India tour of Australia Nov'20-Jan'21

I would be surprised if Shaw actually plays in the first game given how mentally short of confidence he is with a glaring weakness in his technique. I see us going with Rohit and Mayank as it was the original 'first choice' pairing before the former's injury on the NZ tour. If Rohit is not fit, it will be Rahul opening. Not a fan of either options though, Hazlewood must probably be grinning at the sight of either one of them walking to the crease.

I think it is wonderful that Kohli is getting his paternity leave, social media trolls be damned. If it were not for this being a prestigious overseas tour with Test Championship points in play, he may have opted to skip it entirely I guess. I also agree with the suggestion of making Rahane the captain for the entire tour given Kohli's absence later on. I am skeptical of the former's own spot in the side but he was crucial in the Dharamshala victory as a captain, so maybe captaincy could spur him on to recognize that his best format is test cricket right now? Any calls for Rohit to be made the captain should be shut down, he wasn't even secure of his spot in the side due to fitness and now he is to be made the captain?

It is a shame that Saha's injured as Pant's keeping in recent games has been a bit sketchy. Even when he was making errors in Indian colours, his keeping at Delhi was spot on for the most part. Hope he can work on that fitness issue of his. The rest of the team probably picks itself.

  1. Mayank
  2. Rohit (I don't feel anyone is a good option here unless Shaw improves in which case he slots in. If Rohit can wait on the good balls and play the short stuff once they start he is our best bet)
  3. Pujara (all hopes rest on him)
  4. Kohli/Rahul (I agree with having him in at four if he is to play, his playing style at the moment is more suited towards a middle order role. That way he can be shielded from the new ball)
  5. Rahane (please prove me wrong)
  6. Vihari/Jadeja (A bit torn here, I feel like Jadeja is good enough with the bat to play at seven if needed and his bowling support to Ashwin and to rest one of the pacers is crucial given that this is our first test series in a long time after a period of no cricket)
  7. Pant
  8. Ashwin/Jadeja (Ashwin would be my first choice but if he is unfit, Jadeja should play. No need for Ashwin at less than a hundred percent)
  9. Ishant/Siraj (no spray gun Umesh please. I can already picture Warner, Labu and Smudge waiting every over on his leg-side delivery to get runs)
  10. Shami
  11. Bumrah

Gill is obviously a wildcard that can be slotted anywhere in this side. Also hope that Shreyas Iyer is added to the team with Kohli leaving. My main concern is his susceptibility to the short ball but when he bats in the middle order I hope it isn't that huge of an issue. An average of 52 with a strike-rate of 81 in first-class cricket is bonkers and even if his only recent FC experience was in the Irani Trophy, I think he deserves a chance. May even have him in at five and Rahane at four if Rahul fares poorly. Another alternative would be to push Rahane, Vihari and Pant one up with Jadeja at seven but that would be too risky even for our current Random Team Generator XI.
 
Bevab said:
  1. Mayank
  2. Rohit (I don't feel anyone is a good option here unless Shaw improves in which case he slots in. If Rohit can wait on the good balls and play the short stuff once they start he is our best bet)
  3. Pujara (all hopes rest on him)
  4. Kohli/Rahul (I agree with having him in at four if he is to play, his playing style at the moment is more suited towards a middle order role. That way he can be shielded from the new ball)
  5. Rahane (please prove me wrong)
  6. Vihari/Jadeja (A bit torn here, I feel like Jadeja is good enough with the bat to play at seven if needed and his bowling support to Ashwin and to rest one of the pacers is crucial given that this is our first test series in a long time after a period of no cricket)
  7. Pant
  8. Ashwin/Jadeja (Ashwin would be my first choice but if he is unfit, Jadeja should play. No need for Ashwin at less than a hundred percent)
  9. Ishant/Siraj (no spray gun Umesh please. I can already picture Warner, Labu and Smudge waiting every over on his leg-side delivery to get runs)
  10. Shami
  11. Bumrah
Click to expand...

With Kohli not in the mix for 75% of the test series, I would rather opt for Vihari over Jadeja and rely on Vihari's part time off spin for the fifth bowling duties. Vihari is more solid and possesses better technique than Jadeja. I would get in Jadeja only if the pitch is going to be a true spinners track (not sure if Australia would give us such a track this time)
 
SaiSrini said:
With Kohli not in the mix for 75% of the test series, I would rather opt for Vihari over Jadeja and rely on Vihari's part time off spin for the fifth bowling duties. Vihari is more solid and possesses better technique than Jadeja. I would get in Jadeja only if the pitch is going to be a true spinners track (not sure if Australia would give us such a track this time)
Click to expand...
As far as the recent years are concerned, we would mostly be playing on drop-ins so I don't expect the ball to seam around except for the D/N Test in Adelaide. Yes, Gabba is quick and a bouncy track but let us not forget the increasing heat in the Australian summer so it would most probably dry out till India plays over there. So, I would rather have Jadeja and Vihari together. I think we've done this mistake on our last tour to Australia where Vihari was the only spinner we played and we lost that match since Nathan Lyon got around 10 wickets in the match. I would rather want to play this line-up in Kohli's absence

1. Mayank
2. Rohit / KL Rahul / Prithvi Shaw (I rate neither of them being a match winner for Tests)
3. Pujara (don't ever keep him out)
4. Rahane (in Kohli's absence there is no choice but to move him up)
5. Vihari (I think he has played quite a few times on this position in First Class)
6. Pant (Probably the only Keeper in the squad who has performed previously)
7. Jadeja (He should somehow get a go initially)
8. Ashwin (He did perform brilliantly the last time around and him playing with Jadeja strengthens our bowling)
9. Shami
10. Ishant (if fit)/ Umesh
11. Bumrah

Btw is Saini available for the Tests? If yes then just give him a go instead for Umesh. He has actually improved a lot in recent times and definitely deserves chances.
 
Australia’s new T20 jersey!!

A3CC3572-998D-41DF-876E-5849F0F0AC34.jpeg
 
Good to see them taking steps slowly towards embracing their historically local populace's culture.
 
While the paternity leave for Kohli is wonderful, I dont think it addresses the player's well being issue. This works because Kohli the batsman has his placed book in the lineup.

Imagine if this was not an A grade cricketer like Kohli but someone like Vihari - would he be able to take the risk of going on a paternity leave and still be ensured of a place in the squad 3 weeks later, if his replacement performed and took his chances. Would he be drafted into the playing XI ? Step in the right direction, but still a long way to go
 
Is it true that India will don retro Jersey in this series
 
News coming out that Bumrah and Shami will be given adequate rest during the T20's and maybe even the ODI series, so that they are kept fresh and firing for the test series that we will play without Kohli (for 75% of the series).

This is actually good news! With the next T20 World Cup in India, Bumrah and Shami will have all the time in the world (esp. during IPL 2021) to get themselves ready for it. And the T20 series on this tour will be an awesome opportunity for the likes of Natarajan, Saini and Deepak Chahar to impress against the Australians in their own backyard. Its a display of our riches that the backup to Bumrah and Shami is AS GOOD as the frontliners themselves.
 
I really hope India settles on the 92 jerseys. By far the best design and colour. But, simplicity is a rare thing in today's day and age and I expect them to revert to all the flashy blue and neon orange eye sore stuff soon.
 
There are now rumours of Rohit Sharma missing the tour entirely due to fitness concerns and Shreyas Iyer being his replacement. Apparently the former is fit enough to play in the IPL but cannot recover in time from whatever mysterious ailment he has to play later? :rolleyes

I do like the inclusion of Shreyas in the team though. Mentioned it earlier that he is perhaps the best batsman in our domestic setup to not get a FC game so long despite a hugely prolific Ranji season and a volume of runs that would mean automatic inclusion a few years ago. His weakness versus short ball will be ruthlessly exposed on Aussie pitches though so I'm not sure if this would be the right timing for him to make an instantaneous impact. In the absence of Kohli though, might be worth giving him a game and hope he makes a similar impact to Mayank the last time we toured.
 
Bevab said:
Apparently the former is fit enough to play in the IPL
Click to expand...
Well if Ambanis can allow Saurabh Tiwary to play a match, playing Rohit even at 50% fitness won't be an issue for them.


Which is not the case for Team India. Under the Kohli regime, fitness is the number one priority.
We have seen players like Shami who was predominantly not known for his fitness, work on that and see the results it is giving him now.

Even Shastri realised this and he isn't a couch potato anymore. :p

Leave match fitness, the first hurdle for Rohit will be to clear the yo-yo test, which he has issues with in the past too.
IPL doesn't demand yo-yo, the franchise just wants you to go all out and play.
But national team does.

Moreover, IPL was a 4 hour match. Tests are a 5 day matter.
 
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