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This statement from our batting coach Vikram Rathour is hilarious. Conveniently putting Jaiswal along with Gill and Iyer when Gill is playing since 2020 and Iyer I don't even remember since when as he is so old in age. Jaiswal in his short career has already performed quite well and also made runs in first innings. Can someine sack this batting coach. I can't remember a single improvement in anyone since his long tenure started. In fact our batsman have become worse against spin.

Thiis statement shows both Gill and Iyer will play tomorrow which means one among Patidhar and Sarfraz will sit out for these non performers. Expecting rational decisions from this management isn't possible. In fact if KL and Jaddu were fit these guys would have played the same 11. Laughable they don't learn anything.

I will be very surprised if Sarfaraz Khan gets a game tomorrow. The lad has been brilliant through the Ranji seasons year after year but still couldn’t get through. Now that he has by the sheer weight of his runs and chance combined, all the indications point towards the same old bias in deciding the playing 11. And then, one fine day, he will be dumped just like that !!

With our team struggling with batting for so long at upper order, and Iyer failing again and again, sarfaraz should ideally replace him, but who knows what goes on inside the dressing room.

I was so surprise that even with his stupendous form in last couple of years, none of IPL team put a single bid on him, when sometime back RCB had actually retained him.

What else do you expect from a bloke who was a huge flop when given his India cap. I remember his debut innings and the couple that followed. He would walk to the crease, wait for the outswinger, edge to slip and walk back.

As for tomorrow's game, Anderson in for Wood and Shoaib Bashir making his debut instead of the injured Leach. This is from Ben Stokes talking to talkSport, a YT based podcast run by a Brit radio commentator who is covering this series.

He was a domestic giant though :D His debut series was in England if I remember correctly. Dominic Cork and Darren Gough made his life hell during the entire series !! I was surprised when he was announced as a batting coach, his own technique was so suspect that he was almost a sitting duck in swinging and seaming conditions.

I think the process of current team management is clear. If somebody makes it to the team, he will be supported for a long time despite failures, unlike the team of 90s where you fail for few matches and you are out.

May be if Vikram himself have gotten these many chances we may have had another Rahul Dravid.

How long this support should go on is the question? I fully understand that playing well in domestic tourneys is one thing and ability to step up to the plate with the big boys in national team is a big ask with huge pressure to perform.

But then is not 4-5 matches or a couple of series sufficient. They don't need to dropped forever if they don't perform but can be sent to work with dedicated batting or bowling coaches as the case may be.

Iyer has spent a good amount of time waiting for his chance to play tests, but has not consistently delivered to be a sure starter. I'm on the fence with Gill, but maybe a call needs to be made after the end of this series. Jaiswal at least appears more fearless in his short tenure, maybe because he realises the few chances he has now are likely the only ones he'll get for some time.

Sarfaraz and Patidar have done enough to at least get a look in to this team. I personally feel no point in blooding players after they are 25-26, catch them young and keep trying amongst a bunch of 8-10 over 2-3 years. If 1 or 2 consistently deliver they can start to become the core for next-gen.

All this armchair wishing and pontificating from me will not translate to any big change on the day, I'm sure :D

Thats how Gill & Iyer were blooded in. I've been hearing about Priyank Panchal since many years & that he's been knocking on the door of the Senior Team. Guess what, he's 33yrs old! Was a permanent fixture in the 'A' a while back. Easwaran is another name which comes to mind though he's still in his 20s. Patidar himself is 30!

I don't think personnel changes will bring about any major difference, unless it's Kohli who's coming back into the XI. All the guys in the team have made it through a combination of talent, skill and hardwork. Where the team has consistently fallen short is by showing timidity, especially in tough situations to express their talent and execute their skills.

Team India at this moment, is the equivalent of the class topper in college who recites the whole textbook verbatim, but will goes blank if tested on application of the knowledge he has memorized. Our plan A in tests has always been beating the opposition into submission by dominant spinners, and when that plan A was thwarted, albeit through a generous dollop of luck, we were in unfamiliar territory, hence lost our composure and the game too. Much like we as fans are cribbing just after one loss, with 4 matches to go in the series :D

Rohit's tactics were poor in England's second innings, and he couldn't fire up the listless batting in the fourth innings chase too. With KL & Jadeja out, he now has an incredibly difficult task of being the most responsible to score big runs and find a way around England's tactics. The spinners led by Ashwin too were challenged by Bazball. How all of them respond will be an interesting watch from tomorrow.

I am rooting for Anderson to succeed even though it would be against India.... Go, Jimmy :thumbs up!!

And sarfaraz to sit out so that Iyer can fail again. If Iyer does not hit a century in this test, he should be sent back to play Ranji, apparently this is a batting paradise for first two days as per pitch report. Rohit atleast won the toss.

Success for Gill finally just before lunch.

He was trying really hard to get out by playing such loose shots outside the off-stump. Failed twice with two boundaries to third man, but did not lose patience. Did not change his game. Did not play for lunch. Kept at it. Displayed tenacity. Expressed himself. Followed the process. Ticked all boxes. Hard work paid off and he finally succeeded in edging one to the keeper.

Next big thing, indeed.

Exceptionally flat track - Probably very very slight movement; middling pace of Jimmy Anderson and Gill edged twice in four balls.

He has to go back to Ranji/County and sort his technique.

The test team MUST NOT HAVE any batsmen in common with the T20 team. Unless they have scored at least 5000 runs in either one of the formats.

People coming through the ranks, domestic, IPL, U19 etc. need to pick which one they want to be considered for. If they get picked in one team (of 15) today, they should not be eligible for the other for the next 183 days (i.e. 6 months).

That is the kind of specialization required for both the teams. Its the ODI format that is screwing this up. It needs to be deprioritized for the next 2 years if we have to make progress in the other 2. Who knows what it will look like 3 years from now.

Coming back to Mr. Gill. His string of failures continues. He needs to be dropped for good and needs to mandatorily play Ranji Trophy/other 1st class cricket to make a comeback to the Test team of 15. Mr. Rathod needs to get his act together or resign. The test batting has been a $#!+$#0w for far too long now. Bowlers and the wicket keeper have bailed them out everywhere in the past 2 years with the ball AND with the bat. But those 5-6 guys can only do so much. The remaining members have to stand up and take responsibility the way Ollie Pope did in the last match. 80s are OK in T20s, not in Test Matches.

We really need to score huge on this track. Not sure if it will remain so for later days. I think players coming through T20 do not have the mindset to stay at crease. If you have shots, staying longer will enable you keep getting run from not so good deliveries.

We heard about lot of new players from IPL, the reason I also doubt Iyer, Samson etc. If they remove Rohit and Gill from next test, others would get the message :D