Who should India play in their middle order?

[Sin Nombre]

When looking for a modern middle order ODI batsman, IMO the criteria should be

1. List A average of around 45 with SR of close to 90 with ability to rotate the ball, or big hitting ability with a list A average of ~30 with SR > 100

2. Good outfielder and catcher.

Now if we look at the players tried recently, we have

Kedar - poor fielder and catcher.

Iyer - list A average of 39. Poor fielder and catcher.

Rahane - can't rotate, list A average of 37.

Manish Pandey - list A average of 39 at SR of 90

KL Rahul - list A average of 39 at SR of 75


Kedar and Pandey come close but none of them really cut the cloth in terms of prior domestic performance, and it is no surprise none of them have actually succeeded in the international level.


Does India actually have any options outside of recalling Suresh Raina?

Or maybe go left field and give Shubman Gill a run out? What about Mayank Agarwal (44 average at 97 SR in list A but as an opener)?

 

[silent ischemia]

Sarfaraz Khan.

 

[IndianMafia]

Rishab pant , Suresh Raina , kl Rahul , Ishan Kishan , krunal Pandya ,

 

[WengerOut]

Sanju Samson is ready. I may not have stats to back myself up , but Ishan Kishan is a potential world class performer

 

[LastManstanding]

India should go with Manish Pandey and Suresh Raina. Pandey is a superior version of Rahane and strike rotation and as good fielder if not better than him. Raina can play the role of power hitter along with Pandya down the order and his bowling and fielding are asset to the team.

India shouldnt try any youngster in the middle order because India's top three is fixed and often these three play for more than 30 overs, so it will be unfair for any young player trying to cement his place in the side who has to come and start slogging straightaway.

 

[Sin Nombre]

Sarfaraz Khan - 36 average @ 96 SR

Sanju Samson - 28 average @ 79 SR

Rishabh Pant - 21 average at 98 SR

Ishan Kishan - 35 average at 81 SR

Krunal Pandya - 31 average at 89 SR


None of them is ready or good enough. Krunal and Pant should get chances in T20.

 

[urnotserious]

Right now? I can walk in and be a suitable replacement to what they have.

And I am bad at cricket. Like really really bad.

 

[Aman]

Gill should bat at 4, he's going to be batting there after the WC anyway.

 

[WengerOut]

Sarfaraz Khan - 36 average @ 96 SR

Sanju Samson - 28 average @ 79 SR

Rishabh Pant - 21 average at 98 SR

Ishan Kishan - 35 average at 81 SR

Krunal Pandya - 31 average at 89 SR


None of them is ready or good enough. Krunal and Pant should get chances in T20.

Question is , are those better than current Dhoni, current Rahane , current Jadhav?

 

[Dingolfy]

Not sold on Rishab Pant yet.Comes across to me as a leg-side hack and failed in all A tour games.Could be tried in T20s though.

 

[WengerOut]

Not sold on Rishab Pant yet.Comes across to me as a leg-side hack and failed in all A tour games.Could be tried in T20s though.

True. But Sanju , Ishan ( of what i have seen ) are better than those playing currently. Even Sarfaraz. But not sure about his fitness.

 

[giri26]

It is good to see that Suresh Raina has come back into the T20 team. He, if in form solves India's major later order batting and is much better player than Kedhar Jadav. He is a brilliant fielder and also can bowl effective offspin. Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant et all need to be tried in the lead up to the world cup. We cannot stick to the same set of players and hope they will succeed. Now it is like top 3 or bust for the Indian ODI side. The team management did not show enough patience with KL Rahul and Manish Pandey which is sad to see. I was just looking at Rohit Sharma's career, the guy averaged 30 in the first 86 ODI's or so, but the management stuck with him, imagine if they did not, we wouldn't have gotten the player we have now in ODIs. Lokesh Rahul and Manish Pandey have only played 10 and 22 ODIs respectively and have already been discarded. They will now do the same with Shreyas Iyer.

 

[introvert]

Samson & sarfaraz more suitable for grooming as a finisher.
K.pandya can easily replace jadhav. Raina can also brought back at no.4.
For lower order india can tryout power hitter deepak hooda who avrage 43 in list A cricket with 97 sr & also bowls useful off spin.

 

[WengerOut]

Dhoni as a keeper is a bit overrated. He is the best when it comes to stumping. Every other aspects of his keeping are average. Even for stumping , other keeprs can be competent as well. So this is such a specific criteria that is supposedly keeping a non performing batsman in the team. India should definitely consider others if they are serious about WC. They are not gonna win anything with this team anyway.

 

[Bubby]

Sarfaraz Khan : he can play shot 360 degree can be the unorthodox player we are looking for.
Deepak hooda : a strong lad who can tonk big also a very handy off spinner and an excellent fielder
Vijay shankar : more of a batting all rounder a much better bat than hardik with a good technique can hit it big as well also a very handy medium pacer bowls up-to 135 and a very good fielder
Nitish Rana : a stylish left hander who can hit as well as rotate the strike a very good fielder
Shubhman Gill : youngest of the lot, has got the power game as well as a superb runner between the wicket equally good against pace and spin
Krishanappa gowtham: a total package hits it big, runs well fields well and a handy offie
Rishabh pant, mayank Aggarwal, Lokesh rahul,ishan Kishan : these guys should be the contender for top slot not middle order coz that's where their strength lies and that's where they can do maximum damage.

 

[Bubby]

Also we need to show patience with Manish pandey as well.

 

[Bubby]

Sarfaraz Khan - 36 average @ 96 SR

Sanju Samson - 28 average @ 79 SR

Rishabh Pant - 21 average at 98 SR

Ishan Kishan - 35 average at 81 SR

Krunal Pandya - 31 average at 89 SR


None of them is ready or good enough. Krunal and Pant should get chances in T20.

Stats are overrated we have seen jadhavs stat but we are also seeing the actual results, jadhav should have been in the squad 5-6 years ago not now.

 

[Abhilash93]

1. Rohit
2. Dhawan
3. Kohli
4. KL Rahul/Rahane
5. Jadhav/Hooda/Raina (all 3 can bowl a few overs as well)
6. Dhoni
7.Pandya

 

[BreadPakoda]

Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
Gill
Dhoni
Raina
Pandya
Bhuvi
Yadav
Chahal
Bumrah

Lower order is hopeless with the bat which makes Pandya essential.

 

[Princejain191]

India won't be dropping Dhoni, so he should get in at 4. Manish Pandey can play the anchor role, as well as hit the big shots - smart player - should bat at 5. Kedar is a good player - ideally should be in top 5 but with Dhoni playing the way he is - plays at 6. Hardik needs to be more responsible, and should play at 7.

Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
Dhoni
Manish
Kedar
Pandya
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

All bases covered.

 

[WengerOut]

Dhoni coming earlier means momentum is sucked out earlier . Dhoni coming later means momentum sucked later. It is like , whether you want to be killed by jumping in front of a train or by consuming poison.

 

[gani999]

India won't be dropping Dhoni, so he should get in at 4. Manish Pandey can play the anchor role, as well as hit the big shots - smart player - should bat at 5. Kedar is a good player - ideally should be in top 5 but with Dhoni playing the way he is - plays at 6. Hardik needs to be more responsible, and should play at 7.

Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
Dhoni
Manish
Kedar
Pandya
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

All bases covered.

Only in Fantasy World is playing two spinners in England a good idea.

As far as the 2019 WC is concerned, on current form India would only get to the semis. There's only so much you can do with three good batsmen. None of our bowlers can swing the ball, and we have a fossil and a bunch of toddlers in the middle order.

We need to bring in youngsters right away, and allow them have one year of preparation. Iyer, Pandey and Gill are the best we have at the moment.

 

[jagatk]

Only in Fantasy World is playing two spinners in England a good idea.

As far as the 2019 WC is concerned, on current form India would only get to the semis. There's only so much you can do with three good batsmen. None of our bowlers can swing the ball, and we have a fossil and a bunch of toddlers in the middle order.

We need to bring in youngsters right away, and allow them have one year of preparation. Iyer, Pandey and Gill are the best we have at the moment.

We won CT playing 2 spinners in England 4 years ago and those were offies.

 

[Princejain191]

Only in Fantasy World is playing two spinners in England a good idea.

As far as the 2019 WC is concerned, on current form India would only get to the semis. There's only so much you can do with three good batsmen. None of our bowlers can swing the ball, and we have a fossil and a bunch of toddlers in the middle order.

We need to bring in youngsters right away, and allow them have one year of preparation. Iyer, Pandey and Gill are the best we have at the moment.

Jadeja and Ashwin were our best bowlers in CT13 and pitches in England are flat in ODIs. Wrist-spinners, and of such high quality, spin the ball and take wickets everywhere - especially given the weakness of all non-subcontinent teams vs spin.

On Jadhav, the guy averages 48 in List-A with a SR of 109 over 120+ games. (manish - 39 avg, 90 sr - similar stats for Iyer - and Gill is too young) And he hasn't done badly in international cricket - average of 40 at a SR of 110. Doesn't get a lot of chances to bat before 30 overs. Also contributes with the ball and comfortably has 5-6 years of international cricket in him. We have enough youngsters, Kedar deserves a place in the team with his performances.His 120 and 90 against England last year were world-class knocks. I don't see any reason for taking him out of the team.

 

[troodon]

Kedar cannot hit good pacers. His bowling is useful, but his fielding and catching are terrible. Same with Iyer. Not sold on both of them.
Iyer can improve as he is young. But Kedar is 33 and cannot change.

Indian lineup should be below.
Dhawan
Rohit
Kohli
Gill
Raina
Pandya
BK
Dhoni
Kuldeep
Chahal/Jaddu
Bumrah

Gill may be too young. India should take a chance with him if he plays well in IPL against bowlers who clock over 140. A good show there should put him in national team right away. He won’t be any worse than the jokers we currently have. Gill also looks ready to play with big boys.

Starting from BK, the batting looks extremely weak. The last 4 cannot score 20 runs between them if their life depended on it. But since they are doing excellent job with the ball, they can be excused.

 

[Princejain191]

Funny how Gill suddenly is ready for international cricket here on PP when he would probably not have made it to the 30-probables for WC just 2 months ago. Fans do have short memories and don't seem to understand the magnitude of difference in bowling quality and pressure between international level and U19/domestics. Also, I am of the view that List-A should be the primary criteria for judging probable candidates. We can't expect someone who averages 35 in List-A to come up in Indian team and average 45+ or be consistent just cos he had a decent IPL season. Do it at domestic level first

 

[UN talkz]

Parvez Rasool, better than all these middle order batsmen and a genuine off-spinner who not only controls the flow of runs but takes wickets also. Has played a lot of domestic, his only problem is that his Domestic team Jammu and Kashmir is full of pathetic batsmen and bowler except few players, all the players have made the team only because of nepotism and they always finish at the bottom of every Domestic tournament which hasn't helped Parvez's cause.

 

[jagatk]

Parvez Rasool, better than all these midfle order batsmen and a genuine off-spinner who not only controls the flow of runs but takes wickets also. Has played a lot of domestic, his only problem is that his Domestic team Jammu and Kashmir is full of pathetic batsmen and bowler except few players, all the players have made the team only because of nepotism and they always finish at the bottom of every Domestic tournament which hasn't helped Parvez's cause.

He is rubbish the only reason he was even looked at was because he was from Kashmir and BCCI by looks of it were pressured by political bosses. Barring one good ranji season his stats won't get him into an India A team as a 12th man let alone the Indian first 11.

 

[jagatk]

Jadeja and Ashwin were our best bowlers in CT13 and pitches in England are flat in ODIs. Wrist-spinners, and of such high quality, spin the ball and take wickets everywhere - especially given the weakness of all non-subcontinent teams vs spin.

On Jadhav, the guy averages 48 in List-A with a SR of 109 over 120+ games. (manish - 39 avg, 90 sr - similar stats for Iyer - and Gill is too young) And he hasn't done badly in international cricket - average of 40 at a SR of 110. Doesn't get a lot of chances to bat before 30 overs. Also contributes with the ball and comfortably has 5-6 years of international cricket in him. We have enough youngsters, Kedar deserves a place in the team with his performances.His 120 and 90 against England last year were world-class knocks. I don't see any reason for taking him out of the team.

I wouldn't brag about jadhav's domestic stats, he plays for Maharashtra if there is 1 ground that can unequivocally be called a bowling grave yard it is Maharashtra's.

 

[UN talkz]

He is rubbish the only reason he was even looked at was because he was from Kashmir and BCCI by looks of it were pressured by political bosses. Barring one good ranji season his stats won't get him into an India A team as a 12th man let alone the Indian first 11.

Maybe,
But i have seen him live and above post reflects my views about him.
But you are wrong though, he has performed almost every season, was given best domestic all-rounder award 2 years ago also.

 

[Princejain191]

I wouldn't brag about jadhav's domestic stats, he plays for Maharashtra if there is 1 ground that can unequivocally be called a bowling grave yard it is Maharashtra's.

I would definitely put Rajkot above it. But yes, it is flat - like most other grounds in India.
Then again, Kedar can play innings such as ones vs. England and this http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...arashtra-group-b-vijay-hazare-trophy-2016-17/

He would probably be averaging over 45 in international cricket too if he hadn't had to play a lot of those slog filled 15-20s at the end overs.

 

[Ab Fan]

S Raina is my no.6. He shouldn't have been dropped at first place tbh.I said this back then also when he was dropped. He can bowl a bit too(6th option when Pandya is having tough time).

That solves 5,6 &7.

Dhoni
Raina
Pandya

Then we come to no.4 now. Pandey, Karthik, Rahane are useless and so is Jadhav who is anyways a no.6.

Rahul deserves more chance given he is young but if India wants to preserve him after retirement of one of their openers as an opening batsmen option, then they have to go with Gill but again putting him just 15 matches before WC could mean asking for trouble.

Pandey wasted his talent. I thought he will go down and become one of India's main bats atleast like Sharma and Dhawan.

On a honest note, go with Gill. He will atleast be better than Rahane, Jadhav and Karthik.

 

[jagatk]

Maybe,
But i have seen him live and above post reflects my views about him.
But you are wrong though, he has performed almost every season, was given best domestic all-rounder award 2 years ago also.

A batting avg of 37 and a bowling avg of 33 tell me he does not perform every season or they would be much better.

 

[troodon]

Funny how Gill suddenly is ready for international cricket here on PP when he would probably not have made it to the 30-probables for WC just 2 months ago. Fans do have short memories and don't seem to understand the magnitude of difference in bowling quality and pressure between international level and U19/domestics. Also, I am of the view that List-A should be the primary criteria for judging probable candidates. We can't expect someone who averages 35 in List-A to come up in Indian team and average 45+ or be consistent just cos he had a decent IPL season. Do it at domestic level first

If you read my post, I said, I will wait and see how he plays in IPL. He will surely get his chance. Gill was too god for U19 players. If he performs at the same level against IPL bowlers, then he is ready. He is 19 and will be 20 soon. He is not some lollipop sucking toddler.

Also, even if Gill fails, I will take my chances with him rather than a has been or TTF who look like tailenders when India needs runs from them.

Jadhav is a major disappointment after his initial burst against England. He has done nothing with the bat in the last year. He got a decent enough run and his CT performances were terrible.
I would not mind Jadhav in the team if he can catch and field well. But man, the guy is terrible in the field. He will drop catches in critical games. Same with Iyer. If you cannot catch, then you are not ready for International cricket. These days, you cannot hide fielders.

 

[jagatk]

I would definitely put Rajkot above it. But yes, it is flat - like most other grounds in India.
Then again, Kedar can play innings such as ones vs. England and this http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...arashtra-group-b-vijay-hazare-trophy-2016-17/

He would probably be averaging over 45 in international cricket too if he hadn't had to play a lot of those slog filled 15-20s at the end overs.

I forgot about that rajkot but you are wrong about flat pitches, most pitches even rajkot have shown at least some tendency to help bowlers, maharashtra's normally behaves like a really bitter and mean step mother with bowlers.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Yuvi is a better option than jadhav, manish, iyer. Hope he does well this ipl.
Though he is not the same yuvraj singh but still he looks better than others.
Don't know where all the batting talent has gone.

 

[Princejain191]

If you read my post, I said, I will wait and see how he plays in IPL. He will surely get his chance. Gill was too god for U19 players. If he performs at the same level against IPL bowlers, then he is ready. He is 19 and will be 20 soon. He is not some lollipop sucking toddler.

Also, even if Gill fails, I will take my chances with him rather than a has been or TTF who look like tailenders when India needs runs from them.

Jadhav is a major disappointment after his initial burst against England. He has done nothing with the bat in the last year. He got a decent enough run and his CT performances were terrible.
I would not mind Jadhav in the team if he can catch and field well. But man, the guy is terrible in the field. He will drop catches in critical games. Same with Iyer. If you cannot catch, then you are not ready for International cricket. These days, you cannot hide fielders.

Ok, lets move ahead with an open-mind and see how he has done since 2017.

1. Man of the series vs England - probably the 2nd best ODI side in the world right now.
Scored 232 at an average of 77.33 and a SR of 144.09

2. Then came the Champions Trophy.
Batted only twice in the entire tournament. Scored 25*(13) at the end against SL and 9 runs in the final. Not a "terrible" performance by any parameter.

3. Tour to WI
Batted in 3 matches. Finished two of them with 13*(6) and 40*(26). Failed in one low scoring match. Ended with average of 63.

4. Tour to SL
Probably the easiest tour of all. Scored 0 and 1 in two matches. Ended with a 63. Average of 21.33.

5. Australia in India
Scored a 40 in first match when India was 11-3. Scored 24 and 2 in next two. Was our highest scorer with a 67 in 4th match and finished with 5* in last match. Average of 34 in the series. Made two decent contributions with bat and also bowled 17 overs in last two matches at an economy of 5 (two wickets).
Not bad at all.

6. NZ in India
Batted in just two matches. Failed in one and finished with 18(10) in another. Contributed a lot with the ball.

End of 2017

Now fielding can be worked upon but he is good with the bat and ball. I maintain that we don't know how Gill will do in international based on performances in U19. He averages 35 in List-A over 16 games. Hit a 123* recently but in the rest 5 innings, didn't even pass 25. So I reserve my judgement, I don't think IPL should be the criteria for international ODI team - List A should be. We can't expect him to be consistent in international if he is not even consistent in List A.

 

[Princejain191]

I forgot about that rajkot but you are wrong about flat pitches, most pitches even rajkot have shown at least some tendency to help bowlers, maharashtra's normally behaves like a really bitter and mean step mother with bowlers.

Fair enough but doesn't refute the fact that Kedar has been a notch above all in List-A. And I am not a huge fan but I have surprisingly posted a lot about him on PP today

 

[troodon]

Ok, lets move ahead with an open-mind and see how he has done since 2017.

1. Man of the series vs England - probably the 2nd best ODI side in the world right now.
Scored 232 at an average of 77.33 and a SR of 144.09

2. Then came the Champions Trophy.
Batted only twice in the entire tournament. Scored 25*(13) at the end against SL and 9 runs in the final. Not a "terrible" performance by any parameter.

3. Tour to WI
Batted in 3 matches. Finished two of them with 13*(6) and 40*(26). Failed in one low scoring match. Ended with average of 63.

4. Tour to SL
Probably the easiest tour of all. Scored 0 and 1 in two matches. Ended with a 63. Average of 21.33.

5. Australia in India
Scored a 40 in first match when India was 11-3. Scored 24 and 2 in next two. Was our highest scorer with a 67 in 4th match and finished with 5* in last match. Average of 34 in the series. Made two decent contributions with bat and also bowled 17 overs in last two matches at an economy of 5 (two wickets).
Not bad at all.

6. NZ in India
Batted in just two matches. Failed in one and finished with 18(10) in another. Contributed a lot with the ball.

End of 2017

Now fielding can be worked upon but he is good with the bat and ball. I maintain that we don't know how Gill will do in international based on performances in U19. He averages 35 in List-A over 16 games. Hit a 123* recently but in the rest 5 innings, didn't even pass 25. So I reserve my judgement, I don't think IPL should be the criteria for international ODI team - List A should be. We can't expect him to be consistent in international if he is not even consistent in List A.

Gill can only improve. He will get better at batting with experience.

Jadhav is not going to learn anything new at this age. He is unathletic and cannot catch. His ground fielding is also lolworthy. You simply cannot hide him in the field. I can take his joke fielding provided he can bat well. But nothing so far outside of that England series at home convinced me that he is the solution. He is more like a half batsman and half bowler who cannot field. Pandya is also half bowler and half batsman. But he can field and can affect games with his fielding alone.

India cannot afford to have Jadhav in the middle order. He is supposed to be the big hitter along with a failing MSD. Total lolworthy.

Any team that cannot post over 320 after being at 150/1 or 180/2 is not going to win the WC. We have seen it in this series. India totally messed up a chance to post huge scores on 3 occasions. Only once we crossed 300 and that too due to Kohli being there till the end.

Lack of production from middle order is not acceptable. We have tried Iyer, Jadhav, Karthik, Pandey, Rahane and the ever present MSD. All of them failed to deliver. I am not singling out Jadhav. The current bunch we have been playing simply are not good enough to carry on the good work done by the Top 3. Time to try others too.

 

[Princejain191]

Gill can only improve. He will get better at batting with experience.

Jadhav is not going to learn anything new at this age. He is unathletic and cannot catch. His ground fielding is also lolworthy. You simply cannot hide him in the field. I can take his joke fielding provided he can bat well. But nothing so far outside of that England series at home convinced me that he is the solution. He is more like a half batsman and half bowler who cannot field. Pandya is also half bowler and half batsman. But he can field and can affect games with his fielding alone.

India cannot afford to have Jadhav in the middle order. He is supposed to be the big hitter along with a failing MSD. Total lolworthy.

Any team that cannot post over 320 after being at 150/1 or 180/2 is not going to win the WC. We have seen it in this series. India totally messed up a chance to post huge scores on 3 occasions. Only once we crossed 300 and that too due to Kohli being there till the end.

Lack of production from middle order is not acceptable. We have tried Iyer, Jadhav, Karthik, Pandey, Rahane and the ever present MSD. All of them failed to deliver. I am not singling out Jadhav. The current bunch we have been playing simply are not good enough to carry on the good work done by the Top 3. Time to try others too.

So I construct an argument based on facts and you throw hundreds of baseless premises, again. Gill can only improve!?! That is your argument of putting him in the team over 20 other players who are doing better than him in List-A. Doesn't deserve a spot in Men's team with average of 35 in List-A. I see nothing in Kedar's performances based on which he should be removed from the XI. Not everyone will average 45+ at 100+ strike rate and especially not when you are batting at 6/7. He has done well in the limited time.

 

[Gubol123]

Ok, lets move ahead with an open-mind and see how he has done since 2017.

1. Man of the series vs England - probably the 2nd best ODI side in the world right now.
Scored 232 at an average of 77.33 and a SR of 144.09

2. Then came the Champions Trophy.
Batted only twice in the entire tournament. Scored 25*(13) at the end against SL and 9 runs in the final. Not a "terrible" performance by any parameter.

3. Tour to WI
Batted in 3 matches. Finished two of them with 13*(6) and 40*(26). Failed in one low scoring match. Ended with average of 63.

4. Tour to SL
Probably the easiest tour of all. Scored 0 and 1 in two matches. Ended with a 63. Average of 21.33.

5. Australia in India
Scored a 40 in first match when India was 11-3. Scored 24 and 2 in next two. Was our highest scorer with a 67 in 4th match and finished with 5* in last match. Average of 34 in the series. Made two decent contributions with bat and also bowled 17 overs in last two matches at an economy of 5 (two wickets).
Not bad at all.

6. NZ in India
Batted in just two matches. Failed in one and finished with 18(10) in another. Contributed a lot with the ball.

End of 2017

Now fielding can be worked upon but he is good with the bat and ball. I maintain that we don't know how Gill will do in international based on performances in U19. He averages 35 in List-A over 16 games. Hit a 123* recently but in the rest 5 innings, didn't even pass 25. So I reserve my judgement, I don't think IPL should be the criteria for international ODI team - List A should be. We can't expect him to be consistent in international if he is not even consistent in List A.

Thanks for summing up. Jadhav performance doesn't look bad at all.. He does look pretty average on the field but he can contribute in two out of three areas (bat and ball). So he cannot be dismissed just like that. I am a big fan of Rahul but he has to work on his consistency. He has a great opportunity in this IPL.. Lets see if he does well. If he does, then he can be a good choice at No 4

 

[Princejain191]

Thanks for summing up. Jadhav performance doesn't look bad at all.. He does look pretty average on the field but he can contribute in two out of three areas (bat and ball). So he cannot be dismissed just like that. I am a big fan of Rahul but he has to work on his consistency. He has a great opportunity in this IPL.. Lets see if he does well. If he does, then he can be a good choice at No 4

Exactly, he doesn't get a lot of chances, so seems like he isn't contributing. And Rahul can be world-class, but I am not sure he can be in LOI teams outside top 3 positions. We just have three very good batsmen up-front.

 

[Hasan123]

Manish Pandey,KL Rahul,and Suresh Raina.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Dhoni to bat at 4 and Rahul at 5.

 

[Sin Nombre]

Stats are overrated we have seen jadhavs stat but we are also seeing the actual results, jadhav should have been in the squad 5-6 years ago not now.

Jadhav has an average of 40 at a 104 S/R so how does he prove stats are overrated?

He would be in the team if he wasn't a terrible fielder.

 

[Sin Nombre]

Surprised no one has batted for Mayank Agarwal.

 

[Mahee]

Shubman Gill is the only option India has for middle order...he can replace kedar jadhav

 

[Bilal7]

Rahane. Just don't bring Raina back, he might prove to be dangerous in 2019.

 

[gani999]

Exactly, he doesn't get a lot of chances, so seems like he isn't contributing. And Rahul can be world-class, but I am not sure he can be in LOI teams outside top 3 positions. We just have three very good batsmen up-front.

A middle order batsman won't get many chances, particularly when the top three are superlative.

The job of a middle order batsman is to save the ship if the top three have a bad day and go haywire. In this role Kedar Jadhav has been a hopeless failure. All his stats notwithstanding, he should be out if he cannot fulfill the role that he has been hired for in the team.

His only noteworthy contribution with the bat recently was the 67 he scored against Australia in Bangalore, and even that came in a losing cause.

In crunch games, Kedar has been a massive liability .His performance in the CT final showed that. He showed no spunk at all.

As for his bowling, the only impressive spell I have seen recently was when he took Tamim Iqbal's wicket in the CT semi final. That was a wonderul delivery. Other than that he has been mediocre. And in addition, there is absolutely no need for a part time spinner in a team where specialist spinners are already available.

I would have happily kept Kedar in the team if he had been say, seven years younger. But at 33, he is probably already planning his retirement, and won't achieve much more. As a team that should be concerned about the future even after the WC 2019, India should remove Kedar and put in someone younger.

Shubman Gill can perform, but with just two first class games and a list A average of 35 from 13 games, he should spend more time in the domestics before he can be considered.

Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey are the only viable options, along with KL Rahul, no matter what anyone may think. Give them enough time in the middle and they will iron out their defects.

 

[austerlitz]

I think we need raina back now.

Dhawan
Rohit
Kohli
Iyer/Rahane/Pandey/Rahul
Raina
Dhoni
Pandya

Raina despite weakness against short ball is a clutch player and can accelerate quickly.

 

[FearlessRoar]

India's middle-order puzzle

If KL Rahul isn't batting at No. 5, the No. 6 position becomes tricky. Neither Rahul nor Rishabh Pant seem ideal for that role. One option is to place Hardik Pandya at No. 6, but that leaves the wicketkeeping spot uncertain. Another approach could be promoting Pant to No. 5 for a left-handed presence, with Hardik at No. 6 and Axar Patel slotting in at No. 7.