The Cricket Thread

[suhaas307]

What a spectacular collapse!

I've been following it on my phone (cricinfo) and we were 90 odd for 3. After about 40 minutes, all I could see is Australia's 2nd innings' scorecard and I went

Unless we pull a real rabbit out of the hat, we've pretty much lost this one.

So much for that winning-streak.. Sigh.

EDIT: Day 2- 3rd session and the 2nd Innings is in progress! How often do you see that these days!?!

[harry10]

Originally Posted by vibbs

I think Australia will be all out by Tea tomorrow with a second Innings score of around 300. That would give India around 450+ to chase in the fourth Innings with two days and a session in Hand.

KL Rahul, Vijay and Pujara will get 50 odd, Kohli yet another double and Rahane will score a hundred.

India will win the match by Tea on the fifth day.

Don't know if you were being sarcastic or dead serious cos if you are serious then I guess you are watching a different match played on some other pitch.

Only hope we have is getting them out with a lead of 300 and then batting out of our skins to win it. Anything more than 300 and we are losing this for sure.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by vibbs

I think Australia will be all out by Tea tomorrow with a second Innings score of around 300. That would give India around 450+ to chase in the fourth Innings with two days and a session in Hand.

KL Rahul, Vijay and Pujara will get 50 odd, Kohli yet another double and Rahane will score a hundred.

India will win the match by Tea on the fifth day.

Yeah, and pigs will fly

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Yeah, and pigs will fly

Winning streak broken. Jolt required, as to much praise got these Indian batsmen a little complacent.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by PPS

Watching the match on tv, pitch isn't that bad as India's scoreline suggests! That Wankhede pitch long ago where Clarke got those wickets was the worst i've seen.
Its a combination of decent bowling, reckless shots by Rahul which started the collapse & some good catching,good luck which sees Australia in such a commanding position.
Brilliant strategy by Aussies to praise the Indian team so much that they've made them overconfident!

Only in hindsight we know the start of a collapse ! Reckless shot should have resulted in 4th wicket down, not all wickets with Rahane, Jadega, Ashwini, Saha kind of batsmen playing

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by harry10

Don't know if you were being sarcastic or dead serious cos if you are serious then I guess you are watching a different match played on some other pitch.

Only hope we have is getting them out with a lead of 300 and then batting out of our skins to win it. Anything more than 300 and we are losing this for sure.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Yeah, and pigs will fly

Originally Posted by PPS

I doubt the match will go into the 5th day! If Indian team continues to bat in IPL mode, match could very well end tomorrow itself. This so far looks like a good wakeup call for Team India.

Come on guys!! Dont be so dismissive about team India.

Far stranger things have happened in Cricket. Rememer how we defeated them Ausies back in the days after having to follow on? This is not beyond our team and I am sure we will see a spirited performance from our guys in the second Innings!!

I am already planning to buy tickets for Saturday and Sunday to cheer for our team.

[Sawyer]

Win many/lose some...part of the game of even a good team. But what is glaringly obvious are the empty stands. Other than Ashes tests, it looks like Test cricket in its present form is on its last legs.

[Eddy]

It is not being dismissive of team India, but just an acceptance of reality that chasing 250 on this track is gonna take some doing, let alone 400.

[landcruiser123]

Unless Australia collapse like how India did in the first innings, it's going to be difficult for India to win.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

But what is glaringly obvious are the empty stands.

That is not at all surprising! Temperatures are nearing 40 degrees & quite a few stands don't have a roof.
India are well on course for a humiliating defeat!
I couldn't get over the fact that we were getting in the overs so quickly. At one point of time the over rate was 22 per hour. As if we were trying to achieve some sort of a world record.

[Sawyer]

Were there not empty stands for the earlier tests against England too, played in better weather?

[NPV]

Why is the game so unfair ?
-Karun Nair after scoring 303 against England is dropped against Bangladesh(!) and now against the Aussies!
-Ishant Sharma goes wicketless in the first innings and continues without a wicket so far in the second innings as well;but remains 2 not out in the first innings
-What happened to the all-rounders...err bowlers ? Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja ?
-Virat Kohli is also human (not at all blaming him, it is perfectly fine and natural for him to fail after so many great shows), but when he fails usually the team also fails and that is not good

[Eddy]

Answer 1 - Simply no place for him in the middle order. Who will you drop ? Certainly not Rahane.

Answer 2 - Don't understand the question itself

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by NPV

Why is the game so unfair ?
-Karun Nair after scoring 303 against England is dropped against Bangladesh(!) and now against the Aussies!
-Ishant Sharma goes wicketless in the first innings and continues without a wicket so far in the second innings as well;but remains 2 not out in the first innings
-What happened to the all-rounders...err bowlers ? Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja ?
-Virat Kohli is also human (not at all blaming him, it is perfectly fine and natural for him to fail after so many great shows), but when he fails usually the team also fails and that is not good

Q1 and Q3 same answers as above
Q3. All rounders- they were all around
Q4 Not entirely true. Virat didn't score much in 1st, 3rd and 5th tests against England but we still won two and drew one, But yes the application level is very less compared to him. this test, Vijay Virat and Ajinkya and Cheteshwar failed and no cameos from Saha or Ashwin came by like previous tests or like Starc for Aus in first innings.

The curator has to be blamed more for this. it is a pathetic pitch when it starts to turn in the first hour itself. The toss should just be a starting point not a dictator of the course of the game. these pitches makes the toss more important that it ought to be. We want results in tests but not in 3-4 days. on such pitches. Hope the next tests have better pitches.

All said and done, a loss once in a while is very good or else people will start feeling invincible.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Answer 1 - Simply no place for him in the middle order. Who will you drop ? Certainly not Rahane.

Answer 2 - Don't understand the question itself

I thought Ishant Sharma could have definitely been dropped hence those 2, one an observation about Ishant and the other a question about Karun
Ishant's only contribution so far is 2 runs (and being not out too!).

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The curator has to be blamed more for this. it is a pathetic pitch when it starts to turn in the first hour itself.

If a rookie spinner can perform so well for the Aussies and wipe out such a strong batting side, why can't our bowlers do the same on this pitch ? Let's see how long they take to get the remaining 6 wickets.