India's tour of Australia - December/January 2015

[LiveLoveABD]

Things looked good when Aus were 5 down lead at just 263. Insanity stuck after that. What do you think guys, an over night declaration? Or will Smith lose his balls again?

I'm pretty sure the right play is to declare after using the heavy roller, as Rahul Dravid suggested. However, I would guess the Aussies are a bit worried about the Virat Kohli factor.

 

[namin96]

Things looked good when Aus were 5 down lead at just 263. Insanity stuck after that. What do you think guys, an over night declaration? Or will Smith lose his balls again?

They probably won't declare overnight, Smith just doesn't have balls. We saw that in the last match as well. Michael Clarke would have declared overnight but I don't think they'll declare. Smith will make a stupid decision and make the game boring instead of giving this series an exciting finish where all three results could be possible at the end of the day. I seriously hate is captaincy for this, he isn't aggressive like Clarke.

 

[namin96]

i personally feel rahanae is more similar to srt, kohli is way too wristy almost like rubber arms, and is often limited to flick drive pull, SRT will play wide range of shots rahane is more like that, especially back foot punches, more than that kohli is more of a precision player than looking great, i would say rahanae 140 at mcg, 96 in durban lords 126 were as good as kohli's knock in terms of knock though the situations were different, all of them are at the start of their career so its hard to judge, but my pick is rahanae will rank better in the long run.[DOUBLEPOST=1420761471][/DOUBLEPOST]kohli needs break management..he needs to learn from the opposition players. all his dismissals come after a break and are pretty soft.

I see how you are saying Rahane is more similar to SRT. All the Indian batsman are too wristy, which is the main reason why they play spin so well. SRT was wristy as well and we saw that when he played the spinners. I think Rahane and Kohli have the best stroke play on the Indian team. Kohli can play off the backfoot but he plays mostly off the front foot. I personally think Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, and Rahul can be successful if they keep up with their work. I really think we have a world class batting lineup, the best, it's been better than Australia this series but we find ourselves down 0-2 because of our bowling and a little bad luck I guess too.

 

[greymatter776]

Really disappointed with our bowling.It was good aggression from India and Australia but our seam bowlers were too ordinary.Especially Umesh Yadav.Looking at how much he is capable,he was far more than disappointing.

 

[Ohm]

India toured Australia, not to win really coz we have shite bowlers and opponent has home advantage alongside 3 extra players in their favor. This match is certainly heading for a draw, and I'm not guessing, I know. I feel we could have won the first test, but 'Sydney 08' replay and shocking turn overs lost it. I'm happy that how our best batsmen's era has been growing and improved, and that's been displayed from this series. I still think it's 1-1(2-0 aus nah!) since our new grown batting lineup is capable to hold and push it for a draw tomorrow.

 

[abhi_jacko]

I would be really surprised if Smith doesn't declare overnight. Lyon will be more than a handful on this wicket on the fifth day. And they are already 2-0 up in the series. There is literally nothing to gain by not declaring - last match there was enough to lose to go for a defensive declaration - Smith's first home series as captain, he wouldn't want to give India a sniff.

The only worrying thing was him accepting the draw with 4 overs left in the day. That was pretty damn ridiculous

 

[SaiSrini]

It would be really funny if Smith thinks India have a chance here. We gave 12 to Lyon at Adelaide. There is nothing that has happened to suggest that the same thing cannot happen again. Yes, the Kohli factor is there, but seriously the series has been won and even a victory for India here is not going to change that. Might as well make the match entertaining for the public. Yes, India will feel a lot better if they win this match (which they dont deserve to win having the kind of bowlers that they have), but seriously Smith should not be worrying about all that.

Expecting an overnight declaration. On the Indians, bad reading of the wicket by Kohli. An extra spinner could have made a lot of difference here. Having Karn Sharma and Akshar Patel in the sidelines when a pitch is playing like this is seriously ridiculous.

 

[abhi_jacko]

bad reading of the wicket by Kohli. An extra spinner could have made a lot of difference here. Having Karn Sharma and Akshar Patel in the sidelines when a pitch is playing like this is seriously ridiculous.

True. That's what I was thinking. The case is strengthened when we consider how horrible our "pacers" have been in the last 3 games.

At the same time, I think Ashwin should have contribute a lot more with the ball than he did. It was the ideal wicket for him. The 4 wickets are commendable, an economy of 5.52 is unacceptable for a frontline spinner in friendly conditions

I dont think I would be wrong in saying, in-form Kumble or Bhajji would have run through this lineup on this wicket.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Also to note: Saha has been very disappointing as a keeper. He is supposed to be one of the best keepers in the country. But he missed two MASSIVE chances - Watson (run out) and Burns (stumping).

 

[Epic]

True. That's what I was thinking. The case is strengthened when we consider how horrible our "pacers" have been in the last 3 games.

At the same time, I think Ashwin should have contribute a lot more with the ball than he did. It was the ideal wicket for him. The 4 wickets are commendable, an economy of 5.52 is unacceptable for a frontline spinner in friendly conditions

I dont think I would be wrong in saying, in-form Kumble or Bhajji would have run through this lineup on this wicket.

Only thing I will say on this is when Ashwin did build pressure from 1 end, Yadav would bowl a 15 run over from the other end, it's hard to hold down batsmen from just 1 end, I turned the game off around the time he was going at 4 or so an over and even that's high, so not sure what exactly happened after the stumping miss on Burns.

Unless we properly back Ashwin though he is not going to get anywhere, you brought up Kumble and in his first tour of Australia he averaged 90 with the ball in 99/00 in 3 Tests, but he improved on the following tour in 03/04 having consistently played overseas in other countries leading up to the that tour, we simply haven't given Ashwin that by ridiculously benching him in Johannesburg, through out the New Zealand tour, the 3 Tests in England at Nottingham, Lord's and Southampton, then continued the trend by again dropping him at Adelaide after looking good in the 2 Tests that he did play in England, all places barring the New Zealand tour where the opposition's main spinner turned the ball. Insanity.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Ashwin was made to go through this very confusing phase where, IMO, he was given poor advice from the management regarding his role in the bowling line up. Instead of branding him the lead spinner, which he should be - he was asked to play restrictive roles overseas. "Hold up one end instead of going for wickets"

I don't think the management instilled that faith in him, which is why he went through that horrid phase of bowling flat and fast; trying a million variations instead of making his top spinner lethal and working on getting more revs on the ball.

Result: part-timer Jadeja started outperforming him at home/overseas, and playing both the wicket-taking and restrictive role better than Ashwin. That is why he would get benched in favor of "pacers" as Jadeja had become the more attractive spin option overseas.

Last couple of series, he seems to have gotten his mojo back. He just needs to be backed and given more responsibility - that buddy 'when our pacers fail you form the first line of offense and the team expects wickets from you. 2/75 in 20 overs is better than 0/40'

 

[Epic]

If Jadeja can develop his batting to a 40-ish average at Test level like he is capable of at FC level, he'd be a great #6 and to bowl in tandem with Ashwin overseas, his control and accuracy is what we missed from the other end yesterday.

On the roles of what's expected of your lone spinner overseas, you've simply got to be able to do both, hold up an end when called upon and attack when necessary, both of which Ashwin has proved capable of doing in this very Test, but when your pacers are as atrocious as ours have been in this Test (and series in general), your best bowler simply has to attack and that's Ashwin for us.

 

[_Sam_]

Declaration.

I don't think even Clarke would have declared overnight in the previous test, he probably even gave his thoughts on it to Smith.

 

[shravi]

If Jadeja can develop his batting to a 40-ish average at Test level like he is capable of at FC level, he'd be a great #6 and to bowl in tandem with Ashwin overseas, his control and accuracy is what we missed from the other end yesterday..

he's not going to do that. but if he can average around 27-32 with the bat, and around 35 with the ball, he'll be very useful imo. and that's more realistic.

 

[Epic]

he's not going to do that. but if he can average around 27-32 with the bat, and around 35 with the ball, he'll be very useful imo. and that's more realistic.

I know I was reaching there lol, to me though ever since Jadeja broke on to the scene I've always had this notion that his batting was better than his bowling and over the years that has changed, he's kind of the antithesis to Steve Smith now, both players are obviously focusing on one side of the game more than the other (Smith more so) and it's really rare that a player develops to being a 40-ish average with the bat and 30-ish average with the ball level all-rounder, but it'd be quite extraordinary if Jadeja could. That said, if Jadeja met your criteria for an all-rounder, I'd be happy as well, given I imagine him playing together with Ashwin who's already at that level now.