01 October 2008

The Ganguly question will continue..

Does Ganguly's selection close out the possibility of playing five bowlers without tampering with the Sehwag-Gambhir opening combo? Does Anil have the balls to drop Dada while retaining Gambhir?

The answer to this question might prove key to the results of this series. By pushing Dhoni to number 6 without pushing Dravid to the opener's slot, India still have the solid batting that can take care of Lee and Clark, and with enough firepower to score quick.

Hopefully, it is an option that Anil will consider in the first couple of matches. As is repeated often enough, the only way to beat them is by going very hard at them. I guess there is a time and a place for four bowlers. Not now. Not here.

7 comments:

Viswanathan said...

Kumble will take the safer option and play Ganguly.

straight point said...

i second OTT...kumble is not the kind of captain who shuffles too much...and worries too much about after effects of decision...

Anonymous said...

what 4 cannot do, the 5th bowler wont be able to do. Dravid was a follower of 5 bowler theory, Kumble isnt.

John said...

Buzz, that is not necessarily true. The results were quite evident at Perth - where even the Pathan (ostensibly the fifth) was quite successful.

Kumble is likely to agree with you, though.

Though Zaheer, Ishant, Kumble and Bhajji are likely to form the meat of the bowling, one of Munaf and Mishra will provide a lot of variety.

But SP, Kumble's decision is more likely a result of studied premises than a result of worry about consequences.

Samir Chopra said...

Ganguly is in 100%. We now have the following XI: Viru, GG, RD, SRT, VVS, SG, MSD, ZK, IS, AK, HS. 10 bucks says this bunch takes the field on the 9th

Soulberry said...

There could certainly be a stage in the series when Kumble'll be making this decision. he is basically a four-bowl captain.

Soulberry said...

The fact that Gangul is in for the first 2 suggests that four bowlers will be how they go.