India's Quicks - what do you think?

I. Pathan - Really lost it lately. Has become a minnow basher. Take away his wickets/stats against the minnows and he has really dropped of. Hanging on due to his batting prowess.

S. Sreesanth - Simply brilliant. Has dismissed key batsman regularly and at good times. Struggled a bit here and there and has had some injury problems, but when fully fit has been India's strike bowler.

M. Patel - Has shown signs of being a good bowler, though isn't quiet there yet.

VRV Singh - Too wayward for my liking, don't think he will become anything of note.

Z. Khan - Lazy. Brilliant when he's putting it all in, India need him back firing on all cylinders.

L. Balaji (Where is he?) - Excellent till he suddenly disappeared of the face of the planet.

A. Nehra - Inconsistent, but his best was excellent. Terrible fielding and bad batting probably led to his demise.

A. Agarkar - This guy has had more chances than any other indian cricketer in the past few years. Comes back with a bang, and then disappears, only to repeat the dose again a few months later. Seems to revel in being the strike bowler, and when he's used as a backup, struggles. Handy lower order bat, and good fielder.

Pathan has always been a "minnow-basher", if by that you mean that he hasn't done very well against the good teams. It's nothing he's declined to. He's a pretty good bowler, particularly in one dayers, and his batting is useful as well, but he's never going to be a world beater on anything other than a green wicket.

Sreesanth looks by far the most likely Indian seamer to become a genuine star, among those I've seen. Haven't seen enough of Patel to comment on him though. Zaheer isn't consistent enough to be a test class bowler at his pace, and the others wouldn't make any other decent team in the world, really.

deeps said:

I. Pathan - Really lost it lately. Has become a minnow basher. Take away his wickets/stats against the minnows and he has really dropped of. Hanging on due to his batting prowess.

S. Sreesanth - Simply brilliant. Has dismissed key batsman regularly and at good times. Struggled a bit here and there and has had some injury problems, but when fully fit has been India's strike bowler.

M. Patel - Has shown signs of being a good bowler, though isn't quiet there yet.

VRV Singh - Too wayward for my liking, don't think he will become anything of note.

Z. Khan - Lazy. Brilliant when he's putting it all in, India need him back firing on all cylinders.

L. Balaji (Where is he?) - Excellent till he suddenly disappeared of the face of the planet.

A. Nehra - Inconsistent, but his best was excellent. Terrible fielding and bad batting probably led to his demise.

A. Agarkar - This guy has had more chances than any other indian cricketer in the past few years. Comes back with a bang, and then disappears, only to repeat the dose again a few months later. Seems to revel in being the strike bowler, and when he's used as a backup, struggles. Handy lower order bat, and good fielder.

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Zaheer - massively overrated bowler ; the only time I've see him look threatening is on pitches where there has been considerable seam movemnet. Add to that his pathetic attitiude and poor fitness and surely you would think that 42 tests is enough to realise he isn't good enough to play at international level
Balaji - bowls too many hit me for four deliveries - needs to work on his consistency and maintain his fitness.
AA - proven to be not good enough for tests. Has matured into a good ODI bowler of late though and will be a vital cog in India's campaign for WC 2007.
Nehra - Pathetic attitude and poor fitness like Zaheer. I actually think he has some ability as a bowler unlike Zaheer but you wonder if he will amount to anything worthwhile for his team.
Pathan - Pathan's drop of in pace in alarming (I really don't understand why Greg Chappell shrugs this off because Pathan may never have been express but he was still a fair few Km's quicker than he is now). Add to that, his accuracy isn't particularly good and he has a fair few problems on his plate. ALso needs to work whether he really wants to be an all rounder or a specialist bowler.
Munaf - Pretty promising bowler - could use some work on his runup though to generate better momentum through the crease.
Sreesanth - Seems a fast learner and uses his brains more than the other seamers. He an Munaf IMo could potentially form India's best ever new ball combination. They have a lot of potential.
VRV - Probably isn't ready for test cricket at the moment, but I did think he bowled well in a couple of spells in the West Indies to suggest he may have a decent future. Generates the sort of lift and pace that I haven't seen from an Indian bowler since Srinath circa 1991.

Pathan's effective in ODIs but not tests, Patel's effective in tests but not ODIs, and Sreesanth seems to be able to do both fairly well.

Jono said:

Pathan's effective in ODIs but not tests, Patel's effective in tests but not ODIs, and Sreesanth seems to be able to do both fairly well.

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So that suggests a 2 and 2 split in Tests and a 4 and 1 split in ODIs with AA coming in?

marc71178 said:

So that suggests a 2 and 2 split in Tests and a 4 and 1 split in ODIs with AA coming in?

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Any excuse, eh Marc?

Im impressed with both Sreesanth and Patel, not pace wise, but as bowlers. I think there is potential to have good test careers (not spectacular but good) and help India get over their issue about winning games overseas.

For a more indepth analysis of Sreesanth and Patel see my post in another thread.

http://forum.cricketweb.net/showpost.php?p=841721&postcount=50

LongHopCassidy said:

Any excuse, eh Marc?

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ODIs need a 5th man - on the last series, e has to be that man.

marc71178 said:

ODIs need a 5th man - on the last series, e has to be that man.

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So that's where Chris got his h from.

I was speaking Trueman

As i said from the every first time i saw Sreesanth bowl in a test series against England, i think hes an extremely intelligent bowler with a particularly bright future. I was also extremely impressed with Munaf Patel, who i think has the potential to run through batting sides.Ive been impressed with the Indian selectors on this end that they have realised the potential of these 2 bowlers, and not tried to go in with the experience and significant garbage of Pathan, Agarkar, Nehra,Zaheer and Balaji. Further given the damage that Pathan can do on a green wicket, i think it might make sense for him to be a back up bowler rather than deserving a place in the starting lineup, and they can always unleash him when they feel that they need to go in with 3 pace bowlers.

India's Quicks - what do you think?

I dont think, I just wonder. Why aren't they quick?

SJS said:

India's Quicks - what do you think?

I dont think, I just wonder. Why aren't they quick?

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On one yorker, Munaf did break 90mph this test. Sadly, thats as high as it'll go for us.

Pathan - had been world-class in ODIs this year against good opposition before coming to the West Indies but still has a way to go before he is a threat in test cricket; only a minnow-basher in the longer version

Munaf - despite an action which limits his potential and other areas which can be polished, he's the closest we've got to world-class potential

Sreesanth - the most athletic and also the one with the mental make-up of a top performer, he regained his pace in the fourth test and could turn out to be a gem for India

VRV - has some pace, some bounce and now we've seen that he can bowl a good line and length, but he needs to develop his game so he can become a genuine threat; not ready yet but the potential is there

Zaheer - one word: waste; he had pace and the attacking instinct, but his poor fitness and attitude ruined that

Agarkar - finally seems to have matured in the one-day attack as a line-and-length bowler in the mid 80s; no complaints right now

Nehra - dangerous at his best but poor fitness and poor batting mean that he might not have a role to play

Balaji - had the ability but not enough control over his swing; one wonders when he'll ever "recover" from his injury, it's been a while ...

How tall is Ajit Agarker? I remember when they toured Australia he was 60 kg so he must be fairly small. Just interested really.

Clarence said:

How tall is Ajit Agarker? I remember when they toured Australia he was 60 kg so he must be fairly small. Just interested really.

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Oh, he is VERRRRRRRY tall. Stands head and shoulders above most Indian heroes and Gods.

You cant even start measuring.....

Clarence said:

How tall is Ajit Agarker? I remember when they toured Australia he was 60 kg so he must be fairly small. Just interested really.

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You remember his weight, but not whether he's tall or not?

I remember that he is short, his weight was reported but I haven't seen his exact height.

Too early to talk about, we have coupld of tours coming up and let's see how they do.

Clarence said:

I remember that he is short, his weight was reported but I haven't seen his exact height.

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He was once 6 foot 5, but then an unfortunate incident occurred when he was chopping down a tree, and he's now 4 foot 8.