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Virat Kohli, please find a new way to get out.

Wohoo, Bumrah is all charged up, unnecessary antics by Konstas to hold up the play and Bumrah really fired up. Game on!

That's a celebration unlike regular Bumrah celebration. Konstas seems to be trying too hard to be aggressive at wrong person :)

And the biggest person standing out in the entire episode, Mr.Kohli. That guy is just plain irritating now. Guess he is playing only as the official jumping jack of the team.

Hopefully he makes one last innings count in Australia or he should just retire after this test.

Bumrah is pure magic.

Alright, I think we should now just accept these results for the foreseeable future as a byproduct of the team undergoing a transition.

- Although Rohit Sharma officially hasn't, he should retire from Tests
- Jadeja should consider retirement as well, he has barely made any difference, by ball or bat
- I'd give Kohli maybe a little more leeway with a couple more series but yes, the show is now running on fumes
- Ashwin did everyone a favor by checking out himself, although his wasn't as dire as others

We now need to build a consistent team where people know their role, and not be shuffled around. BCCI and the players should keep their egos aside and work together, there's been enough bad blood recently (Ishan Kishan, Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer).

Also, hope BCCI gives youngsters a long enough rope, the way they have with the seniors. Far too many players have made their debuts and just vanished in the last few years.

Lastly, Bumrah doesn't implode given he's more or less carrying the team.

Pure cinema today.
Green grass made sure no batter was comfortable whole day. Pant and Jaddu showed resolved and with Bumrah cameo crossed 180. No words about Kohli as he is a gone case.

Thanks to Konstas riling up Bumrah we got Khwaja on last ball. Enough talks about 19 year old and stuff. You run your mouth then you will get some back too. Bumrah doesn't do such celebrations so it is indeed personal now. Aussies can definitely get out below India score. Only question is can Siraj and Prasidh support Bumrah to do so. Playing 2 spinners on this wicket is stupidity but they are played cos specialist batters don't make runs.

This was in today's TOI. Thought it was an insightful visual. Nothing new but still nice to see it laid out like this.

Konstas did play aggressively in the first innings in Melbourne but doesn't look very skilled when it comes to traditional cricketing shots, but certainly is quite chirpy on the field. I really hope Bumrah gets him first thing tomorrow.

That emotion from Bumrah speaks a lot. I'm going to be up early tomorrow morning; just to see what the bowlers end up doing in the first few hours.

Yes, they have batted much better than two white elephants in our team. Jurel, who batted so well in warm-up games, did not get a place; Sarfraz is probably out of contention after this series.

You're letting your bias cloud your judgement if you say Jadeja hasn't contributed. He is the only consistent middle order batter we have had abroad. There's a reason he is the number 1 all rounder in the WORLD currently. When he bowls on a wicket that suits him, he is lethal but on a bad wicket too, he is economical and runs through overs like fodder.
With Regards Ashwin, you have to understand an achiever of that caliber deserves a fitting farewell. Something which the BCCI has never gotten correct, not even with the greats such as Sehwag, Dhoni, Ganguly etc. Ashwin in all likelihood had his self esteem hurt and rightly so. His retirement was as random as him being selected for the World Cup T20 squad in 2021 and then him being benched throughout!
All this secrecy the team and the management is keeping is only fuelling these sensational reports. Manjrekar rightly pointed it out. See how professionally Cummins announced Marsh being dropped without it being bitter or sensational, pure class.
The selectors and the BCCI come across as extremely confused and random, with rotating an in form KL Rahul through 5 different spots, not playing a very high on confidence and in form Sarfaraz and not playing 3 full time fast bowlers on pitches like these. There was actually a real possibility of playing Jurel too after Pant being unable to deliver and Jurel did well in the practice matches. Replaced for a match or a couple does not mean one's career is over, but that the thought the management has currently.

Loved to see Rohit dropped sitting like a commoner making monkey faces.

Similar story, top order failing lower order showing some fight. KL & Gill were soft dismissals. Was really impressed by Rishabh today, he took quite a few body blows but hung on for almost 100 balls. Sundar was controversially given out, he was looking good. Jadeja also batted well alongside Pant.

I thought it was going to be Kohli's day when he survived that first ball catch (that looked out to me) but it wasn't to be. Previous posters wanting Kohli to emulate SRT's no cover drive 241 at SCG are expecting too much. Virat has a limited range of scoring shots, he doesn't play the cut or square drive, so he tends to run the ball to third man or play a full blooded cover drive as his release shots. With age his hand eye co-ordination has gone and now he's nicking deliveries he would have middled in his prime.

Absolutely loved the last over drama, Khwaja wasting time, Konstas getting involved trying and succeeding in riling up Bumrah to waste even more time and despite all these shenanigans, Usman got caught at second slip on the day's last delivery! Jasprit was charged up like I've never seen him before and he might just run through Australia yet again. The question remains do Siraj and Prasidh have it them to play the support act?

I agree! I'm not sure why we are playing with two spinners on this green pitch.

Additionally, we decided to bat first on this pitch. Even the commentators were saying it was a good toss to lose for Australia. Our batters proved them right by getting all out for 185. As usual, our actual batsmen couldn't play and got out cheaply. So, it was up to the keeper and bowlers to get some runs on the board.

True, Bumrah doesn't usually show that kind of emotion after taking a wicket. Even today, it looked like he controlled himself as he started charging towards Konstas.

An article on Cricinfo today says exactly the same thing. It was the right decision, so why the secrecy.

Certainly a difference between how we deal with a player being dropped and how the Aussies do it. If you think about it, this attitude applies to all of us and across all professions. Being fired is a matter of shame, to be hidden, even in the tech industry where layoffs are just a part of the environment and often have nothing to do with performance even, just business decisions.

The article also highlights the fact that these are very driven, top-class sportsmen who wouldn't get to where they were without absolute self-belief. So it's not going to be possible for them to introspect and leave on their own. Which makes it even more important that someone else makes the decision for them. In this case, it has to be the coach. Again, I guess parallels can be drawn. In the Indian movie industry, the star calls the shots, elsewhere, it's the director. In most football leagues, no matter how big the star, a conflict between a player and the coach almost always ends up with the player being given the boot, even if he is in his prime.