Indian Premier League - General Discussion

Thats the problem aint it with CSK? They pick all these discards and you gotta choose among the breadcrumbs... I know about Uthappa's running too, but his form as an opener is really good and as you said, he started doing better when he was given the opening spot. Considering that we will be at Wankhede, we need fast scorers at the top and the experience of Uthappa gave me feeling that he will do better. Also his camaraderie with MSD is something that I feel will work in CSK's favor because he will be in a comfort zone and if given his comfort of opening, I feel Uthappa might actually turn a corner for himself. Somehow I am not inspired by Rayudu at all to want to see him the CSK XI. If Uthappa and Faf/Rutu/Jaggi open for CSK, you can actually play Moeen in the middle and not have Rayudu.

This brings back to my thought that there is so many options right now that its very confusing as to the best XI for CSK... Hope Flemmo and MS put a lot of thought to it and pick the best one. All matters is it should fall in place.

There's a deeper issue at the helm. 99.9% of the folks underestimate the damage that was done to CSK with the Covid cases and I will say very bluntly that they were scapegoats minus RCB who were very committed to the covid cause. I don't give credit to those clowns unnecessarily.

This whole franchise thing can go to hell as far as I am concerned, because this whole tournament might be at stake. I said it when it happened that it was a bad idea for it to happen in India and I stick by it. Mumbai was clearly chosen as a location due to financial pressure and it is recording 50% of the cases.

At this point, as big a cricket fan as I am, it can go to hell because this sh!t soup is a tonic away from becoming a volcano of madness.
 

So for 6 yrs this bloke gets dumped for the auction, CSK throws some money his way and he is now claiming that he is ready for T20 cricket!

He was always ready for T20 cricket. The question was how much the franchises were willing to give a spot in their squads for a player like him who has to be batted at the top of the order in order the maximize his utility.

The reputation and importance of the "test technique" is eroding massively by the day. Nobody cares about it. The time when Virender Sehwag found success as a test cricketer was when the erosion of the importance of "test technique" got fast tracked. Now Rohit Sharma as a test opener continues that.... A Rishabh Pant finding/seeing better success than a Wriddhiman Saha further cements the death of the 'test technique'. In today's times, you can get away with average/poor test technique by playing by the laws of LUCK! And combine that with pitches that are getting flatter and flatter as the T20 generation gains strong foothold, players without the 'test technique' are starting to find easy success in test cricket of today. And the trolls will come out and roast those folks who lived in the era of the 'test technique' (yes I am pointing to the Pant fan @aitorita12 )

Sorry if the above rant sounded a little off topic, but it was related to above article, and I needed to get it off my chest...
 
He was always ready for T20 cricket. The question was how much the franchises were willing to give a spot in their squads for a player like him who has to be batted at the top of the order in order the maximize his utility.

The reputation and importance of the "test technique" is eroding massively by the day. Nobody cares about it. The time when Virender Sehwag found success as a test cricketer was when the erosion of the importance of "test technique" got fast tracked. Now Rohit Sharma as a test opener continues that.... A Rishabh Pant finding/seeing better success than a Wriddhiman Saha further cements the death of the 'test technique'. In today's times, you can get away with average/poor test technique by playing by the laws of LUCK! And combine that with pitches that are getting flatter and flatter as the T20 generation gains strong foothold, players without the 'test technique' are starting to find easy success in test cricket of today. And the trolls will come out and roast those folks who lived in the era of the 'test technique' (yes I am pointing to the Pant fan @aitorita12 )

Sorry if the above rant sounded a little off topic, but it was related to above article, and I needed to get it off my chest...

Hmm I do see the point youre making here. I have to agree with you here! Its as if the true test batsman has evolved in some way...

Pant is a Gilchrist or Viv for me though, its amazing to think what he can do when he reaches his peak.

Its a shame the cricket forum is lacking some discussion like this Sai.
 
He was always ready for T20 cricket. The question was how much the franchises were willing to give a spot in their squads for a player like him who has to be batted at the top of the order in order the maximize his utility.

The reputation and importance of the "test technique" is eroding massively by the day. Nobody cares about it. The time when Virender Sehwag found success as a test cricketer was when the erosion of the importance of "test technique" got fast tracked. Now Rohit Sharma as a test opener continues that.... A Rishabh Pant finding/seeing better success than a Wriddhiman Saha further cements the death of the 'test technique'. In today's times, you can get away with average/poor test technique by playing by the laws of LUCK! And combine that with pitches that are getting flatter and flatter as the T20 generation gains strong foothold, players without the 'test technique' are starting to find easy success in test cricket of today. And the trolls will come out and roast those folks who lived in the era of the 'test technique' (yes I am pointing to the Pant fan @aitorita12 )

Sorry if the above rant sounded a little off topic, but it was related to above article, and I needed to get it off my chest...
But isn't this the other away around?

I get the point the likes of Sehwag,Pant,Warner etc. have found success in Tests because of their aggressive batting combined with uncanny techniques.

But Pujara here is at the reversal he is proven test match player yet to prove or even showcase his skill in the shortest format of the game.

Last time he played IPL was in 2014 for Punjab and has high score of 50 at run a ball which is his overall strike rate 99.5 in the IPL.

So he is going to be playing the natural role of defensive batsmen for team ? Which is ideally gonna suit his playing style.
 
He was always ready for T20 cricket. The question was how much the franchises were willing to give a spot in their squads for a player like him who has to be batted at the top of the order in order the maximize his utility.

The reputation and importance of the "test technique" is eroding massively by the day. Nobody cares about it. The time when Virender Sehwag found success as a test cricketer was when the erosion of the importance of "test technique" got fast tracked. Now Rohit Sharma as a test opener continues that.... A Rishabh Pant finding/seeing better success than a Wriddhiman Saha further cements the death of the 'test technique'. In today's times, you can get away with average/poor test technique by playing by the laws of LUCK! And combine that with pitches that are getting flatter and flatter as the T20 generation gains strong foothold, players without the 'test technique' are starting to find easy success in test cricket of today. And the trolls will come out and roast those folks who lived in the era of the 'test technique' (yes I am pointing to the Pant fan @aitorita12 )

Sorry if the above rant sounded a little off topic, but it was related to above article, and I needed to get it off my chest...

Are you suggesting that pitches today are flat roads that suit batting? The last five years have produced some of the least amount of non weather affected draws and have been the one of the most bowler friendly in the history of cricket. We might see it change now due to teams discovering that tilting the bowling conditions too much in the direction of their strength only serves to negate their advantage but either every team has at least one ATG bowler in their XI or the current era has been bowler friendly.

Also, this purist idea of the ideal test technique can go die for all I care. We've had ludicrously aggressive cricketers in the past. Victor Trumper for one. There's a great many articles and books about him, some revering him to the position of most stylistic batsman ever. And yet, he has mostly performed much better on pitches that are non conducive to batting. One of his favourite shots was something similar to the Natmeg that Sciver plays so well. He is one of the most aggressive cricketers to have played. How many conventional shots do you think one can play and maintain such high scoring rates? Or is the burden of a proper 'test technique' only reserved for the contemporary cricketers that we happen to see?

The greatest batsman in history, Don Bradman himself had an unconventional technique very similar to Steve Smith. Chanderpaul had an ugly but effective technique himself. Is someone like him exempted because he wasn't aggressive?

Or maybe your entire post was tongue in cheek. In that case, my entire reply falls flat. :p
 
Are you suggesting that pitches today are flat roads that suit batting? The last five years have produced some of the least amount of non weather affected draws and have been the one of the most bowler friendly in the history of cricket. We might see it change now due to teams discovering that tilting the bowling conditions too much in the direction of their strength only serves to negate their advantage but either every team has at least one ATG bowler in their XI or the current era has been bowler friendly.

Also, this purist idea of the ideal test technique can go die for all I care. We've had ludicrously aggressive cricketers in the past. Victor Trumper for one. There's a great many articles and books about him, some revering him to the position of most stylistic batsman ever. And yet, he has mostly performed much better on pitches that are non conducive to batting. One of his favourite shots was something similar to the Natmeg that Sciver plays so well. He is one of the most aggressive cricketers to have played. How many conventional shots do you think one can play and maintain such high scoring rates? Or is the burden of a proper 'test technique' only reserved for the contemporary cricketers that we happen to see?

The greatest batsman in history, Don Bradman himself had an unconventional technique very similar to Steve Smith. Chanderpaul had an ugly but effective technique himself. Is someone like him exempted because he wasn't aggressive?

Or maybe your entire post was tongue in cheek. In that case, my entire reply falls flat. :p

I am also with @Bevab on this. Technique is nothing but perception. It is simply someone's perception that X has a good technique and Y has a poor one. Execution of one or the other is that individual's expression of the best way to get the best out of them.

In every generation/era there are examples of cricketers with 'poor techniques' who have done remarkably well. This whole "pitches are easy now" is just bollocks. Tests get over in two days even now and the LBW rule is much more of a mode of dismissal than it ever has been.
 
Devdutt has tested positive. But good news is that we already have an opening batsman as good as Devdutt. If Mohammad Azharuddin is already in playing 11, we have Rajat Patidar who can open with Kohli. Mind you, that bloke is a suprise package.

Devdutt/Rajat
Kohli
AB
Maxi
Azharuddin +
Christian
Sundar
Siraj
Saini
Jamieson/Richardson
Chahal

Christian is not a proven finisher in IPL, but still his recent form cannot be ignored. That's the best middle order I can imagine considering the bench strength. We could always have Harshal Patel come in for Siraj or Saini. Good thing is that Patel can bat.
 
While I agree with my friends here that all this talk of technique is overdone and overused, I think there are some basic tenets of technique which need to be there for a player to have long term success in all conditions. Head over ball and solid defense are not as important anymore and There will always be exceptions, but things like steady head, balance while hitting a shot can't just be binned. Also, temperament to play for longer durations and toughing it out and taking a few blows in tricky periods will never get old.

And temperament is not just needed for Tests. T20s present a different challenge when it comes to temperament. Using up more 5-6 deliveries to "get in" can prove the difference between a win and loss, silverware and runners up. Maybe that is what Pujara claims to have conquered recently. Excited to see him play in IPL and hope he succeeds (but definitely not at the cost of his Test Form)
 
Restrictions have been placed here in Mumbai and weekends will go under complete lockdown as per the notification. I feel matches must anyhow be shifted out of the State of Maharashtra.
 

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