[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by searacer932

Overall very very ultra defensive Captaincy by Cummins.

Really, I guess not so. I think this was a bold and aggressive move by Cummins. Cricket is very unpredictable game. It was the same opening pair of Jaiswal and KL who managed to stitch 200+ runs opening stand in 2nd innings when bowlers were on the top. What if they would have lost the test match, as per the scenario you have mentioned and rain god wouldn’t have helped them, you would have then a different say on the whole scenario.

In the hind sight after the game is done and dusted, all will come up with the stats which would have been better as per their whims and wishes. IMO, It was a risky move which could have backfired. But thanks to Aussies approach to keep the result of draw as much away as possible. They had thrown the carrot, rain gods had some other plans in store.

I’m sure they would have thought about some realistic first innings score and wanted to bowl out India twice by enforcing follow on, who would have thought Bumrah and Akash would have saved the follow on, at least not me.

And R.Ashwin announces retirement from international cricket, time for Captain and Ex-Captain to do the same. I would root for Jurel/paddikkal/sarfarz in next 2 matches.

[harry10]

I did not see this coming.
But, it makes sense.
Our best match winner in last decade.
Doesn't get to play matches while Shameless Rohit and Kohli play everything at their own convenience.

He is 38. Retiring mid way means something happened behind the scenes.
Sundar isn't even half the bowler and had couple of good matches and team management started behaving as he is next Muralidharan. Ash did right. Just play IPL, do you tube and commentate when he wants. He has done enough.

BTW it wasn't a brave declaration.
Everyone at the ground knew rain is around the corner and match will be drawn. 274 in 54 overs at 5 Rpo on 5th day when 2 matches to go. No way India was going for it even without rain and Pat knew that. Still good entertainment in morning.

[VW2010]

Retiring right in the middle of a series does indicate message from management that he will not be taking part anymore in this series. He had to take the best route and go high on his own way unlike what Kohli and Rohit are trying hard to do now.

Thanks Ashwin. Hope Rohit and Kohli follows and gives the space to more deserving youngsters.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

They had thrown the carrot, rain gods had some other plans in store.

Asking India to chase 275 in 10 overs is not throwing a carrot. In fact India's innings did not even last 3 overs if I am not wrong. The rains were always anticipated and it's a surprise to no one, may be except to the Aussies, that the rains had come. Every weather station had predicted heavy rain falls on days 4 & 5 and that's what exactly happened.

[RaghuVis]

One of the greatest test winner of India. Probably the next best thing to happen in test cricket after Sachin! He deserved a better send off!

Thanks for your amazing contribution Ash. You are undoubtedly the most intelligent cricketer the world has seen.

[Shumi_21]

Ash retirement announcement

Happy retirement Ash! You've been a match winner for more than 10 years. Will be rooting for you wherever you turn up next. Apparently Ash wanted to retire in Perth itself, but Rohit convinced him to play the pink ball game.

Watching the video though, seeing Rohit beside Ash reminded me of something I had posted here a few weeks ago.

Originally Posted by Shumi_21

PR articles maybe, but I feel another big reason is that we are a batting country. Our cricketing heroes right from Lala Amarnath to Gavaskar to Tendulkar to Kohli have always been batters.
.
.
.
Their only fault was that they didn't bat well enough to cover up for the non performing top order, in almost a decade.

We indeed are a batting country, Ash had one bad series and he's retired.

[PPS]

Australia just collapsed & they want us to believe that they were always going for a win! In hindsight they will rue the fact that they kept batting on Day 3 considering the fact that weather forecast is more or less accurate in that part of the World. Going 1-1 into the 4th Test is a big fillip to Team India & I hope some of our players raise their game in the next 2 Tests. I think the batting order needs to be tweaked considering the fact that the team is carrying 2 non-performers - Rohit & Virat.

KL Rahul
Jaiswal
Rohit / Virat
Virat / Jadeja
Jadeja
Pant
Reddy
Rohit
AkashDeep
Bumrah
Siraj / Prasidh / Rana / Sundar

I would drop Gill & move Jadeja up the order since its important to blunt out the new ball. After KL, seems only Jadeja knows where his off-stump is. Don't see 2nd spinner being included considering the nature of pitches. Since the Captain can't be dropped, move him to no.3 where he won't last much or drop down to no.8 as a slogger along with the tail!

Coming to Ashwin's retirement, he really deserved a proper farewell considering his record. Even an average bowler like Nehra got a farewell! Definitely something happened behind the scenes since his retirement is with immediate effect. Eagerly waiting for Rohit's announcement now!

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I think it is not a right statement, he is a very thinking cricketer and as I wrote above with England series next, he might not have been picked or played so went out with head held high.



Absolutely, thanks a lot to him for all he did for Indian cricket, he retires as a legend with his head held high and on his own terms.

Fantastic timing. It takes a lot of self-awareness to know when to quit. In recent memory, Rahul Dravid got it right and now Ashwin. He has a lot to give back to the game, just like RD, and he will be brilliant asset to Indian Cricket and to IPL.

A true legend.

[searacer932]

Congrats to Ashwin for an outstanding service to Indian sports. You will be missed!

A great servant of the Game!

[AtheK]

Now on a lighter note, probably Virat and Rohit promised big treats to Ashwin to fast forward his retirement to now rather then end of series. This puts all focus of fans on this and all good things start flowing from fans, conveniently missing the disaster that these two have been with the team from quite sometime now. They can easily fail in the next match now, we need to see who will be the scapegoat next match though.

And here I was thinking how will there PR handle team handle this disaster, well played PR team well played, Player of the day.

[Asish_VK]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Now on a lighter note, probably Virat and Rohit promised big treats to Ashwin to fast forward his retirement to now rather then end of series. This puts all focus of fans on this and all good things start flowing from fans, conveniently missing the disaster that these two have been with the team from quite sometime now. They can easily fail in the next match now, we need to see who will be the scapegoat next match though.

And here I was thinking how will there PR handle team handle this disaster, well played PR team well played, Player of the day.

You just beat me to it
I too was about to post something in these lines. Now all the focus is shifted from the flip show to Ashwin 's retirement. PR team can take some rest.

[kavensri]

These are my assumptions/observations from the statements we have heard so far:
1) Before the tour started, he might have taken a decision to retire after this series.
2) Then he took the decision to retire, immediately after he did not get selected for Perth test (Rohit did talk about this).
3) And Rohit assured him to get selected for the pink test and hence the decision was put-off. (Rohit did mention this).
4) May be, he was expecting to get picked for Sydney test at least and then announce the retirement.
5) But, during the Brisbane test, (something might have happened) and he got an indication that, even if India plays 2 spinners at Sydney, he is not guaranteed to be one of them?

I find it really strange that he announced his retirement today and wants to fly back to India tomorrow?
And he is not willing to take questions from the press conference?
I get the feeling that something might have happened between him and the management?

[deehunk]

As of now, there is no genuine replacement for Ashwin; he took a bold decision to quit, unlike Virat and Rohit, who should have gone by now for the sake of new talents to play for India. Since 2011 we have not produced any quality spinners, so who will fill Ashwin's place is the question.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by deehunk

As of now, there is no genuine replacement for Ashwin; he took a bold decision to quit, unlike Virat and Rohit, who should have gone by now for the sake of new talents to play for India. Since 2011 we have not produced any quality spinners, so who will fill Ashwin's place is the question.

I think they should give Kuldeep a long rope now, he genuinely spins the ball and has had to sit out as Ashwin and Jadeja were always the first two to be considered in India. Their batting was a plus as well. Other one that comes to mind is Ravi Bishnoi, not sure if he can bowl long spells though.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by VW2010

I think Australia escaped in this case. Had rain not interrupted I am sure India would have chased this and won. India will not feel relieved but disappointed that they missed an opportunity.

No way we would have won, definitely not on current form! 275 in 54 overs is no mean task in Test cricket and would be a rare, miraculous victory (stuff that doesn’t happen often in Test cricket).

We got lucky with the rain interruptions that helped us save the game, but I won’t take away anything from Rahul, Jadeja, Bumrah and Akashdeep who helped avoid the follow on. Had we followed on, most likely this test would have been lost. We’ve been unable to survive even 2 sessions of play in the last few games and to say we would have won this in an extreme exaggeration. Yes, we did bowl well when Australia batted second, but they were also looking to score quickly and were taking their chances.