[SoumenD]

A fantastic win by India. They have shut everyone up who claimed last series victory was against depleted Aussie team as smith and warner were missing. Now wondering what those experts will use as an excuse with India missing almost all their stars like Kohli, Bumrah, Shami, Jadeja, Ashwin and some more. Among the newbies Sundar looks really promising to play a role similar to Sir Jadeja. Would be interesting to see how teams selection happens now with so many great performances. A lovely spot to be in never there less

Another player who helped India was Tim Paine. Dropped so many catches . Perfect example of ‘Empty vessels make the most noise’. What’s worse for Aussies is that he’s their captain

[Venkatesh]

Justin Langer - "Never ever ever ever underestimate the Indians"



No Virat Kohli. No Mohammed Shami. No Ishant Sharma. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin out of the final Test. Yet, from 1-0 down (and 36 all out), India's heroes were plenty to clinch a remarkable series win.



The ten hits Cheteshwar Pujara took as he fought it out for India's win. Cheteshwar Pujara, bruised, but not beaten

https://youtu.be/wJ4qczJwdU8

[Vinod_nair]

Amazing once in a lifetime, paisa vasool match.

[ninjatalli]

Boy the selectors and the coach/captain duo are going to have a tough case on their hand selecting the final team for the England series.

But then what a fantastic situation to be in - the problem of plenty!

[tchsvy]

I was all over r/Cricket and the adrenaline rush took some time to settle, I haven't been this happy in a long long time. Like Harsha Bhogle said 'what are they breathing in the dressing room?', whatever it is, I would like to breath some! Every single guy in the team deserves a pat on their back. While the Aussies were acting aggressive, this Indian team showed them and the world what real aggression is. The plan was laid and each of these players played their part in executing the plan.

And as for the Captaincy, I have always been telling people that Rahane for Tests and Rohit for ODIs are the best players to lead the teams. But the thing is King Kohli excels under pressure and he is quite enjoying the pressure of captaincy, his personal batting stats and the team stats back him and its hard to argue against that. But Rahane and Rohit are definitely better captain material.

Che Pu, take a bow my man! Its not the batting ability, but the focus, determination and temperament is what sets him apart. These are not easy things to master, and especially when some random bloke with 'see ball, hit ball' strategy makes millions in IPL while you have to survive on central contract and match fees.

[KPR]

1. I love the calm yet not expressive captain in Rahane. He has scored 10/10 as a captain but not sure about his batting except that match winning 1st innings hundred. Stats aside I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him sitting calm as a monk.

2. Who enjoyed Pant saheb's singing "spiderman spiderman - tu ne churaya mera dil ka chain" ?

[kavensri]

I have/had my favorites in the sports that I watch/follow, like Steffi Graf, Boris Becker, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Argentina (soccer), Chelsea FC, LA Lakers, many more and of course Indian Cricket team. And I always get too much emotional whenever I see my favorite player/team win/lose. And I have had many happy emotional moments in last 35+ years of following these players/teams. But none came close enough to what I felt today.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Boy the selectors and the coach/captain duo are going to have a tough case on their hand selecting the final team for the England series.

Add 1 more to the list - Selecting the Captain himself
Rahane as capt. - Played 5, Won - 4, Drawn - 1, Lost-0
3 of those wins against Australia, & 2 of those wins in and against Australia (when the team's no. 1 batsman isn't available & with mostly young inexperienced bowling attack).

OK, just kidding, that's not going to happen (although I wish).
Now coming back to this team, I never thought I would say this about Indian test team, especially when playing abroad, but now I would, after following cricket for over 3 decades -
When going gets tough, the tough get going

[kavensri]

My team for 1st test against ENG:
Rohit
Gill
ChePu
Kohli
Rahane
Pant
Pandya/Sundar
Ashwin
Kuldeep/Axar
Bumrah
Siraj

[VWAllstar]

My XI for England Series:

R Sharma
S Gill
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
R Pant (wk)
W Sundar
S Thakur
R Ashwin
J Bhumrah
M Siraj

Don't think there would be much of a contention to this line up

[jigar]

My XI for the 1st 2 ENG tests
R Sharma
S Gill
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
R Pant
W Sundar
R Ashwin
J Bumrah
I Sharma (over Thakur because of the experience he brings to the table, I know the young Indian team has done exceptionally well but with experience it can go to another level!)
M Siraj

Agarwal had the perfect opportunity in the Gabba test to cement his place in the team but with return of VK and Pandya it seems his red ball career is almost over?!

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

You were not the only one doubting after the first test, but you didn't predict a 4-0 whitewash. Not all of the predictions were before the first test I agree, but Clarke, Ponting, Vaughan did that before the series started.

Hey guys if Mark Waugh can predict results, then we can as well listen to him and stop following the sport, isn't it? . Don't read too much into their 'mental-disintegration' tactics.

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Another player who helped India was Tim Paine. Dropped so many catches . Perfect example of ‘Empty vessels make the most noise’. What’s worse for Aussies is that he’s their captain

Also, surprised to see Starc didn't bowl with 2nd new ball. He is their main strike bowler.

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

And the best thing was the gesture towards Nathan Lyon. In victory, you honour your opponent. Cannot be a finer example of sportsmanship in an era filled with prejudice, divisiveness and social media malaise.

. And Rahane had a gift too - signed Indian jersey.

Originally Posted by tchsvy

And as for the Captaincy, I have always been telling people that Rahane for Tests and Rohit for ODIs are the best players to lead the teams.

My thoughts shared below:

Originally Posted by msdivy

While Kohli is brattish and won't let this happen, this would be in the best interest of Indian cricket:

• T20I Captain: Rohit Sharma (Kohli at No 3 or 4). Rohit because he has used the team resources well in IPL and has results to show. He will make a better T20 captain than Kohli.
  
• ODI captain: Kohli (with Kohli at No 3). ODI pace suits Kohli perfectly.
  
• Test Captain: Any stable member assured of the place in 11, & Rahane has put his hand up. (Kohli at No 4). The reason for the change is Kohli is turning the Indian cricket team into 'Friends of Kohli XI', which includes the coach. It would be difficult for Kohli to win tests in the future with such a team. India has such a bad past overseas test record that Kohli's meddlesome is overlooked & ignored. But the team can perform better than what under Kohli.

I think the team is under-performing under Kohli. Kohli got handed over a team built by Dhoni. People bring out stats to prove Kohli is better than previous captains. Since now the team is world-class, Kohli (or new captain) must be bench-marked successful captains in history.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

My XI for England Series:

Isn't Saini & Natarajan missing the team of 18? Saini might be injured. Looks like Ishant comes in for Natarajan.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by kavensri

My team for 1st test against ENG:

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

My XI for England Series:

Originally Posted by jigar

My XI for the 1st 2 ENG tests

I don't think they would go with 3 pacers in a series played at home. 2 spinners are a must and that too one off and other leg spinner. I think the 3 tests are going to take place in Chennai, which is a typical subcontinental track and not like Mohali which behaves like a SENA track.

[Nalin1]

Some of these former players need to keep their mouths shut. Can't believe that they have played so much of international cricket, but still have not realized that things can turn around with every game really. Otherwise every series will be a whitewash with the team that wins the first game going on to win the rest!.

Brad Haddin is the biggest comedian there. Adelaide was always going to be the toughest for us coming out of quarantine and the pink ball for only the second time ever.

[RaghuVis]

Ajinkya -- The one who cannot be defeated!

Fitting name for our stand in captain, who is proving to be an amazing commander in chief. BCCI has task at their hands now. Both being 32 means that they cannot ignore Rahane as a captain just because Kohli is there. Maybe Kohli should hand over reins of one format to Rahane within the next 12-24 months.