[PPS]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Wasn't he one of the support staff who couldn't see Yuvraj's discomfort in the whole of 2011 World Cup for what it actually was?

Not sure what you're hinting at. You mean Yuvraj spitting blood in the dressing room & then eventually being diagnosed with Cancer?

NCA is lately looking like a field hospital in the midst of a battlefield. Its only goal seems to sort the apparent niggles and throw the wounded folks back into the heat of the game.

There's an insane amount of Cricket being played nowadays compared to 2 decades back! So there's bound to be injuries. Back then there was no IPL, there used to be an off season where there was no cricket being played for 40 days. Coming back to Iyer, he had a successful back surgery abroad not too long ago & now he's again complaining of back pain! Perhaps BCCI should schedule an appointment with the Doc abroad when the IPL starts.

[schumi_pete]

It is unfathomable how Rohit and co. have conspired to waste all the reviews. Robinson wouldn't still be batting if we had reviews in hand.

300 on this pitch is already a very good total and we might already be chasing the game here. Unfortunately, Root has learnt that Bazball is only for blokes that cannot bat on these pitches.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by PPS

Not sure what you're hinting at. You mean Yuvraj spitting blood in the dressing room & then eventually being diagnosed with Cancer?

Yes

There's an insane amount of Cricket being played nowadays compared to 2 decades back! So there's bound to be injuries. Back then there was no IPL, there used to be an off season where there was no cricket being played for 40 days. Coming back to Iyer, he had a successful back surgery abroad not too long ago & now he's again complaining of back pain! Perhaps BCCI should schedule an appointment with the Doc abroad when the IPL starts.

Absolutely.

Back pain, neck pain, ankle pain, nail pain etc are like the stomach aches of school going children that can magically be summoned on typical post-holiday Monday mornings!

Again, I don't mean to comment on Iyer's fitness, but would only like to point out that NCA is not doing its duty properly. If it had been, then there wouldn't be so many players plagued by bodily niggles so very often. Not to mention the psychological pitfalls that at least one star player is supposedly going through.

Be that as it may, unless BCCI mandates that all centrally contracted players must play a certain number of domestic matches to be eligible for IPL, Indian cricket will surely suffer.

[ABHI_1512]

Caught up with the day’s play today in a recap mode. What a debut by the young Akash Deep but the ball of the day was bowled by none other than Md Siraj. Absolute stunner to get Tom Hartley late in the day. The century by Joe Root showed why he is such a class act. If not for his century, India would have completely dominated the first day. The pitch, by the looks of it, has everything for everyone. Will be interesting to watch in the coming days.

It is immensely satisfying to see two Bengal pacers in the Indian team together. With Md Shami sitting outside, it is probably for the first time that three pacers representing Bengal are in the Indian team with another two knocking on the doors- Ishan Porel and Md Kaif. The credit for this pace revolution in Bengal can be partly attributed to present bowling coach Ranadeb Bose, a player who couldn’t fulfill his potential despite getting a call up to the Indian team in the past. It will be a healthy selection pool to have when our lead bowlers become available.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

unless BCCI mandates that all centrally contracted players must play a certain number of domestic matches to be eligible for IPL, Indian cricket will surely suffer.

I don't see that happening. Not for IPL. There are too many stakeholders there & the franchisees are paying top dollar for the players & they would want them to be available considering you can only play 4 foreign players. There are rumours circulating that Iyer & Ishan will be removed from the Central Contracts List. Ishan Kishan's PR agency has circulated news last week that he's recovering from mental fatigue by having home cooked food living in a rented apartment with his parents & nephew!

[AtheK]

Another failure for Patidar, guess this is it for him until he hits a century in 4th innings. If KL does not come back it should be Paddikal taking guard in last match. Captain has done his job by playing one good innings in the series. True test for Sarfaraz, let's see how he bats today.

Stupid decision to leave out Bumrah, should have played this match and could have been rested in last match, we are behind now, because we could not clean up the tail. Bumrah is always a handful with his yorkers.

Interesting match in progress.

[deehunk]

I foresee a situation that Sarfraz may get mysteriously injured and will miss the next match, Patidar will get chance till he scores a half century and then cement his place in the test team. This is what is happening from 5 years.

[Shumi_21]

Missed watching both the days of the game. Looking at the scores, we are in a tough position, 7 down with 134 runs behind England. Will require a big effort from the last 3 wickets, led by Jurel to whittle down the lead.

[harry10]

I have no idea how blind selectors actually are, no way if I am a selector I am picking Patidhar for this level with that feet movement and shoddy defence.

Chasing 200 on this uneven bounce wicket will be very tough and there is still a lead of 100+ remaining.
Jurel batted sensibly, Kuldeep has improved so much as a test batter. Rohit as a Captain is a failure and as a batter is a burden which no one in management is able to address. 1 good innings with a dropped catch won't do it.

Jaiswal alone is doing all heavy lifting. Gill is trying but his technical issue with incoming delivery keeps happening. Why send Jadeja when Patidhar got out baffles me. Bashir was bowling well and should have sent Sarfraz who is a stroke maker. Because he came when Jadeja also got out he had to play defensive game and couldn't open up like last time.

Like everyone said, resting Bumrah for this series decider game was absolute stupidity. Made no cricketing sense, 41 year old Anderson is playing. Could have played him here and rested in next game if we had won the series. I don't see unless England collapses badly or some batting miracle happen on our side.

[schumi_pete]

I don't understand our approach to the English spinners. This pitch has cracks and an uneven bounce. Sooner or later, a ball will come with your name on it if you let the spinner settle into his length.

The obvious solution would be to use your feet and try to disrupt the length. Our batsmen are like sitting ducks waiting for the ball with their name written on it. Why would you simply get stuck on the crease?!

[NPV]

Unless Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep, Akashdeep and Siraj contribute enough to get us to about 300, which will give England a lead of 50 odd, this game is going England’s way!

[rx100]

Originally Posted by NPV

Unless Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep, Akashdeep and Siraj contribute enough to get us to about 300, which will give England a lead of 50 odd, this game is going England’s way!

After seeing the pitch this morning, looks like it would be difficult to chase any score on this wicket in 4th innings.

By the way, really impressed with the way Kuldeep is tackling the bowlers

[Rahkehs]

As I had mentioned earlier to wait for some difficult situation before judging S. Khan, he failed on a difficult pitch. Most of his runs in Ranji has been against poor bowling and his technique is such that it will be difficult for him to score against good bowlers or average bowlers on difficult pitches.
Dhruv Jurel seems to have good technique and should be backed more!

[rx100]

Originally Posted by Rahkehs

As I had mentioned earlier to wait for some difficult situation before judging S. Khan, he failed on a difficult pitch. Most of his runs in Ranji has been against poor bowling and his technique is such that it will be difficult for him to score against good bowlers or average bowlers on difficult pitches.
Dhruv Jurel seems to have good technique and should be backed more!

Yet, you didn’t wait and immediately judged him after his first failure.

[Rahkehs]

Originally Posted by rx100

Yet, you didn’t wait and immediately judged him after his first failure.

I knew beforehand that he is not a brilliant batter the PR team makes people believe, seen his batting in IPL and Ranji, smashing low quality bowlers. His case is similar to Prithvi Shaw, there is a lobby of retired players/administrators from a Zone promoting players from their region. If you follow cricket then you must know that much better batsmen are there in Ranji.