[Jimnyuser]

Cricketers are losing patience with test cricket by and large. The No-hit, spoiled the team with his antics in NZ and Aus test series. If the ball moves a millimetere, he gets out even in ODIs now. Hope he retires after CT.

[AtheK]

It was good to see Rohit hit the ball cleanly after ages, I hope he stays in form for a month more atleast. He is going to captain the team and if he performs well it will be a morale booster. Now Kohli needs to get in form as just two matches are left before we meet Pakistan in CT.

I am guessing if we win CT, Rohit will call it a day, if not, he will try to hang around till 2027 world cup, which will be a disaster.

[AtheK]

Bumrah out of champions trophy, big blow, though on expected lines. Our hope now is to chase as much as possible, with our current bowling attack, it will be real tough to defend anything.

Harshit Rana has been named as his replacement, Varun though replaces Jaiswal, which is also a good move but leaves us with no backup opener in case of any injury.

Jaiswal, Siraj and Dube though are non travelling reserve players.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Bumrah out of champions trophy...

Harshit Rana has been named as his replacement, ...[/ATTACH]

How did Siraj fall out of favour? Wasn't he the second highest wicket taker even in BGT and performing quite consistently for India?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

How did Siraj fall out of favour? Wasn't he the second highest wicket taker even in BGT and performing quite consistently for India?

His white ball performances haven't been good for the last year. Plus he had played non stop so maybe they thought of giving him rest. Harshit can bat as well and Gambhir is trying to develop him due to his kkr connection. In any case our bowling attack will still look much better than Aussie attack

Originally Posted by AtheK

Bumrah out of champions trophy, big blow, though on expected lines. Our hope now is to chase as much as possible, with our current bowling attack, it will be real tough to defend anything.

Harshit Rana has been named as his replacement, Varun though replaces Jaiswal, which is also a good move but leaves us with no backup opener in case of any injury.

Jaiswal, Siraj and Dube though are non travelling reserve players.

Attachment 2725244

Varun has been brilliant since his return so I don't mind this change. Looks like Kuldeep will be benched and Varun will play with Axar and Jadeja forming the spin trio. No back up opener is also a non issue. They can ask KL to open if needed and play Pant at his spot. Plus UAE is near and a replacement guy can be sent overnight. Probably this is why they named the reserves as non travelling.

[PPS]

Some time back for about a year Mukesh Kumar was a regular feature in the XI in all 3 formats. Now within a matter of few months, Harshit Rana has debuted in all 3 formats & is a regular feature in the XI. At this rate don't be surprised to see Chakravarthy in the XI during the England tour!

[Raghav07]

With all the talk about Champions Trophy, I am sure India are in good hands. Rohit and Virat made a good return to form, while Shreyas Iyer and Gill were in top gear, even Axar contributing at No 5. All good signs.

But I am also looking ahead to the 2025-2027 WTC. I think we need to look past Kohli and Rohit for this WTC. We have 10 Tests scheduled in 2025 and Rohit and Kohli will be 40 and 39 by 2027. (The SCG Test was the first) and we start with a big tour of England. So, some changes to the squad.

In this period of transition, we need experienced players who are in form.

-Shardul Thakur has been a BEAST for Mumbai, taking wickets and hitting runs. He deserves a Test recall and is 33, old but can contribute as a No 8 batsman.

-Nitish Kumar Reddy is more of a No 6 batting allrounder than a No 7 or No 8. Like Mitch Marsh or Ben Stokes. He deserves a promotion in the England tour.

--With the legendary Ashwin retired and Jadeja aging(his form has been excellent though), I would prefer Axar Patel or Washington Sundar as the spin bowling allrounder at No 7. Axar is more attacking with bat, and has a good history against England.

--Shreyas Iyer is young and in form, he can be the best No 4 replacement for Kohli, though no one can replace Kohli to be honest, but I am sure he can do well at No 4 for India in Tests.

--Sai Sudarshan or Easwaran as a new opening partner to Jaiswal? Or maybe stick with KL Rahul for a few years? Let me know in your replies.

The West Indies tour can be a farewell series for Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja. I know its hard saying this but we cant have them forever. They too know their careers are at their twilight. I am sure the youngsters will step up and give us assurance that Indian cricket is in good hands. Bumrah will make an excellent captain and support the youngsters in the squad.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by Raghav07

...

The West Indies tour can be a farewell series for Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja. ... Bumrah will make an excellent captain and support the youngsters in the squad.

I don't think this is going to happen even though Rohit's test captaincy is insipid at best and uninspired the worst.

If India win the Champion's Trophy, I think Rohit should retire (but won't happen). Jadeja still fields, bats and bowls well. Can plan some more.

Kohli, if he finds his mojo back (CT will tell that), can play ODIs till WC 2027.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Raghav07

-Shardul Thakur has been a BEAST for Mumbai, He deserves a Test recall and is 33, old but can contribute as a No 8 batsman.

Shardul's contribution with the bat is secondary, if he's in decent bowling form he should be straight away picked in the XI as the 4th seamer!

Nitish Kumar Reddy is more of a No 6 batting allrounder than a No 7 or No 8. Like Mitch Marsh or Ben Stokes. He deserves a promotion in the England tour.

Agreed. Most probably Pant will slot in at no.6 after an underwhelming Australian tour. We'll know after the England tour whether Reddy was a 1 series wonder or not.

Jadeja aging(his form has been excellent though), I would prefer Axar Patel or Washington Sundar as the spin bowling allrounder at No 7.

Still feel Jadeja has something to offer in SENA as a batsman. I don't see spinners making much of an impact in England!

Shreyas Iyer is young and in form, he can be the best No 4 replacement for Kohli, though no one can replace Kohli to be honest, but I am sure he can do well at No 4 for India in Tests.

Both Gill & Iyer don't have to technique or game to grind out the opposition in SENA. They should not bat any higher than no.5 ! But then who bats at no.3 & 4 ? Also one should not automatically get Iyer into the mix as Jurel,Sarfaraz & Paddikkal were with the Squad in Australia. One should not just discard them.

[Raghav07]

Originally Posted by PPS

Shardul's contribution with the bat is secondary, if he's in decent bowling form he should be straight away picked in the XI as the 4th seamer!

He's been taking wickets for Mumbai regularly, so contributing well with the ball.

If we push Pant to No 6, NKR at 5 is still good, but its best Pant stick to his No 5 slot for some time.

Sarfaraz doesnt look like he can handle the bounce, pace and swing of English conditions. Gill has to score in this tour to retain his place in the Test XI. I would love to see Dhruv Jurel batting in England, but where does he fit in the XI? Maybe Padikkal at 3 and Gill/Jurel at 4?

On Iyer, I have faith in him to become a future Test batsman no matter the country. He can be a good no 4 for India.

[NomadSK]

Meanwhile Rahane, SKY & Dube have let down Mumbai Ranji team once again in a SF against Vidarbha, I don't know what happens to these pseudo stars when it comes to perform at domestic level, lack of intent or motivation. Hope they can save Mumbai in 2nd innings.

Perfect move by Lord Thakur, he has already put his foot in the door for the English summer probables list after some match winning knocks at Ranji games and with the drubbing from IPL, guess this is the right move to claim back Indian Jersey. Looks like Kotian with his performances with both bat & ball will be also discussed for the summers. Interesting times !

Essex sign Shardul Thakur for seven-game County Championship stint.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/e...-stint-1473693

[NomadSK]

What a dead rubber, boring first match of CT. Yawning.

Looks like ODI’s will die in due course of time, there is no long future for this format.

[Shumi_21]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

What a dead rubber, boring first match of CT. Yawning.

That was some atrocious batting from Pakistan in the powerplay. Never got the hype around Babar Azam, doesn't even pass the "eye test" for me. Got the feeling he was trying to statpad rather than win the game.

Speaking of atrocious batting, it was painful to watch Kohli play the Bangladeshi spinners yesterday. He kept on playing even the fuller deliveries off the backfoot, much like the English batters do. With the pitches expected to be slow in Dubai, Kohli will struggle to get the spinners away.

Gill was amazing, so was Shami. Harshit was also good. Axar could have had a hatrick, if not for Rohit's butterfingers. The way Rohit slapped the ground after dropping Axar's hat-trick catch might become a meme template now

[Emvi]

And this silly trend of ignoring bowlers' performances when it comes to awarding Player of the Match continues. I just don't get this obsession the adjudicators have with batsmen. IMO, Shami deserved the award, hands down.

[NomadSK]

What a gritty entertaining fighting Ranji SF game between Gujarat and Kerala. 5 days and both teams only managed to have only one innings. Kerala scoring 457 and somehow managing to cross the line with mere 2 runs left and winning on first innings lead. This is their first time to go at the finals. Lovely slow old orthodox type of cricket to display, a cheer and clap for each and every run scored. Last wicket partnership of 11 runs took 13 odd overs. What a heart wrenching for Gujarat, a poor shot in the end was the downfall for them after fighting it hard. Lucky Kerala won against J&K by 1 run and here by 2 runs, damn they have their lucky angel with them. Only a 2nd innings miracle can help Gujarat now, looks unlikely though.

Jalaj Saxena bowled some 70 odd overs and Sarwate at 42 overs in the match. Both of them did bowl their hearts out and scalping 4 wickets each.

Meanwhile Mumbai almost at the verge of straight loss against Vidarbha. As usual Indian stars have again failed in 2nd innings.

Kerala vs Vidarbha as Final Ranji 2025.

Y’day, knock of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was simply embarrassing. The shelf life of these guys is over, I don’t know why we keep dragging them on past laurels. Specially Rohit, the kind of shots he displayed was more shameful than being clapped about.