. While a specialist opening batsman is cut some slack in the matter of big runs so long as he delivers partnerships (Chetan Chauhan comes to mind), a ‘keeper-batsman playing as a specialist opener is, paradoxically, under huge pressure to score a hundred to justify the exclusion of the specialist batsmen clamouring to play in his place. It's unfair, but that's how it works and the Test series against Pakistan should be time enough to judge if Karthik is good enough to become a fixture at the top of the order.

I'd have had S Badrinath in Yuvraj's place because after nineteen tests and a batting average of thirty-three, the Punjab batsman has done enough to demonstrate that he'll never be a significant Test batsman. He's that rare creature: a great specialist limited-overs player. But it's politically impossible to drop him from consideration given his great deeds in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, so the selectors can't be faulted on that score. All things considered, they've done a decent job.

Why you are blaming ganguly ??

he is a genius ...

One flaw in your observation Mukul! How can you say that Yuvraj would never be a force in test cricket? The man has got oodles of talent and with a little more thought he will be a better batsman even in the longer version of the game.

I am all for Yuvraj's inclusion , just because he is from Punjab does not give you a logical reason to rant against his inclusion. Laxman has an ordinary record against Pakistan and apart from Australia is ordinary against most teams. It is high time we replace him and inject some young blood into the team.

Laxman's weakness against the incoming ball is too glaring to be ignored. I am sure he is going to prove a sitting duck against Akhtar and Gul , both of whom specialise in bringing the ball into the batsman.

Apart from the that there is always a look of fear in his eyes whenever Shoaib Akhtar has come to bowl , the man is utterly incapable of performing his best against anybody but Australia. We don't need batsmen who are afraid of quick bowlers but players who play with their blood and guts. I had not expected such a parochial response from a writer such as you.

Oh Come on, Mukul. You are being hypocritical here. On one side you support Laxman at Number 3 for him being an attacking batsman and on the other side dont want Yuvraj in the test side since he is a one-day specialist!
I think Yuvi is at the prime of his career currently and deserves a place in the team in place of Ganguly. I would have Jaffer & Sehwag opening (not selecting Sehwag is a bug mistake) followed by Dravid , Sachin, Laxman, Yuvi and Dhoni. Now that is a solid batting lineup both on paper and on form.

Mukul,
You are the only writer who talks sense all the time, and do it with remarkable eloquence. I share exactly your feelings about VVL, just about the best batsman in the world today in terms of sheer grace and virtuosity. It beggars belief that such genius and talent is pushed to the edge of extinction for no discernible reason. I have never come to terms with his exclusion from the one-day side, because there is no other player in India who can pick gaps in a field with the ease and finesse that makes VVL a rarity in international cricket. But selectors in India are a pretty strange species. I remember that Gundappa Vishwanath used to be dropped constantly from the one-day team even though there was no player in the world at that time who could improvise and pick gaps in the field with a wizardry that left bowlers like Michael Holding bemused. During those days, Gavaskar continued to be an automatic choice even after his infamous 36 not out in 60 overs. And this chairman of selectors should know, more than anyone else, the importance of giving talent time. I cannot count the number of times that he displayed embarrassing discomfiture against genuine pace on fast tracks, but he was persevered with and came good towards the end of his career. But in those days, if you were from Bombay, you seemed set to have far more opportunities than better players from "lesser" states. Variations of a theme.
Best,
Hari

I am a regular cricinfo reader...what he is telling...YUVRAJ IS THE BEST BATSMAN IN THE HOUSE NOW....He deserve a chance to play...If he can play well in one day...he can do the same in test cricket....he need a chance...who is LAXMAN..HE IS NOTHING...he scored one 281 against australia...tha's the only reason he is in the team...but he got the reward for that..last 45 years he is hanging in the team due that past performance...Writers like mukul spoil the future of indian cricket..they support these old horses and discourage the young talents like yuvraj,raina,tiwary,badrinath and gambhir....

I wd like to have the following lineup for Australia test ..
Sehwag and Laxman/Dravid (to open)
Darvid/Kaxman (one down)
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Dhoni
Pathan
Kumble
Z.Khan
Sreesanth
Harbhajan/M.Karthik

It would be a good idea to have three spinners and lots of close in fielders and put pressure on Australia if India looks to win the test matches in Australia.So Pathan can be replaced by either Harbhajan or Karthik.This is the best lineup which should give India a chance for victory.Selectors pls take note .We should play according to our strengths rather that depend on the pitch to decide the teams.

Apart from Laxman I would also include Mukul Kesavan as a part of an endangered species - the one comprising literate and readable cricket writers. Ever since retired cricket players have taken over reporting on cricket there has been an appalling deterioration in the quality of cricket writing in India.

1. Yuvraj never got a consistent chance in test matches. He was even asked to open the batting by then captain. Yuvraj has the game in him to be a good test bat. It is only a question of time.

2. Historically, Ganguly averages around 30 runs against Australia and Pakistan. Why not pick Yuvraj over Ganguly? And again Ganguly averages around 30 runs against South Africa and West Indies. Note: All have good pace bowlers.

3. These days, sponsors and fame scores over reality. VVS must bat at #3. But he is a easy pick for the selectors to drop. He does not have any sponsors or advertisements or the political backing.

All the best to the Indian team.

Why do you want to put Ganguly at no. 6? He is in fine form and probably the best batsman for India in year 2007. Please think of India before being regionally biased.

I also do feel the same Laxman should be at no.3 But i think u are too harsh on Dinesh Karthik. He has done nothing wrong in test matches till now.He will also add balance to the team as wicket-keeper plus opening batsman. In such case we can afford to play an extra bowler or an allrounder at 7. I dont think in test format there is any difference between Dhoni and Karthik.

Yuvraj has played 19 tests at an average of 33 but he was a regular member of the team only during the period from the srilankan series in 2005-06 to the west indies series in 2006-07(10 Tests) after which an injury led to the comeback of Ganguly. During that period he didn't do enough to make sure of his place on returning from injury. But once the big four fades out he will still have at least five years of test cricket left in him. Had the BCCI schedeuled some more first class fixtures during the Aussie tour players like badrinath and tiwary could have been taken and tested against Sheffield sides.

Please Mukul, give the issue of Sourav Ganguly and the short ball a break and a rest. We will have the Australian journalists pick up on that and hope that you and they get the same reply as was given in the 1st test in the last series in Australia. That is the fact, and what you are doing is endless speculation.

No one doubts Laxman's record against Australia but surely Sourav has shown better form in the last test series or two. If I had to follow your line of Sourav's fraility against the short ball, I could also argue that Sourav is perhaps more comfortable against the swinging/moving ball than Laxman is as evidenced by Laxman's discomfort in England.

What is amusing is that you still have Sourav "having to perform to earn his berth" in the tests against Pakistan. Doesn't Laxman have a similar need given he had an OK series against England and a dismal Ranji outing against Bengal (where he was not at all comfortable against the best pace attack at a state level) ? Or is his place guaranteed on the basis of performance 3 years ago ?

Do have some modicum of consistency in your analysis. You cannot have one set of rules for players you like (Laxman)and one for those you cannot tolerate but have to swallow criticism on the basis of performance (Ganguly).

Interesting how you managed to discuss the indian batting lineup without mentioning the word "tendulkar".

With 5 bowlers (3 seamers and 2 spinners) and Dhoni at No. 6, there is no position left for Ganguly or Laxman. Ganguly, although scoring steadily, has yet to play a match winning or match saving innings since the South Africa Series (2nd test onwards to be precise) including onedayers. Whereas he may have contibuted to India's losses by either not getting out (300+ run chase against Australia) or getting out at critical times (world cup vs. Bangladesh, 6th ODI vs. England). My preferred order would be Karthik, Jaffar, Dravid/Laxman, Tendulkar, Laxman/Dravid, Dhoni and then the bowlers. In India, 2 spinners are a must. And 3 seamers are essential anyway. So either of Ganguly or Laxman would have to sit out. No chance for Yuvi. An allrounder option like Irfan Pathan or Praveen Kumar would allow playing one more batsman. Better still play them both.

I've never understood why the Indian team selectors have always had this indifferent attitude towards Laxman; but then, we don't live in a perfect world. Let's accept it, Laxman is one of the finest batsman of his era and deserves to be in the Test team more often than not. To me as a spectator, he brings the attacking quality of graceful shots and those stylish Hyderabadi flicks through the on-side... as a team member, he brings balance to the side, as you've brilliantly argued. For once, the selectors seem to have got it right with him.

Unfortunately, I completely disagree (and I hope most of India agrees with me on this one) with the treatment meted out to Dravid. A humble and hard-working cricketer is to be cherished, not to be dismissed into oblivion with disgrace, as the selectors seem to have done up till now.

As for Yuvraj, Mukul, is it his flamboyance in the one-day and Twenty20 format of the game that makes you feel that he couldn't perform well in the longer version? I would still argue that he be given an opportunity, since he too is a fairly capable bloke. And if for nothing else, he should be given a look-in for the Test squad just because he so obviously is dying to have a go at it (he mentioned as much in the post-match conference at the Kanpur game where he was awarded the Man of the Match).

Useless article written by somebody who hasn't spent much time/thoughts before writing such an srticle.

i am a little curious to find out what Mukul was smoking when he wrote this and/or if this article was ghost written by some imposter.

Laxman's technique is not as tight as it should be for a number 3, which means India will be 2 down in no time. Citing yuvraj's average here doesn't make sense...coz he has never been given an extended run in the test match side. i would pick him in the 11 instead of Saurav Ganguly as he is in batting form and a better fielder by a country mile.

Well, finally someone to speak out for a batsman like Laxman. He's an endangered species in more ways than one. He's one of the last of a dying breed of elegant batsmen. Azhar, Mark Waugh, Hooper, now himself...batting him higher up, will at the very least give people a greater chance to check out his graceful batting, even if it is only for a year or so more. Hope Kumble reads this. For the sake of cricket, for the sake of posterity, for the sake of the joy that Laxman brings when he bats, I hope he acts upon this suggestion if he does read it.

i dont think that u know much about what u r talking about....

The beauty of Laxman is also his bane. When in mood he is melody. When not in mood, he is a massacre. Dravid on the contrary is dour but deep. To push him later to the tailenders is nonsensical. As for Sourav, his return on the bouncy South African pitches is now a fairy tale. He was the top scorer in that series. This man has toughened his cricket immensely despite not losing one bit of his flair. Going by Ravi Shastri, if anybody looked like getting a century in England it was him. And let’s keep in mind that with Sachin in ODI he holds the most amazing opening pair in cricketing history. His position for once need not be tinkered with. I would love to see Laxman in song. But his high pitched eloquence is so momentary, that one cannot ignore the groans of his muffled voice.

Hi Mukul,

I am Ram, writing from Auckland, NZ. I have gone through your blog 'Time to rejig batting order'.
It is really fantastic and very much appealing about the selection considering the test series ahead. Infact I am looking forward to the performance of Indian team in Australia, a real challenge. In the light of performance of the Indian players, your article has information enough about the batting line-up as the title says but little information on the bowling performances except on the inclusion of Harbhajan. I strongly believe that, to win test matches India need to perform very well in the bowling department too. A good batting performance can provide an opportunity to draw the test match if there is a mediocre bowling performance which I think you would agree. In this regard, I would like to read your comments on the best bowling approach to win the upcoming series both against Pakistan and Australia.

Cheers,
Ram

Hi Mukul,

A very fair perspective. Even I do go through the upheavals on selection everytime (always hoping that Laxman would be included).

You make a very fair point of Yuvraj. He is not a test player. And it is good that the Selectors have not been too swayed by the PR machinery at work to include him. And as far as Dhoni is concerned, he is yet to prove himself as a winner at the test level. His batting is yet to be tested at the test level. Hence there is no question of him becoming a test captain. The selectors have made the correct choice in appointing Kumble as captain.

You are right with the batting order and dropping Ganguly down to no.6 slot. But I would go one step further and say, he has to replaced by Yuvraj immediately. Sourav has proved his point but his shortcomings with the shortball are inexplicable.

Confidence is lost in Ganguly despite his comeback. That's not the case with Yuvraj so far in his patchy test career.Yuvraj has to find a place in the Test squad at the expense of Ganguly. The sooner, the better.

i am not convinced at all by this column.First you told tha laxman should bat up the order.You compare the performances of dravid and laxman and you find the answer. After come back Ganguly is the highest test run getter and you want to drop him at no six(he performed better than ganguly in england also). You also don't want kartik in the test just because he is a keeper.Mind you he is playing as pure batsman not as a keeper batsman an he is the most cosistent indian opener in the last six test(5 fifties and 1 hundred).
I think you have the mindset that whatever indian selectors do you will criticise them. The players find the place on their merit.

You may be right but why has everybody written off Irfan Pathan?

A rather prejudiced and naively written article

Our test middle order is as settled as it has ever been. It'd be extremely foolish to drop any of the 'seniors' now, Laxman, Dravid, Ganguly or Tendulkar. All four have done enough to merit a place and a run in the side for quite some time yet. And yes, I do agree that Badrinath should really be in the squads we select for the test side. He's done enough over the last few years if Indian domestic cricket is worth something according to the selectors.

Jaffer and Karthik aren't really that defensive, though Jaffer is very inconsistent, and as much as I admire Karthik's determination, I'm not sure he's upto it at the highest level at the top of the order. Sehwag should come in, if either of the openers fail badly this series.

I agree with Mukul that VVS should be in the top order. In fact (despite some techical flaws which Shewag also has) he would provide the the momentum to the innings. This does not leave in mind a place for Karthik. I would bat Dravid at 3, Tendulkar at 4 , Yuvraj at 5 and Ganguly at 6. I think Yuvraj is class and is the future and he needs to be given a clear long term run in what has been a stop start career.

I will take your article with a grain of salt since it is just your opinion. In all honesty, Yuvraj Singh should play ahead of Laxman or Ganguly. Yuvraj is in sublime form and he will be a big force in the 5 day version in the near future and you will be eating your words.Cheers

I love reading Mukul's comments simply because they are, more often than not, biased predominantly towards players from South India (his latest tirade against Dravid is an exception). He talks about promoting Laxman ahead of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly. On current form (over the last 2 Test series), Laxman has looked a pale shadow in comparison to Tendulkar and Ganguly. Moreover, no self respecting individual worth his salt would anyway try to argue that Laxman is (or ever has been) a better Test match player than Dravid. The fact that Mukul doesn't get "entertained" by Dravid's batting is a different matter altogether. In fact, on current form, Yuvraj should rightfully claim his place in the playing eleven in place of Laxman - not only is he a much better batsman but by Mukul's yardstick, he will definitely be more "entertaining". If Kumble doesn't turn out to be as parochial as Mr. Kesavan (the country surely has great hopes from Kumble), indeed we might see the talented Yuvraj replacing Laxman, thereby not just adding more solidity to the batting but also injecting class to the fielding (apart from providing Kumble with a partnership breaking bowling option). I'm sure if you take an online poll today, most ex-cricketers would rightfully support Yuvraj's claim to the team than Laxman's. Time to wake up to reality Mr. Kesavan!

With due respect to the author,I would beg to differ with his article on many differnt issues especially about Yuvraj Singh.He is one of better batsmen against pace attack,in bouncy pitches.He should be given a long stint in the longer version of the game as well,only then it can be seen if he can develop into a "Significant Batsman as author would like to call".It is rather unfair to jugde him on his average when he has not been given continuous matches.Every Indian batsman is vulnerable in swinging conditions,and "Laxman is no different".Whether giving impotece to the innings or counter attacking,Yuvraj should be the answer as he carries the hope of next generation on his shoulders.

to say yuvraj will never be a good test batsman and to base it wholly on yuvraj's test average after 19 tests and at the same time eulogising laxman...mr mukul laxman didn't have a great average in his 1st 19 tests and be still became a good test batsman....u are a useless writer

A few thoughts Mr. Kesavan:
I too am a member of the rapidly diminishing camp that supports Laxman's inclusion in the playing XI. However, I must take issue with a few of your other points:
You note that Yuvraj's average of 33 dooms him to test ignominy and precludes any future chances: this line of analysis seems fallacious. Virender Sehwag's test average hovers around 50 and one could hardly justify including him in the test squad today, let alone the playing XI. One needs to go on present and form and if the limited overs format is all that we have to go by, then so be it: Yuvraj Singh needs to find a spot in the playing XI lest we waste his talent. Your analysis of Yuvraj in the ODI context is perhaps more applicable to a Robin Uthappa right now; Yuvraj has matured as a batsman and certainly deserves a spot in the playing Xi. That having been said, it would be difficult to justify dropping any of the batsmen right now, so the onus will be heavy on Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik to continue coming good.

Dravid needs to come in at the number 3 slot. He is indeed India's best batsman and at that position, one needs someone who can keep the momentum going, while also being capable of consolidating. Despite the horror that a potential Jaffer-Dravid partnership generates in you, one needs to persist with him at number 3.
Had Sourav Ganguly's susceptibility to the short ball been a problem thus far during his comeback, he would have been demoted; while the Australian pitches should provide fresh challenges even to the galacticos, Ganguly's reinvention of himself as a batsman give me enough confidence in his ability to justify the higher spot in the batting order.

Dear Mukul,
Thanks for a Nice article. Everything mentioned in your article look fit in place. Only thing which was shocking was the comments about Yuvraj.
This man has been doing his best for past 3 Years, by winning Man of the Series in most of the series played by him( I am talking about One Days). He has won so many matches for India in last 3 Years that we can rate him as NO 1 Match Winner( Ahead of Tendulkar).Indian Cricket team was Doing wonderfull under Chappel only till the time Yuvraj was playing . Soon he got injured all the problems start emerging finally leading to sacking of Chappel. If you say in 19 Test Yuvraj has a batting average of 33, please go and see in how many years Yuvraj has played these tests. Has he been given one full series with confirdence No Never. Another Point Kindly go & Check the Average of your beloved Laxman after his first 18 Test Matches you will find the answer yourself. early part of Laxmans career was the same he was forced to open, batting order was not clear. In Nutshell it is right time to Groom Yuvraj as a test batsman on the expense of Ganguly/Laxman before it is too late& we loose a gem of a cricketer.

Regards

Maneet

I think Laxman should not have been included in the Test team based on his recent Ranji Trophy form but instead youngsters like Manoj Tiwary of (Bengal) or Hemal watekar of (Andhra) should be given a chance because of their centuries in the domestic circuit. I think Laxman or Dinesh Karthik are a waste in the Team

Well conceived and well written, especially when he said Anil is insulated from the pressures of one day wonders. If at all we had this kind of thinking hats at the top of selection panel, probably Australia could be envying us now.

...mukul i disagree with your idea of promoting laxman at no.3 since he is a good player down the order these days & knows how to play with tail enders just like ganguly....although yuvi deserves a place in the side its difficult for him to find a place unless or untill dada or VVS fails.

Mukul,
I am on your side as far as it goes for debate against Laxman, but u r being too harsh on yuvi .That guy has been in and out of our test team just like Laxman. I think if he was given a consis tent run(which i think he will get once our batting trio retires in a couple of years) he will prove to be a great asset for our team. And i also agree about ur batting order that VVS should be promoted to one-down.There will be no use for him to come down at no.6 where u need to make fast runs without any time to settle down.I think Ganguly at no.6 will be idle because he don,t have to face the new ball and can play his best against the medium-pacers and spinners.Our selectors have done an excellent job this time around in picking our test side and its captain.I also want to know about peoples stand about appointing a coach before Australian series.Our team has been doing well without a coach and i think an authority over seniors will only make them feel worse.If they are bringing a coach they must bring someone like wright not someone like greg who tries to stamp his authority over the team which our oldies hate.I want the board to appoint an coach after the australian series as it will not disrupt the present combination where the seniors are leading the juniors by example.

I think, Yuvraj is the best indian batsman in any form of the game.

The thing I learnt from the above comments on the article is that no matter what we say in this section ultimately the players will get selected by Dilip Vengsarkar and his cronies. So just the article and chill instead of spouting north versus south and east versus west conspiracy theories.

cricinfo moderators!!!!!.....please remove this Mukul Kesavan from this site!!

First he got his brain all messed up about the Symonds racism accusation and now he wants bygone old horses like Laxman to be in the team.

My friend, have you heard of anything called fresh young blood. Test or any other form of the game, our team needs young legs and aggressive cricketers to deal with the pressures exerted by the other teams in the international arena today. Not lame ducks like Laxman who cannot field for nuts anymore, gets his partners run out frequently and then scores at an average strike rate of 30-35 at best!! And you question YUVRAJ'S temperament??? Goodness sake......he is one of the finest in the world today and we are not even selecting him in the playing XI!

Please smell the coffee, wake up, cock-a-doodle-do, yoo-hooooo!!

Good one Mukul, but after 19 tests Laxman had an average of 27.80 and he had not done anything special in the limited over matches either. Guess it is probably not the best reason to ignore Yuvi from the test matches.

Hi,
Mr.Sachin has scored a lot in his position, this is the best time for him to come out unselfishly and open in Test matches, after we all want team India to win lot of Test matches not his safely positioned centuries, We have all important schedules following and also he is in his final
leg of his career so he should open voluntarily atleast in remaing matches he is going to play.
Otherwise he will be termed as good player in Tests not as grate one because he has never done
any thing special that Dravid,Laxman or even Ganguly.
So, Sachin come out and open in Test so that some
players can play in your position safely and score some themself and team too.
Thanks.
Sankar,K.

Mukul, I am sure you thought through your argument but I think I can counter the case you have tried to build.

Laxman was tried at 3. He was given a fairly long run. It didn't work (except for tht magical time against the Aussies). It was his tendency to play too many shots that was his downfall. Dravid hasn't had a gr8 time of it of late at 3 but while he hasn't got runs, he hasn't looked out of his depth (2nd innings in the 3rd test in England not withstanding). Dravid has been one of the best no 3s in the world for a very long time now. He deserves a home series at 3 to help regain his confidence before Aus.
Agree with your assesment that Dravid and Jaffer batting together can make for slow progress but look at Laxman's scoring rates in the last few matches- it hasn't exectly been quick. Strike rates of less than (or close to) 50. Add to that his tendency to play away from the body and not move his back foot across the crease. What do we achieve by pushing him upto 3? He is a fantastic player but don't think he is a Test match no 3. That being said, his presence at 5 or 6 (I would say 5) lends strength.
A little harsh to write Yuvi off completely. Yes he could have done better. But its also true tht since he last had his Test match chances, he has worked on his game, plays straighter and has generally worked hard on his technique. Not saying he should be in the team for Gangers (think Gangers deserves his spot on the basis of performance), but not fair to write him off completely.
Badrinath and Tiwari are a part of the future. For now, they need to wait.

Hi Mukul,

Thanks for speaking up for Very Very Special Laxman. I have been a diehard follower of cricket - Indian cricket in particular and always feel that the rot in the system is too deep to cure in a short time. The treatment meted out to special players like Laxman, Dravid etc is too obviously political. I still fear that when the playing eleven is announced on the first day of the first test, you might find the name of VVS missing - in favour of a bowler!!!. God only can save India if that happens. It is a certain formula for losing against Pakistan. Let us hope, as you rightly put it, that Kumble stands up and takes a pragmatic and correct decision. And let us hope and pray that VVS is back to his 2001 form and silence all his critics.

Murali

A more relevant topic would have been the selection of the batsmen in the playing 11 – if the chiefjokar can’t do it, Kumble would do well to give Ganguly a ‘rest’ from cricket. People will argue that he’s getting runs, but is he effective, scratching around doesn’t help the team in any way. Yuvraj would be a better bet for the line-up rather than Ganguly.
The best batsman, Dravid has to bat at 3 or 4, not any lower. If Laxman comes at 3 then Sachin to drop to 5.
Same goes for the ODI team as well. India to open with Sachin & Gambhir / Uthappa, Dravid at 3 to steer the innings (which he does brilliantly now), leaving Yuvraj & Dhoni to play their strokes and Raina / Tewary at 6. It will result in a much better fielding outfit also.

nice to see some sense,at least,among some of our cricket lovers.carry on mukul.we have to start a save vvs campaign to see him playing in australia.

MK is becoming a sentimentalist building a case for VVS. I agree he bats low down th order and his best innings have come at the top but thets the way India has decided about the team balance in the past. It has worked and Laxman has done well in these positions. Ganguly may not stick long enuf on the crease to build on with the lower order but Laxman sure has done that a lot of times. Badri before Yuvraj.. thats the most ludicrous suggestion ever. regionalism I must Say..why not Raina,Parthiv,Tiwary or Kaif before Badri. Yuvraj Singh will silence his critics once he gets regular chances when the trinity goes away in a couple of years. Right now "on form" he is the "best batsman" in Indian team and the team revolves around him and not sachin or saurav. and these are facts and not PR propoganda.

I think you would find most Australians would be happy to see Laxman left out of the Indian team. I have seen him hit two very special centuries at Sydney and I think you would find there are Australian bowlers who fear what he can do. Plus he is a beautiful batsman to watch. Cricket needs more like him and I for one want to see him bat again.

I will go one step further and say that you think of Yuvraj as a serious threat to Laxman's position in the test team and thus you have tried to put him down by emphasizing on the inconsistent run he got in tests so far.

Hi Mukul,
I also like Laxman, but putting him at number 3 will be bit unfair to Rahul Dravid. I think if you talk about Australia series, then wait and see how both performed against Pakistan. But surely he should bat ahead of Ganguly. I am sure Pakistan series will be the last series of his career. As far as Yuvraj is concerned, he never got a long stint in Test, but he is proven performer in other formats of cricket and I am sure if he given a five straight test match, he will come good. Please dont compare Badrinath with Yuvraj, Yuvraj already proved himself in international cricket and at age 27/28 only Badrinath comes to national team. Let him prove himself, but have to wait for his chances.

i am an avid reader of cricinfo and i have read almost all comments by cricket fans like me.i am surprised that mr mukul kesavan has to say that ganguly only on the basis of his performance should be included in the australian tour..man...he was the most brilliant batsmen in the england series and i would not discuss the earlier tours.notwithstanding the odi format where he might eclipse sachin tendulkar as the second highest run getter in 2007.what more do you want..if it hadnt been for his captaincy then who knows ganguly could have been the one of the greatest batsmen. from the comments its pretty unanimous that most of them would agree with me..the way he batted in england he could have scored 2 centuries but the umpires came to spoil the party.and when rahul scored 12 runs out of 96 balls it was he who scored 57 magestic runs.

Hi Mukul,
Do you mean that a 2nd wicket pairing of Jaffer & Dravid would make things very slow. Don't you think that being Judicious and building a big score is a tacit approach in winning test matches. If Laxman was so technically perfect for the #3 slot, then why did he write to BCCI to not consider him for opening slots. Roughly 50% of the time a #3 comes in within the first 10-15 overs, maybe, earlier. If Justin Langer, an established #3 can move up an open for Aus, why can't Laxman. Same with Boon, Marsh, Gooch, Stewart etc. All style, no consistency doesn't a #3 maketh!!!

Ifran Pathan deserves a shot to be in the test team.

Mukul - You could have done a quick check on Stasguru before making a pronouncement on Yuvraj's ability as a Test Match player. Just to compare.. after 19 Test Matches, VVS's Test average was 27, with 1 century, as against Yuvraj's 33 with 2 hundreds. If the selectors had adopted your conclusion about Yuvraj for VVS & consigned him to Test match oblivion then, we would have never have seen that maginificent 281!! The point I am making is that while VVS's full potential as a top drawer Test batsman has definitely been impacted by selectorial whims, your comments about Yuvraj are blatantly unfair. He is in the prime batting form of his career and to make a judgement on his test match ability based on his record till now is sheer stupidity. Its sad to see your illogical bias against him repeatedly creeping up in otherwise well written blogs.

The kind of regional bias observed in your article is sad for Indian cricket. Sourav has beem exeptional since his return, especially in Test cricket, and possibly our best batsman in the longer version of the game. He should stay for the Australian tour and the matches against Pakistan. I agree with you on the count that Laxman has been treated as a step son on a number of occassions. Irrespective of what any of us feel, Sehwag will walk into the Test team at the expense of either Jaffer or Kartik pretty soon, we all know that. One would want to include Yuvraj too, and we all know it wont be at the expense of Dravid or Tendulkar. Hence, either Sourav or Laxman will probably be replaced with the young gun sooner rather than later. Given current form and the pure strangth of mind shown by Sourav, I'd think that rather unfortunately, Laxman's days in the team are numbered.

i think you are right in VVSL's case but i do not agree with your views on yuvraj. Also i dont see the need to have dhoni in the test team at all. scandalous as it may sound, dhoni is surely not suited to the tests as much as KKD is. I would have KKD open and keep and that would free up no:7 for either yuvraj or pathan or mebbe even sehwag as an useful off spinning option on top of his batting. and ganguly must be on trial here to see if he does anything in the first two tests else bring on yuvraj straight away for ganguly. the bowling sor of picks itself. zaheer, sreesanth and kumble + bhajji(in india) and RP(in Aus)

Sourav has beem exeptional since his return, especially in Test cricket, and possibly our best batsman in the longer version of the game. He should stay for the Australian tour and the matches against Pakistan. I agree with you on the count that Laxman has been treated as a step son on a number of occassions. Irrespective of what any of us feel, Sehwag will walk into the Test team at the expense of either Jaffer or Kartik pretty soon, we all know that. One would want to include Yuvraj too, and we all know it wont be at the expense of Dravid or Tendulkar. Hence, either Sourav or Laxman will probably be replaced with the young gun sooner rather than later. Given current form and the pure strangth of mind shown by Sourav, I'd think that rather unfortunately, Laxman's days in the team are numbered.

I share Mukul's relief and just hope that VVS is in the playing 11 as well :) ... Whether the 6th batsman is Ganguly or Yuvraj, that should be the debate - I would prefer Yuvraj actually. Might not be a bad idea to in fact look as VVS to captain India for 3-4 years if no alternate is available.

For the Ganguly 'supporters', I feel he is was an excellent one day player who was never really a test match material (still isn't) but was lucky to ride on the one day hype. Just to prove my point, just check his Test record against quality teams (Pak, Aus, SA...) - whether in India or overseas.

All I would say is that if you just go by numbers, then Laxman fared much worse in his first 19 matches than Yuvraj.
Just have a look:
Laxman's Stats for first 19 test matches
Matches:19
Runs:834
Average:27, 1 century.

Case closed, isn't it ?
Pathetic reasoning, and no account of the form that Yuvraj is currently in. I would rather have Yuvraj than Ganguly in the team.

Funny to observe that most of the "eloquent(verbose?)" comments tend to favour Laxman while the "desh ki dharti" types like Yuvraj more.

Laxman is one of a dying breed for a reason.A very good one it is too.

Really didnt expect this from you Mukul. Demoting Dravid because of his current ODI failures ? You seem to be talking like the average indian cricket viewer. No 3 is a very very strategic position and no doubts that any team would be so happy if we send Laxman instead of dravid at that postion. I was so dissapointed reading the first para itself that I didnt even bother to read the rest of it.. Am really sorry to say this, but I really didnt expect this from you.

I do agree with Mr Mukul about promoting vvs to no3 position. he is a technically sound batsman and best in indian team after sachin& Dravid. He is the most unfortunate player in the history of indian cricket.I still belive that he will be able to perform in one day cricket also. (offcourse i am not ignoring that he is not a good fielder)I hope he will be there in the playing eleven against pakistan& Australia.Let selecters do justice with him.

haha all the comments from the east of the hoogly say - 'pick ganguly the rest are irrelevant'.

being a bong myself, it sickens me to see my able co-fishermen keep hankering over their one and only hero after Robi Thakur! Its also obvious why, in every vote-based musical talent show on TV, someone from the East wins.

If their is any regional bias in this country, it is led today by West Bengal.

For the last Test with Pak, and for the 4 with Aussies, drop Ganguly and rotate the No. 6 position between Yuvraj, Sehwag and a new face such as Manoj Tiwari, Badrinath, Rohit Sharma or Uthappa! See what happens...

its good to discuss about batting order but one needs to know about technicality of the game.specially when our team is going to play in australia.they dont have dead & docile pitches of india, but fast & bouncy pitches.we need batsmen who can adapt well to those conditions.its difficult to assume that tendulkar,dravid & laxman will have the same reflexes what they had few years ago,but even then at present they are good enough to manage.its easy to see young guys like yuvraj & dhoni making merry on docile pitches,the real talent will be seen on south african & australian pitches.the question is to selectors to show us young talent with rock solid technique to combat fastbowling.now selectors job is easy coz we are playing with pakistan on dead & docile pitches, & our guys are good at home but the real test is in australia & south africa.thats where kies the importance of dravid , tendulkar, laxman & to some extent ganguly.

Definitely; it is a good suggestion for VVS. Really he deserves it. But obviously here also Dravid has forced to move his positions. Anybody can recall the situations of Chappell’s team. Dravid was the only batsman to knock to any position. 3 to 4, 4 to 1, 1 to 6………
At last the people start to think the necessity of Dravid in 50-50 matches. If this continues, tomorrow they may doubt Dravid’s Importance in test cricket and eventually in entire cricket also. Let Dravid to play his cricket.

Dear Mukul
so many any good Opening batsman who has scored atleast a 50 in 6 inngs continuously.. why ur blaming DK. he is compact and ready to learn. Laxman fit to play against aussies alone not against others

With due respect to all those people who believe that Ganguly is a better test batsman than VVS Laxman, Hw abt promoting this statement as the best PJ of the Century ... Some one was even saying that VVS is more prone to the moving ball than Saurav Ganguly ... Surey that guy must be from Bengal ... Come on guys start judging based on the Talent and Merit and not on the regional basis ...

Being Such a Talent, VVS has to still struggle series after series to earn a place in the final XI ... Whoever said that Ganguly played better than VVS in the last two series against SA and England must have done these comments based on the Scores that he chalked out but no one is bother on how much he struggled in getting those some what decent scores ...

I dont see any place for Ganguly in either of the Sides (ODI's and Tests) ... In ODI's too he just playes for himself and not for the team ... With a strike rate of a meagre 70 in ODIS this year as an Opener he should be sacked with no Mercy and it will be a lessson for the future youngsters who come into the team and tries to play for themselves instead for the team

For me Laxman should bat either at No. 3 or No. 4 as he is very good with the shinning ball as it suits his kind of play and when the ball gets softer and old he wont be able to time the ball the way he intend to ...

So all those Guys who support Ganguly in this Ganguly VS Laxman Saga go and have a Cuppa Chai and take a break ... As you people need it the Most

Dear Mukul, Your are forgetting Mr. Laxman is not in good form now, also forgetting how many times he got out carelessly poking his bat. He is class act once upon a time, So please wake up to present day reality, Yuvi does deserve to be in the test team better than Ganguly. I hail from south and i am really frustrated Mr. Laxman not fulfilling his potential and in Dropping Laxman not selectors to blame. You can only select best of Twelve and in batting order I would like to stick to Jaffer, Karthick, Dravid, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Yuvi or Ganguly with bowling zaheer, RPSingh, Sreesanth, Kumble & Harbhajan singh (for home series against Pakistan) & Karthick (for Australia tour). please stop wasting time on Mr. Laxman once upon a time paaaast record

Hi, I would prefer the following team for tests
Dinesh Karthik , Waseem Jaffer, Dravid, Laxman, Sachin (yes its time sachin plays further down the order), Yuvraj, Zaheer Khan, R P Singh, Sreesanth, Kumble and Harbhajan. We need to exploit the fact that Dinesh karthik has been considered as a wicket keeper batsman rather than just as wicket keeper and give him a fair run of one series...Bhajji and Murali Karthik could also play depending on the wicket and in such a case One of the seamers (perhaps sreesanth) would be dropped.

Mukul I agree with you on the inclusion of Laxman at No 3.But yuvi has been so long in the limited version of the game and needs to be given an opportunity in the longer version.I think he is matured enough to handle the pressure now and is a seasoned batman.Also he will add stregth to the feilding side .If we need to compete with a team like Australia it is important to have a good feilding team .A team in modern cricket should be a balanced team with Batting ,bowling and feilding.On the same note it so absurd from the part of the Indian selectors or management not to look at the verity in bowling attack.In the current one day series against Pakistan Indian team was trying with 3 left hand seam bowler who has almost same style of bowling.I feel it is rediculous not to include a right hand bowler in the final eleven.Sreesanth would have been a far better option than RP Singh and I wish they will be wise enough to change the game plan in the forth coming one days &test matches as well.

I have read some very regionally biased comments here. Not sure why they have to talk bad about VVS. He had been treated badly by our selectors who again are biased, even before Yuvraj or Karthik were not even in picture. He was the one that could be dropped easily for no reasons explained, just because he doesn't play politics or no backing. I could never understand his exclusion from the team.

I guess many viewers over the world would have enjoyed Laxman's batting. It was a joy watching him when he was in flow. No other batsman gave so much of joy. His batting has a divine touch to it. He is the best.

Whatever we guys discuss here, he is going to get his chance and he will prove it yet again (Which is not new to him).

Kumble should include Laxman in the playing X1. Whereever he plays it will be a joy to watch Laxman.

Very Good Article . Laxman is india's best batmens who never got a fair go , he always plays under pressure as his place is never certain .

It's a tough call who goes no.3 , but i feel a 100 By laxman will put the team in a good position to set up the game for victory . On the other hand we are talking about dropping (batting position) India Best Batsmen ever in test's . Hard call but i think it's the right thing to do . Sehwag has not done enough to come back . Although he does have a great test record . But i know this one thing . You will see a few retirements after the australian tour if we loose .

Whatever we guys discuss here, he is going to get his chance and he will prove it yet again (Which is not new to him).

Kumble should include Laxman in the playing X1. Whereever he plays it will be a joy to watch Laxman.

Mukul,
This test team is all wrong. After the world cup loss everyone seems to have forgotten how we lost and why we lost. Sachin, Dravid, Saourav, Kumble all got opportunities when they were just in early 20s. The same happened to Prasanna, Chandru, Bedi, Gavaskar, Vishy and so many others. But now we have a situation where players who are performing such as Badrinath, Tiwary, and Piyush Chawla are all kept in sidelines to pass off their most crucial years in waste. Laxman was a great batsman who is past his prime and has no chance of success. Ganguly should have retired. My team for the test will be: Shewag, Akash Chopra, Uttappa, Yuvraj, Dravid, Sachin, Dhoni, Pathan, Zaheer, Sreeshanth, and Appanna. 12th man: Dinesh karthik, Harbajan, Powar, RP Singh, Praveen kumar, Badrinath, Pathiv patel, and Piyush Chawla, and Suresh Raina. This is what a visionary like Vijay merchant did when he selected the Indian team for West Indies in 1971. The present set of selectors have no vision and are kind of harassed by Sachins and Sourav's. So they had to elave out India's best batsman (Dravid). The best ODI team for India: ODIs (in batting order): Uttappa, Gambir, Yuvraj, Dhoni (Captain), Dravid, Sachin, Badrinath, Pathan, Zaheer, Harbajan, Sreeshanth. 12th man: Dinesh karthik, Murali karthik, RP singh, Rohit Sharma, and Praveen.

LOL...Mukul got OWNED on his own blog!

What a worthless article. The standard of journalism has indeed dropped! Such a biased, non-sensical and ill-thought article is another nail in the coffin for India's sports journalism.

Matter of fact, reading some the replies on the comments box, I think some posters there exude far more eloquence and intelligence than our great writer - Mr.Kesavan, whose biased stats, ignorant remarks and seeming bias towards a particular part of India have resulted in such a pathetic piece of writing.

Very Good Article . Laxman is india's best batmens who never got a fair go , he always plays under pressure as his place is never certain .

And you want more of them ?Why dont you say it straigh off ? Why such a lengthy article to justify mediocrity.The truth is India is/was rubbish in cricket and everything else because of the brahmin dominance and the efforts they put in to maintain status quo.Otherwise nobody could expalin India langusishing at no5 ranking and below with alll the money and a cricket carzy populace.

Mr.Mukul Kesavan, I thought you had a good criketing brain. But seeing your comments here, one can have a mighty laugh. RAHUL DRAVID is a proven match winner and a great player on the one-drop position. VVS Laxman has been given enough chances at that position and is found wanting on techinque and temparament to build an innings at that position. But he needs to bat higher up the order. that's for sure. So, he can either go before ganguly or tendulkar (i.e No 4 or 5 would be ideal). As for yuvaraj, yes he has not utilised the chances given to him in a proper manner. After this pakistan series, ganguly can be dropped and yuvaraj can be included in his place. Let's see how he performs in australia. So, No #3 position should be with RAHUL DRAVID. Once he retires, Badrinath or Suresh Raina should take this position.

Sorry to say .. but Laxman doesn't deserve the number 3 spot. In the last few series he didn't seem to be comfortable against pace attack ... and for god sake dont play dravid at no 5 spot .. u r just wasting the opportunity to build some solid partnership top of the order. About scoring rate i dont see ne difference between Dravid and Laxman in upcoming series against pk and Aus.

To Mr Kesavan, VVS is an endangered species. Seems to me that Mr Kesavan is pretty keen on turning things around and make Yuvraj an endangered species instead (with Ganguly being the semi-endangered one).

Makul,

If someone does not understand the talent of Yuvraj, he probably does not understand cricket. Anyone who is watching Yuvraj in last 2 years knows what an extraordinary talent he is. It is unfortunate that he has not got his due. He deserves a test place and he deserves it now and he deserves a long run. Then judge him. Kumble is past his Prime. I am not convinved that harbajan can take a test wicket in Australia. I am pretty sure laxman, ganguly and I dare say Sachin will be huge failures in Australia (probably Sachin to a lesser degree). It is high time, we start looking at future. We need a team that can win matches consistently. I have great respect for Laxman, Ganguly, Kumble......but they are all over the hill. How come we forgot the pathetic world cup performance so fast?. How come this cricket board fails to nominate a coach for so long. All of this tells a story about Indian cricket. It is sunk in the greed of money forgetting the pursuit of excellence.

My batting order for the pakistan series is:
1)Dinesh Kaarthik
2)Wasim Jaffer
3)RAHUL DRAVID
4)SACHIN TENDULKAR
5)VVS LAXMAN
6)SOURAV GANGULY
7)Mahendra Singh Dhoni
8)Anil Kumble
9)Zaheer Khan
10)R.P.SINGH/Murali Kartik
11)S.Sreesanth

But I guess the fool Vengsarkar will ask kumble to drop dinesh kaarthik and make dravid to open the innings and include one more spin bowler - harbhajan singh. This is not going to help us when we go to australia. this sure is going to happen.

Against Aus/Pak this should be the team:

Jaffar
Gambhir/Karthik
Laxman
Sachin
Yuvi
Rahul
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Kumble
Zaheer
RP

Squad: Sreesanth, Rohit Sarma

For all those who call Mukul as biased, I see a tinge of bias in them towards the players from their region. Ask any expert in the world, Laxman or Yuvi? Laxman will be the answer. He's unfortunately always on the brink of getting dropped despite getting useful runs. It is this pressure which has not allowed him to perform better. I don't understand his not being in one-dayer's too. I would have him bat at No.3/5 both in tests (Dravid too is a good choice in tests) and one-dayers where a quick-fire 30 or 40 at No.3 is really worthy unless No.1 or No.4 also prod around for runs.

I have a bizarre theory on VVS and I hope the selectors do not read Mukul's posts and start getting fresh ideas - everytime VVS fails in the first innings of a Test, I get the feeling he will be dropped for the second innings itself. Thankfully it has not happened - yet!

The way to pick the middle order is to simply choose your 4 best batsmen in the country - and VVS will be in the top 3. Whether the 4th is Ganguly or Yuvraj is debatable. Based on recent record, I would play Ganguly but make it clear that Yuvraj is breathing down on him - and not on VVS as some sports "journalists" seem to suggest.

Kartik has done well as an opener in SA and England and deserves a clean run for at least 3 Tests before review. I actually have a blasphemous thought on the team composition - with Kartik there, why not play Yuvraj for Dhoni? The point to consider here is if Kartik can keep (he can, he can) who is the better batsman - Yuvraj or Dhoni?

I agree Mukul. Our minds are always cluttered with recent games across formats. So a good T20 or ODI run means you should now play Tests. I wonder what would happen if Yusuf Pathan got a couple of quick consecutive fifties opening in T20 games? Replace Jaffer with him?

the only way for badrinath to get into the team is to become an opener. He is almost 28. By the time Ganguly and Tendulkar hang their boots he will be pushing 30. Very little chance of a debut then. I am surprised why he is not improving his chances by opening for TN.He is competent enough. Look at P.Patel trying to come back as an opener. The only weak spot in the indian line up for the next 2 yrs is the opening. That is irrespective of how the big 3 play, for they will never be dropped. Will someone pass on the msg to Badrinath

Mukul, I agree with you bringing laxman up the order since laxman has been good playing the new ball in his early days. Also, the psychological edge can be gained against Australia where he is still regarded as the danger batsman than anybody else in our Indian team. But the fact about Yuvraj, I think is simply pointless. Yuvraj is not a slogger and is a gifted timer of the ball. If an aggressive Gilchrist can adapt to the test format with ease it will be the same with Yuvraj as we have seen is adeptance to both T20 and ODI format.

Hi Rohit.. quoting you
"Your analysis of Yuvraj in the ODI context is perhaps more applicable to a Robin Uthappa right now; Yuvraj has matured as a batsman and certainly deserves a spot in the playing Xi. ".

Do you not realise even Yuvi was given a long enough run in ODI's before he matured into the player he is now? Robin Uthappa also deserves that chance. And he has been playing match-winning innings every now and then. Allow him time to mature - he's not yet 22. In fact it would be good to have him as a test opener in the next couple of years.

VVS being in the Test squad.. good..
No Yuvraj... bad.. He deserves to be playing tests, maybe Ganguly should make way for Yuvi.
Karthik a better choice of opener, well I would say Sehwag is much much better. He should be given a chance.

I cannot believe the ambivalence shown towards Dinesh Karthik as opener by both Mukul and some others who have pitched in. Here is a guy who put his hand up when all else were scrambling to find positions farther down the order to avoid facing the new ball in South Africa and England - and against all odds, came up trumps time after time. You can put the England series win down to the gutsy opening stands we got from Karthik and Jaffer time after time. And what's all this nonsense about either Karthik or Jaffer being stodgy and strokeless? Considering that they've always been under pressure to retain their slots in the team, I've been amazed at how freely they've played their shots. In my view, Karthik and Jaffer deserve an extended spell at the top of the order for coming through when conditions were tough (ie; abroad) and when it mattered.

The test series against Pak will be the litmus test for a lot of cricketers of the Indian team. The new captain will have to prove his mettle leading the side in the most anticipated 'home' series. The 'senior' players like - VVS, Sourav have to perform to book their berth to Australia. I don't think Karthik is a opener though he has done brilliantly with the limited oppurtunites. For the home series against Pak, I would have had Viru in the side for 2 reasons - his presence will give the opponents something to think about and secondly, his test avg and consistency has not fluctuated as much as in the limited overs version of the game.
Yes, VVS is classy and has been treated unfairly in the past, yes, Ganguly is a fighter, yes Sachin is a great player, yes, Dravid is a also a great cricketer and all of them put together sounds awesome on paper but eventually what they achieve in the middle should count.
I want to wish them all the luck and best wishes for a succesful home series and even a better one against 'arch' rivals (aussies are slowly becoming that) in Australia.

Mukul,
I do agree with the fact that VVS laxman is turning into a sort of endangered species. Someone even recently floated the idea of having him open the innings just to accomodate yuvraj singh in the middle. Laxman has had a phenomenal county season and the chance of that translating into a huge winter for India is exceedingly high considering that VVS usually carries his form from the domestic season into the international arena. The point where I disagree with you is the fact that Yuvraj Singh in your opinion, will never make it as a test player. Sure, there is enough evidence to suggest the same, considering that Yuvraj has had ample opportunity to seal the spot, but alot of his test innings have been up the order and in make shif roles. Yuvraj at his age and with the future he is setup to have will surely surpass the exploits that a Laxman or for that matter a Ganguly has to offer with only 2-3 good years of cricket ahead of them.

A case for a sacrificial lamb? Well worth the cause considering it might slingshot a special career for India.

To win test matches first you need 5 batsmen who can play out a minimum of thirty overs each scoring at 3 runs per over. According to me as per current form the seven who could be considered for the same are Wasim Jaffer, Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Sanjay Raina, Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. Then you need 4 bowlers who have the potential to operate for a minimum of 20 overs each giving away less than 4 runs per over and picking up a wicket every 8 overs. That currently rests with Zaheer, Kumble (on Indian Wickets), Murali Kartik and Sreesanth. This needs to be backed by the fielders who can take catches offered. Unfortunately in my opinion neither Ganguly, nor Laxman nor Dinesh Karthik fits that category and hence need to be excluded from the list.

so a md 30s average out of 19 tests is enough for you to label that Yuvi would NEVER (?)be a significant test batsman? I would like to know after gavaskar, tendulkar, dravid and a select few other Indian Batsman, who else could boast to have high averages in tests after their first 20 tests..even Kallis had a poorer average after his initially teething in test cricket...I commend your cricketing sense in every other avenue, but stop writing these youngsters off even before their careers have properly begun...Yuvi and pple like him need support..Laxman..no matter how classy a batsman he is, will be gone after a few years time. Insightful journalism must be based on facts and not personal bias..you crossed the boundary on your comments on with the Yuvi issue

I agree instead of Yuvi they should have picked up badrinath. He has temperament and skill to play long innings. He proved in India A tour of Australia, Kenya and Zimbabwe

I feel there is no need of 2 wicket keepers in a test side. As D.Kartik is a opener, they can make him as a wicket keeper batsman & get Yuvraj instead of Dhoni.

Very interesting your comments and the input from around the world. I have been following Indian Cricket since last 4/5 years after a lapse of some 30 years. I have seen great changes good and bad but mostly good especially in the fielding which has improved a great deal. At the bottom of everything is a good physical condition of the players. As I was reading yesterday the comments of a Pakistani player that PAAV AND ALOO BHAJI cannot take you very far. A good balanced diet is important to make good players.
Coming to the youngsters I think that R Uthappa, Badrinath and I have seen in the Ranji Trophy matches Parthiv Patel is showing some good batting performance. I think these youngsters should be given a chance to prove their mantle in International Cricket. We need STARS and not SHOOTING STARS. In poor words we need repeated performance from our players than a one time century or two or what they did in one or two games to be taken as a standard measure of their achievements. The other important thing to be considered is the fielding which I guess the youngsters are better able to perform then the old timers.
Wish our teams (after whoever are selected as ours are only our point of views) the best both in the present series and in Australia and the future.
Jai Hind

After a long time Mukul? I guess with test 'real' cricket round the corner, we can get into a state of 'cricketophoria' again!
For a change i have to disagree with some of your observations here. I agree that Kumble being captain has advantages regarding the batting slots, but will it happen? Further on Indian pitches (against Pakistan) it doesn't really matter who comes at 3/4/5/6. And in the last year since Sehwag's departure Indian run-rates have hardly ever been 3.5+. Admittedly, Laxman is potentially a more attacking batsman, but that has hardly been the case in the past year and half where he has been scratchy, with strike-rates of even below 50 at times. That surely can't give any impetus. He might be of more use in Australia, against whom he has an imposing record and the pitches will suit him. but VVS circa 99 or 03 is different from VVS 07. At this point of time and ironical though it is India has theoretically 3 attacking batsmen in Sachin, Sourav and Laxman but only 1 out of 5 times do they play in that vein. So it really doesn't matter where they bat, in India at least.
Secondly, I have not much of a trust on the opening pair (they would rue it if they don't take Sehwag to Australia), though they did a fine job in England, and even if they survive Shoaib here, it will be a different ball game in Australia. they might have played for 2 hours but not for many on the board. And if they go early, then Dravid is essential, now that he doesn't have the burden of the captaincy on him.
Secondly, why should we talk only of 3/5/6. We must discuss No.4 too. In the later stages of their careers, even Viv Richards and Greg Chappell came down the order and Sachin though still great is not the same batsman he was earlier. Why not keep Dravid at 3 to give solidity and get Laxman to come at 4 (like in the WestIndies last year). Sachin at 5 and Ganguly at 6. This way we can break up the solidity and agression in alternate slots.
Lastly, it is too early to say that Yuvraj won't succeed at Test level. He has the talent surely. The only worrying thing is that being a middle order batsman, his technique of playing spinners is abysmal, especially at the start. But with consistent success behind him in ODI/T-20 he would have grown more confident and deserves a prolonged phase in Tests and I think that chance will come after the Australia tour, which i think will (and should) be Ganguly's and even Laxman's last, despite the former's solid form in this type of the game over last year. Australia tour will decide the fate of this two. Till then Yuvraj can wait.

My team for Pak & Australia test series
Wasim Zaffer
Dinesh Kartik (Wicket Keeper)
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
VVS Laxman
Saurav Ganguly
Anil Kumble
Harbajjan Singh
Zaheer Khan
RP Singh

I agree with what you have written. Yuvraj really did not make the most of the chances that came his way. But if Ganguly has an indifferent Test series against Pakistan, I am sure Yuvraj will play in the test team in Australia. Yuvraj does handle the short ball well compared to Ganguly.
Laxman batting at 3 is a good prospect. What scares me is what if he bats with Jaffer ? (Dinesh Karthick gets dismissed first). The singles will come to a standstill !! Laxman and Jaffer are terrible when it comes to running between the wickets.
But I am sure, if Laxman does not have a good series against Pakistan, he will be extinct. Ganguly and Laxman have the most at stake in the upcoming series. I am sure Yuvraj and to an extent Sehwag will be praying that Laxman and Ganguly do not do well.

I think the Indian team should see towards VVS and give him the correct place to bat as you see batting at 6 means batting with the tail and for a player like VVS to play at 6 makes him to shorten him varity of his shorts. Fro me our selectors have to give chances to other new players including Yuvi and Pathan...who r usefull as allrounders and even P.Kumar has shown his ablity in both batting and bowling so why not give him a chance.

I think Sehavag is good option over karthik...

Lets hope for the best to happen and win the tests we play let the best be selected....

All the Best to team INDIA

Kumble as captain is indeed a great choice. He now has 4 captains playing under him. Technically there is no gainsaying that Laxman is an automatic choice and Ganguly is suspect. The batting order should never be an arm chair exercise. It should be based on the match situation, pitch, opposition etc. India has had success with Dravid and Laxman interchanging positions. On the issue of captaincy there is a clear need to have a rotation policy in place a la soccer. I sure dont understand what neuxs you are alluding to between Dravid and Greg.

From now on, I am going to sue anyone and everyone who says Dravid is the best batsman in the team ... He was once the most consistent but his technique and defence are not good enough now and that is proven by his recent form and scores ... He has never been the "best" batsman because you need to have a lot of qualities in you to be termed that - not just consistency -but also technique(not just defence), ability to play almost all the shots, aggression, strike rate, ... Guess there is a more deserving cricketer in the team who could be termed the best - guess who??!!

y doesn't anyone think abt sachin opening the batting, he has the technique n the required aggression to open the innings. with yuvi in i think the middle order is in safe hands.

I think if we have choice to make looking at the records and the form VVS has showed in recent past and against australia yuvi is rejected at once. i would say he is favourite than saurav and dravid.

I think Laxman and Ganguly have to be made to announce their retirements - Dravid should be made to do that for ODIs - I still dont understand why these guys are sticking around - i am pretty sure they dont need the money if thats what they are playing for - Also why is Kumble still playing, leave alone captaining? My team is Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin, Yuvraj, Uthappa, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Zaheer, RP Singh, Sreesanth. I think Yuvraj along with Gambhir, Uthappa and Sehwag have to play as these players are not old, will learn and are undoubtedly talented to perform well anywhere against anyone ...

You got it right Mukul.Laxman should bat at no3 in subcontinent conditions given his elegance in hitting boundaries but i am not sure the same in Australia as he is one of the most laggard runners between the wickets which is always dangerous against someone like Aussies.For me in Australia the NO3 should be Rahul dravid.

Who said Laxman is not compfortable against Pace attack. It was laxman who was most comfortable against the Australian pace attack during the last series in Australia and scored two big hundreds

Wonder what leads Mukul to conclude that an average of 33 in 19 tests signals the end of Yuvraj's test prospects. There are dozens of players who started slow but went on to have illustrious test careers. Even the hero of this piece, VVS Laxman averaged only 27 after 19 tests. Other notables averages at the 19th test (some listed below) clearly indicate that it would presumptuous to write him off
- Steve Waugh 28.16
- Graham Gooch 31.25
- Mohd Yousuf 32.15
- Vengsarkar 35.4
- Jimmy Amarnath 35.96
- GR Viswanath 36.09
- Jayasuriya 33.83
- Carl Hooper 23.66
- Larry Gomes 36.06
- Mike Gatting 22.55

All said and done.. Why is no one talking about the option of an extra bowler in place of Dhoni, if need be.. Especially in Australia, We might need it and especially if that extra bowler id Pathan then he can bat a bit, as well.. Lets not talk as though Dhoni is a permanent fixture.. Karthik is as good, if not a better keeper, and he has scored more runs in tests this year than any other Indian batsman.. So, why two keepers, Lets drop Dhoni, if need be.. He is a good player and maybe the future captain, but if replacing him with an all rounder like Pathan can lens stability, why not consider that option???

"Dravid is the Indian team's best batsman but his recent Test form has been iffy. "

Back to back 100s in Rannji!!

I completely agree with Gaurav. Yuvraj deserves a place in Test cricket. Though he seems to be an attacking player, he has the ability to play long innings. and an average of 32 is not bad at all to start with. He proved himself in ODI adn Twenty20. Now its high time for him to excel in Test cricket.

The most important and the most ignored point is the benefits of axing of Dhoni from the test squad. It will give a lot of options to the captain. The knowledgeable public in India is simply amused by the fact that he's been appointed as the vice-captain and also projected as the next-gen saviour of Indian cricket. C'mon guys, give us a break. Dinesh Karthik lends a lot more of solidity to the test lineup than Dhoni. Dhoni should not be carried over to a place where his image becomes so high that he becomes irreplaceable. He should be kept in such a position that he's the keeper till eventually an Indian version of Gilchrist or Haddin comes up. The coldness with which Dhoni dropped Dravid and smiled on it the press conference doesn't augur well for transparency in the decision-making. Dravid is the best Indian batsman at no.3 and number 3 should be his right. With Laxman at number3, it's matter of butterflies in the stomach - either he carves out a beauty or goes out immediately with the scoreline showing something like 50/2.

Yes... I do agree with Mukul. Laxman is always sidelined and is kept under pressure. He is very very special and capable of demoralising the opposition in no time. He should bat at No.3 to take the initiative of winning the test match. I am really surprised that people talk of Yuvi or some body to compare with VVS. Yuvi is never consistent in any format of the game. He is a match winner on his day. Surprised, that some body said Laxman can not play pace... who else is averaging better than VVS against Aaustralia? Which side has got better pace attach than Aus? I completely agree with you that VVS at 3 followed by Sachin, Dravid, Saurav/Yuvi to follow. This is the best team and time for us to beat Australia in Australia in the absence of Warne, McGrath and Langer. Laxman plays an important role in Australia and hence should be given good chance at no.3 against Pakistan.

Genius writing.

Take the best Indian No 3 of all time and one of the top 3 in the world of the past decade and put him at No 5. Why? Because the lad who has been doing well at No 5 might be a better choice. laxman pokes at deliveries outside the offstump early in his innings, he could be a sitting duck for Asif and Stuart Clark early in the innings. Then we can all lay back and hope Dravid rescues us (again) from 20 for 3. Dear MK, your love for Laxman is good, there are lots of us who would choose watching a quality Laxman innings above most other things in life. But beauty is not everything. No 3 is not just a position to showcase intent, it is a position to bring stability. Dravid, once he crosses 20 deliveries draws the life out of an opposition attack. Dont think Laxman can do that. With Dravid at 3, Laxman at 5, India have got a good thing for the love of god dont lose it. Test cricket is not bollywood - you dont need to do "different" things everyday.

And Badrinath instead of Yuvraj Singh? 2 questions - did you watch Yuvraj at Lahore? and are you related to Badrinath. Badrinath could very likely be Dewang Gandhi Mark II (though I hope he is not), Yuvraj Singh is solid gold. As gaurav has pointed out, 19 tests at 33 is not the end of the world. Not saying Badri is bad, but dropping Yuvraj is so premature that it is not funny

I can clearly see why 'Mukul Kesavan' is pushing for 'Subramaniam Badrinath' over Yuvraj. But, I dont think its happening.

Rest easy, Mr. Kesavan. An Australian test tour without VVS is impossible to think of. Even the selectors know that.

Only in India will they contrive to drop him from a Bangladesh Test match (so that Ganguly plays) and lack the guts (correctly so) to keep him away from Australia. With matches in MCG, SCG, WACA and Adelaide Oval, only a certfied lunatic will exclude VVS. Who knows, this is a selection commitee where the chief selector thinks he is Quick-Gun Murugan.

It's so ridiculous and sometimes even amusing that people can even talk of V.V.S.Laxman's place in the Indian Team. Anyone who knows his cricket well would not even talk about that. He just goes down as one of Indian Cricket's best ever. Period !!

As for Yuvraj Singh, as good as he seems, he is another product of the modern day hype along with someone like M.S.Dhoni and many others from this T20 era. This is not to say they aren't any good but ....... come on folks, learn to distinguish between the great and the good. Replacing players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.Laxman and to a lesser degree Saurav Ganguly requires another one of the same calibre. And Yuvraj, as Mukul rightly point out , for all he may have achieved in the other forms of the game ( which itself isn't anything great though its good ) never looks like he would establish himself as a Test batsman if he couldn't do it till now.

And giving Badrinath at least the chances to prove that he would be better than Yuvraj won't be a bad thing. But in who's place would he play in the final eleven ? Of the big four Ganguly is the one who seems more likely to make way for anyone but it ain't easy to fill even Ganguly's boots as a Test batsman, let alone Laxman or Dravid.

Hello,
At last a fair chance to Laxman. Agreed he is past his sell by date (or so we are led to believe). Laxmas at umber 3 is a super choice, given his performance against the team that matters. I dont honestly understand the jabs at sourav Ganuguly. Why is it that we can appreciate someone ONLY when they are performing and not support them through the tough times? an ingrained mentality? perhaps.. given that he was the best captain India ever had and people were swooning over him not a long time back, he seems to be on everyone's hit list. He is a class performer, and as a poster here rightly said the only one who looked to get a century in England.

Dravid is a great player no doubt, but who is going to (to quote Mr. Kesavan here) "play vanguard to the rearguard", IF, god forbid, we lose quick wickets at the top? Laxman is a great player and for those few who have siad he has been playing for the last "45 years" and such, better take a look at his performance. Yuvraj Singh is a good batsman. There is a great divide between a good and a great batsman, and Yuvraj Singh at test level, sorry to say is not a great batsman. you honestly cannot even whisper his name amongst the company of Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, can you? Given the steady, if at times unsightly, performance of Sourav Ganguly in the middle, his detractors can eat their hats. He has proved himself after his time-out. Yes he has a short coming against the short ball, but on bouncy tracks in Australia, who doesn't? And whatever said and done, he was the one who instilled a SPINE in the Indian Cricket team, which was sadly lacking for a long time. I am all for Laxman coming in. If Yuvraj Singh can continue to get chances in Tests, despite his lack of a winning innings agsint quality opposition in their backyard, i guess a player who has proved himself against the same quality opposition, in their own backyard TOO, deserves a spot in the starting eleven.

How can you say Yuvraj doesn't deserve his place? Did anyone watch Yuvraj's 2 test centuries. First on a tough track in Lahore and the second on the fourth innings of a greentop in karachi?!! He needs time to settle into the test team. India needs to take a tough decision and drop someone from that middle order. For me, Yuvraj should be batting 4 in tests with tendulkar at 5.

Badrinath hasn't done enough, doesn't have the international experience as yet. Who would you want batting at Perth next year, Badrinath or Yuvraj???? If we already have 2/3 solid players then we need a player who can come in and play freely and Yuvraj is the best person to do that

Generally I find that blogs are nothing but crap.

And when someone write something sensible all we get for that is a load of crappy comments. Good article Mukul.

I also totally agree with Hari, Murali Krishnamurthy, Prakash Mahthani, and Ramana Murthy !! Glad to see that at least some people here writes sensible !!

I still favor VVS for his temperament, against any kind of attack he is very effective, like azar used to be in his days, becuase of the wristwork they both expertise in. Also to face australian you need a cool mind they dont let you settle down and keep on poking you with abuses. With laxman the case is altogether reverse he settles more quickly in pressure situations. also he is not a bad fielder in slips and closing positions he has taken some really unbelievable catches..
As far as badri is concerned the team is announced and so no considerations right now

V.V.S. Laxman has been India's go-to man whenever the team has been in trouble, especially overseas !

Do we need to say more ?

Gautam Sonthalia, go and hang yourself dude. Your comment is nothing but just a shame. You are yet another creature of this new modern hype-world who think they know everything. Just writng stuff like

"Please smell the coffee, wake up, cock-a-doodle-do, yoo-hooooo!!" doesn't make you a good writer. Check the stats dude. Ever watched cricket before the twenty20 era ?? Shame on you !

Mukul & Rajesh,

There is a case for both your opinions I feel. Rajesh is right when he says that it eventually is left to Dravid to bail the team out when others try poking at balls that could lead to their downfall. But again, with the Australians, you need an aggressive(but read non-sreesanth-like) approach to battle. I would promote Laxman to no.3 as well, but only against the Aussies. I believe its a psychological thing from both sides. Just like any touring team to India makes it a point to have a left handed opener(check the records of lefties vs India in India), Laxman will be a constant threat to the Aussies, and easily the biggest in the team. So playing him at 6 looks a bit stupid to me.

" I'd have had S Badrinath in Yuvraj's place because after nineteen tests and a batting average of thirty-three, the Punjab batsman has done enough to demonstrate that he'll never be a significant Test batsman".

This is nonsense comment really.

First thing first is that there have been just too many good players and some legends who have taken more than 20 matches to reach distance they eventually did.

Yuvraj is also too good player to not to able to do that.

He is proven material on international scene.He has rare ability to switch gear accordingly and finish games which very few Indian batsmen have had.

Over the years he has played some match winning knocks and he will be integral part of Indian batting once three seniors will quit.

So please refrain yourself from making such horrendous remarks.

Laxman should bat at number three. That's the best slot for him.

LAXMAN is the most graceful batsmen in international cricket to day ;the JUICY ODI opening positions SHOULD NOT BE DOMINATED BY THE SAME PAIR FOR 12 YEARS WHICH FEATHERED THEIR INDIVIDUAL NESTS BUT NOT THE TEAM'S NEST ;CORNERING THE OPENING SLOT IN ODI AND MIDDLE POSITION IN TESTS IS SELFISHNESS. LAXMAN IS LIKE THE BLUE WHALE CLOSE TO EXTNCTION ;The author is in the same boat as me

Mr.Mukul, You have touched upon a very dangerous subject. Indian batting order - Looking at the responses, i am glad they dont select indian team or our batting order by public opinion. :-))))

My own .5 cents, keeping 2 players who are not good players of pace bowling in a side (vvs and ganguly) is a liability, one gotta go...let the gods decide who?

Hi Mukul,
your blog does make wonder about the loss of elegance in cricket in recent times.Especially with the new format.But batting in test cricket needs technique, which i fail to see in the likes of Shewag and Dhoni.Coming to the point, Laxam at three could be an option, if Dravid fails again.The exclusion of Yuvraj is a bit harsh.He has been in top form recently and probably deserves a chance,but droping gangully wouldnt be fair either.But do India need two wicket keepers in the playing elevn? i thaught the main reason of having a wicket keeper batsman is to give the team more options.So, sacrificing one of the two wicketkeepers gives the opportunity to play the inform yuvraj or even better a bowler(depending on the conditions of the pitch).End of the day scoring 600 runs will guarantee a draw but 20 wickets will win the game.

Well well well. Did you write this article just to show that you are popular and your peice would get attention from everyone. You surely succeded in that, but you should think before you write your thoughts out. Yuvraj hasn't been given the chances he deserves as far as test matches are concerned. Laxman is past his prime, yes he would play a inning once in a blue moon and then he goes away and how long you wanna hang to him. Yuvraj is the future of indian cricket, whether you agree with that or not, results are there to be seen.
At the same time, i am hoping you are proved wrong in the coming time so that we can let you know it's time for your beloved laxman to go. Time for a change....

Mukul, absolutely spot on. Great analysis - I hope Kumble reads this. The only thing I disagree with is Yuvraj - he should be given another chance.

I agree with most of the Mukul's opinions. However, I completely disagree with his opinion on Yuvraj as a test batsman. I think he did not see his innings in Lahore test match in 2004 series. Umar Gul was on a roll and he had just demolished the famed Indian batting order in a matter of one hour and it was Yuvraj Singh who not only scored a gutsy and flawless hundred but also guided his team to a respectable total of 287. I suggest Mukul to rethink on this issue and do better homework before writing such statements.

Why not make a South Indian cricket team Mukul?

Time will come when yuvraj will prove his mettle in test cricket. He has got very limited opportunities. He deserves to be in test side either in place of laxman, dravid or ganguly. He is the best indian batsman on current form and he deserves to be in Test side. The way he plays in one day, I cant fathom any idea which tells me that he cant be a test cricketer. What an absurd idea. He hasnt been given opportunities. What can you do if you are dropped after making test hundred. We should decide between VVS & Ganguly. One of them has to go and yuvraj should be in. Time has come. This pakistan series will decide that and if they play VVS at nr 3 against akhtar, then ganguly will survive and make his 100 test appearences and it will be easy for 4 selectors except venkatpathy raju to drop laxman.

It's shocking to read an Indian cricket follower rooting for Badrinath in the Test side in place of Yuvraj.. I shudder when I try to visualize Badrinath facing upto Brett Lee & co. down under!!Or even Shoaib Akhtar for that matter..
I doubt if Mr.Mukul ever watches cricket, it looks as if his cricket sense is limited to just record books & batting averages..
Mr.Mukul, we need match winners in our team, regardless of the format & Yuvi is a proven matchwinner.. So please keep your valued opinions to yourself & enjoy the cricket..
I don't mean any disregard to Badrinath though, but he needs to be tested against lesser opponents first & our esteemed Mr.Mukul is only putting pressure on the lad by his thoughless comments!!!

good observation mukul.My view is that selectors must have included gambhir in the team who is a solid batsman,considering his recent performances and also badrinath should have been tested in this home series keeping in mind the australian tour.If he is not picked now when is he going to be picked.How long you rely on sachin,saurav and dravid.they are in the end of their career.selectors must think ahead keeping in mind the future of indian cricket.They should pick one new face as 12th man in each test in rotational basis and if any prominent batsman is out of form or in case if we lead the series,he could be included in playing eleven and with sachin,sauvav,dravid and laxman in the team they learn a lot and when these players retire there will be balance in the team.ok, for the current series VVS must come in first down followed by dravid,sachin and saurav.on the whole,I feel this is not a bad selection for the current series

What a stupid person Mukesh Keshav is. He should definately stick to fiction.Ganguly and Laxman are way past thier prime. They should not even consider these two. Laxman, in fact is hardly consistent. Cannot field (please dont give me that bull shit that he is he cacthes well in the slips..he does not anymore and the captain has to decide where to hide him) Yuvraj is in his prime form. He has EARNED his place in the 11. Cricket is not about one day and test. cricket is about class and form. Ganguly and Laxman have the class but DO NOT HAVE the form anymore. Terrible write up

before u trash talk aby ganguly just check how he batted agnst SA and England this year..on seaming bouncy pitches....

I am living in hope Mukul,er.. sorry,I am living in belief.I am a fan of your erudite cricket scribblings,your 'Men In White' is one of my most cherished possessions.
But with time I have understood that you can be terribly wrong in certain verdicts of yours.Here is the biggest instance -
You strongly suggested that Dhoni shouldn't be there in the Test XI for the Lords' test this year as he wasn't in the best of form in the lead-up.Now,in hindsight,just how big a disaster could that have been?

You are making the same mistake here with Yuvi.I know Lahore was 4 and a half years back,but this man is too good to be dropped.I am not suggesting he should be there in Laxman's place,but you can't keep him out.

C'mon give us a break,this semi-phenomenal cricketer has been there for freaking 8 years now!!!!

judging by the reactions your comments elicited, i am almost tempted to believe you made them with the specific aim of bringing out just such reactions..but your blog doesn't need such gimmicks to be noticed. as for the issue of picking laxman and his position, sadly, i must say he has overstayed his welcome in the team(just a manner of speaking; he has never really been welcomed, all those years ago, when he was literally banging on the national team doors.) in spite of his virtuosity and grace, as a reader put it, his technical shortcomings are quickly exposed, especially by the express pace of akhtar and gul's movement.and he is not getting any younger. i firmly feel rather than persisting with him in hopes of an eden gardens repeat performance, it is better to nurture yuvraj's talent, while the team still enjoys the experience of the big four(kumble too).

@Arnab - Just read your 1 line question.Reprehensible,immature and myopic,to say the least.

P.S. - This didn't come from a south Indian

I have been a Laxman fan for years....i totally agree that he has been playing every time to save his position in the team.
Tell me how many more players do u know....when did he loss his ODI position...
i rememberthe last time played was against pakistan in the BCCI centenary cup...he got 40 plus in that match....

so bcoz we lost 2 pakistan..we needed sme one 2 b dropped n who else b the scape goat....then u rush him 2 SA for jst one ODI n wat do u except from a fellow who travelled over 24 hours n play the next day...
Very Very Special has just stayed as a label....\

I dont wanna comment on any other members capability....

but guys grow beyond ur regional bias n let us respect TRUE TALENT

I'm Aussie and I can tell you guys you have stuffed up Yuvraj Singh's career. He has never been given a proper run at Test cricket. 19 tests is nothing. Some players mature late and require many tests to find their feet. Steve Waugh was a failure after 25 tests but was persisted with for a long time, only dropped once, and came back a great player. Matthew Hayden was an early failure too, and so was Justin Langer. If Australia adopted the kind of short-term instant success thinking we would missed out on several great players.

The Indian selectors needed to give Yuvraj Singh and extended run early on - with the security that he would be picked on potential.

You need to pick the guys with the heart and the technique and the willingness to learn. The reason why Australia is such a great side is because the players are not dropped as often as Indian players.

Laxman is another example of short-termism. If he was playing for Australia he wouldn't have been dropped at all.

Nothing wrong with batting at 6, guys. If that is the best position for Ganguly, so be it. Remember Steve Waugh batted at six and won and saved many tests for Australia. Ganguly has a problem with the short ball. Six is probably his best position. If it's good enough for S. Waugh, it's also good enough for Ganguly.

The great Clive Lloyd batted at 6 for WI in 40 tests and averaged 49.16 in 47 innings with 6 centuries.

Perhaps Ganguly can join S. Waugh and Clive Lloyd at number 6?

I am glad to read an article whicxh promotes Laxman. All we now need is a Captain to do the same. The article puts it well - that in Kumble we have a Captain who is not a batsman and therefore the closest we have to a selfless Captain, batting-wise anyway. Dravid was a selfless Captain and has paid the price for being just that in a country where it doesn't pay to be selfless.

As far as how Ganguly gets to be in the team let alone bat ahead of Laxman is beyond comprehension to me. Perhaps it is yet another statement of how selflessness doesn't pay and selfishness and self-promotion does - in Indian cricket. I do believe that Yuvraj does actually deserve a place in the side, I just worry about who would make room for him - it would inevitably be Laxman while Ganguly would remain in the team. To me that reflects poorly on our cricketing ethic. Dravid - the ultimate professional and the most selfless of cricketers resigned the Captaincy in the most mysterious of circumstances and was then shunted out of the ODI team as well (temporarily one would hope). Laxman , a team player (a rare breed in India) was "rested" from the tour to Bangladesh (while Ganguly got his hundred against another backyard attack), and is constantly having to perform to retain his place. Yes, one does always have to hold one's breath to see if Laxman has reatained his place, each time the selectors announce a team. Laxman did as well as Ganguly on the England tour and his average was higher. He is consistently doing better than Ganguly when it really counts. Most importantly - he is a team player, unlike Ganguly. It is about time that we took a good look at out cricketing ethic. Something needs to change. Otherwise players like Laxman will be constantly under the gun, while players such as Ganguly will fly under the radar (whilst scoring tons of runs against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe). Frankly I cannot for the life of me understand how Laxman can be so under-rated, while an even bigger mystery is how few have actually seen through the facade of Ganguly.

And as far as our line-up is concerned, I think it's time they brought back Sehwag, AND OFCOURSE Yuvraj .... in place of Ganguly!!!!

I too am wondering what the deal with Kartik is? Would it be too controversial to drop Dhoni from the test side and give Kartik the gloves as well? Or drop Kartik and give Gambhir a start in the Test side. Laxman always comes in for unfair criticism, when sometimes he has single handedly saved India. But I am not sure I would pick him at 3, his game is not so suitable at dealing with the new ball if one of the openers falls early. I think the selectors also have to start thinking about an India side without Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble. Oh, and drop Sreesanth for ever, pathetic and immature bad attitude, no good for the game at all.

Its an interesting hypothesis. I want to mention a couple of things that you might find interesting that you might not have known.

1. I looked up Cricinfo Statsguru and after the first 19 tests Laxman's average was 27.80 (and that includes the classic 167 against Australia in Australia). Yuvraj averages higher after 19 tests and who knows what his average will be after 4-5 years if he is given a chance. His current form seems to be better than VVS Laxman (who right now is struggling even in Ranji Trophy matches). My opinion is that if Yuvraj is given a chance to play tests against Pakistan he will do well and try to cement his place in the Test side (whether he succeeds or not remains to be seen).

2. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. VVS Laxman is a great batsman and when he is in form he can handle the most difficult bowlers in conditions outside India (more so Australia than other countries for some reason) very well. However, if he does not seem to be in form currently, we are putting excessive pressure/burden on him. I don't think there is any doubt that if he regains his form, he will be a key player against the most difficult tour of all (playing Australia in Australia). He still has to prove his current form though (like Rahul Dravid is attempting to do right now). I sincerely hope he gets it before the tour to Australia. This may be the last time that not only VVS Laxman but also Saurav, Sachin and Rahul might be playing Tests in Australia.

Dear Mukul, perhaps you have forgotten last series down under, with Rahul Dravid piling runs from One down. Laxman was successful too but from no.5 . I agree laxman is a class act but he has flundered all the opps. at one down. It should be Dravid at no.3 and the past record should be enough to settle that issue.
Moreover, as you can read through all the comments, u hav made urself the laughing stock of web by pointing to UV's average and a case for badrinath.What can i say about this, how cud u even imagine that in the wildest of ur thoughts.
UV may not possess the technique, so did "Tugga; steve waugh" but he belongs to the stage. He has not been given enogh opps at no 5 or 6. But He took a while to find his feet in ODI's so can be tha case in Tests too. I really can't stop myself thinking that we indians will always be divided by this north-south drift. I respected you a lot but ur parochial views hav jus murdered your image as a wise columnist. Badrinath for UV what a choice. In any case the replacement could have been justified by Parthiv Patel. That guy is making some runs in first class and has showed his temprament against lee and akhtar when he was juz 17 and that too outside india.
Anyhow, you wont understand that may be next time adorn ur column with perennial gr8s like hemang badani, s. sharath, V. rao.........after all who said India is a one country

Dravid at no.5 in tests????
Thats the craziest suggestion ever.
Did not even feel like reading the rest of ur article after reading this outrageous suggestion (cause i know the rest of it is goin to be as crappy as this one)!
I serioulsy hope u do not write anything more about cricket.

Dear Mukul
I personnally feel that both gunguly and Laxman should get retired.

Absolute crap with a capital C from start to finish. Laxman's place is not under threat, he performed admirably in England and has played brilliantly in county cricket as well recently. Ganguly is well-established in the Test team, did you forget his performances in England? Yuvraj can be a brilliant Test batsmen, you only have to watch his centuries against Pakistan (one a rearguard in Karachi in very difficult conditions) to know that there is no better man to succeed Laxman than Yuvraj Singh.
The only thing you got right was that Kumble is the right captain for India because he won't succumb to stardom.

Mukul, Good article, though I do not agree with your comment that Yuvraj not being "Test Match" material.With the fab four in the lineup for so long its been stop-start for Yuvraj's test career. At one time the only way he could get in it seemed, was as an opener in the home series against the Aussies!! We know how that went !!!
Maybe with the big guns leaving in the next couple of years, maybe he will get a call.He still would be pretty young and should be able to play for a good 7-8 years atleast!!
PS : And yes I am not from Punjab to be biased

My team
Sehwag/Jaffer
VVS Laxman
S Tendulkar
R Dravid
Yuvraj/Pathan (Pathan when ball moves/Yuvi when thrs Spin)
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
Harbhajan
Sreesanth

hello mukul,and all the rest of the people, i dont see the point of this whole arguement,all you guys actually need to read each others comments after you read mukal's article because most of you are just repeating the same thing, one says laxman should not be included next person says the opposite, same with ganguly, people its about time that we appreciate all this competition and let these players decide by their performance that how hungry they are for some runs,it is healthy sign for indian cricket not one to criticise, forget changing any positions,yuvraj is my favourite cricketer but he is just unlucky, noone can do anything about it,i think the order should be same apart from ganguly, laxman and yuvraj can fight for sixth position,what is the big fuss about this,laxman and ganguly will have 2 to 4 chances in first two tests to show how good they are and then we would all know which two are the better ones. Stop argueing and just enjoy india's great batting!

i think lot of people are crying to include yuvraj in playing XI but you just have to be patient, both ganguly and laxman has to play really badly to give yuvraj a chance, because so far you cant really seperate yuvraj,ganguly and laxman at the moment, and oh my god! mukul since when do you want to see runrate of 6 in a test match, laxman can play his best and still not be as good as "THE WAll" , Dravid might not be in good form, it will jst take him a double century against pakistan to come good. And please stop talking bout changing openers, opener is very hard position to bat in tests,that even someone as good as sachin or ganguly does not want to, let karthick and jaffer handle it,they might fail a few times,but if you karthick playing in last couple of test series, he looked the best!

Dear Mukul, You are jumping the gun like the fickle minded Indian selector. Making hasty decisons on the composition of the Test team based on ODI is indded foolhardy. Dravid needs to bat at 3, I am sure Kumble will see to that. Thats a very important position, which requires the technique and patience of an opening bat at the same time the skills of scoring quickly like the middle order. Its a tranision point and there is no one better to handle that position today in India other than Dravid. Also I dis agree with you pigeon holing Yuvi. Yuvi has indeed arrived, he is beyond knocking on the door, he is already Inside the House. He should play. Time for Ganguly to make way for him. Frankly speaking when was the last time Ganguly scored a 100?? Way back in 2001 in Australia..He has Zero 100s against Pakistan, Zero 100s against SA and Zero 100s against West Indies in Test cricket. What this tells us is that after all these years he is yet to master the fast bowling..Time for Yuvi to show how its done.

The most important thing people have not commented about is on good batting tracks that india has, you will hardly get a result unless you bowl really well, why did selectors say just because pathan changes his pace but does not swing anymore can not be included in the squad, i think its foolish, PEOPLE LIKE IT OR NOT PATHAN IS OUR NEXT KAPIL DEV, knowing india and indians we are not going to get any better allrounder, atleast not a fast bowler allrounder,you could easily include him on the expense of a batsman because if sachin dravid and laxman cant give you a good score neither would addding ganguly as an extra batsman would, what happens if couple of fast bowlers lost the plot, who is kumble going to turn back to,one minute indian selectors talk about attacking cricket next minute they include 7 batsman, a quality blocker no 8 as kumble n specially on indian tracks n expect to win a match, god save indian cricket!

hi mukul kesavan i am with you on this and yeah i am south indian idli sambar eating south indian and yeah i think laxaman merits a place in the team on his current performance alone coz he does not "shoot ads" for cola companies does not plug in for moto bikes/engine oil he is still quality and yeah i think yuvaraj is over rated in test matches !!1 does any one remember a guy called mohd kaif for christ's sake !! i think he scored a 90 odd with kumble in one test to bail out india and one century in west indies yet he was discarded !!! and yuvaraj has done NOTHING I REPEAT NOTHING IN TESTS!!! if people say LAXMAN IS HAS DONE NOTHING AFTER 281 LIKE SOME LEARNED READERS HERE then yuvraj is big zero is tests!

We count on a finger the number of people who concur with you on the Laxman issue. I am one of those rarities. There is pure joy in watching an elegant attacking batsman. What laxman also brings is a good close in fielder so crucial for tests. People overlook this very often We do not have sufficiently good slippers any more. Noone else (ganguly/tendulkar/karthik) is as good a second slipper. Some comments suggest that Laxman cant play the swinging ball!
Also, at number six, laxman can handle the tail much better. Ever seen ganguly hanging in there with the tail??
Most of his fifties of late have come when batting with the tail. And, if the upper order clicks, he is ideal for batting early on a second day pitch and accelerating the scoring rate. Yes, the ranji outings have been disappointing. But even ganguly just managed one hundred after a string of poor scores before being recalled to south africa.
You cant afford to drop laxman before a tour to australia. Ideally, as you mention, karthik should be dropped for sheer lack of class! Form is temporary and it will wane sooner or later. Tendulkar/Dravid could be asked to open (extremely unlikely though)as a permanent fixture.
All in all, i think your analysis was fair and unbiased and selectors would do well to read your blogs before picking teams

Mr. Kesavan,

For sure your article seems regionally biased - Yuvraj's average of 33 is by no means bad, given that he has had a stop-start kind of Test career with limited opportunities. He has also opened in some of these Tests - Badrinath I guess would just have to wait his time. Simple fact, there is competition as there should be. And I wouldn't come in Yuvraj's way especially given that he has been on top of his game of late, and his often-expressed desire, in recent times, to perform well in Test cricket. He certainly seems to rate it above ODI and T20. Ganguly was our best bat on the England tour, and has earned his place at 5 (although he got it from VVS for seemingly no reason when he came back into the Test side in SA).

As far as VVS at 3 and Dravid lower down, VVS himself is always under pressure (through no fault of is own) to keep his place and I doubt if he'd bat as freely as the last Australian tour - he has been successful in the most recent tours (WI, England) but has been more painful to watch than Dravid (who, by the way, I love watching - it's an education!).

So I wouldn't change anything about the batting order - even though VVS was unlucky to lose the No. 5 spot, and especially not based on your twisted, regionalist logic.

Total and utter nonsense. Didn't even bother reading the whole thing. Maybe its time to releive you of your anxieties once and for all and drop Laxman altogether. For good. That's what he deserves in any case. I don't understand what more Yuvraj needs to do to get in to the test team. Surely, his limit-overs performances have to count for something! And please don't give me the "Oh but he doesn't have the technique" argument. If that were to be taken seriously, neither Laxman, not Ganguly would've ever played Test cricket. In a perfect world, Laxman would be batting at no. 3 playing for Hyderabad while India play Pakistan. Period.

Hey MUKUL after 19 tests STEVE WAUGH had an average of 27.56,JACQUES KALLIS 29.03,SANATH JAYASURIYA 34.58(after 22 matches 33.20),VVS LAXMAN 27.80 .. didnt they turn out to be significant test batsmen for their respective countries !!..PLEASE DONT POLLUTE CRICINFO THROUGH SUCH COMMENTS ..

Well lets first analyse the indian batting order as of now, we will obviously play 6 batsmen and Dhoni at 7 and then the four bowlers.

Openers: Wasim Jaffar and Dinesh Kartik has done pretty good so far, although Kartik in my mind has a long way to go.

No 3: Rahul Dravid has done exceedingly well in this position although I cannot help but feel that for the good of the test side he should be opening, which will solve a lot of problems in team selection

No 4: Sachin Tendulkar

No 5 and No 6: Saurav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman

The series against Pakistan and Australia should provide enough time to judge Kartik's mettle as an opener, I do not want to take anything away from him, he has done really really well in South Africa as well as England, but he needs to mature as a opening batsmen and convert his starts and fiftys into big hundreds thereby helping the team to take control of the game.

I believe Yuvraj is in the form of his life now. His confidence is sky high and although I was never a fan of his technique, I think it is the right time to inject him into this team. In his current form he can tear an attach apart if he gets in and this can put India in charge of the test match. If Yuvraj has to play, we will have to have either Ganguly or Laxman sit out or Dravid open the innings. Ganguly has shown enormous character coming back into the test side and even with his problems against the short ball he has survived and scored runs in test cricket with his strenght of character. Laxman has faded away from his brilliance in the last few years but on his day he can be as devastating as anyone in the world. However having said that, I think Yuvraj should play. This might mean dropping either Ganguly or Laxman (Most probably Laxman), but this will also help to promote some healthy competition into the side. We cannot also afford to have the big three and Laxman retire at the same time and leave a gaping hole in the batting order. Yuvraj in the side also brings a left arm spin option and his brilliance in the field will save runs.

these endless discussions about batting lineups bore me no end. have to agree with a comment on an earlier post, cricket fans seems to have one part of their anatomy badly damaged - the brain. The writer has obviously run out of things to say. Has it occurred to anybody here that in the most successful cricket country in the world there is harldly one article written on a batting lineup anytime during the year. Have we Indians lost our marbles, or did we never have any

all this talk about a game considered the sleepiest brain-dead sport in the world. Even darts is exciting, for God's sake

Rohan Shastri, it's not a great mystery to me why nobody "sees thru the facade of Ganguly". Cricket fans do not have much in the brains department and that shud explain your mystery

I am an englishman and therefore I would really like to see India (or anyone for that matter) really thrash Australia.
Whilst i can see the validity of Mukuls arguement (Laxmans 281 was made from no3 and Dravid came in at 6 in that Kolkata test in 2001) I disagree that Laxman should go in at 3 because Dravid has been India's best batsman in that position for easily as long as I can remember (although I'm only 18, which might have something to do with it).
I think that for the Australia tour they should stick with the same team that beat us in England this summer in the test series, its a really good mix of experience (Dravid, Tendulkar, Zaheer) and sheer quality (Any name here will do) and its also got a few people who could easily be big names in the future (Karthik, Dhoni, Sreesanth, RP Singh).
I do however think the selectors have missed a trick for the Pakistan series as they are in transition themselves (retirement of Inzamam Ul-Haq, opening combination, Asif likely out for series, relatively inexperienced coach and captain) so why not give some of your quality first class performers a go in that series? Hand a test cap to someone like Badrinath or Tiwary in place of Ganguly or Laxman and see what happens, it'd be good for the selectors to see how guys like Tiwary or Badrinath cope on the international stage. If they do succeed, then take them on a few tours and give them experience for the future when Tendulkar, Dravid etc have to retire.
Also I do agree with what a lot of people have been saying about Yuvraj Singh, he is a quality player and should not be considered a one-day specialist just because he hasn't cracked it at test level yet, give him another go and see what happens, hopefully those who wrote him off will be left eating their words.

Your comments about Yuvraj are mere sweeping statements, infact show your ignorance.
He is an outright match winner in any form of cricket....20-20 ODI and I sincerely hopes, test cricket.
Remember he has a test hundred and a great one against Pakistan.

If yuvraj is the best one day bat we have, then he should be given a spot on the playing roster and told that he is has to play five one-dayers without a break!!

ganguly genious...hahaha...u must be kidding..put him against a namibia and kenya he will score..his avg against good fast bowling sides is in 20s. he has score one fluke century in aus. since the comeback he has been playing only for himslelf. in ODIs too, his strike rate is pathetic. ganguly has never been a test match material anyways. shud chuck him out soon

Perhaps Mukul has jumped the gun in writing Yuvraj off in tests. He has only played on and off in test matches and has not had many chances to learn and improve at that level.
But there is still some time for him. Right now, it indeed makes sense that Laxman come at 3 and Dravid at 5. Those who say that Laxman doesnt play swing or hostile fast bowling would do well to remember his innings in South Africa last year where he earned, in Gavaskar's words, "medals of honour" on his body. Dravid, in the mean time, can regain his form and touch at the slightly easier no 5 slot while Sachin and Sourav automatically pick themselves at no 4 and 6 respectively.

How come Dhoni is not there in the linup?

Speaking of averages, Sehwag's test average is around 50 and Karthik's only 35. Not only that, Karthik's first class average is only about 32. Yuvraj today is a better batsman than Karthik, Jaffer, Ganguly and Laxman. In my opinion, both Sehwag and Yuvraj should be in the team in place of Karthik and Laxman/Ganguly.

There are many inconsistencies in your article and your biases are clearly evident.

Guys, batting technique is one thing, having the heart for a battle is another.Whatever you say about Ganugly, he has always delivered when we counted on him..in UK this year, in South Africa last year and more importantly in Oz in 2003. I guess you do not remeber his century at Brisbane where he showed what a leader is. I don't really expect much from Mukul but parochial and tasteless remarks. If you judge Ganulgy on two tests then by that same reasoning Dravid shouldn't be selected for Pakistan tests based on his performance in UK which was pathetic. It's time to bring in new blood and that is Yuvi for Laxman if Laxman doesn't do well in the first 2 tests. As for Mukul's reasoning about Yuvi, I really didn't expect much research from him. Yuvi has a parallel in Symmonds who is also a one day giant but there is no reason why quality players can't adapt.
I read Mukul's columns just to keep myself in the loop with which way the armchair parochial wind is blowing.

In selected team my 11 will be
Yuvraj/karthik
VVS Laxman
S Tendulkar
R Dravid
Ganguly
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh/Harbhajan
Sreesanth

Mukul,

Have you checked VVS's stats in the last 25 tests? He has not averaged more than 35. I would rather give Yuvraj some more chances to cement his place in the test team than waste it on laxman. Laxman is now definitely past his best. You want him to bat at #3 when we have Rahul Dravid who is definitely the best #3 batsman India has produced and is arguably in the top 5 #3 batsman of all time considering every test playing country? It is good to be romantic and nostalgic and stuff but there should be some amount of common sense also. Have a look at the way Laxman struggled in the past series in England. He scored a couple of pain staking half centuries and even the likes of Kumble were scoring at a better rate. When was Laxman's last test century by the way?

- Raj.

Mukul,

- Raj.

Was the opinion first formed in this naively obseqious [to Laxman] article and then the evidence [if it can be called that], to support it accumulated.
Dravid would bat no 3 for any side in the world. You suggest demoting him because you might yawn during his innings and yearn for wristy flicks?
Yuvraj must make the 11 and bat at 5 or 6. Is Ganguly a better test bat, at this time.
On Sehwag hack to point and another Laxman flick to midwicket and we are 2 down.
To balance sachin and Yuvraj one needs dravid and Jaffer.

Was the opinion first formed in this naively obsequious [to Laxman] article and then the evidence [if it can be called that], to support it accumulated.
Dravid would bat no 3 for any side in the world. You suggest demoting him because you might yawn during his innings and yearn for wristy flicks?
Yuvraj must make the 11 and bat at 5 or 6. Is Ganguly a better test bat, at this time.
On Sehwag hack to point and another Laxman flick to midwicket and we are 2 down.
To balance sachin and Yuvraj one needs dravid and Jaffer.

Must agree that VVS's profile on Statsguru need to be visited to get the facts. But by his critics and not his fans :-)
------------------------------------------------
Check the 'career summary' filter! He's been very consistent over the years in tests, with average not 27 as some guys claim in comments above.
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Filter: most recent 60 matches.
Sort order: chronological.

Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct St
unfiltered
83 5083 281 42.71 10 29 1 1/32 105.00 0 90 0
filtered
60 3680 178 45.43 8 21 1 1/32 37.00 0 62 0

Spot on Again Mukul!! Kudos!!
In my opinion Laxman's class is just behind Sachin's & Lara's in this era.. Pity our bunch of jokers(read selectors) couldn't see this..
Hail Very Very Special Laxman!!

Cudnt agree with you more Mukul!
One thing I would like to add is Munaf Patel. I am not an insider, but what I have heard experts say is TO win a Test Match, we need bowlers who could run through opposition twice, in a match. Munaf would lend the X-Factor to the seemingly settled bowling combination. It dis-heartening to see selectors keeping 'The Wall' away from ODI and Munaf away from the National Side.

I think what is most important in this forthcoming test series with Pakistan, is that Yuvraj is given a look in. He is in sublime touch this season and deserves a place in test side. Though to do this the only way is to move Karthik (sorry for him) out as none of the big 4 wud be disturbed for sometime by team Mgmt. Probably Laxman can open the innings with Jaffer. Also we did well against Pakistan in ODI becoz we had a good and tough series against Aus preceeding it. I am a bit cynical saying this but even if we manage a good series win against Pakistan in tests, we can't be assured of good performance against Aus in tests as playing against Pakistan at home is much easier than against Aus in Aus. I am like everyone is surely looking for the summer of cricket downunder!

welcome back Mukul. Yuvraj got to play: u cant really write him off. It would make more sense to see Laxman competing with Ganguly for the slot in the team: both have about couple of seasons' game left in them and wouldn't hurt any long term planning for the team if the two are alternately in and out of the playing XI.
I should think Shewag be brought back as the opener: he could team up with either zaffer or gambhir. dravid next and laxman, tendulkar to follow. yuvi and dhoni could be given a chance to team up in the tests as they have done in the one-dayers. Kumble the new captain puts up his hand now and then the bolwers zaheer, irfan/harbhajan, rp to follow.

On a different note: could it be possible for you to blog on cricket history? excerpts from your book, for example.

The only reason why you want badrinath in the team is because he is tamilian and so are you. That is fine and is expected of you. But what is just a tad surprising is that you have concluded that Yuvraj will "never" become a force in test arena after only 19 tests. Thats a load of rubbish.You say Yuvraj is vying for a test spot because of politics but in actual fact it maight be his performances that might keep him in the hunt( just a thought).You in this article are claiming moral high-ground in when talking about politics in selection of the team but you yourslef are involved in the same politics.

Remember we are all branches of the same tree.

The biggest problem with Cricket India is the 100 million judges with their own opinions. To make matters worse, we have blokes like Mukul who primarily are writers NOT CRICKETERS telling everyone how teams should be selected and the order of batting line up. Imagine Tendulkar critiqing Rabindranath Tagore. Enough said.

If Laxman does not deliver - everyone will say,,,,,"Should have picked Yuvraj". If Yuvraj is picked from the get go, and he fails for whatever reason,,,,,,,,,the same people will say, "How can the selectors be so foolish to leave out the classy Laxman". Hindsight is 20/20 and the proof is in the pudding.

Having said that, Sehwag and Yuvi are a must in both forms. These blokes are the future of India. Even if we lose a few, these guys need to be persisted with on a long run. Irfan Pathan should also be played for he provides an additional dimension.

Also India needs a Ravi Shastri. Left arm leggie with solid batting. Its hard to digest that in a country of over a billion, we cant find a Left Arm Legspinner Allrounder. Yuvraj is an option of course, but need a genuine leggie who can bat well.

Having two genuine alrounders gives India a multi-dimension one who bowls quick and another who bowls spin. I laugh at people who say Pathan is a one day specialist. Not long ago he was being hailed as the next Wasim Akram. He has the natural ability to swing the ball. Talent and class are permanent and form is temporary. Have to groom these guys for the future. When we have a batting collapese, its a good option to send in Pathan as a night watchman. Not to mention he is easily capable of producing a big one. When the big 3 retire and its still a few years away, there will be a huge void to fill. This is why Sehwag and Yuvi ought to be included.

My two cents.

Why would you *ever* want 3 spinners in a side? The only reason teams pick 3-4 seamers is so your best seamers can rest. Spinners rarely, if ever, get the problem of been too tired to bowl. Assuming the pitch is turning square at the time, therefore you are wanting to go with spin at each end - think about it. You want the best spinner in your entire country bowling at one end and the second best spinner in the country bowling at the other. Every over your 3rd choice spinner bowls is an over stolen from your best 2 spinners... ie an over WASTED. in other words, if you want to attack with spin, you attack with your best spinners.

Mukul, please get this etched in your mind. Laxman, though WAS a good batsman, is done. Saurav proved everyone and their dad's wrong time and again. Yuvi should be given a chance, while he is still considered young. Do we want to go forward or keep digging our own holes? Laxman got enough chances and has proven plenty times that he is in decline. Sorry, I am a big VVS fan, but you got to let it go sometimes. I can say the same thing about Ganguly, but, nothing he has done in recent past has given me a chance to say similar things about him. So, I would rather not waste any more time to bring in the youngsters like Yuvi a longer run. Can't believe that we are keeping him (and many more) out because of our misplaced affections/sentiments.

The real question people are afraid to ask these days is the role of Dhoni in the test team. Can this guy really bat against quality attacks? He was embarassing in England except on flat tracks. In the meantime, Karthick was outstanding. Karthick should be the keeper and Yuvraj should be in place of Dhoni. Another reader made this comment too and I appreciate that. I dont understand why everyone is penciling Dhoni's name like its automatic. I'd like to see what he can really do in Australia.

Jaffer, Laxman and Karthik's form is a doubt this season. Dravid is in great form however. Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj should be played.

www.thesillypoint.com/forum

the article was pretty good except on the point that according to mukul, yuvraj seems to be a anadept batsmen in tests. i would like differ from his views on this count, simply because he is a far more prospective talent in tests than ganguly. i guess mukul has claimed him to be 'insignificant' in tests because he doubts if the guy is patient enough for this level. it is true that some oneday players have never made it big at the longer version, but india could give yuvraj a try in australia if ganguly fails against pakistan.
my 11 for the australian tests would be
dinesh/sehwag
jaffer
laxman
tendulkar
dravid
yuvraj/ganguly
dhoni
zaheer
sreesanth
rp singh
harbhajan/kartick

OK for starters, Ganguly should not even be picked in the squad. He doesnt have the skill required to play international cricket anymore, neither does he have the knack of taking quick singles, and his fielding in appalling. Laxman, although is a very skilled batsman, I wouldn't pick him because his fielding and running between wickets isnt up to international standards. India need to pick a team thats going to challenge australia and take the fight to them. This would be my team
1. Sehwag
2. Jaffer (because he proved himself in the last series), otherwise pick Gambhir instead
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj
6. Uthappa
7. Dhoni
8. Harbajan
9. Kartik
10. Pathan
11. RP Singh

I would leave Sreesanth as 12th man just so he can still get under the nose of the oposition from time to time.

Kesavan, Ramchandra Guha et al ... Why are history professors intent on writing on cricket? Is it because they have the sufficient clout to get their words in print.
Having said that, I tend to agree with Mukul more than the magnificently pompous and uninformative Guha ... (read India after Gandhi for a shallow and biased rendering of history).
Laxman's treatment by selectors just go on to show, as in the case of Dravid's omission from the ODI squad, that selectors and Indians cannot recognize national treasures even if they were presented to them on silver salvers.
As far as Ganguly is concerned, the Bengali press in particular have always gone gaga about him, in spite of his atrocious 200-2005 tenure as a pathetic test batsman. His only innings of note in tests during that period was the 144 against Australia - that too in a match without McGrath, Warne and Lee, on a featherbed.
After his so called dream comeback, he has crossed the three figure mark in tests only against Bangladesh. His form has been decent by his own standards, but if you compare him to Mohinder Amarnath, who used to come back with a hundred against WI and Pak each time, it is pretty ordinary... which is pretty much what Ganguly the test batsman is.
It is Laxman who has been on trial each time he has stepped out to bat over the last four-five years and has handled pressure with aplomb to return wonderful stats ... far better than Sourav during the same period. Just because he keeps his mouth shut and lets his bat do the talking, he is categorised as vulnerable and the big mouth Ganguly as mentally strong.
Take the case of Rahul Dravid:
Instead of appearing in pathetic ads (Mera nam .... hai, bhule to nahin) , sending controversial emails against Dalmiya and averaging 3.75 for Lancashire; he has just kept his head down and scored 40, 214 and 121 in the three Ranji innings that he has played since his mindless axing from the ODI squad.

Being a perfection player, with performances rather than actions to speak for himself, he won't have effigies of Dilip Vengsarkar burnt by irrational Indian fans. Neither will he have his fellow Bangaloreans supporting Pakistan in sign of solidarity for him. He has just gone back to the drawing board and worked on something he does better than anyone else in India ... batting and scoring runs.

However, performance has never been on the priority list when one comes to team selection and public perspective in India.

Ganguly seems to have lost his bearings in the ongoing ODIs. Shoaib has his number. His place in the Test 11 is not a given. Hopefully, captain Kumble will have the courage and conviction to make the tough call - Yuraj instead of Ganguly , especially as he bats so well with Dhoni down the order. Dravid has been solid at number three and is able to play according to the situation and is more dependable than VVS at three.

I come from a part of the country which never had any player who could even stake a claim in the Indian team, so you could safely exclude me from the accusation of regional bias. With that prelude let me present my well thought out batting order. I would have two amongst Jaffer, Karthik and Sehwag opening. In the middle order Dravid, Sachin and Yuvraj should be certainities, Ganguly and VVS should alternate if Dhoni plays. Dhoni could be sat out with Kartik donning the keeping responsibilities, in which case Ganguly and VVS both play. It could be a powerful mix and match, but temptations to shuffle batting orders should be avoided. Jaffer 1-2, Kartik 1-2, Sehwag 1-2, Dravid 3, Sachin 4, Ganguly/VVS 5-6, Yuvraj 6-7, Dhoni 7 followed by the bowlers (unfortunately just 4 places for them). On form, you cannot afford to sit out Yuvraj, it will be just madness.
Bowling wise, Zaheer, RP and Sreeshant and Kumble should be certainties, so we would have to drop a batsman to play Harbhajan, in such a case the axe would have to fall on Dhoni.

N.Balasubramanian - you are a 100% right. The route to salvation is opening in ODIs and hiding in the middle in Tests.

Add to that ripping your shirt - you become passionate and display spine. And also saying the team is more important - while all the time eyeing centuries and landmarks.

We have superstars in our ODI team, who honestly, the Aussies and South Africans (# 1 and 2 teams) wouldn't even want in their tour bus, leave alone the dressing room.

In my opinion, this man (Yuvraj Singh) is the best bat in India right now and people who ignore his talent should really need to revise their cricketing knowledge.

Hate this kind of lazy writing. It took me all of 4 minutes to work out from stats guru that Laxman's average after his first eighteen matches was 27.2. Mr. Keshavan then writes "I'd have had S Badrinath in Yuvraj's place because after nineteen tests and a batting average of thirty-three, the Punjab batsman has done enough to demonstrate that he'll never be a significant Test batsman."

Mr. Keshvan please dont loose your integrity as a writer - it is all too easy to do that. I dare you to publish this piece and to appolgosie to the people who choose to spend their valuable time reading what you write in the expectation that it would be good - it generally is.

nice one Mukul, totally agree VVS is a treasure that has been treated disdainfully , perhaps not having clout and godfathers is an evil we can't weed out of our selection process, a greater testimony of that being the treatment meted out to Dravid shameful and absolutely disgusting TOTALLY BEGGARS BELIEF . Well as long as we show 'forward' thinking and keep the likes of Yuvraj out and Ganguly in I am sure the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands maybe Vengsarkar in his amazing wisdom might just quit as selector wear his pads again and with the clout he has still play for India ....perhaps drop Tendulkar

For all yuvi fans,he will be great to watch. Test cricket is not playing shots and getting out of hole.Can any one remind me is their any time when yuvi had played quality spin and won that war.
How good is his defences against s clark when he will be in aussi land. And comparing vvs laxman with yuvi means you have not watched enough test cricket. Its 90 days where in india spinner have lot of talking.

Hey mukul, what ever your name is, HOW DARE YOU SAY YUVRAJ WILL NEVER BE A GOOD TEST CRICKETER. GET THIS YOU BIAS LOSER, HE WILL GO DOWN AS 1 OF THE BEST CRICTER EVER PRODUCED BY INDIA. His recent ODI performance is a testimony to that. In addition, he has won more matches for India that centuries scored by sachin. Fool, discrepancies in his test carrier can not be appraised because he was never insured in tests. Now that he eagerly wants to play tests, he will not just perform, but over perform till fools like you appreciate his batting, Don’t be prejudice and hate him because he’s too good of a batsman. Even today, he was splendid against Pakistan and remained not out. Don’t you think this kind of impeccable batting is imperative in the upcoming test series considering that he is all ready torturing them? Do you really think gangly or laxman can induce that kind of terror in the Pakistan team? Think man, you got some serious issues. If yuvraj being Punjabi was your reason for expressing these negatives remarks, than I am Punjabi as well, we are just as aggressive off the field than we are on the field(don’t forget flintoof incident in 20/20) If you want some other type of fireworks then I am more than happy to make ends meet, just reply back. Just a little heads up, Don’t ever scrutinize YUVRAJ.
I can insult you for ever, but to persecute you some more, I want to PROCLAIM THAT YUVRAJ IS THE NEXT CAPTAIN OF INDIA IN ALL FORMS OF GAMES.

Hi Mukul I completely agree with you, those who oppose Laxman's selection are cricket Illiterates

Jaffer/Tendulkar (openers)
Dravid
Ganguly
Laxman
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
RP Singh/Sreesanth

Utter nonsense!
Dravid the best batsman when we have Tendulkar?
Badrinath over Yuvraj?
Laxman at number three over Dravid?
Yuvraj will never be a significant test batsman?

What are you smoking? Just because someone is successful in ODIs and T20s does not mean that he is not a test material. How are Jaffer and Karthik technically superior than Yuvraj? Is it just because they have limited strokes and they are very defensive? Both Karthik and Jaffer are very mediocre at best. In Karthik we have another Ramesh Powar in the making. It will not work out in the long run.

I dont agree with you that dravid should drop down from no.3 position.How do you say he does not play shots ,in fact he has all the shots in his armoury & he plays depending upon the situation.Iam for inclusion of yuvraj in the test team & they should try tiwary, raina who are doing well in the domestic games in the test as india has to build a team for the future.Even parthiv patel can be tried as he is playing exceedingly well.Iam for dropping VVS ,WASIM JAFFER & GANGULY TO ACCOMODATE YUVI & OTER YOUNGSTERS, ATLEAST BY ROTATION

Rene, obsolutely perfect line up for our team may be not for the so called superstar Sachin, let him play for the team's cause atleast from now onwards
in the operners slot, it will definitely erase pressure from others. After 20 to 30 overs the shine of the ball goes down and he has enjoyed that forever so let some other enjoy that position and let the team India win some Test matches consistently.

I don't understand really. If Laxman doesn't play well for, say, 5 matches and is dropped, then people argue that he shouldn't be dropped - "form is temporary and class is permanent" and such things said. Whereas if Ganguly or Sachin don't perform for 5 matches, then we immediately ask if it is time for young blood to take over and the old horses to step down. No doubt, Laxman is a classy player and on his day, he can make any good bowling attack look ordinary. But the question is how many times is going to have that "good day"?
And it is ridiculous to say Yuvraj will never be a significant test batsman! Give it a rest. Yuvraj has been the most consistent player for India, scoring runs match after match after match. He is easily the best fielder in the Indian side. But then we talk of his technique, and whether he can play the moving ball or is a good player of spin. Granted, he may not be a Dravid when it comes to technique, but the way he has been striking the ball, it makes me wonder if he needs any technique when he hits the ball so cleanly !!

Surely Yuvraj should be in the playing 11.

well said AS. agree wholeheartedly with you. i'll feel bad for yuvi if he's left out of final eleven. a few mad tamilians/south indians have suggested that kaarthick be picked ahead of Dhoni. ...LOL. i bet they are hoping he gets screwed down under...bless these "fans"

I dont understand your rant against Harbhajan either. Look at his county record and it was better than the Murali Chucker also. He is the best bowler out their right now, even better than Kumble. I would personally like to Kumble replaced with Karthick.Hierarchy of Spin in India is Harbhajan, Karthick, Misra, Powar, Chawla and maybe then Kumble.

I agree partly with what you have said Mukul and I disagree with the rest.

Firstly, I do agree that Laxman should be a part of the team and a part of the playing eleven. He has done nothing wrong to lose his place in the last few test matches, with his last score in England in the forties.

But I do not agree that he should come in ahead of Dravid at number 3. No. 3 is Dravid's place and he needs all the right messages to play his best, and on any given day, I would prefer to watch Dravid wear the tricolour on his heart, and dig a trench and hold fort for hours on end. I watched live the previous series in Eden Gardens against Pakistan, when he scored a hundred in each innings to win India the test match almost single handedly.

So, where should Laxman bat? I feel that he, Saurav, Yuvraj and Dhoni are vying for 3 batting places in the team in the lower middle order (5, 6 and 7). Dare I say, if India is looking to play 5 bowlers, Pathan gets thrown into this mix as well in the long run.

Of these, Dhoni, the current darling of the establishment and public - and maybe test captain, his place the most secure. Which leaves 2 out of the other 3. I would start with both Laxman and Ganguly in the 11, similar to what the "often benchmarked" Aussies did (selected Macgill despite Hogg doing brilliantly in the ODIs). It is the fair and justified thing to do - as both of them performed in England. If India go 2-0 up, or if one of them fails in the first two tests, Yuvraj probably needs to get a look in. For the long run, the selectors need to have one-on-one chats with both Laxman and Ganguly (what they did not do with Dravid for the ODIs) - and decide mutually how long both of them will continue to play test cricket, and let them go graciously into retirement accordingly. If they do not do this, and things happen as they have been, the selectors will do the less politically difficult thing to do (similar to dropping Dravid) - drop the guy who is less aggressive, has fewer (or more timid) backers - both politically and amongst the public, i.e., drop Laxman in favour of Yuvraj. Let us see how this unfolds (though I see a sad premonition of how this will happen).

Up the order, for 1 and 2, I can understand the pressure that Jaffer and Karthik both must be feeling. They have been giving good performances, but the obvious clamour for more stylish, popular and probably pedigreed players such as Gambhir and Sehwag to replace them can only get louder.

Both of them need some consistent scores and averages of over 45-50 in the Pak series to make the Australia cut. Sounds quite difficult. If by some chance this happens, and Saurav and Laxman score runs as well, and Dhoni does not (lots of ifs here - purely hypothetical situation!!) then it will get really interesting. Will the selectors really be true to their recent precedents set, i.e., drop Dhoni for Yuvraj?

Only time...and Vengsarkar...will tell!!

I would like to have Suresh Raina & Yuvaraj Singh in the team against Ausies

My team for tests will be
Robin Uttappa
Gambir
Dravid
Tendulkar
Youvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Kumble
Kartik
RP Singh
Zaheer
12th Man Sreesanth

Ganguly and Sehwag can get India off to bright starts. Dravid at three can be the anchorman and play the long innings he loves. Laxman can come in at 4 and play his usual breezy game. Dhoni at 5 can counter-attack or hold fort as required. Then India plays its trump card Sachin at 6, in the same position that Sobers played in. Sachin coming in either at 50-4 or 350-4 would have a deflating effect on any opposition team. And then just to kill off your opponents mentally you have Yuvraj at 7 who can either dig in, score fast or go crazy as need be. Pathan, Kumble and Harbhajan can also chip in if needed with Zaheer being the last man in. If you need three seamers, Harbhajan makes way for RP Singh. If you want 5 bowlers, throw the keeping gloves to Dravid and get rid of Dhoni who for all his hype and great ODI/2020 skills still averages mid-30s in Tests compared with Laxman's 42.

Simple. No flirting with second-string players like Raina, Gambhir, Jaffer, Karthik et al. Let the big guns retire, then we will have a look at these guys.

Although by birth i belong to eastern india,i believe that i am free from any regional bias.I thought it was extremely unfair on the part of some posters to hang tamilian tag on mukul.For the information of such guys dravid's ancestors were tamilians who were taken to Gwalior by the earstwhile king of the place.Later they migrated to maharastra and in subsequent generations settled in bangalore.So let us not get this tamil business into it.i think mukul has been most unfair to dravid of tamil ansestry by relegating to him to no 4 although he has got,according to me,most of the other batting spots right.

I am a bigtime ganguly fan, but being realitic and having other possible options, I would prefer yuvraj over him. Anyways, If he makes the playing XI he is a good choice at number 6 being the best batsmen in the side against the spinners.

Moreover, Even if the author of the article is a VVS fan (or from the same state), it is not right to advocate a batsman like VVS, with only a few good innings that too way back in stone age and also considering all the other possible better players on bench.

Mukul, I think the selectors got it wrong here and I believe you did too. Yuvraj has had a fabulous 2007 and purely on form he should be a shoo-in for selection. He is the cleanest striker of the ball in world cricket today and I think he has done enough to intimidate Pakistan in this series. While i think there is value to the idiom of 'horses for courses', you have got to play your stallion. Treat Yuvi as a batting all-rounder. In addition to his batting prowess, he will pull off some blinders, mere half chances that could change the course of a match. the man has matured in the last year and I am not sure Ganguly would be in my team. He can't field and is well past his shelf-life. Laxman could be a target but with his record against the Oz, I'd rather get him into test mode against Pakistan. I think we are afraid to blow away the traditional mind-set. It's been 15 months since his last test appearance and if one cannot see that he has blossomed as a player since then and added maturity as VC of the one-day team, we are kidding ourselves. I hope Kumble and the selectors will have the courage to let Yuvraj find his way in test cricket.

I read somebody above making a statement Laxman cannot play Akhtar and Umar Gul because he cant face fast bowling. Oh' I see. I hope AUS, NZ, WI have fast bowlers in their 11. If i remember correctly Australia had in them Glenn McGarth, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie et al, and NZ some time back has Shane Bond. Another soul above made a valid point. VVS doesn't have (A) Sponsors (B) Advertisements on media (C) Political backup (D) Finally, not from Bombay. Had he been in Australia he would have been dealt with in a different way. It's become a fashion these days for every everyone to post a message once they are sure that they know a bit about cricket. Out of these million posts on any forum, million-1 talk about Laxman not suitable for one day cricket. Agreed. But is it not surprising. In one day cricket he had 6 hundreds to his name. Out of these, 4 hundreds were against Australia. His 6 hundreds include 4 match winning knocks. His 6 hundreds include 4 abroad (Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Lahore). If he would have got the required backing from selectors and general public like these on forums, he would have been a force to reckon with. He doesn't know drama stuff on the field. Look at Murali Karthik. He's a spinner but not a Shane Warne, Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Abdul Qadir. But look at him the way he rolls himself onto the field. With spects so short that would give any one an impression that it would fall and the chink hair cut. Even Vivian Richards got Man of the match several times, but i haven't seen Vivian ride a bike on ground. But when Dhoni gets an award, he rides a motor bike 2 rounds around the ground, with Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa as pillion riders. Look at Sreesanth, after the ball is dead, he removes the bails at the non-strikers end and appeals for a run out. All this drama sells in the media and people keep them in mind for years. Does Laxman or Kumble does any of these. Nope. They don't. Very Very Sad. Take it easy. Good to find India winning a one-day series against Pakistan at home after 25 years. Cheers.

I respect Mukul's thoughts.It is high time that,we give a Laxman a fair deal.Back him for his atleast for his pure batting(not cheaky) skills.A silk and grace.Like Ian chappel mentioned it would be great boost for him to see his class back on the Ausies and Pakies.The reason why I say is this. The only game we are very consistent of winning is TEST. Laxan is been a big backbone of each time we won a test. Because of the Big 3 stature, he is pushed out of the team some times and pushed down the order if he plays in a test. He then have to work with the tail enders and all the time playing to save the match. Just see what happened in the Bangla tour , he was put outside of the team just becuase the BIG 3 were in trouble at the time after the disastrous perforamance in the WC, and it was time for them to prove them they are great.I agree with Greg Chappel comments on what he went through with Ganguly and Sachin.Every time there is situation for saving someone's back Laxman is the scape goat for selectors or team management. He is kept out for Piyush Chawla and any time we play 5 bowlers. I would say, we don't need two keepers. If Sachin can open in the ODIs and why not in TESTs. I agree that Yuvi should be promoted to be a test batsman but not for Laxman but for Ganguly definitely. WE can see how poor his batting technique and fielding skills are in the ongoing ODI series.
I also want to question on why VVS is not considered in the ODIs. Again, fielding ? I don't agree. I want to ask BCCI or selection committe that how many matches did we win with a glorified or exceptional fielding. If Ganguly can drop as many as catches as he is now, with a very best slip fielder in the world, why not Laxman stay in the team for ODIs. He has proved his class for Lancashire in the county. and I bet he is going to come very good in the upcoming series, provided he is given a chance to play in final XI. I will pray GOD, Kumble will be sensible to play him in the FINAL XI.

Sachin
Jaffer/Karthik(Based upon the form)
Laxman
Dravid
Yuvi
Karthik/Ganguly
Dhoni
Kumble
Bajji
Zaheer
Sreesanth

If we play 3 spinners.

Sachin
Jaffer/Karthik(Based upon the form)
Laxman
Dravid
Yuvi
Dhoni
Kumble
Bajji
Zaheer
Murali
Sreesanth

I have been following VVS from years, every series there is a disappoint treatment on him. I hope selectors look at this one and treat him with the respect. I really wanted him to be test cap but again,I am not sure, what Anil can prove in his 37th year.

May GOD bless the pure cricket.

This is my second post on this blog. From the comments since my earlier thoughts, I am PLEASANTLY surprised to see that FINALLY there are those who are seeing Ganguly for who he is. Whilst this article is about Laxman at No.3 and I do not entirely subscribe to that thought, it also opens a can of worms of just what is the ethic and value system of cricket in India. Dravid should bat at No.3, for me there is no debating that issue, BUT really Laxman should be at No.5 and Yuvraj at No.6, and therein lies the problem that Indian cricket is grappling with for some time now. Yuvraj really should be there - but that would mean pushing out either Laxman or Ganguly. Whilst Laxman is your upright, honest, team-player, Ganguly is your quintessential Indian cricketer, only more so than your average Indian hopeful - he is selfish, promotes factionism, and loves to blow his own trumpet. Unfortunately in the Indian cricketing environment that seems to work. He would survive, Laxman wouldn't. SAD.

During the era when Ganguly was Captain (and during which we won 9 Tests against Zim. and Bang.) Yuvraj was made into an opener, there were rumours that Kaif would be opening (when he was in the team). We all know why!!!! For godsake Dravid opened as well just so that Ganguly could be accommodated into the playing XI in Pakistan. And I thought it was about the team and not the individual.

The Indian psyche needs a shock to the system. Chappell tried to do that .... and failed. We need team players and professionals like Dravid,Pathan, Laxman, Yuvraj, Kaif (if he can regain form), hey maybe even Sreesanth, and we can do without the Ganguly's of the world. For Ganguly, India's win in the 4th ODI, will be about his hundredth ODI wicket - it was after all, not under his Captaincy.

As far as changing the Indian psyche and approach is concerned, it's going to be a tall order. After all, these attitudes are ingrained into the individual at a very young age. The trick is to mature as one grows from a mode of self-preservation (natural at a young age) to team man. We seem not to be able to manage that, and whilst players such as Ganguly are allowed to thrive despite the games that they play, it never will. Remember, a Champion Team will always beat a Team of Champions (and let no one for a moment think that I am calling Ganguly one!!!!).

Come on Mr. Kesavan! What are you on about seriously? You talk about how Yuvraj has an average in the 30's in tests but do you recall Laxman's start to his test career? He was worse and he got more of a run than Yuvraj has in test cricket. If Yuvraj's test career wasn't so stop-start then he'd have an average of at least 40 and he would also score at a better rate than Laxman. Yuvraj is also a form player and you would be a fool to leave a player in such form out to a man who didn't really do much in the tests against England. Laxman's time has come and gone, it is now Yuvraj's time to shine in the test arena. I fear that if you were a selector we would have the likes of Laxman playing till they were 40. Laxman has been a great servant of Indian cricket but it is now time for the younger crop to come through. Sachin though still has a place for as long as he wants it, he was back to the Sachin of old in Gwalior.

My 11 will be
1)Sehwag
2)Gambhir
3)Laxman
4)Dravid
5)Sachin
6)Yuvraj
7)Dhoni
8)Zaheer
9)R.P
10)Sreesanth
11)Kumble as the playing 11
12)Karthik(Reserve opener/wicket keeper)
13)Ganguly(6th/all rounder option)
14)Harbhajan(spinning option)
15)Irphan (extra seamer)

YES, I agree with Mukul Kesavan, you make very good sense. VVS Laxman's holds the best bating record against a team like Australia, no other batsmen in the world has a better batting record against Australia, he is by far the best batsmen ever against the good sides like Australia. This guy is a GENIUS. If he can through Australian bowers all over the park, then there is no question that he can replace anybody in the India team.

sehwag
laxman
dravid
tendulkar
ganguly
yuvrak
dhoni
kumble
zaheer
rp singh
sreesanth

I became very emotional after reading your article, Mukul.
Hats to off to you.At last someone has talked openly on behalf of possibly the most graceful batsmen EVER to grace a cricket field.The only other 2 I can think of are Mark Waugh and David Gower.Laxman unfortunately, because he does not have the Sponsors and Endorsements lacks a strong lobby (similar to Kumble).
I was amused to read an Anti-Laxman and Pro Yuvraj reader in this forum commenting that bar the 281, what has Laxman done. Also, except versus Australia Laxman never performs.Well let me correct the ill informed, during the last tour to Australia, Laxman hit 2 brilliant centuries (148 and 178).He was our best batsmen in the series winning West Indies tour.Even against South AFrica he battled hard with the Tail to give us some respectability. Someone wrote that he was not a success in England!! Again for the misinformed he along with Dhoni and Kumble was one of the 3 batsmen to average over 50 per Test inning.
The sad part is because of all the pressure on him to keep proving his position in the Team, he has become very defensive nowadays and we have been deprived of the magical shots he used to hit more consistently, earlier.However, his game has become more solid and he does not throw his wicket away.
Also, if you can play your best against the BEST team in the World, it is something to admire, not ridicule!!!!
Yuvraj is a great ODI and 20-20 player but he is not patient enough for Tests and also has a habit of flashing outside the Off stump to last on good pitches like Aus, Eng or South Africa.Maybe he should be given some more chances but NOT at Laxman's expense.Ganguly would be a target as he is suspect against the short ball anyway.
One thing I do not agree with you Mukul, is your doubts about Dinesh Kaarthik.I think he was possibly our best Batsmen in England.I admire his courage and self belief as well his competitive streak.I feel he should be made a permanent opener.

Mukul's opinion is his. Even the Greats of india like Gavaskar and Kapil may disagree on many such issues, there is NO need to be atacking one's views.
I appreciate number of comments,including Mr Howard. What is good is we have a good Bench strength in Yuvi,Sehwag,Raina,Badrinath,Tiwary,Chawla,Irfan,Munaf,Powar... who are nearly as good as any one in 15 members in Team india for Tests against Pak now.
Winning tests against Pak is first goal and the present team is good for that. Yuvi deserves a chance at this peak form.Let Yuvi,Ganguly,Lakshman paly 2 Tests each on rotation.
Karthik is good tough guy. But, he is yet to proove he can score double hundreds.He should score a big hundred in first 2 tests to desreve a place further.
next goal is Australia: Need to think out of box.Need to take guys good with Bouncing ball and with strong Mind.Ganguly may still be in. Dhoni may be chosen to open with Jaffer, allowing Yuvi,Ganguly,Lakshman along with Sachin,Dravid.we need to attack and create pressure on Aus batting.that is the only way to WIN.

What a relief! Atlast I found someone who supports VVS,the prime reason for India's Success in South Africa,England,West Indies recently.If someone want's him replaced ,They should check the facts and his records in the last 4--5 test series. About Yuvraj,I personally don't think he would make a successful test player,But it is only an opinion.I believe Laxman Should bat at no4 or no5.

sachin,drived,ganguly,sehwag,dhoni,jaffer,pathan,
kumli,rp,laxman,zaheer kahn.

Mukul, you are being irrational in your comments on Yuvraj Singh. The sheer talent he possesses means he will be a good test player(average 40+ atleast) Yuvraj is a better player now then he was when he played the 19 tests. He will be a force in the next few years. Your comment about Badrinath's inclusion is wrong. Yes, he has scored lots of runs but then again who doesnt on docile surfaces against average bowling attacks. Also, vs pakistan in tests is not the right place to expose him.

I totally agree with your comments on VVS. He is a class player who for some inexplicable reason does not have the backing of the team management, or so it seens. This reflects in his batting of late which has lacked the silky strokeplay he is capable of, i put this down to constant pressure of losing his place. It is ridiculous to imagine playing vs australia in aus with Ganguly or Yuvraj ahead of VVS. His record vs them speaks for himself.

I feel, Yuvraj has too much ability not to play. I would take a backward step and make either dravid or laxman open with jaffer. Leaving out Karthik(harsh given his record) but accomadating Yuvraj lower down. Therefore, jaffer,vvs, dravid, sachin, ganguly, yuvraj would be my top 6.

Ps- With the exception of board interference how can any selector say Ganguly is a better test player than VVS.

With regard to Harbhajan, I have my doubts. Yes, he can bowl teams out on dustbowls but the mark of a great spinner is what he can do without much assistance from the surface. Also, Harbhajan's decline is down to him not being able to bowl his suspect doosra. One feels his head drops when things go against him. If this is so, Australia will be a very tough experience for him.
I would either play a leggie in Chawla, (yes hes young and far from being a finished article) because i feel pakistan struggle against conventional leg spin. Or, I would play Murali Kartik as i feel he is an under-rated bowler who as a left armer relies on flight and guile. These two abilities are far more afeective in taking wickets on pitches lacking sharp turn and bounce(indian pitches are not generally sharp turners any more). Also, in Kartik's favour is the fact that as a left arm spinner, he would benefit most from the modern approach of umpires giving LBWs to batsman playing forward.

super story, mukul (as usual!)
vvs is the best batsman we have. the stylish shots that flow off his bat are memorable. as a nation we are quick to rubbish him every time he fails (maybe because he is not a good looker!)... but as a pure, sensible and stylish bat there are very few who can compare with his grace, talent or even fighting spirit.. am not going to waste my breath on comparing yuvraj with him (not saying yuvraj is bad or anything as such). at the end of the day its the subtle flick of the wrist and the sexy drives that keeps me glued to the tv whenever vvs is batting.
on another issue, i think it would be interesting to have a 3rd wicket weekeeper in the team (partiv) - so two purely as batters! do u agree the wk-keepers in this country have become better batsmen in the last 5 years!

Mukul, I have been following your articles and appreciate your articles for its relevance and thoughts. But just they say in cricket anyone can have a bad day, one could say this is the worst article I have seen from you. I have seen the trend of lifting Laxman more than he should (similar to selectors dropping laxman more than he should). He just do anything exceptional to compare him with Dravid. Also our memories are short, but its getting too short for comfort. Otherwise how can you say Dinesh Karthik credentials as test opener again become a question. He's proved beyond doubt on English conditions that (he & Jaffer) are the best opening combination, India could get. Look at the scoreline of Dinesh Karthik: 63, 38*, 56, 22, 129, 5, 60, 77, 22, 91 against South Africa and England in their own soil. One should be more sensible than questioning a guy who scored so much consistently recently.

Mr Mukul,

Please dont be a baised Mallu.
Well we must and the selectors must realize thata we are at the end of an era of 4 great batsmen in the history of indian cricket. We have to acknowledge that we will not get replacement of Sachin, but would do well to get replacement of Dravid. Considering the talent and the apetite for runs and concentration Rohit Sharma fits the bill for being a future Mr. Dependable. Another candidate is Badrtinath.
Besides Yuvraj has done enough to earn him a regular test place.
Of these three two must be given an extended run under guidance of Sachin and Rahul (coming at 3 & 4 with youngsters following them) so that the future of Indian cricket is secure, so that by the time these big 2 leave we have a contuinity. There is no point in persisting with Saurav and Laxman, they are past their expiry date, Laxman has not done enything of note in last 2 years and Saurav is like a flickering candle burning brightest before extinguishing. They must be given a heaveho after Australian series for the sake and benefit of Indian cricket.
Also enough of tomfoolery has been done with karthik, say thank u to him and restore Sehwag to the opener's slot. Here we have the future captain.

Rashid

my test team
jaffer/ganguly/dravid/tendulkar/yuvraj/dhoni/pathan/kumble/zaheer khan/rp singh/harbhajan

Whatever the composition of the Indian cricket team. I know for sure that we have something in common, We, effing want the best possible combination to beat the Pakis and the Aussies. However, i disagree with your comments on Yuvi, Believe you me, One day you are going to call him the best Batsman in the world at some point of time. His best is yet to come.

i agree with mukul that VVS is a good player last in the line of players who will glue the viewer to their seats when on song.but considering the form of yuvi,it is the right time to include him in the test team.we have 3 WK in the team (if you consider RD).considering dhoni's performance in test it will be better to replace him with yuvi in test.

with regard to the captaincy,i wud say VVS LAXMAN shud be the choice,for both one days n tests,i dont see any need of two captains...dhoni is not much experienced with the captaincy sort of thing,the 20-20 win was not coz of dhoni ,its the team work..dhoni has got nothin to do vth it...hez still inexperienced ,its known dat he wudnt survive much longer as a captain one fine day he'll b definetly sacked ..dats 4 sure.
VVS is well experienced n hez a grt batsman .dhoni shud get down n concentrate more on his batting skills(wich..hez improving these dayz)

If there has been any consistent batsman over last 6 months then its Dinesh K. He will keep his place at the top with Wasim J. Yuvraj is currently India's best batsman and should be in the playing eleven.

My 11
Wasim J, Dinesh K, Dravid, Sachin T, Laxman or Gangulli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kumble, Zahir K, RP Singh, Harbhajan or Sree Santh or Ajit A

The Australian way of inducting players is the best. Get the apprenticeship in the one day game and unleash them in the test matches later on. Don't force the old brigade out. Greg Chappel tried to make the changes and we got knocked out of the first round in the world cup. Let nature take its course. Can you think of the pressure placed upon one of the players if they were in the Indian test team in place of a 'Laxman' or 'Ganguly'?? Yuvraj will be a good test player, maybe not great but certainly good. He's only 25 give him time.

Mukul,
You seem to have written off Yuvraj Singh as a test batsman. I believe his chance will come at some point in this Pakistan series. And IF he proves himself he should be on the plane to australia. I am a huge fan of Ganguly and wish him all the best. But, firmly believe his position will go to Yuvraj in the not too distant future. While they can persist with Ganguly on sub-continent pitches, it remains to be seen if he can take on the australian pace battery on a lively Perth pitch. Ideally my playing 11 for Ind-Pak tests:

Karthik
Jaffer
Laxman
Tendulkar
Dravid
Ganguly
Dhoni
Kumble
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Sreesanth/RP Singh

Only on turning pitches can we get away with playing 2 spinners & 2 pacers. In austalia we would need 5 bowlers to get 20 wickets. So my Indi-Aus playing 11:

Karthik/Gambhir/Sehwag
Jaffer
Laxman
Sachin
Dravid
Dhoni
Harbhajan/Yuvraj Singh/Ganguly
Kumble
Zaheer
Sreesanth
RP Singh

I dont understand why people always point their fingure against Dravid. If you are taking his current TEST form in consideration then what would you say about Ganguly?

I would select Dravid in my every team till he retires himself out.

My 11 for the tour of Aussie would be :

Wasim Jaffer
Dinesh Karthik
VVS Laxman
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Yuvraj Singh
MS Dhoni [wk]
Anil Kumble [c]
Zaheer Khan
RP singh
SreeSanth

12th person : Virendra Sehwag

To make it 15 : Harbhajan Singh, S.Badrinath, Saurav Ganguly

Badrinath deserves a chance but never at the cost of Yuvraj Singh, who has this ability to change the result of the game in session or two.

Mukul, I think we are not making sense here by having same approach but little change in batting line up. I would not include Ganguly or Virender in linup for Australia trip. Surely Ganguly is not good against fast bowling and sure Australia having played Ganguly since log will figure out a game plan to silence Ganguly. Virendar has been failed for 2 years and in his come back, he made some odd 30 or 40 runs here there. Also, Though having some success in 1 day games & 20/20 , have not seen any indian batmens making 100 runs periodically every 6 to 8 games. Virender has poor running btw wickets, he is not comfortable with short delivery and he is only successful in flat pitches. Get rid of some senior players and give chance to junior players. I would go for below squard,
Jaffer, Kartik (opening)
Laxman one down
Dravid,
Tendulkar,
Yuvraj or Gambir
Dhoni,
Kumble
Zaheer
RP singh
Sreesanth

Laxman and Gangully should be given chance for the first test. In case they perfom they should be given oppurtunity to play remaining matches with Pak and ticket to Australia. Other wise selectors to declare their retirement from test cricket paving way for young talent.

Your comments are not logical. Yuvraj has matured and so he is a different batsman now and future of Indian Batting line-up.

i think for tests there is nothing wrong with yuvi....but laxman is good too....and my test team is........ sehwag,jaffar,rahul,sachin,laxman,yuvraj,dhoni,harbhajan,kumble,zaheer,rpsingh 12 man..sourav ganguly........

Mukul...I believe you write fiction as this article is pure fiction. Yuvraj is the talent that India has to utilize in all forms of cricket. He has the talent to become Brian Lara of Indian cricket. Do you know any thing about cricket? If not, please stick to fiction.

An australian, and watching Indian cricket with a great deal of interest, I see you are in a situation now of having to manage guys in and out over the next 2-3 years, with the big four approaching retirement. I'd leave Ganguly out for australia, and replace him with either Yuvraj or Uttappa - who I know is only young, but is an awesome player of the future. Not taking Sehwag is a mistake - he is clearly India's best medium-term opening batsman prospect, and I would like to see the Gambhir/Sehwag combination given a chance to work - with apologies to the two in-form openers.
Pathan I'm not sure is test standard, and Kartik is an odd preference over 2 fine upcoming Test-level spinners in Powar and Chawla. Managing, over time, Ganguly, Laxman, Sachin and Dravid out in order (one each year, beginning with Ganguly), for Yuvraj, Uttappa, Gambhir, Karthik, Sharma etc, and also Kumble and Harbajan for Chawla and Powar in a couple of years from now will give great stability. ALSO, one thing we would love to see by India is losing the idea that Sreesanth or RP will ever be anything more than ODI bowlers, and BRING IN PATEL - the only quick bowler likely to cause the aussies problems in Australia. An Indian attack of Zaheer, Patel, and AT LEAST two spinners, as well as Tendulkar's clever part-time bowling is the only thing that will worry Australia's batsmen. Bounce and spins wins cricket in Australia, not pace or swing. And also, Laxman may be resting a bit on his laurels vs Australia, but he is a CLASS act - in my view, stands alongside Dravid and Tendulkar and Ponting as a best-of-generation type batsman, if only he improves on his consistency.
So, for me, the team lacks Uttappa, (at least in the squad), Gambhir, Sehwag, and Patel - and Ganguly's time is finished.

Mukul, I support VVSL, the virtuoso, at #3. Dinesh and Jaffar, not the most electrifying par, are at the top based on results, and may they continue to get them. I worry though how they will negotiate Lee, Tait, Johnson and Clark at the WACA.

Your comment on Badrinath, made me think of our test bench strength. Behind Yuvraj and Badri, I will place Tiwary (he of the aggressive, dominating, vintage-Sachinesque mould) and Pujara (who never says die and is technically sound). Who would be the #3 opener (if not Sehwag)? Gambhir in test cricket is untested but he's in great form in the Ranjis.

I think the best player for the side is mohammed kaif. he is just the right talent for the indian cricket team and for ganguly, well, he needs to practise how to play the bouncer and oh yes, he also needs to learn how to run. which idiot put him in the team anyway?

It's the partnership of Yuvraj's talent and Dhoni's heart that will bring success whether it's T20s, ODIs or test matches. We have already seen it in the shorter version, It will happen in the longer version too. Let's invest a little. It will pay big dividends.

Hi Mukul,
You have brought out people's foolish hatred for a wonderful (possibily the best) batsman, VVS. For those people who says that VVS only bats well against Australia, they should look into the matches in which he failed properly. When the team is 400 for 4, the need of the moment is not to stick around and get a draw out of it. That was the time when VVS gets out. Only reason why people percieve Laxman to be batting well against Australia, against Australia most of the other batsmen fails. If Brett Lee and McGrath were no problems for VVS, Akthar and Gul are nothing for him. I totally agree that he should bat at No.3. But, Dravid has done remarkably well in that position and therefore, I will recommend VVS batting at 5 and Ganguly getting dropped (for no reason, but to get Yuvraj in). This brings me to the Yuvraj's inclusion. I disagree with you regarding the Yuvraj's exclusion. Yuvraj is one of the best batsmen in the world. It is very important to have an attacking batsman like him at number six. So, Ganguly at the ripe age of 35 should give way to this fantastic batsman. Also, it is important to give Sehwag enough practice before the Australian tour and I will have him as one of the openers for the 3 tests against Pakisthan. So, my team will be: Sehwag, KKD Karthik, Dravid, Tendulkar, VVS.Laxman, Yuvraj Singh,Dhoni,Kumble,Z.Khan (or Pathan),R.P.Singh,Sreesanth.

If you think of putting Laxman at number three, don't you think it is going to be a problem with Dravid and Sachin's position. It can be either Sachin at 4 and Dravid at 5, or Dravid at 4 and Sachin at 5. Sachin at 5 is going to be totally ridiculous

Brilliant idea Mukul!

You should be congratulated for saying it. Your thoughts about the batting order is poetry to my ears. By moving Dravid down the order no one is saying that he is a bad batsman. But what should be noted is Australia has always succumbed to counter attack. The advantage we have over Australia for the upcoming series is that we have a better and more experienced bowling attack than them. If we can take the attack to them, Ponting will not have the reliable shoulders of Warne and McGrath to fall back on.

Moving Ganguly down to 6 is also a good move. Keeping him as far away from the bouncing ball as possible is a good move.

My worry is around Kaarthick. Sure he has done well this year. But a tour down under is a different deal all together.

I would not write off Yuvraj though. He is a very talented player. And I am not telling this after his recent performances. I believed he could play test matches from the time I saw him making his debut in Nairobi. Although I would not agree with some of the comments mentioned here like comparing him with lara! He can be a very good player for us. He is nowhere close to great. Not yet.

Nice stuff. I agree with you that Laxman should bat at three with Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and co further down. I also think Sehwag should be given another shot at the top of the order against Pakistan. Here's what I think the team should be:
1) V Sehwag
2) D Karthik
3) VVS Laxman
4) S Tendulkar
5) R Dravid
6) Yuvraj Singh
7) MS Dhoni (wk)
8) A Kumble (capt)
9) Harbhajan Singh
10) Z Khan
11) S Sreesanth

I dont agree with promoting laxman to No 3 as I feel that dravid is still technically the best batsman to handle that position with ease.Laxman doesnt have good footwork against the moving ball.he might give you a quick 40 but dravid will grind the bowlers and toil them getting big scores.but I agree that laxman should come ahead of ganguly at No 5.Yuvraj deserves a place in the test team and I think Yuvraj,laxman and ganguly should compete for two batting slots in the test team.

Mukul Laxman is great batsmen whose career is at crossroads due to dirty indian BCCI politics, he was not shown enough confidence like they did to other players. Atleast Laxman should have made Vice-Captain which would of really multiplied his confidence.

Hi,

How about this for a "left field" team,

1. Sehwag
2. Pathan
3. Laxman
4. Tendulkar
5. Dravid
6. Y Singh
7. Dhoni
8. Kumble
9. H Singh
10. Z Khan
11. Sreesanth/ RP Singh

Gives you the benefit of 5 bowlers - Pathan has good technique and would probably do as well as any other opener in Australia. I would go with Sehwag because he has good cross bat shots.

The batting order is chockful of some of the best batsmen in the world.

You would have 3 pace bowlers & 2 spinners + Ganguly/Tendulkar.

You need good batting & good bowlers.

Sri Lanka never looked like getting past the Aussie middle order, Murali was hammered. I think Pathan instead of Kartik because at least Pathan may get wickets if he doesn;'t get runs. If Indian middle order fire - then runs at the top of the order are not as important.

here is my test side for Pak and Aust series:
1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Dinesh Karthik
3.Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. MS Dohni
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. Sourav Ganguly
8.Habharjan Singh
9.Zaheer Khan
10. Anil Kumble
11. RP Singh/Munaf Patel
I am undecided on the last fast bowling spot. I think that RP deserves his chance but Munaf is alot like Steyn from RSA. When he gets it right, he can be devastating,(Of course, when he's fully fit) but, when he gets it wrong, he can be wayward, and usless to a captain. I put Ganguly at 7 only because I thing MS Dohni needs to get more of an opportunity of batting higher, to enhance his chances of being captain. Also, I think that Yuvraj is a brilliant player. And he's still young. VVS Laxman is a great player but at the moment, you can't fit him into the starting XI.

India should have made VVS.Laxman the captain. That way, he doesn't have to be in any doubt about his position and can play freely. Also, in Australia, there is only one spot for the spinner and the team can choose any spinner rather than just Kumble. Murali Karthik seems to trouble the Aussies more than any other spinners in the world. It would be very unfortunate to see the lone spinner's slot is always taken by Kumble, eventhough he's been a great bowler.

Hi Mukul,
It is good to hear that there is a tough competetion in indian test cricket.
I would like to go with uvi, because now selectors can't ignore him, he is in tremendous form. He doing well past 3 years. I would not prefer to take uvi in place of VVS. There is no place is remaing in the middle order.
There are two otpions to take uvi inside the test team.
1.
Think about opening slots. We are having dinesh as opner/wicket keeper. why should we not allow him to wicket keeping(instead of dhoni), It will give an automatically place to uvi. Dhoni is also good batsman. If we want to include him than same problem will persist. Because opener were not doing well before kartik. Let the opening pair same as we have.
2. Uvi can bat in middle, so we should take same hard decisions either we have to replce uvi in place of VVS/dada.

Mukul seems to be a biased mind - with something against Punjab. Its funny that one reson for Yuvi not playing in the Test Eleven is that he is from Punjab...

Secondly & more importantly, I will want Mukul to re-write the artile after the Aussie tour. Indian wickets are tailor made for Batsmen - it is evident from the scoring pattern at Delhi & Calcutta tests against Pakistan... and, I willl be aeger to see Ganguly & Laxma perform in Australia. Personally, I like Laxman but it is the basis of the reasoning that lacks sanity.

I think the rejig proposed by Mukul still shows a lot of respect for the abilities for one player....Sachin who since 2000 has not done enough justice to his "supreme" talent(if he possesses naything like that) and during these times less fortunates in the team like Laxman, Kumble have shown more character and fight and won test matches than him .....(and please don't quote those statistics).....Laxman should have batted at no. 4 all along and Sachin at no. 5......

Cheers

Totally disagree with the sentiments of this article..in 3 years time It wont be me, or any of the others on here to prove you wrong about Yuvraj Singh Mr kesavan, no. It will be Yuvraj himself. and how i look foward to that day.

Well, fans you have been so kind to the artical of Mukul. there are comments positive and negative as well, but i don't think some of the comments against Mukul are valid. Simple reason, Yes Yuvaj a find for the future but, it does not necessariliy to replace VVS, that's what Mukul trying to give a message to all.

In no way should I think Yuvraj is better batsman than VVS. VVS is a player of the generation and a sensible player that I would have seen over the last 20 years. Failure of one innings is not measure for his talent. To make proviso to Yuvraj is to dislodge Saurav ot Dinesh from the team, as I said earlier blog, VVS is mateial for next 2-3 years at least to make us proud in the test arena. I also suggest if saurav is to be in the team, then why can't Rahul open the innings?

If I was the Vengsarkar then, the choice is

1. Jaffer (Ok as an opener)
2. Dravid (I always feel Dravid game a typical openers game and better than Gavaskar)
3. Sachin (what is the bloody hell h

So then Mukul...I guess as a lover of Indian cricketand having watched yesterday's innings, you're happy to be proven wrong after having called Yuvraj a one-day specialist?

I really hated when you told...

I'd have had S Badrinath in Yuvraj's place because after nineteen tests and a batting average of thirty-three, the Punjab batsman has done enough to demonstrate that he'll never be a significant Test batsman.'

Do you agree it was ridiculous on your side to say this. Man we all agree VVS is very good, but give it or take it, Yuvi has to get a spot in XI, else he might just go to the same road as Majumdar went. I would think best bet for team and batting order is Dravid, Jaffer, Laxman, Sachin, DADA, Yuvi, Dhoni, Pathan, Kumble, Zaheer, RP Singh.. Reserve Opener -- Sehwag, Reserver Keeper -- Kaarthik, Reserve Middle Order -- Manoj Tiwary, Reserver Spinner -- Harbhajan, Reserve Pacer -- Munaf, since Sreesanth is injured

Well, fans you have been so kind to the article of Mukul. Yes Yuvaj could be future, but does not necessarily to replace VVS. VVS is a player of the generation and a sensible player that I would have seen over the last 20 years. To make proviso to Yuvraj is to dislodge Saurav or Dinesh from the team, as I said in earlier blog, VVS is material for next 2-3 years at least to make us proud in the test arena. I also suggest if saurav is to be in the team, then why can't Rahul open the innings? If I was the Vengsarkar then, the choice is 1Jaffer. 2Dravid (Dravid game a typical opener's game). 3Sachin 4Laxman( to me this is the place where he needs to bat, just to give him enough time to shuttle and play. I still think he has the the guts to play long innings, a trusted player). 5Yuvraj Singh (i don't thin k his one innings make him great, as Pathan can make 100 at the same pace),6Saurav/Badrinath (my choice is to make Saurav 100 then give a chance to Badri, as he is wonderful player,fielder

Actually, only in today's newspaper TOI, somebody wrote (though passingly) that Dravid should not have problem opening, since for on many occasions, Dravid used to go in within an over or two. To me it seems too much of a psychological barrier than actual cricketing technique/ capability. For that, perhaps, it would be prudent to let the no 11 to open with Dravid, so that Yuvaraj, Karthik et all need not be made scapegoat at top. All our superheroes can bat from 3-6 as per as their first preference slots (or second at worst). It is better to make Ishant Sharma or whosoever, as the sacrificial goat.

Mukul was right about Lakshman first etc. etc. But main point is that in many occasions, batting order flexibility seems to be extraterrestrial concept. Even in Odis, flexibility generally means sending someome like Pathan at three.

For the rest, open the slip and send.