[NPV]

Second T20I - Good win for India, nice chase to get 195 for the win
12 runs to get off the last 5 balls and Hardik Pandya at the crease who instinctively gets two sixes to seal the deal

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Why is Steve Smith not been given captaincy? He served the ban for a year or was there a mention of he or Warner to not be the captain of a National Side ever?.

Smith was banned for two years from holding a leadership role in national cricket for Aus (which ended in Mar/Apr '20) while Warner is banned for life. The entire ball tampering scandal has been a huge taint on Australian cricket, I'd imagine CA is going to be very reluctant to hand Smith captaincy. Esp in a high profile series as with India and when Boards all over are struggling to get some international cricket going.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Smith was banned for two years from holding a leadership role in national cricket for Aus (which ended in Mar/Apr '20) while Warner is banned for life. The entire ball tampering scandal has been a huge taint on Australian cricket, I'd imagine CA is going to be very reluctant to hand Smith captaincy. Esp in a high profile series as with India and when Boards all over are struggling to get some international cricket going.

Ok, did not know Warner was banned for life. He is a great Captain and probably captaincy brings a lot of good performances from him. I would go a step ahead and say he is the second best captain in IPL (after Rohit Sharma). Probably ACA is looking at Finch for this WC and if they do not win then they shall go back to Smith. Time that we all move on from the ball tampering scandal. Smith is an excellent captain and should be given a second shot at it.

[VWAllstar]

My Test XI vs Aus:

M Agrawal
S Dhawan
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
R Jadeja
W Saha (WK)
R Ashwin
N Saini
M Shami
J Bhumrah

[Eddy]

Dhawan is not in the squad. Jadeja unlikely to make it. I think the eleven will be:

Gill
Mayank
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Vihari
Saha
Ashwin
Shami
Bumrah
Umesh Yadav

[hemanth.anand]

Here's what I'd pick for the First test:

Rahul
Mayank
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Saha
Vihari
Ashwin
Shami
Bumrah
Umesh Yadav

Kohli will be back in India which should make a spot for Gill in the Second Test:

Rahul
Mayank
Pujara
Rahane
Gill
Saha
Vihari
Ashwin
Shami
Bumrah
Umesh Yadav

Rohit will be available most probably for Third and fourth test:

Rahul
Mayank
Pujara
Rohit
Rahane
Saha
Vihari
Ashwin
Shami
Bumrah
Umesh Yadav

Gill, Kuldeep and Saini will be first choice replacements based on Injury or conditions or bad performance of others.
Shaw, Siraj and Pant will be the second choice replacements.

[SoumenD]

Anybody following the match today? God, the number of dropped catches has been so high. Ball is just not sticking to their hands. Maxwell got so many lives. Even Smith dropped Kohli

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Anybody following the match today? God, the number of dropped catches has been so high. Ball is just not sticking to their hands. Maxwell got so many lives. Even Smith dropped Kohli

Fielding was below par really in the entire series. Too many catches dropped

In the LOI formats, Pandya and Jadeja made good spoils. Dhawan, Kohli and Rahul were average I'd say. Mayank, Gill and Pandey didn't get enough chances. But the big disappointments were Shreyas Iyer and Samson. Shreyas Iyer scored 59 runs in the ODI series and 12 runs in the T20I series. Samson scored 48 in the T20I series. Natarajan in T20Is was the only good performer. all bowlers were really just about average from the overall series perspective.

Finally ODI Australia 2-1 and T20I India 2-1 is a nice way to move to the tests. Wish it turns our to be equally good.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

But the big disappointments were Shreyas Iyer and Samson.

I don't follow IPL but are these 2 big names in IPL? From whatever I have seen of them in ODIs and T20s, I really wonder how they made it to the national team.

[kavensri]

One more observations from these 6 matches. Kohli seems to have lost the aura that he had, especially when we are chasing. He may be scoring runs, but earlier he used to win the matches whenever he scores. Something is missing from his batting these days.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by shipnil

I don't follow IPL but are these 2 big names in IPL? From whatever I have seen of them in ODIs and T20s, I really wonder how they made it to the national team.

IPL or not...both Iyer and Samson are good talented players. But the numbers don't really speak for them. Samson will get another year and Shreyas will get two at best before they aren't considered for the national side.

Originally Posted by kavensri

One more observations from these 6 matches. Kohli seems to have lost the aura that he had, especially when we are chasing. He may be scoring runs, but earlier he used to win the matches whenever he scores. Something is missing from his batting these days.

This year has been Kohli's worst year no doubt. But then it's 2020!! Paternity leave should be a good refreshing break for him. He's too good as a batsman and this will just be a aberration.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Kohli seems to have lost the aura that he had, especially when we are chasing. He may be scoring runs, but earlier he used to win the matches whenever he scores. Something is missing from his batting these days.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

This year has been Kohli's worst year no doubt. But then it's 2020!! Paternity leave should be a good refreshing break for him. He's too good as a batsman and this will just be a aberration.

2019 wasn't his usual best either; his significant purple patch has been on the wane since last year. He's still good, just not ruthless as he has been in the 4-5 years prior.

Also, he's been taking enough breaks by skipping some tournaments so perhaps it's not physical but mental fatigue of just being on the road so long. Perhaps it was his diet too; he turned vegan some time back. Djokovic has also spoken about changes in his game after turning vegan, which he isn't now (plant-based diet, but not vegan).

[PPS]

Great series win for Team India. Just hope this 10 match winning streak doesn't give them a false sense of belief that they're a brilliant T20 team, which they definitely aren't.

Originally Posted by Eddy

I think the eleven will be:

This would be my XI as well. After that, in the next couple of tests- KL will come in at no.4 instead of Kohli, Pant instead of Saha, Saini in place of Umesh Yadav & possibly Jadeja in place of Ashwin.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by PPS

Great series win for Team India.

Good T20 series win for India.

Originally Posted by shipnil

I don't follow IPL but are these 2 big names in IPL? From whatever I have seen of them in ODIs and T20s, I really wonder how they made it to the national team.

I feel they played at the wrong numbers. Iyer must play at 4 & Samson at 5 instead, they played the other way.

[bluevolt]

Poor fielding by Indian team during yesterday's match. India would have easily won this game if the men in blue performed well in catching up with the ball in the field.