India tour of Australia - 2018/19

[Villain]

Dhawan has been exceptional, Pant is yet to prove why he should be chosen ahead of Dhoni in the WC. Personally I'd still pick Dhoni for his experience, keeping skills, reliability factor if we have a batting collapse where I just can't rely on Pant.. this is for the ODIs only. His strike rate has been slow which isn't much of an issue in ODIs unless you're chasing a big target. In T20s Pant should be picked ahead of him though.

KL Rahul is just riding on his name, nothing substantial except that century in England. Have not seen him score even on flat pitches, yet to see him win a match for India(Only one I remember is that T20 in England). People have backed him more than most, many including me expect him to score even on the worst possible pitches (And I don't know why do I expect) but he has disappointed every single time.

DK has proven to be a great finisher, except that failure in England he has been very good.

And a bad day for Krunal, failed miserably but can prove out to be a good AR for us.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Is it necessary to pick atleast one Pandya in the team? Can we not have any and still play?

 

[zwarrior]

Is it necessary to pick atleast one Pandya in the team? Can we not have any and still play?

I honestly feel both Pandya brothers are a good go in T20. Especially Krunal who tasted success multiple times in IPL. I would still go with him for the next match too.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I honestly feel both Pandya brothers are a good go in T20. Especially Krunal who tasted success multiple times in IPL. I would still go with him for the next match too.

Probably, but it just seems that in order to keep the house running, a Pandya will always be in playing XI.

 

[asprin]

Is it necessary to pick atleast one Pandya in the team? Can we not have any and still play?

The Pandyas in T20 can be very useful as both of them are very much suited for that format. While Hardik hasn't been reliable of late, Krunal has had two successive IPLs so far.

 

[SaiSrini]

A game we should've won, we lost it! I agree with people who say that Pant and DK should play the World Cup for India in 2019 and Dhoni should be either asked to retire early or kept out of the WC side (Dhoni will pull the plug if he is kept out). I think these two are more than enough for the WC campaign.

For the test series, I highly doubt India will win it. India just dont have the drive to go the distance. I have a feeling India's best result in the tests will be a drawn series and that too if we get some draws. If all are result oriented pitches, I predict India to lose yet another series where pundits said "its their best chance to win". Australia should pack their lower order with some players who can bat for a decent period of time. Because by the time India skittle through the top order, their gas would've been gone and then Australia's lower order can make merry and repeat England's heroics from the recent series. Warner and Smith's absence wont be felt because these two are top order players and India anyways prise out the top order for cheap. Its the lower order that has, is and will always hurt us.

 

[Aalay]

Bad day for us and we threw away a game we should have won but also we were a bit unlucky with rain. We had an over left of our best bowlers for the last 3 overs and they couldn't complete their spells. Also I have never understood how the Duckworth lewis method works so let's not even talk about that.

Firstly, Kohli has to improve as a captain. Bumrah not bowling at all against Lynn and Maxwell was an error. Even though I was the first was who asked for both Krunal Pandya and Rishabh Pant in our T20 line-up, I do feel that we need to be a bit bold in our decision making. The grounds are huge in Australia and that is the reason I feel we can bring in Chahal in place of Krunal Pandya. I know that will shorten the batting line-up but I feel batsmen will put price on their wicket if they know we are going in a batsman short.I know it is tough on Krunal because he just had an off day but I feel we need to take that risk for this series. Chahal can be a great weapon against both Lynn and Maxwell and he has also had some success in the past against Maxwell. I have also said this time and time again that Rishabh also needs to learn how to not overhit every single ball. Even if he times the ball well, he has enough strength in him to clear the boundary. The shot that he played yesterday, he had the right intention but the execution wasn't there.

Cricinfo is reporting that we might be going in with 3 spinners which is understandable since the management doesn't want to compromise on the batting. However, if we are going with 3 spinners, we must open the bowling with Krunal or Chahal. Darcy Short likes pace on the ball and can be a bit susceptible against spin. Finch is not as bad as Darcy against spinners but I still don't mind a spinner bowling to him.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Says a lot about Australia that Marcus Harris, one of the if not the very best Shield batsman in recent times has 5 centuries in his last 44 innings. This is supposed to be his patch of good form too. The runs have dried up and there seem to be no signs of run-hungry batsmen emerging.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I guess this series (talking about the T20Is) was for our taking and to a great extent our bowlers actually did seriously well for a comeback in the last game but it's just that luck didn't favour us. If you look at the first game as well though in the middle overs we didn't do that well but we had our best bowlers yet to bowl 3 overs and we could've had Australia at about 185-190 in 20 overs if the rain hadn't come into play, and the way we batted we definitely had our chances to knock around for singles and doubles and win in the last over. So far as I am concerned Australia did bowl really well but I don't think that this bowling line-up had enough fire-power to defend at less than 10 an over at the death, so definitely DLS had a lot to do the Australia's win in the first game. If we talk about Yesterday with both Dhawan and Rohit in this sort of form with Kohli to follow at the back of his average performance in the first match would've gone for an all out attack and would've sealed the match latest by the end of the 16th over. The Captaincy of Kohli definitely needs a huge improvement for the death overs if we are to win at SCG. Though I wouldn't take a 1-1 result at any cost after the way in performed in the 2nd T20I but can't do anything much about it.

And I also would want to add that this series had something to do with Dhoni not in the playing XI (Not a Dhoni fan either). If we had Dhoni in the playing XI we would've won, not because he could've scored the runs but because of the talismanic luck he possesses with himself

Jokes apart, but I still believe that we should play Dhoni over Rishabh Pant for the WC. I feel like even if Dhoni doesn't score runs he does save some extra runs with his keeping skills which Pant isn't able to do. Ideally having Pant over Dhoni will have no effect on the overall performance of the team. Pant scores runs but he gives away a lot of extra runs due to his inexperience. It's probably a touch too late for anyone to take over Dhoni for the WC

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Says a lot about Australia that Marcus Harris, one of the if not the very best Shield batsman in recent times has 5 centuries in his last 44 innings. This is supposed to be his patch of good form too. The runs have dried up and there seem to be no signs of run-hungry batsmen emerging.

Probably excited to see him to play. I did hear Langer's interview about him and I can say Marcus Harris does bring some sort of confidence to the batting unit of Australia as a whole. Hope to see the best from Marcus Harris on his debut next month

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Today's victory shows that we still have a pretty balanced team to perform in the limited overs format atleast. This was our 9th consecutive T20I series where we were unbeaten. But I suppose this was the same pattern we follow in every win, first the openers access the conditions and then they go for the big shots and finally Kohli comes to rescue and wins the match for the team. Yet another innings where DK was unbeaten till the last and it resulted in our win. DK is like pretty much underrated as a finisher in this format. Everytime he comes in to bat he looks so very calm and composed, up for the task for his team. Shikhar Dhawan looks in some real form after an average series(ODI series) against the Windies. Looks pretty destructive from the outset.

Now coming to the Test Series, the things will be a lot difficult from now on. But I think we should be optimistic with our chances rather than looking back and saying, "Oh we lost in South Africa, Oh we lost in England". Hope that the Indian team learned a few lessons from their previous tour. I think our batting will do better this time with the conditions slightly in favour of batting. Bowling over here is again crucial. I think we do have enough strength to take all 20 wickets but the problem is, can we handle the pressure of not winning in Australia ? And even Australia will be in a position where they know that they can put India under pressure considering the way India performed in Australia in the past. The team who will bat better would certainly win matches. I still feel it can be 2-1 for either side. If we start with a win in Adelaide we are in with a real chance. Considering the recent performances of Australia and the absence of Warner and Smith a 3-1 victory will be a well deserved. If we go 2-1 up it will be just because Australia not having 2 of their best batsman. But, if we lose this then it would be disappointing to be at the top of the rankings and not winning an Overseas Test Series

 

[hammadahmed88]

What a masterclass from Kohli. What a player. It's such a treat to have seen both Tendulkar and Kohli bat back to back having grown up in the 90's and early 2000's. Eagerly looking forward to the Test series. It's a shame that politicians feel the need to intrude into realms like sports and the arts to be divisive for their own benefits. It remains an absolute dream of mine to see Kohli in a Test against Pakistan. Hopefully one day.

 

[hammadahmed88]

I still believe that we should play Dhoni over Rishabh Pant for the WC

I have to agree with this 100%. You can't undervalue his brain which is way more of an advantage than whatever amount of runs Pant may score more than him. It's not like India is short on runs anyways. Not to mention the man's earned the right to play one more World Cup on his way out.

 

[Morphed]

I have to agree with this 100%. You can't undervalue his brain which is way more of an advantage than whatever amount of runs Pant may score more than him. It's not like India is short on runs anyways. Not to mention the man's earned the right to play one more World Cup on his way out.

2019 should be the last.

 

[hammadahmed88]

2019 should be the last.

That's what I meant. Since this will be his last, he deserves the chance to try and go for one more to end his career. He's definitely earned that right. India are in such a position of privilege with their batting that even if they play him as a specialist wicket keeper that won't hurt them much. I still don't think there is a better fielding wicket keeper out there than Dhoni. Perhaps De Kock, but considering he's in his prime says a lot about Dhoni.