The imminent Jaffer question

Jaffer's shakiness outside off-stump since the beginning of the tour of Australia, the fall in Karthik's fortune since Pakistan visited, and Sehwag's resurgence since Perth all add up to a possible vacancy at the top of the Test batting order.

I have been a fan of HRH Wasim Jaffer, standing tall imperiously, to whip and pull on the leg side, and continued to state his case throughout his miserable tour of Australia (here and mostly here, for instance), but his hopeful waft outside off cost him dear when the Steyn, Ntini & Co. paid a visit. Despite a hundred on a batting paradise, he averaged less than the struggling M S Dhoni.

Is it time to give him his pension? He is clearly short on confidence after his time with the Royal Challengers and knows he hangs on to the Test team by a slender thread. At the same time, he will also know that it was less than a year ago that he was building foundations for Sachin, Laxman an Ganguly in England. Guilty he was of giving it away when well set, but he has since also proven that he is a master at cashing in on a flat deck, whipping Pakistan on a sleepy deck at the Eden Gardens). Now if the cupboard were bare, Jaffer should get a few more chances.

But now, with Gambhir showing great fluency for the Daredevils, and having exhibited good temprament in the ODIs in Oz, and being a better feilder by light years, I will be stoic if Jaffer gets dropped and look forward to some Daredevilry at the top of the order. But then, India have a lot of Tests to play at home soon, and I will rejoice (with some Royal Challenge perhaps) at his next first innings double hundred.

Colonel, hear my prayers.

By the way, where the hell is Mohd. Ashraful? Why isnt he in the IPL? Or am I totally out of it?

Two at the Top

One of cricket's most enduring records is on the verge of being broken. It was under seige a couple of years back, but Sehwag and Dravid fell short. Smith and the other dude have come a few steps closer, but have to wait for the final assault on the peak.

Opening combo

If India go with five bowlers, Sehwag will once again find it difficult to make the XI. In his absence, who should partner Tendulkar? Gambhir looks good at one down. Uthappa has not convinced everyone he will be consistent at the top of the order. Is Praveen Kumar going to be our man?

Why Jaffer needs a media guy

Wasim Jaffer came to Australia on the back of a very good year. He made runs against Ntini, Pollock, Nel, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Tremlett, Shoaib Akthar and Mohammed Sami. In 10 Test matches in 2007, he averages 46.55 with three hundreds that include a double against Pakistan at home.

This means that he has batted at least as good as Alastair Cook and Jayasuriya have for the last couple of years. He has been much better than Grame Smith and Chris Gayle have. The only opening batsman who has done better than him over the last ten Test matches has been Mathew (Alone at the Top) Hayden.

Jaffer has failed thrice this series and there is a clamour for his exclusion from the side at Perth. Apparently we need to take the attack to Australia and Jaffer is incapable of doing so. Not only that, he is said to lack the technique required for horizontal strokeplay, which is so important to flourish in Australia. And the conclusion that the experts are only too easy to arrive at is that Jaffer is keeping Sehwag out of the side.

Jaffer's double at Kolkata came off 270 balls.

Life has been tough on Veeru and it was unfair to drop him from the Test side when he was. However, cricket selection is not about correcting historical wrongs. Having already unfairly glossed over the claims of his Delhi mates Gautam Gambhir and Akash Chopra, everything should not be given to Sehwag on a platter. Not when Jaffer and Karthik have been a prolific opening combo over the past year. It was a mistake to break them up, but that does not justify an even bigger one.

Jaffer's problem is that he does not give off the "confident vibe" which Yuvraj seems to ooze without effort, or Sehwag is rumoured to bring into the batting order, and is an easy scapegoat. He needs to start wearing shades and start talking more maybe. Or at least louder and in better English.

The Gautam Gambhir Problem

Gambhir just scored a good century. How does one rate a stop-start career like Gambhir's? When Ganguly returns to the sqaud, would Gambhir have done enough to dislodge Sehwag from the squad. The Test series against Bangladesh presents the ideal opportunity. With Jaffer having almost cemented his half of the opening riddle, Gambhir has the ideal platform to show that he can provide India with the same options that Sehwag did. A good show in Test matches will at the very least influence the selector's thinking when they pick the next ODI squad.

But who will open?

Ganguly for sure.
But Sehwag or Uthappa? Sehwag, say the pundits, because he is an opener and that is where he has made most of his runs. But do we dare risk losing Sehwag to Vaas? Yes, we do, because he can make Malinga howl. And Vaas is not that succesful against us anyway.