Border Gavaskar Trophy 24/25 - India in Australia.

[wasteyouryouth]

Needs a username change to Gillfan

 

[ddrap14]

Speaking of Gill (and my stance on Gillfan is that I don't know how exactly he positively contributes here), a stat worth keeping in mind - here is the averages of every top three batsman this series, excluding Devdutt Padikkal's one game:

* Rohit - avg 6.2
* McSweeney - avg 14.4
* Gill - avg 18.6
* Khawaja - avg 20.4
* Marnus - avg 25.8
* Konstas - avg 28.3
* Rahul - avg 30.7
* Jaiswal - avg 43.4

Konstas is clearly very good if he can get the mentality right, Rahul is perhaps overhated given he outperformed all bar one other guy, Jaiswal is a true talent and do not let one or two salty people in this thread change that fact, and perhaps "tried and tested" isn't always the best formula nowadays (hi Rohit, hi Gill, hi Ussie as much as I love you)

 

[icyman]

To my Aussie friends, question over Usman Khawaja here. Do you reckon he deserves to keep his place post the current BGT? Might it not be prudent to look at a new opener considering that UK didn't make much of an impact during the recently concluded series?

If you are to look beyond Khawaja, who would be the Top 3 contenders? Give McSweeney another chance? Or wait until Smith hangs up his boots and slot him in the middle order?

 

[ddrap14]

Might it not be prudent to look at a new opener considering that UK didn't make much of an impact during the recently concluded series?

The only other opener we have in the country who'd do any good is Renshaw, and the selectors have this weird fascination with only picking him when it quite literally least suits him. Khawaja is, for now, as good as we have.*

* - I'm a big believer on Cooper Connolly as a future all-format player but he needs another season in the Shield. Ditto Ollie Davies if you consider him an opener and not a Travis Head regen. And if Tim Ward can keep what he's done thus far this year up and prove that he's improved, he would go right to the top of my list

 

[Paranoid Kendroid]

Tim Ward

That conversion rate is abysmal (2 hundreds from 17 fifty-plus scores).

Not an Australian, but I would persist with Khawaja till the next Ashes. People are writing him off too quickly.

 

[ddrap14]

That conversion rate is abysmal (2 hundreds from 17 fifty-plus scores).

Right up until this year that's why he was written off. But this year he has 4 of those 50s and 1 of those 100s in 5 innings (51, 92, 96, 7, 142). Small sample size but he's quite clearly the best opener by weight of runs* if he does that for another 12 months.

* - Henry Hunt does not count because he strikes at about three

 

[icyman]

Been hearing reports that Konstas might be left out for the SRL series with Head taking the openers position. This is being done to ward off the threat of spin, which Head seems to be facing on sub continental tracks. If that's the case, I'd leave out Khawaja and have the Konstas-Head duo opening

Not an Australian, but I would persist with Khawaja till the next Ashes. People are writing him off too quickly.

Too long! Australia might want to have someone else in that position by then. They don't come across as a side who will help the seniors trudge along like India seems to be doing with VK and Rohit.