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Zimbabwe has been all about Raza, Taylor and Williams for some time now. They deserve a win for how they have played.

I'm shocked to see how the gulf in quality of Test sides. One can group (in order) SA, India, England, NZ and Australia as quality sides. And another group of Test sides of Pakistan, SL, Bangladesh, West Indies and others as rubbish in terms of skill and competitiveness. (I'll be lenient on Afghanistan and Ireland)
The pinnacle of all sports is deteriorating and this is sad for purists like me. :Frustrati

England 170/6 on Day 1 vs SL in Herath's farewell test. I am looking forward to them being dismissed under 220 and then SL piling up a mammoth score keeping the England bowlers in the field for a couple of days. But then their main batsman has just walked in at no. 8 - Sam Curran.

BD dismissed for 169, Zimbabwe have their first away test win in 17 years! If I recall correctly, bangladesh have not crossed 200 in their last 8 completed test innings.
This time around it was Williams, Masakadza, Moor, Jarvis, Chatara, Raza, Mavuta; a complete team performance.
Coach: Lalchand Rajput
I hope they take this as a stepping stone for further sustained efforts and success.

I think Pakistan is not so bad considering they don't really play at home. Decline of SL and WI in the long form is really painful to watch.
Honestly, SA is also not doing so well (Kolpak contracts etc) and Australia need much better players to come up the ranks. If things continue as they are, only England & India would be the remaining strong teams.

Sri Lankan batting is also suspect now, a far cry from their sides few years ago last when Sangakkara and Jayawardena played.

Along with Sam Curran, Foakes is unbeaten on 44 and I thought it was a typo (instead of Woakes) on ESPNcricinfo site :)

And their main batsman is now on 44* :D
The debutant Foakes is also playing very well at 65* and ENG are 246-6
England showing exactly why they are a good team...can't take anyone in thier team lightly. Overall a good 1st day of a test match

There we go, batting first we are playing a T20 like a ODI. Sharma 58(41) and Dhawan 41(38). We might still win, but I don't think thats the way to go. Cannot fathom this approach.
PS. Dhawan goes, after scratching around for so long.

I get your point. The tactic is good if we have reliable hitters down the line.

Rohit Sharma normally when he sticks till the end makes up for it. Like today when he has scored 42 more runs in next 17 balls. Problem is when he gets out without going ballistic. There is no one else who can do the necessary.

Edit:53 in 20

I look at it the other way. You cannot make up for it. Those 50 in 20-24 balls would be par for the course in the death overs. Even after going crazy at the end and helped by some pathetic bowling, Sharma finished at 111 in 61 balls - that's still scoring at 11 an over, substantial but match winning; don't think so.

India was going at 8 an over till 13 overs, trying the safety first approach. If one of the guys went after the bowling early we would probably be around 10 an over (and that is the new norm now).

We keep using this approach and then ask of your middle order why they aren't in form? This is our tried and tested formula and we haven't even given anything else a go. Then when other teams chase down 180 with ridiculous ease, we keep coming with excuses like they have big hitters, there was dew, our bowlers didn't bowl well, lower order didn't finish well :Frustrati

You've got to consider the size of the ground. 195 here is at least 220 on other Indian grounds.

Rohit+Rahul 137 in 75. Shikhar+Rishab 48 in 47. I didn't watch the innings and only watched the score after i returned home. I was surprised that even with a high-strike-rate century by a century, the team score didn't cross 200! Shikhar has scored only 43 in 41 and that too with a life given to him owing to a drop catch!

Eddy, I am not nitpicking on a single game, I am just talking about the general approach of our team. If we went hard at the beginning for these games, maybe there is a chance to end lower by losing wickets but then at-least our middle order has a better chance of succeeding. Now, its like on a flat track, No 4-5-6 doesn't get a look in till 42 odd overs in ODIs and 15 overs in T20s. Consequently on a a track which does a bit and we lose our top order, you ask the same 4,5,6 to do what top order cannot do.

I mean this approach is wrong. Maybe it's just the format, maybe it's something else. Maybe, I am tugging on frayed edges. But time and again, we've seen our team trip up in knockouts, Vs WI (WC T20 Semi), Vs Aus (WC ODI Semi), Vs. Pak (ICC Champs Final). Point is this approach isn't getting results in big games.

It is the safety first approach that rankles. Almost like people trotting along in second gear when they can go full throttle.
The way England play nowadays in limited overs cricket has shown up the Indian method as outdated. It works at times, but not always. It is almost like the team sets up a target while batting first and then bats towards it. No wonder India are better at chasing nowadays because they know how much to get.

Not sure what the concern is, India is yet to put a wrong foot in this match. Or am I missing something?

Exactly. It's as if England are playing a different game all together. The way they went after Kuldeep, even after being demolished by him in the first ODI, was a treat to watch! They might not win all the time, but the way they've setup; almost anyone can win them games.

The big picture perhaps?

This match or this series isn't of great significance. No one will remember this; even a couple of months down the road. Like the loss Vs Pak & WI in knockouts of big tournaments still rankle.

SL batting regularly keeps on misfiring. They are prone to collapses.
The lower order is the story of English batting for a while now. lol: Credit where it is due: They have saved England of the blushes multiple times.


I think they played well. Not their best though. We have to remember that the WI T20 side is way more competitive compared to the Test side.

Virat Kohli wants India’s pacers to skip IPL, rest for World Cup
Why hit at the livelihood of the poor bowlers? :) Will they get the same salary without playing? Why not skip IPL itself in lieu of world cup?
What would be the ideal batting progress through the innings?