India tour of Australia - 2018/19

[LiveLoveABD]

At the moment, in these conditions, I'm picking Vihari to bat 5 and Rohit staying at 6. Ashwin out and Kuldeep in.

 

[zwarrior]

Wow. Classy from Pujara. Wanted to get the double rather than celebrate his century. Amazing knock. But he gotta continue this as much as possible. 250 looks good from here.

 

[abhi_jacko]

What a knock by Pujara. Brilliant ton in whats been an almost chanceless innings ... only that one true edge which carried after he reached 75+[DOUBLEPOST=1544080732][/DOUBLEPOST]Woke up at 6 am to watch the match and regretted it immediately. But old cricket viewing habits kicked in and despite being left red faced at the horrible display by our batsmen, I continued to watch - ignoring Work completely

Finally Pujara has made it worthwhile

 

[zwarrior]

Again Pujara with the run-out!

 

[abhi_jacko]

God damn it ... seriously ...

 

[asprin]

Australia's day so far. I don't think we will get anything above 260 so that's a terrific result for Australia. Pujara and Ashwin saved India the blushes. Our only hope now would be to count on the inexperienced Australian batting lineup and pray that the tail doesn't wag if we manage to get the top 5 under 150. I'm was starting to think Kuldeep might have added the x-factor, but given that Ashwin somewhat redeemed himself with that knock, it wasn't a wrong decision by any means.

India should try and get Australia dismissed for under 250 runs first, if not then not let the lead get past 50. Otherwise, it would be 1-0 in favor of Australia.

 

[Perfect Square]

India's lower order alongside with Pujara has done a decent job with the bat. Ideally, 300+ would be good. But Australia's batting line-up isn't as good as it was. So India have very much of a chance to dismiss Australia around 250 to 300

 

[Gaurav_7]

Once again it is the old school Pujara who saves the day for India. If only Rahane wasn't disturbed and allowed to play his natural cricket in the earlier series', we would have a solid 3, 4 and 5 now. Rahane's time is up I feel and he no longer can score it seems. Aussies way ahead in this test already.

 

[Villain]

Proper cricket from Pujara, fantastic to watch. And in his post match interview he did say that the total is fine and the pitch isn't easy to bat on plus it's turning where Ashwin can play a vital role. I buy that.

Expecting much more from KL and Rahane here, Rohit was doing okay there going forward but once again an unnecessary shot got him out.. basically gifted his wicket. He should be able to score big in the second innings(if he shows patience). Top order needs to click if we want to win this.

Australia won't really be able to have a big lead here, maximum 300 runs having a lead of 50-70 or out under 250 but that'd be a bit too optimistic.

Winning this one isn't a distant dream, it's achievable.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Cheteshwar freaking Pujara . One of his best innings that he will cherish for a long time. The match starts at a good time here in US at 7.00 pm. Some really poor shot selection by most of them and Pant looked like a walking wicket every time he faced a delivery.

Definitely few questions on the following

1. KL Rahul, is he even serious about his cricket anymore? Heck he makes Dhawan look more serious. India has plenty of openers so please get rid of non performers
2. Ajinkya Rahane, that was a pathetic shot to play.
3. Pant - If management has specifically told him to play a 25-30 run inning, he should oppose. He has talent which he will waste under poor guidance from Kohli and Shastri.
4. Rohit Sharma, no questions was looking good but good old fashioned Rohit Sharma throwing his wicket when he looked deadly.

I am willing to give Vijay some leeway but the above 4 have to perform. If Rahane fails in 2nd innings, get in Vihari. Also Rahul has to go once Shaw is fit and if Vijay fails again Agarwal has to come join the squad.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Why should Rahul not play the next test when he scored a century in the last test in England but Rahane should continue playing?

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Why should Rahul not play the next test when he scored a century in the last test in England but Rahane should continue playing?

If that was directed to me, I mentioned both should not play the next test. I mentioned Rahane to be replaced by Vihari and Rahul by Shaw.

 

[Rehan_24]

I knew this would be coming. Team booking for almost 250. Its never easy for sub continent sides batting to consolidate against Aussies relative to the expectations nations have each time. So there is no surprize here.

Kudos for Pujara, His century in Australia does tell that he has the talent against all conditions. He saved quite a bit here otherwise.... The rest should not be that blamed either though. This is what the batsmen can do in the first match in these pitches against lethal fast bowling.

I think as more matched progress the batsmen should perform better than this.

Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc.. They will run through each inninigs if you cant control them. I think Virat role is crucial now. His one big inning can boost up confidence for the rest of the series

 

[SaiSrini]

What does Australia's lower order of batting look like? Any pointers? If we have any kind of sensibility, we should be focusing on Australia's lower order

Stunning knock from Pujara! Finally he is starting to reap the rewards for the patience that's the hallmark of his personality and game play. After having endured very tough overseas tours in the past where Pujara's potential was questioned and the hype around him was ridiculed, he is slowly bringing out the game that can really put him where he belongs to - at the top. Hope he continues. But the other guy with enormous potential as Pujara - Ajinkya Rahane - is on a very worrying down slope. Something is very much wrong with him and I hope he gets the backing and support he needs. Just like Pujara, this guy needs to be treated well. I dont agree with calls to drop Rahane. HE IS OUR VICE CAPTAIN for god's sake!!!! And he has earned that tag for a reason. You can rethink about his vice captaincy tag after this series, but give him the series.

If what Pujara said in the post day conference is true about the pitch, lets keep hoping that we can limit Australia too to a manageable score.

 

[aditya123]

What does Australia's lower order of batting look like? Any pointers? If we have any kind of sensibility, we should be focusing on Australia's lower order

Stunning knock from Pujara! Finally he is starting to reap the rewards for the patience that's the hallmark of his personality and game play. After having endured very tough overseas tours in the past where Pujara's potential was questioned and the hype around him was ridiculed, he is slowly bringing out the game that can really put him where he belongs to - at the top. Hope he continues. But the other guy with enormous potential as Pujara - Ajinkya Rahane - is on a very worrying down slope. Something is very much wrong with him and I hope he gets the backing and support he needs. Just like Pujara, this guy needs to be treated well. I dont agree with calls to drop Rahane. HE IS OUR VICE CAPTAIN for god's sake!!!! And he has earned that tag for a reason. You can rethink about his vice captaincy tag after this series, but give him the series.

If what Pujara said in the post day conference is true about the pitch, lets keep hoping that we can limit Australia too to a manageable score.

Rahane is mentally gone I feel. Sadly, we do not have a sane technician or man-manager as a coach. He needs to go back, take time off the game and work with someone like Dravid. He is too good a test batsman to be written off so soon. To begin rectifying his issues, he must sacrifice limited overs cricket altogether. Its test cricket that he is made for and can do a mighty fine job at it. How much first-class cricket has he played outside of test matches. Very little, and much of it is not his fault. He was for a long time just carried along with the ODI side without getting a chance to play in the XI. Guys like Rahane and Pujara will do well to stick to that one format and play all First Class cricket outside of it, county and Ranji Trophy cricket. He needs that one century to get his head sorted and it won't come in international cricket the way he is throwing his wicket away to lapses in concentration more than technical issues. He needs a season of Ranji Trophy with tons of runs to get back his focus and the ability to play a long innings. There is no technical flaw he is losing wickets to. He always seems to be comfortable and plays out an hour before random bad shots inevitably get him. Worrying but the team management and Indian cricket administration must get him out of this.