India tour of Australia - 2018/19

[Jagar]

Congratulations to India on the win, only consolation for Aus is a fine performance from Cummins (although I do think India was generous with their batting to get him such great bowling figures for the third innings).

 

[hammadahmed88]

"Kerry O'Keeffe 'devastated' by Indian reaction to on-air comments"
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...eeffe-devastated-indian-reaction-air-comments

Unbelievable. Instead of at least trying to sound sincere in apology, this sorry excuse for a commentator has the audacity to deflect blame. After making such disgustingly racist, xenophobic, and essentially insensitive comments, he declares that "I am coming to terms with how negatively those words have been interpreted". No. It is not on the people who "perceived" your insensitivity as hurtful. It is not their fault for not understanding your twisted and divisive attitude under the guise of sense of humour. I had gotten the sense that this team was not good enough for the job but this incident has really been an eye opener. Some will never learn. If you're sorry, say you're sorry with conviction, mean it, and move on.

EDIT: It's too bad about things like this. It takes away from the moment. Congrats to India and Indian fans on a great series win. What a find in Bumrah.

 

[Velocity]

Pant is NOT AT ALL SUITED FOR TEST CRICKET and I will stick by it!!! Pant has already made me wait eagerly for Wriddhiman Saha's return and Saha is no great shakes either.

Pant needs time. His keeping has been inconsistent, he takes some great catches some days and some days vice versa. Pant has shown off what he can do with the bat, with that 100 odd against England. This time around he mainly had to bat with the lower order, making him play aggressively and in a brash manner. IMO, he should stay for a while in the XI with Saha as a backup. Pant is the best batting keeper out of the last few India had post-Dhoni retirement. Saha cannot be trusted upon to make runs when needed either. Karthik was unlucky, but he cannot seem to churn out big runs when he's given the chance both in LO and Test cricket.

 

[abhi_jacko]

"Kerry O'Keeffe 'devastated' by Indian reaction to on-air comments"
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...eeffe-devastated-indian-reaction-air-comments

Unbelievable. Instead of at least trying to sound sincere in apology, this sorry excuse for a commentator has the audacity to deflect blame. After making such disgustingly racist, xenophobic, and essentially insensitive comments, he declares that "I am coming to terms with how negatively those words have been interpreted". No. It is not on the people who "perceived" your insensitivity as hurtful. It is not their fault for not understanding your twisted and divisive attitude under the guise of sense of humour. I had gotten the sense that this team was not good enough for the job but this incident has really been an eye opener. Some will never learn. If you're sorry, say you're sorry with conviction, mean it, and move on.

EDIT: It's too bad about things like this. It takes away from the moment. Congrats to India and Indian fans on a great series win. What a find in Bumrah.

That's just pathetic from this guy. What a big headed twat.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I'd like to defend @SaiSrini here. Like him, I didn't rate Bumrah as a test bowler. Unlike him, I think Pant is test match material. This is a public forum and at some point or the other some of us will be proven right or wrong. It's called a public forum for a reason. @bumrahfan We get you're a fan and OK it's nice to give it back to people who didn't believe in your hero. But, you can be classy about it and do it in a nice way instead of being a knob about it. At the end of the day, we all are happy for Bumrah because he's Indian and he's won us a very important test match overseas. We all just want the best for Indian cricket.

Off late, I have seen some serious trolling on the board. May be it's the holiday season and people using their keyboards after some pints.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Shastri is such an embarrassment. Lord!

 

[Morphed]

What a way to end the year!
Retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy

 

[Rehan_24]

Australia got totally outplayed throughout the match. The only face saving thing was Cummins innings. However, that performance from Pat was an embarrasing and wakeup call for the batting lineup of Aussies.

Nathan Lyon rather saying that its the best indian attack he ever saw should realize that it has been the worst batting lineup my team ever has in history.

What a utterly disappiontment from Australian batters. They need a serious surgery for their batsmen. I think they are lacking confidence more than skill.

On the other hand, Kohli saying bumrah as a best bowler in the World is quite a premature statement. He has a long way to go to be one. However, we can call him one of best emerging bowlers in an international arena. Kohli with his statement though more playing mind games than actual facts.

Its indeed a great achievement for India to have a lead in series. The captain and management should persist in my opinion.

For Aussies, I wonder they didnt find a proper young wicket keeper batsman rather than calling back an old gun Paine and induct him as captain.

 

[SaiSrini]

Mixed feelings! Happy that we have taken an unbeatable lead in the series and have retained the trophy (albeit with the help of some subcontinental tinged pitches, and the absence of two pillars of Australian team, Smith and Warner) but I am also now bracing for some big mouths to open and just 'not close at all' (read Shastri and all).

I am extremely satisfied with the way the bowling attack has shaped up. Ishant has looked an entirely different bowler ever since he hit that county stint and he has well and truly slid into that role of the 'senior statesman' that Zaheer Khan used to be so good at. Yes Ishant still has his no-ball problems but the instances of that has reduced considerably and he picks up important wickets and is a lot more miserly in giving away freebies/runs. Shami has been a lot more consistent now and its great news! Bumrah has been the find that almost 'no one' expected to happen and I am happy I am proved wrong on him.

Our batting has also taken a considerable leap now, with the find of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw. More than this victory at MCG and this 2-1 result, it's the fact that the pieces of Indian cricket are falling into place at the right time, should gladden India's 'test cricket fan' hearts. Now only if we can have/find a captain who channels his aggression into the right place and a coach not as stupid/outlandish as the one we have right now, and Indian cricket will be in terrific hands.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Australia got totally outplayed throughout the match. The only face saving thing was Cummins innings. However, that performance from Pat was an embarrasing and wakeup call for the batting lineup of Aussies.

Nathan Lyon rather saying that its the best indian attack he ever saw should realize that it has been the worst batting lineup my team ever has in history.

What a utterly disappiontment from Australian batters. They need a serious surgery for their batsmen. I think they are lacking confidence more than skill.

On the other hand, Kohli saying bumrah as a best bowler in the World is quite a premature statement. He has a long way to go to be one. However, we can call him one of best emerging bowlers in an international arena. Kohli with his statement though more playing mind games than actual facts.

Its indeed a great achievement for India to have a lead in series. The captain and management should persist in my opinion.

For Aussies, I wonder they didnt find a proper young wicket keeper batsman rather than calling back an old gun Paine and induct him as captain.

.
That is a bold statement you made especially seeing what Pakistan is facing, Paine is smart and we saw that in second inning and he scores 30, 40's. He is the 4th highest run scorer for Australia and is doing everything he can seeing how he was inducted. Compared to Sarfarz he seems miles better and tactfully more sound.

On Bumrah, I agree with you that its a premature statement but remember Bumrah has played only 9 matches all in SENA countries and has bagged 48 wickets already. That is something and he is the best in current lot after Rabada.

 

[Rehan_24]

.
That is a bold statement you made especially seeing what Pakistan is facing, Paine is smart and we saw that in second inning and he scores 30, 40's. He is the 4th highest run scorer for Australia and is doing everything he can seeing how he was inducted. Compared to Sarfarz he seems miles better and tactfully more sound.

On Bumrah, I agree with you that its a premature statement but remember Bumrah has played only 9 matches all in SENA countries and has bagged 48 wickets already. That is something and he is the best in current lot after Rabada.

Sarfraz has a lot more match winning knocks across International formats than Paine. Sarfraz has long future ahead and he lifted the team up in crisis situation many times.

Subcontinent doesnt have a culture of different captains for different formats so it was the best decision to appoint Sarfraz as captain after Misbah and CT championship. It was in the best interest for the side. The team despite losses in test matches recently is united under Sarfraz. Such thing could not be achieved had we had a different captain for each format. Even for south africa match, All agreed that Pakistan fought quite well. And we have a good chance at cape town. So there are reasons behind.


As for Paine, the situations looks a lot different. The comparison of Paine and Sarfraz is odd.

The 30's and 40's dont matter if your team is having such losses. Paine has been forcefully inducted into the side I see.. Is there no sound wicket keeper batsman across Australia domestic circuit? If yes, then its a concern for the upcoming talent. Australia has been in deep crisis since ban of Smith and Warner. Paine is a temporary solution which is sad to know

 

[Velocity]

That is a bold statement you made especially seeing what Pakistan is facing, Paine is smart and we saw that in second inning and he scores 30, 40's. He is the 4th highest run scorer for Australia and is doing everything he can seeing how he was inducted. Compared to Sarfarz he seems miles better and tactfully more sound.

I dislike Paine, don't even believe how he got into the side and I still don't think he deserves to be there. He was a surprise selection for the Ashes tour, didn't do a whole lot to justify his place and consolidated his place by becoming captain.

Considering with all the ruckus following Sandpaper gate, Paine has done a decent job. I still don't like him but he was put in a bad situation and it's clear he's trying his best. He's at least consistently churning out 30's compared to Sarfraz who hasn't delivered any match winning knocks of late except with single digit scores mostly. A younger keeper batsman will not come into the side just yet unless Paine and Australia reach a sharp decline in the next few Test matches.

 

[SaiSrini]

This series, once it's done, will be remembered for the rise of 'Cheteshwar Pujara'. To say that I am delighted for him will be an understatement. Still with feet on ground, I hope he scales further peaks after this. Just like Virat Kohli, Pujara has to conquer England conditions to round it off (Pujara has done well in South Africa before; so that does not need conquering).

To me, he should be front runner for Man of the Series. His knock of 123 at Adelaide was just SO monumental for where India stand now. And yet again at MCG, his knock played a big difference in our victory.

 

[abhi_jacko]

This series, once it's done, will be remembered for the rise of 'Cheteshwar Pujara'. To say that I am delighted for him will be an understatement. Still with feet on ground, I hope he scales further peaks after this. Just like Virat Kohli, Pujara has to conquer England conditions to round it off (Pujara has done well in South Africa before; so that does not need conquering).

To me, he should be front runner for Man of the Series. His knock of 123 at Adelaide was just SO monumental for where India stand now. And yet again at MCG, his knock played a big difference in our victory.

Same here. I have been a Pujara supporter for the longest time and its great to see him justify his talent in such a brilliant fashion

Its not often that one can outscore Kohli in a series.

 

[Master Bates]

Tim Paine commenting that without Kohli and Pujara, India would also struggle.

We can compare Kohli with Smith but Pukara and Warner are way too different.