Team-BHP - The Cricket Thread

We can't play swing and seam and we can't play spin as well. To add to that now we can't bowl swing and seam and we can't bowl spin as well. Australia will probably teach us that we can't bowl pace and bat against pace too.

That will be a complete circle. With this cycle,I think the seniors like Rohit, Kohli, Ashwin should be sent on their way. This team needs to reboot and it usually should start from the top.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvatron (Post 5865963)

Now that pitch isn't doing too much, there is still little hope with Ashwin and Jadeja at the crease. If they can make it to 250 we still have chance.

Seriously? India were down and out from the time they crashed in the first inning and conceded a lead of 100+ runs!

Very sad to see our test batting come down to this state. No skill and no will to play it out and frustrate the bowlers.

For some time now, our top order batting has been very inconsistent but the lower order has stepped up many a times and helped win matches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NPV (Post 5865983)

Seriously? India were down and out from the time they crashed in the first inning!

Very sad to see our test batting come down to this state. No skill and no will to play it out and frustrate the bowlers.

For some time now, our top order batting has been very inconsistent but the lower order has stepped up many a times and helped win matches.

I was just hoping for a miracle eventhough deep down I know it won't happen. Thought maybe if they play safe against santner and attack other bowlers there might be some sort of chance. Apart from Santner nobody else is troubling which itself is embarrassing for us that we are in this position.

So it’s curtains for India with 2-0 down.

What an incredible shame losing Test series on home soil, with one so called specialist spinner we just crumbled. When was the last time we lost the series on home ground, Ghambhir and Agarkar should resign and Sharma/Kohli should concentrate on next IPL mega auction or go back playing domestic games till they want to hang up their boots.

Why was Pant and Sunder sent above Sarfaraz, just because right/left combination, wow that strategy might work in T20 or max in ODI’s, but that’s a useless ploy in tests.

India is safe haven to make glorious careers of mediocre spinners !!

So now next what, trying to save the face from an embarrassing clean sweep of 3-0, that would be the motivating factor for Sharma and Co.

Well played NZ for showing the realty to the pseudo cricketers and real millionaires and giving them the dressing down. At the same time that’s the beauty of test cricket :)

See you @ Mumbai !

This speaks it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NPV (Post 5865993)

And that is precisely the difference between Test and shorter formats - “miracles” happen more often in the shorter formats :)

True that’s why IPL & T20 games are so relishing and we still remember 2001 Kolkata's test match that happened around 2+ decades ago. Miracles in test matches are quite rare species, or once in a blue moon type thing and expecting them on regular basis is just being naive.

Strange India still topping the WTC list by a wafer thin margin.

Downfall of Kohli is extremely shocking. He looked absolutely invincible before 2020. For most of our past legends like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, laxman the downfall was largely due to their aging fitness but still they would have good performances. In case of Kohli I always thought his supreme fitness will extend his career but his ability itself has gone down.

On other note Gambhir should have not been made coach in first place. He was given the gig based on KKR's IPL run but he was just a mentor. The actual coach is Chandrakant Pandit who also won Ranji with Madhya pradesh. He deserves more than GG. But also pointing this loss on GG's head is also not correct. Coach's role is limited in cricketing setup. He can't teach our batsmen how to play spin.

This is easily one of the saddest days for an Indian cricket fan. To me, the disappointment is on par with the losses in the 2023 ODI World Cup final and the WTC final. What hurts more is the way they lost. New Zealand won more due to India's underpar performance than because of their superlative effort. I mentioned this after losing the first Test, and I’m reiterating it now, talking loudly during press conferences won’t mean anything until you back it up with on-field performance. Gambhir and Rohit can talk all they want, but this loss is simply inexcusable. :thumbsdown

I can’t wait for the Border Gavaskar Trophy to end. Hopefully that will be the end of the road for Rohit Sharma, Kohli, at least one of Jadeja and Ashwin.

Getting rid of GG might just be the icing on the cake.

Edit-
Hopefully the team management rests Bumrah for the next test. We need him fit and firing in Border Gavaskar Trophy.

And what was the point of playing Akash Deep if Rohit doesn’t trust him? Axar could have played instead.

India Under Gautam Gambhir Coaching (So far) and Captain Hitman

- After 27yrs, Lost a Bilateral ODI Series vs Sri Lanka

- For 1st time, Lost 30 Wickets in a 3 match ODI Series

- After 45yrs, India Remained Winless in a Calendar Year in ODIs (Though this can not just be attributed to him)

- After 36yrs, India Lost Test v NZ at Home

- After 19yrs, India Lost Test at Chinnaswamy

- For 1st time Scored Less than 50 runs at Home.

- 12 year unbeaten record at home broken.

I think this introspection has been long overdue and a long time in the works.

For far too long

1. our stars haven’t played domestic matches. (Read up on the ongoing Sheffield shield, every single Aussie star right from the Captain to Smith are playing 4 day matches and preparing themselves for the Border Gavaskar Trophy)

2. ⁠haven’t been good against quality spin (even part time spinners have repeatedly exposed us at home).

3. ⁠have treated tours like personal jaunts, joining and leaving as they feel like (Kohli, Rohit (much as I like him), Gill etc)

4. ⁠have had a separate set of rules compared to the newcomers who want to barge in (look at sarfaraz/sai sudharsan/abhimanyu easwaran vs KL Rahul, Kohli, Rohit’s record). Also look at Natarajan’s and Kohli’s response to personal requirements in the last Border Gavaskar Trophy. One flew home, one stayed back and fought it out. We need that kind of hunger/drive.

5. ⁠we have been rescued by one exceptional innings to save/ win a match (lower order at home).

6. Have had the entire top order out of form with no corrective actions.

At this rate, I’d rather take Pujara to Aus rather than Kohli. I wonder what was the tearing hurry to announce the squad to oz during this test.

Maybe it was the fact that there would’ve been a severe backlash in case this team had been announced after this drubbing. I also see half the side aspiring to announce their retirement after a glorious Border Gavaskar Trophy. If it’s going to be a one sided beating (4-0 is my guess in this scenario), bcci can organise a one off test against Papua New Guinea or Mongolia for a send off on a high.

GG’s worth, or the lack of it, can only be assessed with the next team. This one is cast in stone with too much inertia for him to do anything meaningful. Ideally, the transition should’ve started long back. Well played for so many years but we need to move on.

TBH, barring few instances our top order batsmen have been faring poorly and this includes Kohli, Rohit, Gill, KL etc. This team has been winning on the back of batting performances from lower middle order and Pant.

If you analyse even the last series against BD, in the 1st test match it was Ashwin and Jadeja who saved the day for India.

Ashwin is still the biggest Test Match winner for India but time for Kohli and Rohit is over in test matches. Kohli has serious technical issue against spin as well. Gone are the days when greatest spinners of all time used to huff and puff against our batsmen!

These days our batsmen are of the level of English players when it comes to tackling good spinners!