Indian rookies ready to take on Australia

The Big Question about this series is; Is this the most meaningless DOI series that Oz has ever played against a major country? Given the preparation for it, I'd vote Yes.

Langer dropped him based on bad performances in 2019. Langer considers a late innings player that averages 33 at 132 in 2019 to have performed poorly. He even spells it out himself: “But the truth is he hasn’t performed very well over the past 12 months or so for the Australian cricket team.” Doesn't get much clearer than that. If 33 at 132 isn't good enough then no-one should be playing. Maxi averaged 33 off 25 balls in 2019. Our top order take 40 balls to reach 33 runs. Maxi effectively gives our other batsmen an extra 15 balls per innings. A Maxi 33 is effectively a 45.

Nobody torments anybody in ODIs, on flat pitches.

Your hatred of Langer seems perpetual (and it's getting boring). He is not the only selector and there were very good reasons for not including Maxwell in the ODI squad to India - he even said himself his form didn't warrant selection but you continue to blame Langer. Maxwell's last 9 innings in ODI's (form since the start of the WC), provided an average of 21.6. In the whole of 2019, he scored only 3 half centuries - all against a weak Pakistan team. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Maxwell fan - for me, he's the first player picked in any T20 team and I've been super impressed with his captaincy of the Stars. Maxwell is still an important player for Australia in ODI's but his recent form, mental health issues and the upcoming T20 World Cup are all good reasons for him to stay behind. In addition to that, this is only a 3 match ODI series to raise some funds for the BCCI.

you should probably see last 2 years of saini in domestics or if not maybe just last ipl, 44% of his deliveries are above 144,he has been pretty consistent plus no bowler can sustain speeds over 150 an entire test session. I have see jofra bowl many spells below 140 too, neither does speed make or break a bowler if it was so varun aaron would be first choice Indian bowler ,he can still clock 150 ,no problem but thats about it.

Not sure Saini is going to get into the test team right now ,though with someone like Thakur already having made his debut , you never know (might also help his cause that he is playing for rcb). Right now outside the 4 playing for india(not sure will bhuvi even make a come back with all the injuries he’s been having) you would think the trio of Siraj,Warrier and Avesh are ones being groomed to be next in line with their impressive domestic numbers as well as being part of the A squad for the last 3-4 tours. Even porel is generating more hype of late which got him a spot in the upcoming A team tour of Nz .

Saini wasn't really backed by the Delhi administration in his early days as outsiders like him weren't well received . Gambhir who was the state team's capt at the time faced him in the nets or something where he got rushed for pace and since then got fully involved in Saini's development and refused to drop him from the squad despite further protests by other high ranking officials,something even saini mentions in an interview. He's done well so far, but does go through a few odd spells where he is off color and bowls in the low to mid 130's, before suddenly getting his rhythm back and bowls quick again. Still hasn't mastered the slower variations either, though has started to work on it. India's batting outside the top 4(rohit,the other opener,virat and iyer) looks iffy right now,though i wont be surprised if they try to tweak the lineup by trying to include both rahul and dhawan in the 11 or bring manish pandey back in. Australia should be in with a very good chance even with a lack of match time, if India's batting order doesn't get sorted soon.

Iyer pretty much looks set for the no:4 spot for now,he had been one of the ideal candidates for that spot of a while (people had been wanting to see in the team for last 2-3 years at that very spot). He controls the innings with decent strike rotation and shown potential in playing out tough periods while taking the attack to the spinners later on. Problem is outside that top 4 the batting unit is quite inconsistent. Pant hasn't been that successful in his white ball career(his keeping at times seems to get worse with time as well),Dube might be out of contention soon enough as his all rounder tag is iffy at best, Kedar jadhav has been decent in providing cameos but hasn't played many/any match defining knocks when the team needs it,since 2016-17. Jadeja has improved his batting of late but isn't an ideal candidate to be an explosive finisher from the get go etc. Pandya constantly getting injured hasn't helped either. Hope that for some ridiculous reason they don't pick Thakur as the 3rd quick just because he swung the bat a bit against some weak lankan and windies attack. Shouldn't really be near the squad even considering Bhuvi's injury.

Maxi averaged 33 at 132 in 2019. One of the best players on Earth.

“We love having him in the team, we love his energy, we love his talent, we love what he can bring,” Langer said. “But the truth is he hasn’t performed very well over the past 12 months or so for the Australian cricket team.” Dropped because Langer doesn’t rate his 33 @ 132 output in 2019.

What surprises me is not the omission of Maxwell but the inclusion of Handscomb.

Feedback on expectations from these young players - Whatever I have seen of Dube, doesn't justify the hype as yet, yes he can murder mediocre spinners but doing the same to Zampa would be a lot different. Also, his batting against pace doesn't inspire much confidence. The bowling is mediocre too. Pandya also took time in developing into the player he was a year ago (hopefully the injuries won't bring down his pace). And Ind could miss him big time in NZ (5 bowlers with a fast-bowling allrounder a must). So unless Dube adds pace to his bowling and more range to his batting, he just keeping the seat warm for Pandya. I would like Manish Pandey to get opportunities along with Shreyas. There are enough good players in India (Gill, and many others) that they can sort out the middle order problems - but the stubborn thinking of Shastri-Kohli does come in the way. This is why Dhoni is still in the frame, Jadhav is still playing (his bowling has outlived the welcome) and Jadeja is being preferred over the spin duo, and Dhawan is playing T20s. The spin section is where India has fallen behind, the very reason they had become a huge force in the first place. The top order was getting wickets while the opposition were losing 3/4 in the middle overs. Chahal and Kuldeep have definitely found it harder to excel since teams have started to take them on. The plan A was befuddling opposition who are scared to come down the track, but Plan B for those who are more than willing to do has not been there. It is also partly due to the lack of faith by Kohli who instead of giving them match experience to develop such skills is instead backing a sub-optimal option in Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, W-Sundar - while all provide a lot of utility with the bat - they key in ODIs is picking wickets. Saini should be fast tracked into the team, And should also be part of the test setup. Thakur is backup for a backup. His bowling is not going to threaten quality teams and India has been found wanting in the crunch moments time and again, under Kohli - not unlike SA at its peak.

" He bowled faster than Jofra Archer or Lockie Ferguson, both of whom are in the top-five quickest bowlers in international cricket." Selective reference. If you want to compare, then you need to compare him with other bowlers in that tournament. He was comfortably out speeded by Kagiso Rabada who clocked 154 including some of his fastest deliveries exceeding 153. So is Rabada faster than Archer? I don't think so. I have seen Archer bowling an entire session touching 150kph or exceeding it. Clocking some at 150kph in an entire tournament doesn't make anyone faster than Archer or Ferguson. I think there was another Indian bowler who also clocked 150kph last IPL. But I agree with that saini is probably fastest bowler in India. But looking at his shape, I am not sure how long he would be on park without breaking his back if he tries to do an Archer session.

Good comment too.

Fair

“Hardik”, makes me laugh every time.

Will be interesting to see Saini. He was MoM in lastest T20 series vs Sri Lanka. Apparently he’s only played with a proper cricket ball for four years (he’s 27) and before that played tennis ball cricket, which he credits for developing his speed. Sounds a bit like Bumrah, with India’s current strength tapping into much wider segments of the population than in the past. Suspect Australia will find it tough - a bit like New Zealand in the Tests, with no match preparation in on-country wickets, and a lot of the players a bit rusty with the white ball.

In addition to Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur, they have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami to torment the Aussie batting line-up.

It's interesting the age of some of these guys, with the youngest being 25. They've obviously been around for a few years, presumably playing various T20 and ODI comps so their transition into international cricket would be relatively painless, I'd assume. It will also be interesting to see how they actually go, especially the batsmen. India fell down at the recent WC in part because it relied on the same 3 or 4 guys to make the bulk of runs (which means they batted the bulk of the 50 overs), then expected Dhoni and maybe Pandiya to provide the fireworks at the death. They weren't ready when these same 3 or 4 guys were out cheaply against the Black Caps and failed to chase down a pretty modest total.

I think it was probably a bit of both, Jackie. His work at the WC in England was clearly not his best and I think his recent health issues gave selectors a reason not to choose him for India. In any event if I was a selector, I'd be leaving Maxwell exactly where he is. He's clearly in excellent T20 form and given the World Cup's only 10 months away, I'd hate to see him have to chop and change formats for a 2 weeks series. He'll be critical to our WC chances in October, so the more of this format he plays, the better it should be for us in the long term - I hope.