India tour of Australia Nov'20-Jan'21

[SaiSrini]

Not a good start for India in this test match, seeing the way Pant dropped those chances. The highlight of India's dominance at MCG relied on their improved catching from the Adelaide test. I wish India have not taken the MCG win to their heads. They still have lots of work to do in this series and losing the series and the BG trophy from here would make the MCG win amount to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

I am not saying Pant should not have been picked (to Pant's credit, Saha failed to grab his chances and we're way past the generation of specialist keepers anymore where we would rather stop playing test cricket than to play a specialist wicketkeeper)

 

[abhi_jacko]

They still have lots of work to do in this series and losing the series and the BG trophy from here would make the MCG win amount to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

In context of ICC Test Championship though an overseas win or draw (even in a lost series) is still very valuable - valuable points to be had with NZ and ENG breathing down our necks

Hope SL beat Eng and they drop further points

 

[SaiSrini]

In context of ICC Test Championship though an overseas win or draw (even in a lost series) is still very valuable - valuable points to be had with NZ and ENG breathing down our necks

Hope SL beat Eng and they drop further points

Oh... do people really care about the WTC after the COVID year that just passed us by? To me, it does not matter if India fails to make it to that so-called WTC final.

It will take a lot of time for importance over the WTC to percolate among the public/fans.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Oh... do people really care about the WTC after the COVID year that just passed us by? To me, it does not matter if India fails to make it to that so-called WTC final.

It will take a lot of time for importance over the WTC to percolate among the public/fans.

No idea about people, but I am still tracking the table. Despite all its obvious scoring flaws, I feel it is a very interesting concept and hope it succeeds. Definitely puts more value on every Test. An upset here or there can ruin your chances to make it the the finals, which is quite exciting. And its a close fight amongst the top 4 teams right now

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Well, he was the highlight of the day from our side, so he is going to be the talking point. Just like average keeping comes as a package with Pant, the brickbats come as a package with all the limelight of being an international Indian cricketer. The Indian management is probably quite aware of the same, so I hope they can shield Pant's peace of mind. Here is praying that he can do something special in this Test and make up for those two pretty significant lapses today.

He is not an average keeper. He is a very good one. It takes a lot to keep in a test match. And I want to ask these experts how many catches Saha dropped in the first test and how much we have spoken about it?

His lapses yielded 30 odd runs more. Hardly a big deal in a test match. Not saying he shouldn't improve. 100% you are right. But I think the way people go after him is pathetic.[DOUBLEPOST=1610040490][/DOUBLEPOST]

Oh... do people really care about the WTC after the COVID year that just passed us by? To me, it does not matter if India fails to make it to that so-called WTC final.

It will take a lot of time for importance over the WTC to percolate among the public/fans.

I care a damn about the WTC. Like the ICC rankings. Like that team of the decade.

The world cups are the only thing I care about with the ICC.

 

[SaiSrini]

No idea about people, but I am still tracking the table. Despite all its obvious scoring flaws, I feel it is a very interesting concept and hope it succeeds. Definitely puts more value on every Test. An upset here or there can ruin your chances to make it the the finals, which is quite exciting. And its a close fight amongst the top 4 teams right now

2020 showed why a test championship is not a great option. The thing with an ICC World Cup is, its a single tournament, a spectacle that decides a champion in a matter of a month. That month can shift to any time (like how the T20 World Cup shifted due to COVID). But when you give bilateral series test matches points which then culminate into a WTC final, a lot of factors (e.g. COVID, political situations, etc.) can dilute individual series and thereby render it useless. Didn't the ICC scrape off quite a bit of series to ensure that the WTC final happens next year? Already it was flawed, COVID worsened it.

Just my view. If India enter the WTC final and/or win it, I'll be happy but if they don't, it doesn't bother me. My view!

 

[asprin]

Good recovery there from India by restricting Australia to 338. As expected, Smith is back among the runs and so is Marnus.

The downside was that the last 4 wickets managed to add 83 runs (even though most of it was from Starc and Smith). I wonder how much of an effect that would have in the 2nd innings.

India had a made good start, so let's hope they can continue on that.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Was Dying to post on this thread - but the site was being updated so had to wait.

Good comeback this from India.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

The thing with an ICC World Cup is, its a single tournament, a spectacle that decides a champion in a matter of a month.

there will be an icc odi championship as well

 

[abhi_jacko]

He is not an average keeper. He is a very good one. It takes a lot to keep in a test match. And I want to ask these experts how many catches Saha dropped in the first test and how much we have spoken about it?

His lapses yielded 30 odd runs more. Hardly a big deal in a test match. Not saying he shouldn't improve. 100% you are right. But I think the way people go after him is pathetic.

C'mon. Those lapses might have yielded just 30 odd runs but there were many other MAJOR impacts of it, if you watched the innings - it completely changed the momentum of the game. Scoring got faster. Ashwin was denied his confidence boosting early wicket and got hit quite a lot. And by the time Steve Smith came, the score was 106/2 which gave him the freedom to attack v/s if he had walked out at 50/2 with Ashwin getting a wicket.

Not saying Pant should be vilified for this, but its not surprising to see him being the talk of the day because that drop was very significant in what followed. His 30 run cameo was fairly important in shifting the momentum in our favor in the second Test. He is an impact player - just needs to make sure, the impact he makes is more positive than negative

 

[abhi_jacko]

Sharma Ji getting a bit restless against Lyon

 

[MattyMan26]

Starting to be annoying watching Marnus bat.Is it just me or is Marnus more worried about making hand gestures as to what the ball is doing rather then play his natural game? Thoughts!?

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Sharma ji gets another life

Honestly it wasn't a great decision. More like the umpire went with the appeal of players.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Sharma ji gets another life

Honestly it wasn't a great decision. More like the umpire went with the appeal of players.

Third umpiring has been superb this game

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

What a poor shot after grinding it out. This is the Rohit Sharma we know.