~snip~
@JSRAW now England are 107 down for 5 wickets, and Stokes too is back in the pavilion but it looks like Pope and Buttler are trying to score some runs and get England back in the game. Also if this is the trailer for the series then it looks like Australia will be winning the series easily, and I’m kinda disappointed because of the way England player’s gave up their wickets. Poor display of batting but you have to appreciate the fact that Poms are excellent at 5D Chess, so far they successfully denied the 400th test wicket to Bald Lyon. He was at 399 wicket last year but still waiting for his 400th scalp. ------ Meanwhile Bangbros are $ucked up royally. They had to score 110-ish runs to avoid follow on but lol
Edit 2 different matches and we are witnessing epic collapse every where. Hope Indian fans now realize that why we need more Pujara-Vihari kind of players in the Test cricket. |
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And here we go again... 20/3 England top order doing what they do best, get the hell out from the pitch asap but this time no heroic inning from the poor Rooty. Terrible start for the English, now all eyes on Stokes. Warne is Aussie version of Sanju Manju.  |
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If blacks are inferior in cricket, then how come the West Indies team dominated test cricket scene for many decades? The issue in South Africa and Zimbabwe is different. Cricket is being seen as a relic of colonial hangover, and blacks are not interested in this sport as much as the whites. This is the real reason why the cricket board came up with the quotas. Have you ever thought why they don't need quota for the South African football team?
Not disagreeing with your "Relic of colonial" reasoning but i feel i should add one more important point. There is also privileged-non privileged narrative deeply ingrained in the South African society, which dominates literally every single argument as far as their cricketing quota system goes. |
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Does that surprise you? Its happening everywhere when it comes to crypto and tech industry. Be it media house or independent journalists, everyone spilling shit about almost everything and on many occasion they don't even bother to quote someone correctly. Sometime it feels like some kind of extortion tactics. |
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England squad for the first test (8th Dec). No word on Aussie. 
Proteas full squad against India for 3 tests. Uff Scary combination of Rabada-Nortje. India might announce their full squad tomorrow. 
The way Bangladesh is performing in tests, it seems that they really want their test status to revoke asap. Saw highlights and fuck, Couple of dismissal were really bad, looked like they were playing T-20. And what's happening with Shakib vs BCB fight over test cricket tours? Is he really throwing tantrum like teenagers? |
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Lol England recently got thrashed in 2 back to back series by Kiwis and Indians at their own backyard (Eng vs Ind series is not finished but India is leading 2-1, should have been 3-1 but rain saved the England in the first test). Not to mention Poms were humiliated in the India couple of months back.
In white ball cricket they do have ridiculous team, they can even field 2 different teams in limited overs but they seems doomed as far as test cricket is concern. Poor Root is doing all heavy lifting for them.
Well... I have to agree. England performs poorly in test cricket when compared to the limited overs variety. On the other hand, Australia is one level ahead, when it comes to the longer format. Their players always perform the best in test, and especially so during Ashes. While I feel that England is having the upper hand due to the recent form, they will be digging their own grave in case they ignore the challenge. And as you said, they are a bit overdependent on Joe Root, similar to the case when Australia depended on Smith during the previous series. Only benefit England could claim over Australia is that they have international match practice. Australia played their last series against India, on the other hand England has played almost 4 test series. Both team are vulnerable but Australia looks more balanced team to me. England's new opener Haseeb is good, more like Pujara so i'm expecting few good knocks from him. Stokes addition might help their middle order along with Root. Burns, Malan, Buttler are miss or hit for their team, in last 1-2 years they looked even worst batters to me. Bad news for Root if he comes to bat at 20/2 every time, that's a English scorecard since 3-4 years. Btw There is no Jofra and they are resting Jimmy for the first test. English bowlers are good. ----------------- For Australia Smith-Marnus duo is key but if by any chance Warner gets into the form then they are set to pile up loads of runs. Based on Sheffield performance Oz middle order doesn't look that bad when comparing to England. For bowling point of view i hope they rotate their fast bowlers. Playing 5 back to back test is very hard for the fast bowlers, they might ran out juice till they reach 4th-5th match, we have witnessed this from the Australian bowlers when they were up against Indians.
Note : Guys would be better if we move this discussion into test thread. |
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~snip~
And it will surely gonna continue for a long time as india has the most complete test side. It is not easy to beat India in test matches even in away conditions, they have beaten Australia in Australia and England in England and when it comes to india it is nearly impossible to beat india in India. Because no need In the world right now play spin that well and dont have quality spinners in their side as well. Only because Indian lower order and especially Spin bowlers Jadeja-Ashwin performed exceptionally well with ball and bat, recent addition is Axar patel. Atm only Pakistan seems only contender to give India some sort of competition in subcontinent condition as they do have some world class batsmen, they are also very good at playing spin although they didn't face any quality spin since the era of Harbhajan-Kumble-Warne-Murli. Not sure about their spin attack tho, Yasir Shah was my fav go to guy after Ashwin but he's fading now, don't know why he's not playing anymore. And Home domination continues.. In last 2 decades India has lost only 2 series at home. 1 against Australia in 2004-05. 1 against England in 2012-13. https://i.imgur.com/liGg3a0.jpgMost consecutive test series wins at home. Let's see when this streak comes to end, my bet would be on Australia if Lyon clicks in next tour but again India has Ashwin-Jadeja-Axar trio as all rounders, it won't be a easy task but not impossible either. https://i.imgur.com/00B1auw.jpgThats really big and it isn't easy achievable. Such a long list of wins on the home country shows the potential of Indian cricket team on test cricketing. At different captaincy the team have played cricket and has won the 14 series. So, every captain have done the best of their ability and contributed to the win. The upcoming series will make things interesting, because everyone will watch whether the win continues or gonna get stopped. This also sets a very dangerous precedent because almost everyone takes these home domination for granted even when fielding 2nd string team. Reminds of me Australian era of home domination tbh. Having said that This current Indian team now need to win only 2 places. South Africa and New Zealand, if they want to register their names into history books. |
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And Home domination continues.. In last 2 decades India has lost only 2 series at home. 1 against Australia in 2004-05. 1 against England in 2012-13.  Most consecutive test series wins at home. Let's see when this streak comes to end, my bet would be on Australia if Lyon clicks in next tour but again India has Ashwin-Jadeja-Axar trio as all rounders, it won't be a easy task but not impossible either.  |
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~
Ashes of late 90s and early 2000s were one sided, as English team was very much weak compared to then world champions Aus. Right now England are ahead of Aus and there is no way we will see one sided test series. Aus batting is highly dependent on Smith and warner. They both need to perform well to give Aus a chance. Australia dominated every team for over a decade and this is the first time i am seeing England having a strong team which could give a challenge any team. The greatest Ashes i watches was the 2005 version where Australia was dominating and England being an underdog was able to win really close matches and even then Australia was not having Glenn McGrath in the team due to injury. Lets see how the series would go and i am expecting a good series than a one sided trashing. Lol England recently got thrashed in 2 back to back series by Kiwis and Indians at their own backyard (Eng vs Ind series is not finished but India is leading 2-1, should have been 3-1 but rain saved the England in the first test). Not to mention Poms were humiliated in the India couple of months back. In white ball cricket they do have ridiculous team, they can even field 2 different teams in limited overs but they seems doomed as far as test cricket is concern. Poor Root is doing all heavy lifting for them. |
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I am also feeling in same way this tour is completely waste of time and having some serious threat for players in current situation but as BCCI announced they will go ahead which is really shocking why they are insisting for this tour because Covid cases are rising very quickly many concerns and voices also rising, but we have to wait for official announcement from them in next few days what they are doing about this all.
Today India completely dominant in third day of match and now need just 5 more wickets to win this test and series Ashwin destroying batting line up very quickly like a champion bowler and now leading test wicket taker in this year.
Posted this couple of days back and that's a close reason of this tour getting green light according to SA's media and recent announcement is official. BCCI can't just leave Proteas in middle of crisis, they are already facing so many off-ground problems. There is no question that players safety is must but it won't be a straight forward decision. CSA is in deep financial crisis and withdrawal from the Australia-England didn't help either so they are expecting BCCI to pull them out from this situation as this tour is worth almost half in value, what CSA receive from the ICC.
And then their is some political angle too. This tour is the 30th anniversary of South Africa re-entry to International Cricket after they faced a ban, coincidentally India was the first country to host them. India A and South Africa A already playing each other so it does look like that both boards don't want to cancel the tour, let's see what happens.
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Because the Indian batsmen are the best, when it comes to the handling of spin bowling.
Those days are gone when Indian batter used to tackle likes of Warne and Murli with a toothpick. This current lot of Indian team is not equipped to play spin except few exceptions, they are still very good compared to other countries tho but previous Indian team which includes Sachin-Sehwag-Ganguly-Dravid-Laxman-Yuvi-Gambhir etc were exceptional players of spin. Just imagine if opposition team had a equally capable spinners like Ashwin-Jadeja-Axar or even batting against this trio. ~snip~
I am expecting the match to be over by tomorrow unless the Indian players wanted to bat for a much longer period of time.
Happy for Ajaz Patel but equally disappointing that his team marked the lowest total against Indians at the same match.
Good news, its official.  |
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Wow 8 wicket for Ajaz Patel! Hope he gets the 10 wickets, would be perfect homecoming gift for this Mumbai turned Kiwi's boy. So far 1 man show from the both team. Ajaz for NZ and Mayank for India, Axar also chipped in.. 320 runs on the scoreboard looks enough, may be 350 ish? The kind of turn Ajaz generated so far this doesn't look easy pitch to bat on for sure. ------ 9th wicket for Ajaz  ------ 1. Jim Laker 2. Anil Kumble 3. Loading........... And he did it, you beauty Ajaz Patel!!  |
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^^ I think problem pops up when these cricket board follows the holier than thou approach. This incident was old and he was already facing some sort of trials back in 2017-18. CA was completely aware of that as it was internal investigation but they didn't care much as they were in mess too. Somehow it got leaked to the media and he was captain of Australian team, its considered a biggest job in Australia after the Prime Minister so CA wanted to save their skin in this controversy.
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Jadeja also struggling with forearm injury I was wondering why he was dropped as he was in the team even at the expense of Ashwin and when the team was announced i was wondering what really happened and now i have the clarity . For me surprising factor was Rahane's injury. I was aware that Puji and Rahane were facing some criticism due to their poor run and with Kohli coming back at team one of em had to step out, question was who? Amusing that they used the injury excuse in case of Rahane lol, if Puji also keep batting like that then in next test (SA) Pujara also about to discover some sort of injuries. SL is leading the WTC table atm but their grouping is tough. Playing Aus, Pak at home and Ind, NZ away.
Double ton for Mayank? He likes to score big when he's on song. Already 2 double tons under his belt, for opening slot competition is becoming headache for the selectors. |
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Ind vs NZ : Toss delay due to wet out field
These 4 players are ruled out from the 2nd test.
-Ishant Sharma dislocate his left little finger and
-Ajinkya struggling with hamstring strain
-Kane Williamson elbow injury becoming problem, again.
-Jadeja also struggling with forearm injury
-----
SL vs WI : Windies need 297 runs to win
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------------ Guess, we might get some clarity on the upcoming SA vs Ind soon.  A wise decision in cancelling the tour altogether, because if BCCI decides to somehow push with the tour, it will give a very bad picture of the Indian cricket, Cases are already on a rise there and then you decide to send your main team there right in the hub of covid, and no matter what people say, the covid bubble isn't really a very solid thing, after all, we have seen it getting breached a lot of times, IPL was the biggest lesson for BCCI. I think India should definitely postpone the tour to a more suitable time or decide to play in some other neutral venue. There is no question that players safety is must but it won't be a straight forward decision. CSA is in deep financial crisis and withdrawal from the Australia-England didn't help either so they are expecting BCCI to pull them out from this situation as this tour is worth almost half in value, what CSA receive from the ICC. And then their is some political angle too. This tour is the 30th anniversary of South Africa re-entry to International Cricket after they faced a ban, coincidentally India was the first country to host them. India A and South Africa A already playing each other so it does look like that both boards don't want to cancel the tour, let's see what happens. |
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~snip~
I want to talk about Lasith Embuldeniya's performance. Dhananjaya was batting very well but no batsman was able to form a partnership with him. Dhananjaya was at the crease but his other batsmen were quickly out. But Embuldeniya has been at the crease for a long time. Although he is basically a bowler, his batting is good enough. He scored 8 runs from 42 balls. He has been able to fulfill his responsibilities properly.
Not your typical bowler but batting all rounder and already had 7 tons under his belt before this new daddy hundred. Daddy hundred doesn't come easy for the batsman when wickets are falling on the other end. He single-handedly saved the SL, if they win the game then he's the man of the match. Now their bowler would hope that pitch start deteriorating. ------------ Guess, we might get some clarity on the upcoming SA vs Ind soon. |
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I do agree that such kind of draw doesn't taste good to strongly positioned sides but test cricket need similar results sometimes or some last overs finish because it makes test cricket more exciting and will attract more eyeballs in a longer run as far as Red ball cricket is concern. I would also add that no one forgets these kind of tests even after decades.
I disagree. I have no idea why anyone would enjoy watching test matches played over the course of several days end as draws. It's just a waste of time and effort for the players and the audience if you ask me. Also, I don't remember a single noteworthy test that ended as a draw. I understand that you inclined more towards result oriented tests but you can't ignore the fact that last test wasn't some random dead rubber draw, in fact it was completely opposite and we hardly see any test match going into the last overs. Its a First class test match so not sure why they are calling it unofficial test. I think this tour will go ahead because National team is about tour South Africa soon and CSA wouldn't want upcoming tour to be postponed at any cost so they will ensure safety for every player and staff. BCCI and CSA also enjoy good relation.
Ishan Porel is good but Saini is not disciplined bowler and its seems Batters are also in okay-ish form. Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran made 96 and 103 respectively in the first match. Prithvi also hinting that he's about to find his hands. Vihari's form is more important tho. He was sent there for a reason, i hope he score some runs and make his comeback in national team.
I honestly think that if Prithvi plays well he might get a chance in the national team and also get that fast. He is a good batsman in my opinion. He can hit a long ball, But he has to be consistent enough. Talking about consistency I think Saini is a good bowler and has good enough pace but the only problem is that if he balls 5 good deliveries in one over he balls one ball which is absolutely like a free hit to the batsman. Unless he gets consistent enough he will struggle to get in the national team. Atm competition is tough for openers in Indian squad. Rohit-Rahul-Gill-Mayank-Prithvi all are fighting for only 2 positions. With good form they also need some sort of luck similar to KL Rahul, he got chance in England when Gill was first choice opener but he got injured. |
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Anyone following the unofficial test between South Africa A and India A? I am seeing India A in action after a long break. And I am not sure whether this tournament will go ahead as planned, as the Omicron variant is spreading across South Africa. But for now, the matches are ongoing. After first day of play, South Africa A is at 233/7, but none of their players managed a half century. There were a few 40s and 30s, but no 50s. Among the Indian bowlers, Ishan Porel and Navdeep Saini picked up two wickets each.
Its a First class test match so not sure why they are calling it unofficial test. I think this tour will go ahead because National team is about tour South Africa soon and CSA wouldn't want upcoming tour to be postponed at any cost so they will ensure safety for every player and staff. BCCI and CSA also enjoy good relation. Ishan Porel is good but Saini is not disciplined bowler and its seems Batters are also in okay-ish form. Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran made 96 and 103 respectively in the first match. Prithvi also hinting that he's about to find his hands. Vihari's form is more important tho. He was sent there for a reason, i hope he score some runs and make his comeback in national team. |
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CSK : Dhoni, Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali
It looks like CSK is building a stable squad again. However, the performance of each team in the IPL depends on the form of the players. Last season we saw that despite having a lot of star players, the performance of the teams was not that much good. RCB can be considered as an example. There was no shortage of star players and celebrities in their squad. Yet their performance was poor. CSK and MI are 2 franchise who looks at their long term plan so nothing surprising. DC also getting their act together for last 2 seasons and recent retention shows that they are also following CSK-MI path. RCB is a curious case study for everyone, hope this change in future with new skipper. Quite surprised with the retentions from Sunrisers Hyderabad. They went for Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. These two are yet to prove their mettle in the IPL, as far as I am concerned. They retained Kane Williamson, which is a good move. But spending so much money on two inexperienced players, who could have been purchased at much lower prices during the auction doesn't make any sense. Also, they dropped David Warner, after so many years at the franchise. Just one bad season and he was kicked out.
David Warner and SRH cleared that dropping Warner from the captaincy and team was not a cricketing decision. He and coach Tom Moody were not in good term on-off ground (team selection etc) which played a big part and also do you remember Warner-Kane fight news in SL when they were heading their home due to cancellation of IPL 2020 season? -------- Rashid, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Warner and few other have personal goals, like captaincy etc so they want new setup. |
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