[maximus_fiat]

To be honest, we should not have high hopes in the test format. One can easily earn lot more by playing IPL and T20 internationals. Young talents just dont have the patience to play the waiting game.

BCCI needs to step in. Unless there is parity in all formats, you will never get the required talents. Playing in domestic cricket is must for all, whether its the captain or the star players. This should be the criteria for selection. Fee payments should be based on performance.

Even if we move Rohit, Virat out, the contenders for their spots have not done any justice. Shubman is over rated. Sarfaraz has not done much either. At this moment, only Jaiswal looks solid.

[ike]

Our batsmen lost the plot, selection was poor too.

Bumrah - Man of the series. But we are on the verge of killing the golden goose. Playing two spinners in the final tests(for their batting skills rather than bowling) meant we were badly shorthanded and Bumrah had to bowl a lot more than he should have.

Jaiswal - Had a good series, was unfortunate to miss out on centuries in both innings in Melbourne.

Reddy - Had a good series and seems to have good temperament. I hope he gets at least half of the patience that was shown with people like Rohit Sharma.

Pant - Keeping was good. Batted well and got good starts in most of the innings. Had a reasonably good tour.


Rest of the squad had a very ordinary tour. Some of the old guard(Sharma, Kohli, Jadeja) should be asked to earn their spots in the team.

[noob_petrolmonk]

3-1 was a decent scoreline considering the fact that we had two walking wickets in the form of Kohli and Rohit. We lost because of our batting and our bowling was ok. Our bowlers didn't have much runs on the board to express themselves, except in the Perth test.

The selection of three allrounders was a clear indication of the management not trusting/lost hopes on their main batsmen. Now with second phase of Ranji starting later this month, onus on Kohli and Rohit to get back to the domestic and try to regain some form. No point in considering them for England this summer if they skip the domestic red ball cricket.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by noob_petrolmonk

Now with second phase of Ranji starting later this month, onus on Kohli and Rohit to get back to the domestic and try to regain some form. No point in considering them for England this summer if they skip the domestic red ball cricket.

It would be highly unlikely for any of our superstars to play Ranji, especially with IPL around the corner. If you exclude the older and niche fans, no one is going to see test cricket and all will be forgotten once the first six is hit in IPL.

Since our next series is in England, would make a lot of sense for our guys to play some county games. County season starts in April and our first test in England is end of June. Some of the names not in IPL should play in England and give the selectors a few good options. Sarfaraz, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, etc should take this as an opportunity. There are too many holes in the team, and this is the right time to make a shout for a comeback.

[noob_petrolmonk]

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

It would be highly unlikely for any of our superstars to play Ranji, especially with IPL around the corner. ....

True. It has been a while since the senior players played domestic cricket. I remember the likes of Sachin, Kumble play domestic cricket whenever they find time (pre-IPL era). With IPL round the corner, no way these guys would turn up for their respective state team.

Gambhir has hinted about seniors playing domestic cricket, but let us see if this duo is serious about extending their international career.

[IamNikhil]

Can't believe that trolls are cursing at Gavaskar for his outburst after the Indian team's disastrous show. Kudos to Gavaskar for showing the mirror to self-obsessed and know-it-alls currently running the show in BCCI and the dressing room as well. Gavaskar's comments regarding the role of the support staff are also justified, considering they draw hefty salaries. If the team and the board don't want to listen to opinions and constructive suggestions of the erstwhile cricketing doyens, they are shooting themselves in their own foot! The selectors should seriously reconsider continuing with these so-called seniors in the current team setup; just because these "seniors" have money to run PR campaigns, doesn't mean they should continue in the team despite consistently subpar performances. The sanctity of the game should remain intact.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

It would be highly unlikely for any of our superstars to play Ranji, especially with IPL around the corner. If you exclude the older and niche fans, no one is going to see test cricket and all will be forgotten once the first six is hit in IPL.

This reminds me how one of the great cricketer in the past, prepared himself for the series. When Australia toured India in 1998 and Warne’s spinning popularity was at its peak , just to have a feel of Warne and have a go at him, Tendulkar made himself available for Mumbai (practice match) and played against Aussies at Wankhede in a 3 day match and demolished Warne completely by scoring a double ton. Even Amit Pagnis tore Warne apart, such was the psychological damage done, that poor Warne got nightmares of Sachin, thanks to that practice game, followed by 3 tests and the 2 ODI's famously known as desert storm at Sharjah.

That was the first time I have seen the little master playing live (at Brabourne) and second time to watch a test game in a stadium. And Mumbai defeated mighty Australians, comprising of Slater/Ponting/Lehman/Blewett/Healy. Later in his career, when he had an issue with tennis elbow, he started practicing using lighter bats to prolong his test career, whenever he was supposed to travel down under, he would call all local Ranji Mumbai bowlers to have a go at him at MIG on a shorter pitch. These are the little little things which great sport stars do behind the scene and away from the fanfare to stay relevant. I remember him joining back the team right after he lost his dad. Call it about priorities !

And on the other planet, when has Kohli, Rohit made themselves available for Ranji Team and tried to correct and work on their technical flaws. Guy runs away to London whenever he gets chance. No wonder he can’t score any runs in Australia just like other English batsmen. It’s time BCCI makes it mandatory or put in their contract, you play certain FC matches per year for their state to be eligible for playing tests for India.

No individual can be bigger than the game.

[AtheK]

Somehow IPL payout should be linked to players International performance as well, a certain percentage of money will not be paid if they perform less then there average in a calendar year. Only then maybe these guys will feel the pinch.

The ones who do not play International cricket should not be impacted as they are earning mainly from IPL.

[IamNikhil]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Somehow IPL payout should be linked to players International performance as well, a certain percentage of money will not be paid if they perform less then there average in a calendar year. Only then maybe these guys will feel the pinch.

The ones who do not play International cricket should not be impacted as they are earning mainly from IPL.

The problem is that the entire ecosystem including the Board and the players themselves are heavily invested in making IPL a success, no matter what; rest of the cricket formats be damned. The easy money that the IPL promises, eclipses the need to concentrate on and/or give weightage to performance in domestic or international tournaments- ODI or TEST.

[Mumbaiker]

My thoughts about Bumrah may be contraview.

I feel he cannot handle long spells because of his action. He should quit test cricket. No doubt he is brilliant, but this format is for someone to slog it out. He won't get bowler friendly wickets every time and there wont be good support bowlers. He would break down in these 5 test series, unless they go England way and give him a break like they did to Anderson in Ashes every time.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

My thoughts about Bumrah may be contraview.

I feel he cannot handle long spells because of his action. He should quit test cricket. No doubt he is brilliant, but this format is for someone to slog it out.

Sorry but I found this opinion a bit bizarre. There is no rule or convention that says a Test bowler needs to bowl long spells. I've been hearing the concept of a "strike bowler" being used since I was a kid (trust me, that was a long time ago!)

Bumrah has been the saving grace for our team down under. Without him leading from the front, we would've probably got whitewashed 5-0.

[ike]

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

I feel he cannot handle long spells because of his action. He should quit test cricket. No doubt he is brilliant, but this format is for someone to slog it out. He won't get bowler friendly wickets every time and there wont be good support bowlers.

He has bowled 151 overs(would have been more if he was fit on the final day in Sydney) over four and a half test matches, why do you say he isn't slogging it out? There were no good support bowlers this time either, none of the other bowlers performed at least half as well as Bumrah, he had to carry the team on his own.

[Mumbaiker]

Originally Posted by noopster

Bumrah has been the saving grace for our team down under. Without him leading from the front, we would've probably got whitewashed 5-0.

No denying at all. I already said he is brilliant.

Originally Posted by ike

He has bowled 151 overs(would have been more if he was fit on the final day in Sydney) over four and a half test matches, why do you say he isn't slogging it out? There were no good support bowlers this time either, none of the other bowlers performed at least half as well as Bumrah, he had to carry the team on his own.

Yeah and that is what I have mentioned. He did not get good support now and wont get in the future. Below is the statistics of the top 4 bowlers in terms of overs, only one broke down

[ABHI_1512]

I simply don’t know why we expect our test team to be of so much relevance. It’s for special players like a Bumrah or a Kohli of yore or a Pujara that we still win matches abroad. And since the last series at home also showed where we stand, I have no expectations anyways. BCCI has stopped caring for the longer format of the game long back. And that shows in the apathy towards the first class formats like Ranji and Duleep Trophy.

Players keep performing exceptionally in Ranji trophy and yet are never given chances to play for the country. An Abhimanyu Eashwaran has been performing consistently and yet remained a passenger for the entire Australia Series and soon he will be dropped I am sure.

Players are selected these days on the basis of IPL form. Jurel had everything going in the Australia series and yet he was not used consistently. Longer format of the game demands greater application of technique and which is why a player like Pujara was sorely missed in the current series.

National team players not playing Ranji Trophy is a question everyone wants to ask but I can understand the reasons behind that. The advent of T-20 has robbed the players of any spare time for their families since there is nothing called off-season now. No player worth its salt can think of opting out of IPL since that would be suicidal. So skipping the Ranji matches is the next way out. And to be fair to the players, they hardly have the chance to feature for their respective states because of crazy international schedule anyways.

If anyone has to question for our test performance, the questions should asked of the board which puts more emphasis on the T-20 cricket and not the tests since they are more focussed on the money and not the performance !!

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

I feel he cannot handle long spells because of his action.

Don't expect Bumrah to have a long career with that action, especially if he's going to have similar workload as this Australian tour!

He should quit test cricket.

Whats the point of playing meaningless T20?!

He won't get bowler friendly wickets every time and there wont be good support bowlers.

Thats the beauty of Bumrah. He takes the pitch out of the equation. He doesn't really need a helpful pitch to make an impact.

He would break down in these 5 test series, unless they go England way and give him a break like they did to Anderson in Ashes every time.

Thats something the Selection Committee needs to understand.

Originally Posted by shivaru

The only issue I have is your recommendations on Thakur and Bumrah - Both are injury prone and hardly play Red ball cricket

I think you meant Hardik there. In Indian Cricket, Bumrah & Hardik Pandya come with the tag - Fragile (handle with care) as there's just no replacement for them!