[harry10]

Please don't bash the batters.
They were dreaming of the crores to come in IPL. Accountability is zero in Indian cricket. Australia would have sacked both Captain and coach by now. No wonder they have always been at the top with cabinets full of trophies.

If selectors had even an iota of guts, both Rohit and Kohli would have been dropped.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Last time we won because there was team who was hungry, not of King and Hitman, Aussie must be laughing right now, the scoreline you predict above could well be against us.

Hahahaa but that’s predictable no? I want a legendary finish to the WTC campaign as a fan. Afterall we indians love great stories. Something like that BGT trophy where after being 36 all out we went on to win the series with a second string team in Australia

[antz.bin]

As per latest news, Indian team has cancelled it's 3-day practice match against India A, their only warm-up game in Australia. The senior team must have been scared that they will lose to India A as well

No favouritism happening in the India A team, everyone selected on merit. Given the senior team's current form, we would be better off just sending India A team instead for the BGT. At least they know how to build proper first class innings AND they have already acclimatised to the foreign conditions. Just look at the ongoing match post the 1st innings collapse (which happened to both teams so may be due to conditions).

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...-cricket-score

Back to the senior team, I fail to understand the tearing hurry to score all these runs in the last 10 minutes of play. Whatever happened to playing out the last couple of overs in fading light? What was the need to play the reverse sweep or go for the risky run (in the last over of the day!!)?

If we still happen to win this one (unlikely), it would be amazing to see 8 brave men beat a team of 14 (Rohit, Virat and Siraj are definitely playing for the opposition team).

[PPS]

Just looking at Virat Kohli you can easily make out that he's mentally not there & he's lost that hunger for runs! Both him & Rohit are just going through the motions. Also whats the point of sending a walking-wicket as your nightwatchman? This is what happens when you select a Coach based on social media perception!

[suhaas307]

Absolute shambles. Both Hitman and the King seem to have checked out. A whitewash is eminent, sadly.

Halloween got over in October but India's horrors continued into November 1 through 10 minutes of tragicomic decision-making. Now they will be hoping Mariah Carey is not waiting around the corner with All I Want for Christmas Is You

Gotta love ESPN Cricinfo!

[NPV]

India 195/5 at Lunch thanks to good knocks from Pant and Gill and to the New Zealand fielding for gifting India 2 lives with dropped catches (both easy ones and should have been taken at this level).

I’m still a bit nervous because the batsmen to follow are Ashwin and Washington Sundar who haven’t done much in this series with their batting and Sarfaraz who might be feeling unsettled because of being moved down the order despite his recent top performances.

[AtheK]

I fail to understand logic, if they want a left right combination, then why did they not send Jadeja or Sundar when Jaiswal got out yesterday. Now they are moving our specialist batmsan to follow this approach, is this all Gambhir brings to the table?

Also they should drop Kohli and Rohit Sharma, enough of this hero worship. They are two walking wickets in Australia, until some magic happens. If we fail to qualify for WTC final, we might finally see end of this baggage which has been around for sometime now.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I fail to understand logic, if they want a left right combination, then why did they not send Jadeja or Sundar when Jaiswal got out yesterday.

Particularly given the issues Sarfaraz has with the new ball. Best to get him in when the ball is 40 overs old and he can capitalise for another 40..

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

Particularly given the issues Sarfaraz has with the new ball. Best to get him in when the ball is 40 overs old and he can capitalise for another 40..

Then he gets out on a 0 while thinking all this time in his head that is he not good enough. What a stupid strategy, if we get a lead less then 100 runs on this pitch, looking at our batsman I don't think they are mentally strong enough to chase 150 on this pitch.

[Shumi_21]

Meanwhile, Murli Kartik on commentary has called Ajaz Patel, Ijaz Ahmed (ex Pakistani player) thrice now. Reminds me of an IPL game where he mixed up Yash Dayal of RCB with Yash Thakur of LSG. I've said this before, Murali's unintentional comedy is what saves him from taking the crown of India's worst commentator from Sanju Manju.

[Revvatron]

Nz is batting with run rate of 4 which is comendable. I don't remember any team doing that in india in a long time that too in 2nd innings. Now that series is a wrap they are playing with freedom.

[rx100]

Good fight back so far in 2nd innings, and looks like the target would be below 150. It’s only be 3rd day tomorrow but the pitch looks awful to bat against spin. Need to see how our batters plays on, will they curb the aggression and try to be defensive as there is plenty of time left or they go after bowlers.

[NPV]

New Zealand are 171/9 with a lead of 143.
India has done well so far, but again there is that one single element of doubt left - can India’s batting chase this down successfully?

Damn, I get nightmares now thinking of the FIBC Familiar Indian Batting Collapse in Test matches!

[NomadSK]

Anything closer and above 150 is a catch 22 situation for India with pitch tearing up. If they attack and lose wickets they will be targeted, if they play slow and lose wickets again they will be targeted.

I think it’s an even Steven game for both teams so far. To win India will have to play risk with caution. And Gambhir no more T-20 strategy to be copy pasted in test formats.

[Vinod_nair]

Tonight following Kiwi spinners will not sleep:
Ajaz Patel
Glen Philip
Rachin
They will be shadow/ghost practicing spin