[searacer932]

India's batting is a suspect on seam/swing tracks. The batting is able to perform on hard/bouncy tracks of Australia but struggle in seam conditions. Only good news is the English batting is equally bad!!

[headbanger]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Rubbish batting by India.

Will Kohli ever regain form?

Irrespective of the final outcome, we don't deserve to win this match. Champions don't play like this. Yes, playing swing is not our forte but you can't come out and bat without any strategy whatsoever. Every time the balls starts to dance a bit in air, either we just block or look to cart everything into stratosphere.

We may be a good team but definitely not the one with an aura of "the great invincibles" like the yesteryears. So all that hyperbole needs to just shut down.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Rubbish batting by India.

Will Kohli ever regain form?

If only Rohit Sharma, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Jadeja had applied themselves and collectively scored another 50 runs, this match could have been different and we would have had NZ on the mat.

[Eddy]

If this team gets beaten in the England series, it might cost Virat his captaincy. Also if Pujara and Rahane don't score, we might see wholesale changes in batting.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Eddy

If this team gets beaten in the England series, it might cost Virat his captaincy. Also if Pujara and Rahane don't score, we might see wholesale changes in batting.

Virat Captaincy isn't in any danger. Although his form is really bad since a long time. We keep on saying of Rahane won't perform he will be dropped but nothing happens.

Pujara hasn't contributed big since long. And he dropped a sitter today.

[Eddy]

It's not right now. Depends on the England series and his personal form in that series.

[VWAllstar]

Rahane is more of a cover up for Kohli's poor performance. It's been 18 months from his last century in International cricket right? And, his captaincy isn't any better.
Today Pant needed to play sensibly like he did in Australia. Foolish shots and half hearted attempts. NZ deserved it to win and we to lose
Badly need a change of coaching staff. Replace the head coach and bring in someone who would actually have a say and not be a puppet of Kohli.

[PPS]

Very poor batting performance by Team India on a sunny day. Batting is looking suspect, so won't be surprised if we go back to the 6th specialist batsman- Vihari in the England series.

With due respect to Pant, but that shot which he got out to was reckless! I know the experts keep saying that's the way he plays & thats why India is probably in the WTC Final but today there was no question of going for a win, it was only about survival. Under those circumstances, should have played till Tea.

Credit to NZ though. Their swing bowlers really exploited the pitch conditions. They probably deserve this after the heartbreak in the 50 over WC.

Originally Posted by Eddy

If this team gets beaten in the England series, it might cost Virat his captaincy. Also if Pujara and Rahane don't score, we might see wholesale changes in batting.

Don't think Virat's captaincy is under threat at all. Everything is forgotten once the home season starts. There will only be talks of wholesale changes but nothing will happen. I feel Vihari needs to be given an extended run at no.5 in Tests in place of Rahane. Its going to take a monumental effort to beat England in England. They don't play any tour games either to make things worse. By the middle of the series, they'll be home sick & fed up with being in a bubble!

[harry10]

You guys are jumping the gun. Shastri isn't going anywhere till 2023 world cup. Same for Virat as Captain. Their win % is too high for selectors to question them. I know this WTC loss will hurt and we played very bad. I hope we do better against England. But making too many changes just cos of 1 bad match isn't a solution.

Please remember we always start a tour like this. If this was a series we could have bounced back like we did in Australia. NZ played better this game, they deserve to win.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by PPS

Don't think Virat's captaincy is under threat at all. Everything is forgotten once the home season starts. There will only be talks of wholesale changes but nothing will happen. I feel Vihari needs to be given an extended run at no.5 in Tests in place of Rahane. Its going to take a monumental effort to beat England in England. They don't play any tour games either to make things worse. By the middle of the series, they'll be home sick & fed up with being in a bubble!

Originally Posted by harry10

You guys are jumping the gun. Shastri isn't going anywhere till 2023 world cup. Same for Virat as Captain. Their win % is too high for selectors to question them. I know this WTC loss will hurt and we played very bad. I hope we do better against England. But making too many changes just cos of 1 bad match isn't a solution.

Please remember we always start a tour like this. If this was a series we could have bounced back like we did in Australia. NZ played better this game, they deserve to win.

Virat's captaincy is not under threat now. We've reached the final. But IF England thrashes India and Virat does not have a good series with the bat, he will be under pressure. The only thing that will save him will the lack of an alternative. Maybe Rohit, if he has a fabulous series.

[hemanth.anand]

Wonderful test match. Both teams fought hard and in the right spirits. NZ deserving winners of the inaugural World Test Championship.

The two drop catches could've made it more interesting. India needed some more runs to take it towards a draw. I guess the match experience playing in England was that small difference between the sides.

All in all a wonderful and bright end to what was very gloomy start to the ultimate test match. It doesn't hurt to be on the losing side against these "nice guys" of cricket.

Well played NEW ZEALAND!

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Virat's captaincy is not under threat now. We've reached the final. But IF England thrashes India and Virat does not have a good series with the bat, he will be under pressure. The only thing that will save him will the lack of an alternative. Maybe Rohit, if he has a fabulous series.

You must be kidding.
Virat is the most successful Test Captain for India. Undefeated at home since so many years. Wins in Australia. Leading run scorer and century maker currently. Yes, his century draught has gone too long but he still averages 43 during this period.

Even in this match as a Captain he tried everything. He can't be solely blamed for Batsman failing to apply common sense and ace bowler like Bumrah forgetting how to ball on stumps. As competitive and passionate he is I can guarantee you no one will be more heart broken on losing the Test Championship Mace.

Trust me, even if he fails against England and India loses again, his Captaincy is fully secured.
Also, Rohit has recently found place as a regular player in Test team and haven't done anything expectional in SENA so far, no way he can even come around as a Captaincy candidate anytime.

I know NZ are the good guys and this defeat shouldn't sting so much but it still does.. 2 years of hard effort gone in a single match

[Eddy]

Remaining undefeated at home, while commendable, is not considered to be an earth-shattering feat. He has not won anything in SENA, nor any ICC event. His loss of form isn't helping. It's not about not scoring a century - he is visibly out of touch in all 3 formats.

And I do not count Australia as Kohli's victory. I am reasonably sure that the result would have been different had he played the complete series.

The ONLY reason he can feel secure as captain is because there is no obvious alternative. Again, I am not saying strip him off right away but the day is not far off if we lose to England and the T20 WC.

[landcruiser123]

Kyle Jamieson is like a lethal combination of Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander at their best. If he can keep going at this rate, he'll end up as one of the fast bowling greats.

Guess Kohli's extended purple patch is over. Not to say that he won't score big, but I'd expect more youngsters (Iyer, Rahul, Gill, Pant, etc) to take more responsibility in scoring 100s. Overall, NZ was a superior side. Knowing the conditions, the combination of 4 fast bowlers (Siraj instead of Jadeja) could have made a difference.

Who are our fast bowlers for the long tour of England? Maybe India should fly in Bhuvi to complement Yadav, Bumrah, Ishant, Shami, and Siraj.

----****----

I like the WTC, but I think it needs to generously reward away victories between closely ranked sides.

Example: With the current rankings, an Australian victory in India or a New Zealand victory in England should be generously rewarded. That way, we will see some good contests, especially while traveling and it'll incentivize the stronger cricket boards not to schedule many matches against weaker teams away from home.

I hope this tournament doesn't become an exclusive group of 3-4 top teams.

[vibbs]

Well played New Zealand. I think going forward, New Zealand could be the new Australia as far as India is concerned. Our record against them has not been good of late. Specially in ICC tournaments.


Meanwhile, https://wisden.com/series-stories/wo...box=1624465254