[harry10]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Rohit has never shown the temperament to play test cricket. Yes, he has shown willingness to open, but I think Mukund is the best replacement. Rohit needs to settle before attacking, he can't simply attack from ball 1.

Rohit only knows to play ODIs well. He plays slowly till the 30th over and then accelerates from the 40th over. He has a 1D game.

Moreover, with the policy to prove fitness before being selected, I think Rohit is not going to get back this series.

Mukund doesn't even deserves to open in first class based on what I saw in last test. Very poor technique against new ball. Parthiv should have been kept as a reserve opener as he did a commendable job against england. But, politics rule in Indian cricket system.

And please don't say anything against Nohit. He is the undisputed 'Talent' of our country.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by harry10

Parthiv should have been kept as a reserve opener ...

Yes. I quite agree with this. But we don't select a second keeper in squads when we are at home.

And please don't say anything against Nohit. He is the undisputed 'Talent' of our country.

[Sawyer]

More shenanigans on the cheating story, with the BCCI now withdrawing charges against Smith - which had been made for just the one incident, not for the Kohli systematic cheating allegation.

The BCCI may have realised they didn’t have a leg to stand on trying to prosecute Smith, given that Kohli had accused Australia of systematic cheating.

If the BCCI had gone through with their official complaint, CA had the avenue to return serve by levelling a charge against Kohli to either prove his accusation, or failing which, suffer a consequence.

ICC shows itself to be gutless.

Or, as the suspicion now also arises, this is all an act to drum up public interest in the test series to fill up the stadium and for TRPs. Like the act that Ali used to put up before every boxing fight, or in many years gone by, in the Dara Singh/Randhawa wrestling era which was like WWF. Which seems all the more likely seeing that there are now three Australian captains in IPL, and every one seems to get along very well with each other there.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

the BCCI now withdrawing charges

I wonder if they took approval from the Supreme Court for this! Although there are administrators but who really takes these decisions.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc is injured & out of the series. Big blow for Australia & great news for Team India.

[Oxy]

Starc ruled out of the series.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-...y/1086252.html

[AltoLXI]

Maxwell out after excellent 104.

This is looking like a "real" test match.

[suhaas307]

India showing some fight which is great to see. Reducing the deficit by a considerable amount has helped them regain some ground in this match.

Cricinfo's commentary on Maxwell's batting was hysterical! Especially the first ball of the day!

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Cricinfo's commentary on Maxwell's batting was hysterical! Especially the first ball of the day!

Reminds me of the jokes in Readers Digest's "All in a day's work"

[vibbs]

Vijay has a brain fade!! What a monumental waste of a wicket just before lunch after playing sooo well!

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

This is looking like a "real" test match.

Absolutely!! Good batting in the first three days so far, pitch showing signs of taking spin and a match that will go into the fifth day. All three results possible so far.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Vijay has a brain fade!! What a monumental waste of a wicket just before lunch after playing sooo well!



Absolutely!! Good batting in the first three days so far, pitch showing signs of taking spin and a match that will go into the fifth day. All three results possible so far.

That was a big wicket too, Vijay was starting to attack. Pujara meanwhile seems to got himself in a rut. Hope Kohli gets some runs. Not sure how bad is the shoulder.

[vibbs]

Pujara normally ups his rate as he scores, so I expect the strike rate to be around 50 by the time he scores a 100 if he scores one in this innings.

[PPS]

Aussies have somehow managed to keep Kohli under control this entire series! Don't think he's going to through a bad patch but we badly need our best player among the runs else the series might slip away.

[Chetan_Rao]

Temperament issues throwing away hard work.

First Vijay going for a hoick two balls before lunch, now Rahane trying a T-20 shot instead of consolidating a strong position.

[vibbs]

Why did Rahane suddenly get into t20 mode :O

Who plays that kind of a shot in test matches?

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Why did Rahane suddenly get into t20 mode :O

Who plays that kind of a shot in test matches?

Agree. Terrible shot to attempt to play on slow pitches! Shocking shot. He has been very casual.