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Old 5th February 2024, 23:54   #17131
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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Originally Posted by AtheK View Post
We have Jurel in squad, can be a good idea to give him a chance.

KL instead of Iyer and maybe sarfarz instead of patidar for next match.
Bharat batting isn't of international quality. We all can see that but management as usual stays blind. If common sense prevails then Jurel should get a debut next game.

Iyer needs to be dropped. Gill saved himself with that 100. Status on Kohli isn't known so unless that's clear we don't know who all will play. Plus no word on KL injury as of now.

I would like Sarfraz to get a game but dropping Patidhar for Sarfraz will be a bad morale downer for Patidhar after just 1 game.

Playing Mukesh was a mistake as playing Siraj in first game was. A second seamer won't do anything on these pitches. Rather play extra batter or even an all rounder like Washington. However, with some sites stating Bumrah might be rested next game may throw bowling combination in a spiral.

Anyways, better captaincy by Rohit this time and better fielding by the team as well. I will admit I was quite sure Bazball will fail in India and verdict is still pending for that but I am throughly enjoying the way England are going about it.

Last edited by harry10 : 5th February 2024 at 23:58.
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Old 6th February 2024, 12:15   #17132
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Re: The Cricket Thread

A comfortable victory in the end for India. The English batsmen did too little in either inning on an excellent if not outstanding wicket for batting. The ground staff at Vizag should be complimented for preparing a track which was yet to crumble and turn square on day 4, yet offering generous bounce which a capable spinner could use to his advantage. The surface made for a fine game of cricket.

What a bowler Jasprit Bumrah is. He is what Indian cricket have always lacked: a match winning strike bowler who could run through opposition sides. While we have had Kapil and later Srinath and then Zaheer, somehow this quality was missing. If you cannot knock your opposition out in a quick and hostile spell, you can never hope to win tight test matches. He is right up there with the very best of all times.

Also phenomenal batting by young Jaiswal. He reminds me of a young Vinod Kambli and I had seen the two b2b double tons that he had hit in the 90s. Takes great temperament and desire to keep going on when other, far more experienced players could not even get a 50. He will have to sort out his technique against the moving ball but for now, he is a real find for India.

England's so called bazball is nothing new. All good sides over the years have been able to play "positive" cricket when they had the right kind of players. The West Indies of the sixties under Sir Garfield Sobers and then later under Supercat Lloyd were filled with attractive stroke makers who always took the fight to the opposition. I had a copy of Sir Sobers' autobiography (embarrassed to admit I borrowed it from my school library and then never returned) which is filled with glittering anecdotes of explosive innings which used to put opposition attacks on the back foot. Sir Sobers, Alvin Kalicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Lawrence Rowe, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, the list goes on of batsmen who did not have a defensive bone in their body and these were not stray greats who had plodders around them; the entire lineup were known for their attractive strokemaking. Mind you this was the era of uncovered pitches, no restriction on bouncers or bowlers having to land their front foot behind the bowling crease and no Bangladesh to thrash around. It is no joke to smack Lillie and Thommo silly and get a century before lunch. We all know about Ponting's Australia and their brand of cricket. Heck, we don't have to look beyond our very own Viru! Sehwag made a mockery of orthodox technique and flay the bowling, adding a new dimension to test cricket. Who can forget his inning vs Pakistan in Lahore when he got to his century before lunch.

Point is to make the most of the conditions and your ability and notch up runs before the ball with your name on it gets to you. This is where Pujara and even our ex opener Akash Chopra, were lacking. I mention Chopra's name because I thought he had the right technique and temperament which he showed in Australia, but what is the use if you do all the hard work and then get out with next to nothing against your name.

In this match, the English looked like they were trying to live up to their reputation instead of playing smart cricket. They got good starts in both innings thanks to Crawley, who because of his reach can disrupt the length being bowled. While they were blown away by Bumrah in the first innings, the "see ball-hit ball" approach got them nowhere. Trying to force the pace against a quality spin attack and holing out meant they never got a long partnership going. Stokes' run out was just bizarre. Wonder what was he thinking. After the initial burst, their run rate dropped quite a bit when Stokes and Foakes were at the wicket. That wasn't surprising because all three of our spinners were bowling well which meant forcing the pace meant unacceptable risk. You have to mix aggression with common sense, respecting the conditions. It was tiring after a while listening to KP about the English and their brand of cricket and how they always attack, are always positive etc etc. In the end, it was a quiet capitulation.

I think they sorely missed Leach, the one spinner with experience under his belt and could bowl line and length consistently. The others are honestly way too raw and looking better than what they are thanks to our own batting woes. Pope looked nothing like the batsman from the previous test and with Root not scoring, the english batting looks vulnerable.

Good to see Gill get a ton after ages. Luck was on his side and he capitalized. Iyer also got starts but was unlucky to carry on. Both were superb on the field with their catching and fielding. This is one area where England distinctly look better than us. All of us are vocal about young Sarfraz getting a look in which he will eventually. But he definitely needs to work on his fielding, a young up and coming star sliding over a ball and conceding a boundary is not acceptable today. This is also where Jadeja has always had an edge over Ashwin, who looks a liability with his ground fielding. There is no excuse with someone like Kohli who still sets the standards even today.

Patidar looked good during both his brief essays. Bharat does not look good either with the bat or with gloves. Wonder when Pant will be back. Was disappointed with Mukesh's performance. The chap has come up the hard way from nowhere to get to where he is. Sadly, he didn't look like he belongs at the highest level.

The series is set up nicely, hoping Kohli and Shami are back soon.

Last edited by hothatchaway : 6th February 2024 at 12:21.
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Old 6th February 2024, 22:46   #17133
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Re: The Cricket Thread

Beautiful victory for our U19 boys and they have reached the world cup finals.

At one point they were 32/4 chasing 245. Thriller of a game.
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Old 7th February 2024, 12:41   #17134
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Re: The Cricket Thread

My observations:
Indian cricket should have frequent rotations. With so much talent available, it's not fair that only a few make the cut . Thankfully in T20i , a lot many players are getting the chance. Time to start the same in Tests and ODIs.

I really hope Sarfaraz Khan gets a cap. What's the meaning of all these first class runs then. Give him a chance and let him show whether he can score in international matches too.

Rohit Sharma -He is at the ending stages of his career and relying on captaincy only.

Virat Kohli - He shouldn't be rushed back to side in this series. Let him concentrate on personal matters and settle everything.

Shreyas Iyer - Time to drop from tests if he is blocking someone.

Rajat Patidar - Should get more chances like Shubhman and Shreyas got.

In the bowling department, thankfully there are enough rotations to preserve the bodies. So all good there
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Old 7th February 2024, 13:57   #17135
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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...
Rohit Sharma -He is at the ending stages of his career and relying on captaincy only.
With such pathetic captaincy, I doubt that's sustaining him.
Exhibit A: First test
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Old 7th February 2024, 14:15   #17136
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Re: The Cricket Thread

Regarding Rohit's captaincy I remember reading somewhere, some brilliant performance from 1 or 2 (Bumrah, Jaiswal) will mask bad captaincy.

Especially with Bumrah you don't need to worry about field placements, he disturbs wickets for everyone to see wherever in the field they are.
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Old 7th February 2024, 14:46   #17137
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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...some brilliant performance from 1 or 2 (Bumrah, Jaiswal) will mask bad captaincy...
Exactly. Remember Chahal and Kuldeep under Dhoni? These guys were unplayable to most batters as long as he was there behind the wickets.
Post Dhoni's retirement, KulCha lost their mojo. Kuldeep took a couple of years to be even back in the good books.

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...Especially with Bumrah you don't need to worry about field placements, he disturbs wickets for everyone to see wherever in the field they are.
Bumrah is a once in a generation talent, like Kohli. The captain should thank his stars for Bumrah.
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Old 7th February 2024, 15:23   #17138
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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With such pathetic captaincy, I doubt that's sustaining him.
Exhibit A: First test
I think so. Because there is no alternative at this point. Or selectors will have to accept their mistake and give it back to Kohli. That will never happen. The other options are Bumrah and KL Rahul. I do think, we need to make a strong decision and split the responsibilities between these two for all three formats. But Bumrah does not play every match because of injury risks and KL Rahul is not that reliable to have a permanent place in the team.
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Old 7th February 2024, 18:44   #17139
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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With such pathetic captaincy, I doubt that's sustaining him.
Exhibit A: First test
If not captaincy, then what's sustaining him.
Surely not batting, which is poor in Tests.

Its actually lack of captaincy alternatives. Most of other players are either too junior, or cannot be burdened with additional captaincy load eg. Bumrah, Jadeja.

Once K L Rahul establishes himself, in the long run he would be the leading candidate for Test captaincy
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Old 7th February 2024, 21:31   #17140
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Re: The Cricket Thread

Looks like Kohli will be out for the rest of the series.
I hope we move on from Iyer immediately, he is showing zero maturity while batting.
Rohit Sharma has also been in poor long innings form since the first WTC final when he was getting dismissed to hook/ pull shots. We need substantial innings from him to negate the over achieving ordinary bowling attack of England (minus Anderson who is a freak). With such a complacent Indian batting order, England should easily win this series from here, it would be one of their better chances to do so.

Rohit has been outcaptained by Cummins in test and odi cricket. And now by Stokes in test cricket. As a fan, I hope for a resurgence that brings us competitive cricket for the rest of the series. A series win for India from here would be a great achievement.

Last edited by selfdrive : 7th February 2024 at 21:33.
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Old 7th February 2024, 21:44   #17141
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Re: The Cricket Thread

We will have to rest Bumrah at some stage in this series. The last thing we need is to overwork him and have him break down.

Pant cannot come back soon enough for me, even though it remains to be seen if he will be back at the same level he was before the accident. If he can keep well and for long periods, he should walk right back into the team, because even a Pant at 60% of his previous batting ability is streets ahead of Bharat.

What worries me is our fast bowling depth, especially against a team like England. Mukesh Kumar is not going to cut it, and what is up with Umesh Yadav? He always had a fantastic record in India, and he can be very effective with the older ball. I would also love for us to persist with Kuldeep because he provides a real point of difference that makes it difficult for the English batsmen with the drift, bounce and variations he has.

On Rohit, I think the time is nigh for retiring him for good and look to the future.
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Old 7th February 2024, 23:44   #17142
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Re: The Cricket Thread

First bowler ever in history of Cricket to achieve this. Best fast bowler in the world for a reason.

Take a bow Bumrah
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Old 8th February 2024, 11:00   #17143
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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First bowler ever in history of Cricket to achieve this. Best fast bowler in the world for a reason.

Take a bow Bumrah
Although a stupendous feat. But that Stat in actual scares me and shows that clearly he's being stretched to the limits and looking at his past and the bowling action he carries, it's better to do a proper work load management for him, lest we lose him for some important matches.
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Old 8th February 2024, 11:10   #17144
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Re: The Cricket Thread

TBH, I was scared when England started their chase although no team has ever scored 390+ runs to chase and win a test in India. This series is going to be a memorable one for both sides and I wouldn't be surprised if England wins 3-2. India has to come up with attacking fields and our 5th bowler is still a concern. Not to mention our batsmen especially Rohit and Shreyas, who need to score big in the upcoming tests.
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Old 8th February 2024, 11:47   #17145
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Re: The Cricket Thread

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We will have to rest Bumrah at some stage in this series. The last thing we need is to overwork him and have him break down...
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Originally Posted by NomadSK View Post
...But that Stat in actual scares me and shows that clearly he's being stretched to the limits and looking at his past and the bowling action he carries, it's better to do a proper work load management for him, lest we lose him for some important matches.
Why is this a concern? There is a 10 day gap between second and third test. Rest is all that he is doing.
Overwork and fatigue come in when you are playing back-to-back non-stop cricket, which this series is not. Test cricket is the highest platform there is. Let him play (unless he asks for a break).

There is ample time for him to rest in the upcoming IPL.
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