[Manoj2268]

Everytime, one hour of really bad cricket has been the Bane of our test matches.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Manoj2268

Everytime, one hour of really bad cricket has been the Bane of our test matches.

Actually, quite the opposite. It is only one or two hours in a five day game that we actually put up a fight. Rest of the time, the opposition is on the top.

Yet another hearbreak added to the growing list of ICC knockout games. We will see another one come October/November this year.

[NomadSK]

Difference between Aussies and India, Aussies batted well and put a very high price for their wickets. Head and Smith took the game away from india on Day-1 itself. From there on, it was always chasing them. Pujara trying to play an IPL shot in Test will haunt him.

Poor selection of shots by most of the Indian batsmen was the reason for the downfall.

[AtheK]

Absolutely appalling and embarrassing performance on last day, they had 7 wickets and they could not last even one single session.

Congrats to the Australian team they keep showing that they are built and train for high profile games. While we keep making same mistakes again and again.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Gloomy Gus prediction - A loss for us by 200+ runs, late on 4th or early on 5th day.

Not bad for a prediction, huh? Oh well, so what if we haven't won an ICC trophy for a while? There's always the IPL to feel smug about!

Congratulations to the Aussies!

[libranof1987]

We're due for a major overhaul of the system and the team. Can't have the cricket administration driven by politics and blind money, and can't have the team run on legacy - success in one format, driving decisions in another.

I'd rather have the team spend a year or so trial-and-building the next gen team than have the same guys hogging the space "hoping" for success.

But nothing will change.

That said, injury management also needs to be looked at very, very seriously. Something is going horribly wrong - we can't have players such as Iyer and Bumrah be out so consistently.

What's the most sad is - in the last several years, we've had a problem of plenty with a lot of players jostling for the same spot. And yet, we have squandered that opportunity by not building a robust team.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Feel we will be done by tomorrow lunchtime at best.

Exactly as expected.

This team looked so out of place for a WTC final. Am sure England or New Zealand would have been way better fit. We lost the match on first day itself when Smith & Travis got going, have been trying to play catch up since. These players don’t seem to have the patience for test cricket. Look at the way our top order threw their wickets playing IPL shots(hangover?). Don’t understand what Pujara learnt over two years of County Cricket, the way he got out looked so unnecessary.

You can’t win a match where only 1-2 batters barely manage to score 30-40 runs in one innings & fail in the other plus a Fast bowling unit which is toothless.

We will continue to win bilateral series, specially in India(thanks to spinners) and as soon as there’s a neutral venue we will be shown the mirror.

Anyways who cares it’s just another ICC trophy. We have IPL coming again in less than 10 months. Happy days will be back

[congruent.cars]

Test Cricket, especially against quality sides, is very tough. The batsmen have to take body blows, bowlers have to bowl extended spells, fielders have to concentrate hard throughout, etc. Overall it's very clear that this format is the most demanding in terms of skills, physical endurance, and mental strength. However, the rewards and remuneration to cricketers are much higher and better in the various cash-rich T20 leagues. If you think from the point of view of a professional cricketer, which format would you be most motivated for?

It is for ICC, BCCI, etc to resolve this disparity. If Test Cricket is the most sacrosanct format, then the stakes and remuneration for players should also align accordingly. Currently, it’s very lopsided. It’s like a General Practitioner is paid more than a brain surgeon…why would anyone, in their right brain, bother to do brain surgeries?

Having said that, the Aussies were clearly the better team(even man-to-man) by a country mile for the conditions. It is quite sad that we got the strategy/tactics horribly wrong too. Asking them to bat first after winning the toss, benching Ashwin clearly demonstrated a lack of foresight and general cricketing wisdom. Hope the head coach and captain are held accountable.

[kavensri]

I just get the feeling that, ENG is almost certain to feature in the coming WTC finals, until other teams find a counter strategy to bazball. So, rest of the teams have to compete for the other slot in the final. And the way, our team is playing in the recent time, I really doubt if we will be one of those teams!

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I just get the feeling that, ENG is almost certain to feature in the coming WTC finals, until other teams find a counter strategy to bazball. So, rest of the teams have to compete for the other slot in the final. And the way, our team is playing in the recent time, I really doubt if we will be one of those teams!

Better not to be one of the teams, if this is how they will keep falling apart.

Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav were such a misfit in this team, and even funnier that one of the biggest misfit was the captaion of the team. Dravid has taken this team just downhill, he should step down himself and Rohit Sharma should be axed and dropped from both T20 and Test captaincy. We have no choice but hope he comes good for ODI world cup as we can not have a new captain at this point.

It will be even more embarassing if we don't even make it to semi finals of ODI, with Australian team just defeating us 2-1 in the recent series, I don't have much of hope from this team to defeat Australia or England even on home grounds

[NPV]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Anyways who cares it’s just another ICC trophy

But therein lies the ironic part - Ganguly and so many other so-called experts thought that making Rohit the captain is the gold standard that will enable us to win ICC trophies

[PPS]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Rohit Sharma is just caught in the wrong job. Test remains the purest form of cricket and it’s obvious why he has played only 50 till now. Just be done with him already BCCI atleast in Test Cricket.

I think Rohit Sharma's best format is Test Matches! Yes, he's missed a lot of matches & I do not exactly have stats in front of me but if there was a Selector like Vengsarkar in the Selection Committee, Rohit would have been dropped by now in white ball formats.

Siraj can fake that made-up-aggression as much as he likes to, but fact is they are just toothless.

Siraj at present is India's best all format bowler!

Originally Posted by libranof1987

We're due for a major overhaul of the system and the team. I'd rather have the team spend a year or so trial-and-building the next gen team than have the same guys hogging the space "hoping" for success. But nothing will change.

Actually this transition phase started when both Pujara & Rahane were dropped some time back. And yet they're both back again in the team after a while. Atleast they could have tried out new players in Bangladesh. I hope they try out some new faces in WI !

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Look at the way our top order threw their wickets playing IPL shots(hangover?).

Didn't really see Shubman Gill shouldering his arms & leaving too many deliveries in the IPL! I think we should stop this obsession of blaming IPL for everything. In this WTC Final, Rahane & Jadeja were the last to join the Squad in England & yet they were the most successful ! Yes, preparations weren't ideal, the schedule was out more than 3-4 months ago but hardcore enthusiasts always knew it was going to be an uphill task to win the WTC Final.

Don’t understand what Pujara learnt over two years of County Cricket, the way he got out looked so unnecessary.

Don't think Pujara would have faced this quality of bowling in the County circuit! Pujara has been heavily criticized over the years for his poor strike rate. So he's now making more of an effort to play more shots than earlier! Not trying to defend him here. His dismissal in 1st innings was a case of bad judgment while in the 2nd innings it was an innocuous shot.

fail in the other plus a Fast bowling unit which is toothless.

Its only thanks to the Fast Bowling Unit that we've done well outside of Asia in the last 2 WTC cycles & one of the major reasons why we qualified to play the finals in both the WTC's! While the batting unit has repeatedly failed over the years. The last time Virat Kohli got a 100 outside of Asia was 5yrs back!

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by NPV

But therein lies the ironic part - Ganguly and so many other so-called experts thought that making Rohit the captain is the gold standard that will enable us to win ICC trophies

Lol. Am sure even selectors must be scratching their heads now.

Hope now Sarfaraz gets a call right from start of a new cycle, so that he has decent international exposure by the time such Do-or-Die situations come up.

Originally Posted by PPS

Siraj at present is India's best all format bowler!

Sadly that’s not good enough for such big stages as proven in this match. He is fine as a supporting bowler to someone like Bumrah but as a pace spearhead results are here to be seen. Stark difference in pace battery between both the sides.

Originally Posted by PPS

Didn't really see Shubman Gill shouldering his arms & leaving too many deliveries in the IPL! I think we should stop this obsession of blaming IPL for everything.

Never mentioned Gill as he was unlucky. It was very clear I was pointing to the other three which you chose to ignore. Anyways lemme break it down. What was the reason for that shot from Kohli when he was well set at 49 and just 2 balls before that almost missed nicking one? What’s the desperation to try and chase a delivery that wide when you know you are the last recognised batting pair chasing a mammoth total? Pujara doesn’t even play IPL and still he tried a T20-ish shot to a ball which could have been easily left.

Originally Posted by PPS

Don't think Pujara would have faced this quality of bowling in the County circuit! Pujara has been heavily criticized over the years for his poor strike rate. So he's now making more of an effort to play more shots than earlier! Not trying to defend him here. His dismissal in 1st innings was a case of bad judgment while in the 2nd innings it was an innocuous shot.

If someone with 100 tests under his belt has such misjudgment in a WTC final in both innings, what justification can you give? I wont mind him getting out in such fashion in bilaterally series but here it was almost criminal.

Originally Posted by PPS

Its only thanks to the Fast Bowling Unit that we've done well outside of Asia in the last 2 WTC cycles & one of the major reasons why we qualified to play the finals in both the WTC's! While the batting unit has repeatedly failed over the years. The last time Virat Kohli got a 100 outside of Asia was 5yrs back!

Yes and the spearhead of that unit is not available anymore. My point was Bumrah has a certain tenacity which batters fear and hence are extra cautious. Eventually that helps other bowlers as well, as they try to score off them and often end up getting out. Again, not saying they are bad but they aren’t as effective as the Aussie pace battery was. After the 1st couple of hours on Day 1 our bowlers looked clueless and that partnership took away the match.

Ofcourse our batting just performed the way they always do, only this time we had two main batters missing(Axar & Ashwin)

[PPS]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Sadly that’s not good enough for such big stages as proven in this match. He is fine as a supporting bowler to someone like Bumrah but as a pace spearhead results are here to be seen. My point was Bumrah has a certain tenacity which batters fear and hence are extra cautious.

Agree about the supporting bowler bit but I'd rather have a good supporting bowler than someone like Umesh who has a tendency to leak runs & have no control! After back surgery, nobody knows how effective Bumrah is going to be. So the selectors should plan accordingly. And going ahead I only see Bumrah being picked in marque tournaments! Forget Siraj, there's a wide gulf between Bumrah & Shami even.

It was very clear I was pointing to the other three which you chose to ignore. Anyways lemme break it down. What was the reason for that shot from Kohli when he was well set at 49 and just 2 balls before that almost missed nicking one? What’s the desperation to try and chase a delivery that wide when you know you are the last recognised batting pair chasing a mammoth total?

For the past many years we've seen Virat nicking deliveries way outside the off-stump even in Asian conditions. So whats exactly new in this?! And what has IPL got to do with it. There was IPL around when Virat was scoring truckloads of runs in Test Matches earlier, wasn't it? The top 5 barely average 33 since 2022 compared to 48 of Australia. This is the lowest amongst all Test playing nations. The batting unit is in shambles & sacking the Vikram Rathore isn't the solution.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Hope now Sarfaraz gets a call right from start of a new cycle, so that he has decent international exposure by the time such Do-or-Die situations come up.

I am not too sure of him. I have seen him bat in domestic cricket since I got very curious once he started getting the big runs. Does not look like a compact player who will score big in SENA. He scored a lot of those runs with white ball type shots - the scoops, the run down to third man etc. I hope I am wrong, but I am not putting any money on Sarfaraz.