[deehunk]

Originally Posted by harry10

KL is designated VC so I don't see how Dhawan can be made Captain for the last match. Also, KL has been great at no.5 in ODI. Shouldn't be tampered with now.

Please don't take this literally, not sure who will be fit and who will be injured on Saturday, Dhawan should be given a send-off by making it clear to him about his future. If we old fans remember how they conveyed the message to Kapil Dev, VVS Lakshman, and Kumble, these guys are still lucky to be playing.

[Vinod_nair]

A dream debut for mystery spinner Abrar Ahmad for Pak vs England, well done.

[Bhargav7]

Ishan Kishan channeling his inner 'Rohit Sharma'. Good to see a wicket-keeper batsman playing well! Just wish that his keeping skills improve.

Hopefully, we can be spared from watching the struggle of KL and Rishabh.

[Aakash118]

Great knock by Kishan. Very happy for him, have been saying for a long time now that Kishan at the top can solve many issues for India.
Aggressive opener- check
Lefty at the top- check
Team balance- check, Reason- No wk needed in the middle order, so can accommodate two of Iyer, Rahul & Sky at 4 & 5 and two all rounders at 6 & 7.

[harry10]

Brilliant from Ishan. The best part was he never slowed down. Kohli played perfect support role bringing his own 100. This should be the end of Dhawan career for sure. Can't drop a 200 scorer and Ishan will be a perfect partner for Rohit at the top.

Ishan
Rohit
Kohli
Iyer
KL
Hardik
Jadeja

This will be quite a good 7.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by harry10

Can't drop a 200 scorer and Ishan will be a perfect partner for Rohit at the top.

Just wait & watch, won't be surprised if Ishan is altogether dropped from the XI inspite of his 200! Just on the basis of a 200 one doesn't really cement their place in the XI (remember triple centurion Karun Nair), consistency has to be rewarded. Gill played as an opener in NZ! What Ishan showed is the fresh approach going forward & the outdated approach which the team was using in last few games. Dhawan has been a match-winner & has to be celebrated, just wish someone from the BCCI would have spoken with him before today & given him a nice farewell today. Lesser players like Ashish Nehra have been accorded a proper farewell!

[Aakash118]

Originally Posted by harry10

Ishan
Rohit
Kohli
Iyer
KL
Hardik
Jadeja

Definitely the best top seven we can have. But the question is whether selectors have the guts to drop Dhawan & Pant. Another thing is that if one of Hardik or RJ is unavailable, he has to be replaced by a bowling all rounder to keep the bowling strong. What usually happens is that they draft in an extra batsman at that position, remember Asia Cup?

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by harry10

Ishan
Rohit
Kohli
Iyer
KL
Hardik
Jadeja

This will be quite a good 7.

Swap KL with Samson. He is unlikely to do any worse than what KL does, might end up doing better. Making KL the wicket keeper is a desperate attempt to *somehow* retain the vice captain in the captain's absence. There is no other rationale to him being there.

Washy and Axar are doing quite well too. Jadeja is a champion player but we don't know if he will be at his best by the time the world cup rolls around.

The final swap will be Shaw/Gill for Rohit and Hardik as captain. With that team, I see us winning the World Cup.

Without wholesale changes in personnel including the coach, this team is getting nowhere. The sacking of the selection committee was a good start, hoping this materializes to some real change.

[SoumenD]

Awesome knock by Ishan. But I hope he is consistent. This knock would make sure he gets atleast a few more outings and he needs to capitalise on those. Don’t need a century everytime but solid start and a good average which helps keep the limelight on him.

Sanju Samson would feel the pinch further unfortunately. On a lighter note, He might be wondering if that Ireland offer can be reconsidered

As we have seen such landmark knocks being forgotten very easily. Best example Karun Nair.

[vamsi.kona]

English cricket is having quite a time with Baz and Stokes at the helm. Brimming full of confidence, playing positive and aggressive cricket.

And India is going to the dogs, not completely there but there seems to be no clarity on the team composition, roles etc. And there is utter mismanagement of talent by the board. We were looking at some 10 upcoming fast bowlers easily clicking 140kmph and suddenly we couldn't find anyone to replace Bumrah. Under Kohli there was enthusiasm and eagerness to win every game, this is lacking now. But Kohlis' major drawback was team selection. There was a time he went quite a few matches without the same team, all this when the team was winning.

Dravid looked his best nurturing young and upcoming talent. His stint saw lots of talent coming through. So probably it's best for the country if he is doing that role and someone else handling the coaching job.

[Eddy]

What lovely cricket by England. To win two tests in Pakistan within a fortnight, when they've managed to win ony another two ever in history, is freakin awsome.

For some reason, I was under the impression that the next Ashes series was in Australia. As it turns out, it is in England. That would make it very competitive. I hope England players can keep up the form and fitness.

Archer, Wood, Anderson, Robinson - what a fearsome attack. Fingers crossed.

[AtheK]

Making Rohit Sharma the captain across the formats was the most regressive step ever, it was done just to keep him happy it seems and teach Kohli a lesson. It is Fans who have suffered because of that!

Hopefully new selectors can take some bold decisions and get the team back in shape and winning ways. Don't tinker ODI now, let Rohit be the captain, but we need a new captain for Test (Bumrah Maybe) and T20 (Hardik definitely). 80% of the selected players in T20 should be below 30 years of age to bring in the young blood and a natural progression for them can be ODI cricket from there.

[Shumi_21]

Meanwhile, the first test between India and Bangladesh is underway.

Pujara just got out in the 90's after pulling off yet another rescue act, first with Rishabh Pant who chipped in with a cameo and later with Shreyas Iyer, who looks really good in sub continent conditions.

And what to say about for our stand-in skipper KL Rahul.

He gets out defending in T20 powerplays because we need to conserve wickets

He gets out attacking in the first session of a test because we need to play "aggressive cricket"

[KPR]

KL Rahul is tormenting us in cricket. Is 274/6 in 50 overs the kind of aggression he was talking about?
India need to get rid of Rohit, KL from any setup and think about next 5 years of captaincy for formats. One is Hardik for T20, ODI, other contender should be Shreyas for ODI/Tests. Pant seems to be a good find for test cricket as he finds the format suitable for match winning knocks there and not in T20 or ODI.

[jkrishnakj]

Anyone following the India vs Aus women’s T20 games? Whilst the first was a dominating one from the Aussies, the Indian girls put it across in the second one. If you haven’t seen the second match, please do watch the highlights. A delightful super over as well.

The third T20 is today and I’m sure it’ll be a fiercely competitive one.