India tour of Australia Nov'20-Jan'21

[NILAYSHAH60]

If Bumrah is fit would it be wise enough to play an all out pace attack for Gabba? I don't quite remember a spinner having any impact over here in my recent memory.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

If Bumrah is fit would it be wise enough to play an all out pace attack for Gabba? I don't quite remember a spinner having any impact over here in my recent memory.

Are you suggesting that Aussies should not let Lyon play his 100th test in Gabba?

 

[LiveLoveABD]

If Bumrah is fit would it be wise enough to play an all out pace attack for Gabba? I don't quite remember a spinner having any impact over here in my recent memory.

Not at all. You need one spinner to break the sameness. Forget Brisbane, I wouldn't play an all pace attack even in the old Perth.

At the risk of repeating myself, India's main players are Jadeja, then Bumrah and then Pandya. It has been fashionable to brand Kohli as the be all and end all but the reality is that he's not even in the top 3 indispensable members of the squad.

We will miss that 7th batter and 5th bowler in Jadeja and because there's so much inexperience and no seam bowling batter around, we need to go with 6 batters, a keeper and 4 bowlers.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Are you suggesting that Aussies should not let Lyon play his 100th test in Gabba?

They would certainly play Lyon at the Gabba. But since Ashwin would be playing even in the England series at home which is a 5-match series I would be a little worried about him breaking down in this series and hence costing our chances in the England series. And playing Kuldeep at Gabba won't be a wise decision seeing the way he has performed in pacer friendly conditions. But as @LiveLoveABD says we need to have different variety in our bowling it would be a little to risky to play an all out pace attack. Also MSD as Captain once tried this all out pace attack strategy in Perth back in 2011/11 tour which proved to be a disaster in the end. So yes we need to have a spinner and it would be Ashwin most probably. He has already played a match at the Gabba back in 2014 so that experience would help him a bit.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

It has been fashionable to brand Kohli as the be all and end all but the reality is that he's not even in the top 3 indispensable members of the squad.

I would've disagreed if this was year 2018 when he was batting on a different level. But as of now this is the truth.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I'm just so chuffed! Kohli has had a healthy baby girl btw and Anushka is fine. What a day!

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Expectations hurt...

Australia showed real grit and determination to hold on for a draw.

 

[Aalay]

I love this team. I went to sleep thinking we will lose, considering we had to bat 36 overs in the last session. However, Ash and Vihari did extremely well to draw this game in the last session. As I said in my previous post, I have thoroughly enjoyed this team's character in the test series after getting all out for 36 in the first test.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ok, now I am up. I thought that was a dream and it isnt. Wow! Stayed up till 2.30 last night to watch everything that Australia had to offer and how India played. Now that I am a bit relaxed after loosing all my nails and some hair, I can say those who under estimated us will never do that. One thing India should definitely consider is playing test matches at the end of the our and start with limited over format. Had we played the tests later in the New Zealand series, we would have been better acclimatized. Not the result would have been different, we would have seen India give a better fight.

On this match, wow! I actually saw the entire 4th innings and when Gill and Sharma were batting for that opening wicket, I felt really positive. Rohit Sharma was looking good and Gill looked his normal self. I however was upset with Gill and Sharma when they took that review for Gill's wicket. They both knew he had edged and we lost a review which could have been important. Cummins did look threatening when he started the spell but eventually got lost when he had nothing going for him. Pujara was at his best and he had already shown the intent in the first innings. Rahane was unfortunate in both the innings as he got a jaffa of a delivery. Promoting Pant up the order and giving him the freedom he has been looking for was a top notch move by the captain and the management, full credit to them. Hanuma Vihari, the man of the moment who is the talk of the town now played a gritty guarding role. His this inning he has showed how good of a batsman he is but I know he was injured, Ashwin was injured, we could have still tried getting closer and closer to the target. Ashwin played such a good know and showed how good he can get with his batting if he decides to just work on it and play it seriously. Eventually only 70 runs were needed. This was our best opportunity to retain the BG trophy. Gabba wicket plus loads of injuries might prevent us from retaining it. I however will take this result as if someone told me at the start of the day that India will draw the match despite having Jadeja and Pant being injured, I would have been the happiest Indian fan.

This team has shown so much character, so much determination. Also we should also give credit to Virat Kohli who has played a role in getting this team this tough. On the sledging, well Paine learnt his lesson the hard way. Less talk more catching should have been his motto. His captaincy was atrocious and have not seen a worst Australia fielding unit as this. The DRS reviews he took, the constant banter, the unnecessary throw of the balls, all bite the Aussies back in their a**.

Onto the next test, lot of chatter about how India cannot do good at Gabba since its a wicket for quick. I say, if any team can do good, its this team. Lets hope we continue to give Aussies a great fight in the last test match. Even if the result wont go in our favor, we all know we would still be happy.

 

[CerealKiller]

What role do you guys think Rahane's captaincy has played?

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

What role do you guys think Rahane's captaincy has played?

I feel the most important part of his captaincy is letting the players be themselves. He has allowed the players to bat, bowl and field with complete freedom without being judged or reprimanded. He himself is short on runs and knows how important it is to have confidence and backing of the management.

For the next test based on current injury status we should play the following lineup

1. Mayank Agarwal - feel bad for him to come back on a pitch that will help the bowlers.
2. Rohit Sharma - Swinging and seaming conditions - he will be a walking wicket too.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Shuman Gill
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Rishabh Pant
7. Ravi Ashwin
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Navdeep Saini
11. Mohammad Siraj

If Vihari is fit we can go with

1. Shubman Gill
2. Rohit Sharma
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Ajinkya Rahane
5. Rishabh Pant
6. Hanuma Vihari
7. Wridhiman Saha
8. Ravi Ashwin
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Navdeep Saini
11. Mohammad Siraj

Vihari can give us few overs of spin.

Oh if Bumrah, Pant, Vihari, Ashwin are not fit and do not play the next match this is the lineup we are looking at

1. Mayank Agarwal
2. Prithvi Shaw
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Shubman Gill
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Rohit Sharma
7. Wridhiman Saha
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Navdeep Saini
10. Mohammad Siraj
11. T Natarajan/Shardul Thakar

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I feel the most important part of his captaincy is letting the players be themselves. He has allowed the players to bat, bowl and field with complete freedom without being judged or reprimanded. He himself is short on runs and knows how important it is to have confidence and backing of the management.

For the next test based on current injury status we should play the following lineup

1. Mayank Agarwal - feel bad for him to come back on a pitch that will help the bowlers.
2. Rohit Sharma - Swinging and seaming conditions - he will be a walking wicket too.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Shuman Gill
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Rishabh Pant
7. Ravi Ashwin
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Navdeep Saini
11. Mohammad Siraj

If Vihari is fit we can go with

1. Shubman Gill
2. Rohit Sharma
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Ajinkya Rahane
5. Rishabh Pant
6. Hanuma Vihari
7. Wridhiman Saha
8. Ravi Ashwin
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Navdeep Saini
11. Mohammad Siraj

Vihari can give us few overs of spin.

Oh if Bumrah, Pant, Vihari, Ashwin are not fit and do not play the next match this is the lineup we are looking at

1. Mayank Agarwal
2. Prithvi Shaw
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Shubman Gill
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Rohit Sharma
7. Wridhiman Saha
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Navdeep Saini
10. Mohammad Siraj
11. T Natarajan/Shardul Thakar

I'd probably play Vikram Rathore ahead of Prithvi Shaw at the moment.

Rohit played really well in this test and while it's tough supporting him, I hope he answers his critics soon. He is not a walking wicket. We can have a technical argument on this if you have one.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I'd probably play Vikram Rathore ahead of Prithvi Shaw at the moment.

Rohit played really well in this test and while it's tough supporting him, I hope he answers his critics soon. He is not a walking wicket. We can have a technical argument on this if you have one.

You can play Ravi Shastri as well but will you? Talk practically. We wont go with 5 bowlers if the third lineup is to be played, so only remaining member if Shaw does not play is Natarajan or Thakur. I feel with Covid, we should really take a large pool of players overseas. 4-5 opening batsman, 7-10 middle order players, 3 all rounders, 7-10 bowlers. BCCI can afford 30 men squad for sure.

 

[SaiSrini]

Amazing!! These boys have made the fans of this team so proud... Pant's knock was special, but Pujara's knock was criminally underrated and super special. And that final fight from Vihari and Ashwin was STUNNING!! Ashwin's constant guidance to an injured Vihari in Tamil "take it 10 balls at a time" was superb (never knew Vihari could understand Tamil)!!! And Ashwin's classic roast of Tim Paine "you visit us in India for a series; that will be your last series" was a damn mass riposte to Paine.

Australia's gamesmanship this game is absolutely ridiculous. Paine, Smith, Marnus, etc. have seriously shown themselves in bad light. That incident of Smith trying to erase Pant's batting guard - what the heck!! They thought they could pull down this Indian side since Kohli went back home? Hope they got the shock of their lives seeing the results of these last two tests.

Agarwal
Sharma
Pujara
Gill
Rahane
Pant
Saha
Ashwin (his fitness is tapering off as I expected and he will want to play the 4th test but I would rest him for Kuldeep because without Jadeja he will be needed against England)
Saini
Siraj
Bumrah

Obviously, this is assuming Vihari is unfit and Bumrah is fit.

Perfect. I agree that Pant should play as a pure batsman for Brisbane and Saha should be the 7th batsman. Social media is calling for Shardul, but we dont need the extra bowler in Brisbane and we need an extra bat. I know Saha has not taken his chances, but he is a better bet than Prithvi Shaw.

I would actually open with Gill and Mayank in Brisbane. Not confident of Rohit's abilities on a spicy pitch. He should move down. Both Rohit and Mayank can be disastrous on a spicy pitch.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Not sure if this has been posted already, but...