Is this the worst Indian batting lineup in Tests?

[Titan24]

I remember seeing a power heavy Indian batting with Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman.

This Indian batting looks like a shadow of its past class, only Kohli might be considered that level of class.

Its not even that these guys are young, look at Vijay, Karthik, Rahane etc are these really the ones at their current age and achievements Indians expect to carry such a big legacy.

In ODIs for the past few years it has been just the main doing of the top 3.

Where has Indian batting talent gone?

People hype many here but only one I think can become a good player at international level is Gill.
Shaw, Pant and others such are talented but dont see them performing the way the ones I mentioned in the top paragraph did in their current look.

So where it is?

In the next 2-4 years some of the players like Dhawan and Rohit will either be on their last legs or retired who is gonna take over in ODIs.

Indian team management has been really poor for last two years, they havent developed a single youngster in batting department.

I have never seen the worst Indian batting lineup in tests.

 

[enkidu_]

I think the XI from the early to mids 90s (before Ganguly/Dravid cement their place basically) was worse.

Teenda and Azharuddin were the only good bats.

Rest you had guys like Sidhu, Manjrekar, ... who were average/above average at best.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Indian batting in the 90s was much worse. I'm talking about the period before Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman came into the side. Another one-man army with Prabharkar, Manjrekar, Mongia, Jadeja and one or two new faces who would only last a handful of tests. While Azharuddin and Sidhu were little more than home-track bullies. I think that was one of the worst periods for Indian cricket if not the worst. And people even referred to them as Lions at home, lambs away.

 

[big_gamer007]

In recent history yes this is the worst.. it can give the lineup from early 90’s a run for its money at being the worst..

That time you had an emerging Tendulkar and Azhar as top bats.. So that was also pretty weak but this one has the batsmen at their peak vijay, Pujara, Dhawan, Rahane, Rahul all are 26-32 which is peak time for a batsmen and still they suck so badly.. So I would say yes this is probably the weakest batting line up in India history.. A 20 year old Tendulkar was better than all of them combined they are such bad players.

 

[big_gamer007]

Indian batting in the 90s was much worse. I'm talking about the period before Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman came into the side. Another one-man army with Prabharkar, Manjrekar, Mongia, Jadeja and one or two new faces who would only last a handful of tests. While Azharuddin and Sidhu were little more than home-track bullies. I think that was one of the worst periods for Indian cricket if not the worst. And people even referred to them as Lions at home, lambs away.

How is this line up any different from that time? This is the same Lambs at home.. Worst part is the batsmen are in their peak and still suck so badly..

The 90’s line up had a young Tendulkar, the bowling was garbage this line up has a peak Kohli and a decent bowling line up even then they suck badly.. So taking these two things in consideration this is the weakest lineup..

Give this team bowlers of 90’s and they will lose every away match by an innings.

 

[enkidu_]

Indian batting in the 90s was much worse. I'm talking about the period before Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman came into the side. Another one-man army with Prabharkar, Manjrekar, Mongia, Jadeja and one or two new faces who would only last a handful of tests. While Azharuddin and Sidhu were little more than home-track bullies. I think that was one of the worst periods for Indian cricket if not the worst. And people even referred to them as Lions at home, lambs away.

Sidhu was defo a home or perhaps Asian bully but Azhar had some good performances in England, also the classiest Asian bat since Zaheer Abbas.

In recent history yes this is the worst.. it can give the lineup from early 90’s a run for its money at being the worst..

That time you had an emerging Tendulkar and Azhar as top bats.. So that was also pretty weak but this one has the batsmen at their peak vijay, Pujara, Dhawan, Rahane, Rahul all are 26-32 which is peak time for a batsmen and still they suck so badly.. So I would say yes this is probably the weakest batting line up in India history.. A 20 year old Tendulkar was better than all of them combined they are such bad players.

Good point actually, and didn't look at it that way, the current batsmen are indeed supposed to be at their peak.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Damn, never imagined I'd see these kinda feel good threads at PP.

VK must be feeling how SRT felt back in 90s.

 

[Pete Rose]

This same line up will score a lot of runs in Australia. Basically India loses the series the moment they land in England, much like Pakistan does when we land in Australia

 

[Sam99]

Nah this is way better than 90's one. We will score in aus too.

 

[enkidu_]

Damn, never imagined I'd see these kinda feel good threads at PP.

VK must be feeling how SRT felt back in 90s.

I don't think it'll get as bad as in the 90s, when India only won one single match overseas :

that too against a poor SL :

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...s-india-2nd-test-india-tour-of-sri-lanka-1993

India under cpt Kohli has already outdone that :

Wonder if [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] would have supported India in the 90s.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Sidhu was defo a home or perhaps Asian bully but Azhar had some good performances in England, also the classiest Asian bat since Zaheer Abbas.



Good point actually, and didn't look at it that way, the current batsmen are indeed supposed to be at their peak.

I think I'm underrating Azharuddin a bit. He did well in England and New Zealand and I agree he could be very classy when he wanted to, so wristy. But he still couldn't do enough to prevent India from the drubbings they received overseas in the 90s

 

[cricketjoshila]

Wont judge this batting line up on the basis of yesterday. Rainy day,Damp Pitch,Numetous rain interventions. Even today when the pitch had little bit of moisture even with a blazing sun Eng were 89 for 4.

The problem is that this line up has inconsistent batsmen who are old except KL.

Vijay 35
Pujara 29
Dhawan 32-33
Karthik 33-34

So there is no point giving them more oppurtunities. Bring in younger players like Shaw,Vihari, etc.

Since 2014 how many new batsman have been given a long run in the team? The same garbage in and garbage out.

The stupid "system" which is also supported by Dravid is certainly not working.

The steps to Indian team right now are.....Age cricket-----FC------India A----IPL-----More FC and India A-----Indian t20 team-----Test or ODI team There will be hardly a batsman who will be less than 24-25 by the time he comes to the test team. The likes of vvs Dravid Ganguly Sehwag were all 22-23 when they made their debut.Virat was 20. This "System" is wasting precious years.

Anyone can see why Karthik Vijay are not Indian test tean material anymore. But there is no effort to replace them.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

How is this line up any different from that time? This is the same Lambs at home.. Worst part is the batsmen are in their peak and still suck so badly..

The 90’s line up had a young Tendulkar, the bowling was garbage this line up has a peak Kohli and a decent bowling line up even then they suck badly.. So taking these two things in consideration this is the weakest lineup..

Give this team bowlers of 90’s and they will lose every away match by an innings.

For the simple reason that the 90s Indian team was filled with terrible players. This team for all it's flaws can atleast compete in foreign conditions and even win one or two games. 90s team were absolute minnows overseas

 

[ExpressPacer]

Wont judge this batting line up on the basis of yesterday. Rainy day,Damp Pitch,Numetous rain interventions. Even today when the pitch had little bit of moisture even with a blazing sun Eng were 89 for 4.

The problem is that this line up has inconsistent batsmen who are old except KL.

Vijay 35
Pujara 29
Dhawan 32-33
Karthik 33-34

So there is no point giving them more oppurtunities. Bring in younger players like Shaw,Vihari, etc.

Since 2014 how many new batsman have been given a long run in the team? The same garbage in and garbage out.

The stupid "system" which is also supported by Dravid is certainly not working.

The steps to Indian team right now are.....Age cricket-----FC------India A----IPL-----More FC and India A-----Indian t20 team-----Test or ODI team There will be hardly a batsman who will be less than 24-25 by the time he comes to the test team. The likes of vvs Dravid Ganguly Sehwag were all 22-23 when they made their debut.Virat was 20. This "System" is wasting precious years.

Anyone can see why Karthik Vijay are not Indian test tean material anymore. But there is no effort to replace them.

So, you're telling me, a youngster, potentially very talented; CANNOT make the team because he is far back in the line. And someone who may be ahead in the line, despite being less talented, may make the team first?

 

[Executioner]

India's problem is they have too many stars.

They no longer emphasize on fast tracking a youngster into intl cricket as they did with Kohli or Raina.

Yes IPL helps a lot but in test arena international experience at a young age is gem. There is no excuse for playing Ravi Ashwin at top 6 BTW.

 

[goran]

There is no problem with the batting. Give them home series and they will beat each and every team by an innings. That's what matters most in today's time. Who cares about overseas records?

 

[RainMan_]

India need new blood in the team. Gotta kick out useless players who r playing just because of reputation.

Secondly, Kohli should stop swapping and changing players in such an alarming rate. Nobody other than him is guaranteed in the team. It doesn't inspire confidence among team members and doesn't allow them to play their natural game.

 

[Titan24]

Damn, never imagined I'd see these kinda feel good threads at PP.

VK must be feeling how SRT felt back in 90s.

Feel good thread? What do you mean by that if you can elaborate a bit

 

[Titan24]

Wont judge this batting line up on the basis of yesterday. Rainy day,Damp Pitch,Numetous rain interventions. Even today when the pitch had little bit of moisture even with a blazing sun Eng were 89 for 4.

The problem is that this line up has inconsistent batsmen who are old except KL.

Vijay 35
Pujara 29
Dhawan 32-33
Karthik 33-34

So there is no point giving them more oppurtunities. Bring in younger players like Shaw,Vihari, etc.

Since 2014 how many new batsman have been given a long run in the team? The same garbage in and garbage out.

The stupid "system" which is also supported by Dravid is certainly not working.

The steps to Indian team right now are.....Age cricket-----FC------India A----IPL-----More FC and India A-----Indian t20 team-----Test or ODI team There will be hardly a batsman who will be less than 24-25 by the time he comes to the test team. The likes of vvs Dravid Ganguly Sehwag were all 22-23 when they made their debut.Virat was 20. This "System" is wasting precious years.

Anyone can see why Karthik Vijay are not Indian test tean material anymore. But there is no effort to replace them.

Yes thats what I am surprised about, Indian selection committee is trying hard to establish mediocre old players like Jhadav, Karthik, Parthiv etc and the already established ones like Vijay, Pujara and Rahane are decent on some occasions but nowhere near the way Indian batting has been. I used to think there must be many coming from the system but it seems like that those big 5 batsmen for India was just a purple patch in terms of the class of batting especially in tests.

 

[Titan24]

Though I dont think if Pant and Shaw are as special as many people think but its always better to groom a good promising youngster which might become something special than players who are in their 30s and selectors are expecting them to become a Bradman now out of nowhere.
Gill should be part of all three formats so that he can learn and improve. Even if management doesnt play, he will learn a lot by being in the squad. So far he is the only one who ticks all the boxes among the upcoming Indian batsmen.

 

[Itachi]

Looks like even Pak ppers are getting bored of trolling.... Now that's a new low for team India where even Pakistani fans suggest how to improve the team.

 

[cricketjoshila]

So, you're telling me, a youngster, potentially very talented; CANNOT make the team because he is far back in the line. And someone who may be ahead in the line, despite being less talented, may make the team first?

Yes.

Case in point. Shardul Thakur in the team Ahead of Mohammad Siraj.

Rahul Dravid on Siraj. See how he stresses on the "System".

Dwelling into progress of the Hyderabadi pacer, who has been in phenomenal form with the red ball this season, but has gone wicket-less in his three-match T20 international career, Dravid explained, "To get 25 wickets in the last three games against England Lions here is terrific. It's his maturity that stands out. He is someone who has played very less first class matches. He hasn't really been a part of the system as hasn't played much junior cricket either. So he is learning all the time

No player should be confused about where he stands. Our committee speaks to every player — even those who are to selected and try to give them a fair picture. Accordingly, I spoke to Mayank and told him that with his brilliant performances in domestic cricket, he has now definitely got himself in the mix (national team reckoning). I told him that he is now in the queue,” said national selection committee chairman MSK Prasad in a chat with PTI. “We have followed a pattern in our selection process. Each and every national contender is in the queue and we don’t believe that anyone can jump the queue. Mayank is a wonderful kid and he completely understood what I explained to him. He told me ‘Sir, you are spot on and ‘I am not in a hurry at all’.”

This is chief selector MSK prasad. See how he talks about the "QUEUE". Mayank is 28. His time has gone. Or he will be selected as a 30yr old has been someday like Karthik.

 

[ExplicitAI]

I would back this side to score 500-600 on a UAE pitch, they're not as bad as people make it out to be but they have failed in England except Kohli.

 

[cricketjoshila]

I would back this side to score 500-600 on a UAE pitch, they're not as bad as people make it out to be but they have failed in England except Kohli.

And thats not how the Indian batting should be. If you are playing for India you should be able to muster some runs in most conditions. I can understand 1 or 2 bogey nations. But here the top 3 is horrendous and except KL are old.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Looks like even Pak ppers are getting bored of trolling.... Now that's a new low for team India where even Pakistani fans suggest how to improve the team.

I think PAK to this day still has a better overall W/L ratio than India, despite the trend being reversed for about 20 years now.

 

[Titan24]

I think PAK to this day still has a better overall W/L ratio than India, despite the trend being reversed for about 20 years now.

It was never reversed, just few ups and downs. If there were any home matches Pak lost it was good enough to win few in Eng and other overseas tours to maintain the ratio. Post 2010, Pak has lost just one home test series of I am correct.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Looks like even Pak ppers are getting bored of trolling.... Now that's a new low for team India where even Pakistani fans suggest how to improve the team.

Trolling gets boring and eventually causes guilt if the victim has prolonged misfortune. Most ppers like to take a jab or two at India, they don't hate Indian team really. It's petty and distasteful to laugh continously at others in their bad times.

 

[ExplicitAI]

And thats not how the Indian batting should be. If you are playing for India you should be able to muster some runs in most conditions. I can understand 1 or 2 bogey nations. But here the top 3 is horrendous and except KL are old.

India might need to look hard for an upcoming wicketkeeper batsman since Saha isn't great with the bat, he reminds me of the old Indian wicketkeepers who weren't spectacular with the bat at all. The openers for me are fine, Vijay really surprised me when he made his comeback since I thought he would fail but he didn't, Dhawan is a good player but he needs to work on his batting a bit more, he's got the ability to score huge.

 

[gazza619]

Indian batting in the 90s was much worse. I'm talking about the period before Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman came into the side. Another one-man army with Prabharkar, Manjrekar, Mongia, Jadeja and one or two new faces who would only last a handful of tests. While Azharuddin and Sidhu were little more than home-track bullies. I think that was one of the worst periods for Indian cricket if not the worst. And people even referred to them as Lions at home, lambs away.

Yeah i remember Sadagopan Ramesh was the legend of Indian batting in back them days..and Robin singh was the street fighting no.6.

 

[happydavy]

What surprises me is that how reluctant Indian selectors (read Kohli, dhoni and shastri) have been to try out new players including youngsters. Baring the top 3 in ODIs, we don't even know who will be our no:4 and 5 in the world cup. They even had the audacity to bring back Raina who even in IPL struggled against short balls. When was the last time an Indian batsman made a debut? Unfortunately this over friendly culture in the squad means that Kohli is not even trying to look at new players, which is a little sad since he himself made his debut at 19 or 20.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Yes.

Case in point. Shardul Thakur in the team Ahead of Mohammad Siraj.

Rahul Dravid on Siraj. See how he stresses on the "System".







This is chief selector MSK prasad. See how he talks about the "QUEUE". Mayank is 28. His time has gone. Or he will be selected as a 30yr old has been someday like Karthik.

Absolutely stupid policy. The likes of Mavi and Nagarkoti will have to watch trundlers like Thakur play ahead of them before they can even be considered.

What about Pandya? How did he play? Is it just a case of who the skipper likes?

 

[cricketjoshila]

Absolutely stupid policy. The likes of Mavi and Nagarkoti will have to watch trundlers like Thakur play ahead of them before they can even be considered.

What about Pandya? How did he play? Is it just a case of who the skipper likes?

Stuart Binny and Rishi Dhawan played before Pandya got his chance. There is no other fast bowling all rounder in the "Queue".

Mavi and Nagarkoti are 18. So they have couple of years.

Siraj is 24. His time is now.

 

[MenInG]

India are number one team in the world

They dont become bad after just on series.

 

[Usman Chadda]

India are number one team in the world

They dont become bad after just on series.

This is the second series overseas that they are losing comprehensively. The number one team in the world is happy being 'competitive' away from home, and doing a bad job at that too

 

[Hasan123]

You can't really trust a Pakistani to rate an Indian player on this forum. It isn't the worst Indian batting line up. They haven't performed to expectations. They need to get rid of Vijay and Dhwaan. I think Pujara isn't a modern day number 3 but I think he can do a good job as an opener with KL. Rahane is a better player of pace than spin, so I think moving him to 3 would be a good move. Than at 5 and 6 you can have to younger batsmen and allow them to learn about test match batting in a slightly easier position.

India were the masters at introducing younger batsmen , but now they seem to really have regressed in this aspect and become defensive by selecting experience before quality.

They need to change. This line up needs fresh players .

 

[Majid Khan]

Don't worry just wait till they get a flat pitch at Oval or Trent Bridge, the same Indian batsmen will look like champions piling on 500.