The Cricket Thread

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It is already looking likely that the trophy stays with Australia because the needed Indian win to take it back looks unlikely, after just one session.

To an extent i agree with you , but after seeing last test where India was struggling till Day 3 and in Day 4 India had a an upperhand over Aussies i would prefer to give this test a bit more time .

Originally Posted by PPS

Brave move to go in with 5 specialist bowlers. Pitch appears to be flat at the moment. Bit surprised with Bhuvneshwar's selection considering Ishant has bowled decently in this series. We really need a big effort from our batsman & contributions from Saha,Ashwin,Jadeja & the tail.

Already our batting looked weak without Virat s inclusion , now it looks very shaky . I would have preferred if they dropped Ashwin for Kuldeep and played Shreyas Iyer for Kohli . Ashwin has been quite average in last match.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I hope Kuldeep Yadav gets a look in.

The 'I told you so' post

[Sawyer]

Lol. But you are quoting selectively!

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It is already looking likely that the trophy stays with Australia because the needed Indian win to take it back looks unlikely, after just one session.

You should never predict anything so quickly in test cricket. Nothing at least till both the sides have batted. 1 session is nothing. 131-1 in first session, 77-5 in the second session. Test cricket is so engrossing!

[suhaas307]

Wow. What a come-back that was! Absolutely phenomenal. If we contain them to 250-300, game on I'd say!

[libranof1987]

What an amazing Session! If we can wrap up the tail and get 10-15 overs today to bat without losing wicket(s), should make for an ideal Day 1.

Originally Posted by Eddy

The 'I told you so' post

People seem to differ

Boomerang: "Really not very sporting of India to select Kuldeep Yadav for this Test. He hasn't got a scrap of facial hair, which represents a total breach of their selection policy for all other players throughout this series."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-...h/1062576.html

[Sawyer]

Excellent point just made on Cricinfo:
"The difference in first hours today and yesterday also exposes the gulf between Australia's and India's quicks. India will need to pick up their pace bowling reserves when touring overseas as those pitches might not offer anything for the spinners"

The cricket remains intense and gripping; so if there is anything good that the motor mouthing brings to the game, it isn't intensity.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Excellent point just made on Cricinfo:
"The difference in first hours today and yesterday also exposes the gulf between Australia's and India's quicks. India will need to pick up their pace bowling reserves when touring overseas as those pitches might not offer anything for the spinners"

The cricket remains intense and gripping; so if there is anything good that the motor mouthing brings to the game, it isn't intensity.

Yes & No. The difference was Pat Cummins in pace. Bhuvi, Yadav, Shami and off late Ishant have become far better bowlers than before and can give any batting line up a challenge, this pitch looked like a sleeping beauty! Also there was a clear mindset of Aussies to attack while we have been defending.

Once you play defensively any bowling attack will actually look better than what it is. The way we are playing, it looks as if we want another draw. You just cannot keep playing so slow and actually expect to win. At this rate even if India bats 4 sessions they might not catch up with Aussies and I don't expect India to bat 4 sessions specially when Ashwin is slated to come at 6!

We are digging a hole for ourselves. I hope we come out of this rut.

[Sawyer]

If we play well, we should be good just playing time; this isn't a Bangalore type minefield for that to be an improbable task. If we can play for 6 sessions, the match is won, never mind how much we score in 6.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

If we play well, we should be good just playing time; this isn't a Bangalore type minefield for that to be an improbable task. If we can play for 6 sessions, the match is won, never mind how much we score in 6.

If we bat for 6 sessions we would be good to score 450-500. That should be a winning score. However I do feel we need to up the scoring rate a bit.

Rahul seems to be going at a good click albiet with a bit of luck. However Pujara looks to be too slow. A bit better scoring rate would do us good. Strike rate of 35 seems a bit too low. It is not that difficult a pitch to bat on.

[libranof1987]

Our current scoring rate is just not going to give us any edge. India typically plays betweeen 2.5-3 rpo when the opposition plays 3.5-4. And that makes a bunch of difference.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Our current scoring rate is just not going to give us any edge. India typically plays betweeen 2.5-3 rpo when the opposition plays 3.5-4. And that makes a bunch of difference.

The slow scoring rate is due to the fact that they are playing only five specialist batsmen. That has allowed the bowlers to get on top. With four wickets down and 125 behind , Australia look to be on top.

This entire series I can't remember a time when the Indian batsmen dominated the bowling like we've seen Indian teams of the past do in home tests. They try to be aggressive every now and then end up playing a T20 slog and look silly.

[Sawyer]

Indian batting sides don't dominate on tricky pitches, even in India; they just do enough for the bowlers to have enough to bowl at. And this is the first series when every home pitch has been tricky. Even Ranchi, to an extent.

And it looks like the Australian bowling has never folded up and allowed itself to be dominated either. Of course to their credit, neither has India, except perhaps when Smith+Maxwell ran away with things.

[bluevolt]

They are playing too slow. Wickets going down as well and we have not yet crossed the 300 runs mark.

I believe we will surely have a result in this test match and the series is not going to end in a draw.

Who takes it will be clear in next 2-3 days.

[Sawyer]

It is as likely we will lose the series as win it. If we lose, I only hope that the wrong messages aren't immediately sent to groundsmen to only prepare the boring wickets that have matches played to a set formula even where there is a result - compared to this series, every other of the season has been boring.

And only by being tested in this fashion can the men be separated from the boys; the men that will have us winning abroad, not just the boys that win test matches only in their own gallis.