England's tour of India - 2021

[Bevab]

Rohit at 3? Now I want whatever you are smoking

I did say it might sound crazy but given that he usually starts slowly, can rotate strike quite decently and then doesn't care about the number of fielders once set, it isn't the worst idea. Worries over it would be his weakness to quality wrist spin and the fact that he likes the hard new ball but if you were to give me the potential chance of a 2016 Kohli playing as the opener, I would take that anytime of the week even if it means accommodating Rohit at three. Plus he does have an IPL century at three and two international fifties on both occasions he's played there.

He is truly a conundrum. Does not have the best of form in the IPL even in comparison to one Shikhar Dhawan but always manages to look much better for India. Can be guilty of not utilizing the powerplay in a strong fashion sometimes and does frequently let you down with early dismissals but if he fires, he usually leads you to a match-winning state often on his own. I'm not even kidding here, there has been only two occasions since 2018 where he has failed to score at least 50 after crossing 30. He has 13 such instances of 30+ scores in 39 games. 9 times he has got out after posting double digits. Only three of those have been 20+. This does correspond to what everyone tells about him of 'let him play and he will win you one game per series on his own'.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

I did say it might sound crazy but given that he usually starts slowly, can rotate strike quite decently and then doesn't care about the number of fielders once set, it isn't the worst idea. Worries over it would be his weakness to quality wrist spin and the fact that he likes the hard new ball but if you were to give me the potential chance of a 2016 Kohli playing as the opener, I would take that anytime of the week even if it means accommodating Rohit at three. Plus he does have an IPL century at three and two international fifties on both occasions he's played there.

He is truly a conundrum. Does not have the best of form in the IPL even in comparison to one Shikhar Dhawan but always manages to look much better for India. Can be guilty of not utilizing the powerplay in a strong fashion sometimes and does frequently let you down with early dismissals but if he fires, he usually leads you to a match-winning state often on his own. I'm not even kidding here, there has been only two occasions since 2018 where he has failed to score at least 50 after crossing 30. He has 13 such instances of 30+ scores in 39 games. 9 times he has got out after posting double digits. Only three of those have been 20+. This does correspond to what everyone tells about him of 'let him play and he will win you one game per series on his own'.

I want to know your ideal lineup with Rohit at 3

 

[Bevab]

Because Kohli isn't allowed to do anything right.

I like the idea on paper of Kohli opening but would you really prefer it if Morgan were to drop Roy after a horrific series, promote Malan as the opener replacing Roy with Billings and then after one good (not even great) performance from Malan, declare that this shall be the way moving forward? I would rather have Hales instead of Roy in there but I wouldn't make bold claims that this is our likely outlook for the WC in the aftermath of just one success.

On the other hand, it does reflect the mindset of the fickle Indian fanbase. Two games ago, people were clamouring for Kishan to be the opener partnering Rohit instead of Dhawan for his aggressive mindset and left-handed batting and now they ask 'Kishan who?'.

 

[Bevab]

I want to know your ideal lineup with Rohit at 3

I wish I could go back and find that lineup with details about why I had players in each position but it is severely outdated given that it was geared more towards the Aussie WC and was years ago. As of a few hours ago I had resigned myself to the possibility of Kohli never opening especially given that RCB have Padikkal, Allen and Azharudeen but now he comes out and says that him opening in the IPL was always on the cards? Anyways, this was the one I posted in 2018-19 I suppose. Bear in mind that it is very outdated.

Rahul
Kohli
Rohit
Pant (keeper)
Hardik
DK (finisher)
Krunal (spin all-rounder)
Bhuvi
Saini (express pace)
Bumrah
Chahal

Trying to adjust for three years of cricket changes in the country with current form and new entries...

Aggressive opener (the heart says Rahul but my issue isn't his lack of form, rather it is the way he bats for Punjab. He was fine for India pre-pandemic but since the 2020 IPL looks iffy)
Kohli
Rohit
SKY
Pant/Kishan
Hardik
Jadeja
Sundar
Bhuvi
Bumrah
Chahal

Kohli's current lineup isn't too far away from this in all honesty. Thakur or Saini plays instead of one of the spin all-rounders when the extra pace option is needed and at the moment Rahul isn't playing with Shreyas dropping down instead of him. SKY, Pant and Hardik can all float around and walk in whenever the time is right. It's just that I wish all of this was done earlier instead of treating our players shabbily just because we happen to be blessed with depth. And @LiveLoveABD said it correctly, this is a competition between Shreyas and Rahul, if they were both in form it would be tough but I would choose Rahul just because he has shown the capability to be a top five T20 batsman on a consistent basis and Shreyas hasn't yet quite reached that level even if he is on the verge of being world-class in his own right.

If you wanted a totally left-field pick for the opening spot, Mayank Agarwal would be my curveball option. He showed that he can be the selfless team player who can provide hyper aggressive starts on his day and is absolutely murderous versus spin which dovetails well with Kohli and Rohit in his early phase. A quickfire thirty from him could be worth a lot.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

I wish I could go back and find that lineup with details about why I had players in each position but it is severely outdated given that it was geared more towards the Aussie WC and was years ago. As of a few hours ago I had resigned myself to the possibility of Kohli never opening especially given that RCB have Padikkal, Allen and Azharudeen but now he comes out and says that him opening in the IPL was always on the cards? Anyways, this was the one I posted in 2018-19 I suppose. Bear in mind that it is very outdated.

Rahul
Kohli
Rohit
Pant (keeper)
Hardik
DK (finisher)
Krunal (spin all-rounder)
Bhuvi
Saini (express pace)
Bumrah
Chahal

Trying to adjust for three years of cricket changes in the country with current form and new entries...

Aggressive opener (the heart says Rahul but my issue isn't his lack of form, rather it is the way he bats for Punjab. He was fine for India pre-pandemic but since the 2020 IPL looks iffy)
Kohli
Rohit
SKY
Pant/Kishan
Hardik
Jadeja
Sundar
Bhuvi
Bumrah
Chahal

Kohli's current lineup isn't too far away from this in all honesty. Thakur or Saini plays instead of one of the spin all-rounders when the extra pace option is needed and at the moment Rahul isn't playing with Shreyas dropping down instead of him. SKY, Pant and Hardik can all float around and walk in whenever the time is right. It's just that I wish all of this was done earlier instead of treating our players shabbily just because we happen to be blessed with depth. And @LiveLoveABD said it correctly, this is a competition between Shreyas and Rahul, if they were both in form it would be tough but I would choose Rahul just because he has shown the capability to be a top five T20 batsman on a consistent basis and Shreyas hasn't yet quite reached that level even if he is on the verge of being world-class in his own right.

If you wanted a totally left-field pick for the opening spot, Mayank Agarwal would be my curveball option. He showed that he can be the selfless team player who can provide hyper aggressive starts on his day and is absolutely murderous versus spin which dovetails well with Kohli and Rohit in his early phase. A quickfire thirty from him could be worth a lot.

Would agree to this lineup but with Rohit going back to 2 and Kohli to 4. SKY at 3 evens it out.

On bad days, Rohit might struggle but we have SKY to even it out. On good days, Rohit is the beast.

Earlier the thing that used to happen was that on rusty days of Rohit, we saw Kohli at 3, who himself needs to set himself up, and that made Rohit play out of his zone, resulting in margin of error.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I like the idea on paper of Kohli opening but would you really prefer it if Morgan were to drop Roy after a horrific series, promote Malan as the opener replacing Roy with Billings and then after one good (not even great) performance from Malan, declare that this shall be the way moving forward? I would rather have Hales instead of Roy in there but I wouldn't make bold claims that this is our likely outlook for the WC in the aftermath of just one success.

On the other hand, it does reflect the mindset of the fickle Indian fanbase. Two games ago, people were clamouring for Kishan to be the opener partnering Rohit instead of Dhawan for his aggressive mindset and left-handed batting and now they ask 'Kishan who?'.

India came into this series with a more questions and have answered a lot. Yadav and Kishan can do it at the top level (only a couple of matches but sustaining it is always the key to being a great player). A flexible middle order (I personally think Iyer is perfectly fine for batting at 4-6). Bring in Jadeja at 7 and the batting looks fearsome. Bumrah and the bowling goes up another level. After that dominant performance the only question I'd ask if who is the third spinner/seamer?

England looked confident in their best XI and now I think they are left with more questions.

The fickle Indian fanbase is made worse by the fact that one failure for a player and multiple camps start piping up about their own favourite to come in. Same goes for one success.

My point about Kohli not being able to do anything right is encapsulated in this little one act play:

Game 4:

Kohli goes off injured.
Thakur comes on and gets two wickets that changes the game.
Indian fans: ROHIT, BHAI! You big brained mega man. Sign my shirt, bless my bat, marry my sister! Please Dada, remove the demon Kohli from captaincy and give it to the mighty bearded mastermind Rohit!

Game 5:

Bhuvi comes on bowls a tight over and takes a wicket that changes the game.
Indians fans: BHUVI, BHAI! You nimble fingered wizard. Sign my shirt, bless my bat, marry my sister!
Anyone else: Good decision by Kohli to bring on Bhuvi.

Spoiler: Indian fans

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

marry my sister

Sorry he's taken

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

I agree with the fact that Indian fan base is really the worst. A team like India doesn't deserve such a fan base.

Yes we make cricketers into Gods.
But it is the same us, who make cricketers feel guilty over something they shouldn't be.

And the worst part is, in the process of making one God, we scapegoat 1000s such ones

 

[SaiSrini]

I guess some people in this forum take opinions too seriously! If they find a cluster of opinions forming around something that they dont agree with, they think the world is forming against them and so they start attacking fan bases, throw out sarcastic jibes, etc.

Take a chill pill... A lot of Indian fans (both here and on Twitter where most of us get our daily dose of unadulterated entertainment ) come in all sizes and forms. Some react based on the limited knowledge of the game, some react based on their limited exposure to the game, etc. I have been following this game for 25 years now (started from 1996 World Cup).. Yet in the past few months, I have had many instances where I've been proved wrong (temporarily at least) and I gracefully accept it and move on.

I haven't yet been proved wrong in my assessment of Kohli's captaincy but maybe I might be one day. Back in those days, I thought Tendulkar was a wonderful captain but it all nosedived pretty badly. I did have great feelings about Ganguly and Dhoni and both of those turned out spectacularly... Its a fun process and not to be taken too seriously.

 

[Satan666]

Pains me to post this but it seems India may very well prove to be the team to lift the T20 cup.

Throughout my years of hating on the Indian team, always loved Kohli and its always amazing still to see him win the game for his team singlehandedly, Kumar bowled well also and was a star in India’s comprehensive win.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I might not have necessarily agreed to Kohli opening yesterday but I definitely would want to see more of him as an opener. I think yesterday's victory was a complete team effort. Kohli's 80*, Hardik's 39*, Rohit's 64 & SKY scoring 32 I would not be able to single out a certain best performance from his because all these knocks are influenced by each other's innings. Without Hardik scoring at a brisk rate and SKY carrying on from where Rohit left, Kohli wouldn't have made it to the last over and would've thrown it away at some point.

I think bowlers did have an excellent comeback after England were 130/1. Shardul once again taking 2 wickets in an over was crucial for us. That over from Bhuvi where he got Buttler out was the turning point in the match. I think we fielded well yesterday unlike the other matches which was equally important.

The best feeling was to see Bhuvi back in form. I think all of us Indian fans were craving for the moment where Bhuvi would deliver and it was this series. Kishan and SKY were excellent finds for this series!!!

Let us switch over to ODIs now!!!

 

[Satan666]

India came into this series with a more questions and have answered a lot. Yadav and Kishan can do it at the top level (only a couple of matches but sustaining it is always the key to being a great player). A flexible middle order (I personally think Iyer is perfectly fine for batting at 4-6). Bring in Jadeja at 7 and the batting looks fearsome. Bumrah and the bowling goes up another level. After that dominant performance the only question I'd ask if who is the third spinner/seamer?

England looked confident in their best XI and now I think they are left with more questions.

The fickle Indian fanbase is made worse by the fact that one failure for a player and multiple camps start piping up about their own favourite to come in. Same goes for one success.

My point about Kohli not being able to do anything right is encapsulated in this little one act play:

Game 4:

Kohli goes off injured.
Thakur comes on and gets two wickets that changes the game.
Indian fans: ROHIT, BHAI! You big brained mega man. Sign my shirt, bless my bat, marry my sister! Please Dada, remove the demon Kohli from captaincy and give it to the mighty bearded mastermind Rohit!

Game 5:

Bhuvi comes on bowls a tight over and takes a wicket that changes the game.
Indians fans: BHUVI, BHAI! You nimble fingered wizard. Sign my shirt, bless my bat, marry my sister!
Anyone else: Good decision by Kohli to bring on Bhuvi.

Spoiler: Indian fans

Impressed, really really impressed!

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Just waiting for the IPL now. Can't wait to see RCB get CANED!!

 

[Khan Sahab54]

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Just waiting for the IPL now. Can't wait to see RCB get CANED!!

Before India would lose to England in the ODIs. 100+ run loss on the cards I guess. The gulf between the sides in terms of consistency is huge. I feel England have better batsmen and bowlers than us for the ODIs. Going to be a one-sided affair just like the Australia series(ODIs).