~snip~
We still have plenty of time for the BGT so anything could happen. Pant could also make his comeback, fingers crossed.
Steve Smith is new opener for Australia tour of WI. Warner retirement will surely bring a huge gap but Aussies have strong structure and they have replacement of every player. As far as Australia tour of WI is concerned, there is rear chance of WI win in any format. Might be due to home advantage WI can show some resistance but there is scarcity of competent players in WI squad.
Skipper is not interested in this idea. If the reports are true then Green is another potential candidate and his name is popping up for the opening. |
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Not sure about Rahane but i believe Pujara's services are much needed in Australia. He's kryptonite to Aussies on their home turf. I am not sure whether Cheteshwar Pujara will ever get selected to the Indian test team again. By the time of the next test series for India, he will be 36 years old and he last played for India 8 months back. Currently he is playing for Saurashtra in Indian domestic cricket, and today he scored an unbeaten 243 versus Jharkhand. And this was against a bowling attack that comprised of experienced players such as Shahbaz Nadeem and Anukul Roy. Ajinkya Rahane is also playing first class cricket for Mumbai, but he is in very poor form for the last few months. Most likely true but his age shouldn't be a talking point, considering Rohit is also touching the same line. IMO, you can keep Pujara aside in other tours but he excels in the Aussie conditions because of his grit and willingness to take as much as body blow. You need at least 1 guy with this mindset in your team and if I recollect my memories of last decade then only Pujara fits the bill. Elgar comes second best but they didn't tour as much as India. I would've liked if the likes of Pujara and Rahane offered their services to weaker state boards and scored against big teams in the domestic.
Not sure about Rahane but i believe Pujara's services are much needed in Australia. He's kryptonite to Aussies on their home turf.
Yeah, he is. But so far how Pujara reacted for not selecting in SA series it clearly means something is going on behind the scenes and they will just blame his last two-year poor performance as a reason to not select him. It's not particularly about Pujara alone but forming a whole set of batting unit for the test matches and India is capable of doing that than any other team but still they want to go with IPL stars with all kind of format in the international arena.True and SKY is the main example. Having said that, i don't mind IPL stars featuring in Test cricket, given they have a good record in the Ranji. Sometimes talents get overlooked in domestic cricket and IPL fixes this problem as far as the limelight and fame go so it has its pros and cons. |
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In English conditions our chances against any SENA country in a one-off test (finals) are slim. So yeah, another choke might be on the cards. Not because we are weak but teams need some match practice to get used to the conditions. For SENA it's familiar conditions so it suits them more. The situation would be exactly the opposite if WTC finals are scheduled in the Subcontinent.
With the current Indian team, I doubt they could even secure a spot in the final but if the matches are played in home then its known that India can walk over the opponents and the opponents too blame that pitch is under prepared, for other tours the players are still very new and only very few played more than 10 matches in the current squad. If Indian team management don't want the Pujara and Rahane any more, then I doubt Indian batting lineup have experience to withstand seaming and bouncing conditions. Every team plays 3 home and 3 away series so everyone has an equal chance, although it does matter whom you are facing at home and away series. Even Australia is home track bully and they go into survival mode when they tour India. for context, they lost 4 back to back BGT series against India (home and away). Indian usually plays against Aus, SA and Eng in almost every cycle so it comes down to home-away combinations. In the Subcontinent India is almost invincible and in the last decade, i don't remember them losing any series be it against SL or BAN or any SENA countries. Standards are so high that drawing a match against any team attracts a lot of criticism. Pitch talk only happens because the opposition team never comes with quality spinners, in contrast, when India tours any SENA country they pack their squad with quality seamers, and one of the reasons they are only successful touring team in the last 7-8 years. Not sure about Rahane but i believe Pujara's services are much needed in Australia. He's kryptonite to Aussies on their home turf. ~snip~
On the other hand, the Indian spinners would have a field day if the final took place at home thanks to the slower pitches as you mentioned.
Dare to say but even all-time SENA XI can't tackle the Indian spinners at home. Even Indian batters can't handle Jaddu-Ashwin-Axar-Kuldeep unless we are adding Indian Fab-5 (Sachin-Viru-Dravid-Gangully-Laxman) |
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The point table is looking alright. Australia will strengthen their position, considering their next series is against Windies and then away series against NZ and SL. I guess they will fix their spot for the finals. For next spot fight should be between IND, NZ, and to some extent PAK if they manage to perform well. For India, the next series is against England at home. Apart from Australia, none of the other teams are capable of challenging India at home, so I would say that India should get full points from this match. It is a long and extended series with 5 test matches spread out across three months. And for Australia, the next series is against New Zealand. The Kiwis are not in good form, but they always perform well when they are up against their arch-rivals. And at the moment, the gap between Australia and India is not that wide. Securing full points against England won't be possible as Poms usually win at least 1 match in almost every tour and this time they are in fine form due to BAZBALL. They are not very skilled against spin so they will go ahead with attacking and at times brainless cricket, it could win them at least 1 match and if they get lucky then who knows? Having said that 3-1 in favor of India looks reasonable with 1 draw (because of flat track at 1 venue or weather). ~snip~
Whichever team ends up going through to the finals would gladly want India to end up on the other side because we all know how good they are at choking in major events these days. Jokes aside, I feel that Australia will definitely secure a finals spot as you mentioned, but it's way too early to tell who will grab the other spot. In English conditions our chances against any SENA country in a one-off test (finals) are slim. So yeah, another choke might be on the cards. Not because we are weak but teams need some match practice to get used to the conditions. For SENA it's familiar conditions so it suits them more. The situation would be exactly the opposite if WTC finals are scheduled in the Subcontinent. |
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 The point table is looking alright. Australia will strengthen their position, considering their next series is against Windies and then away series against NZ and SL. I guess they will fix their spot for the finals. For next spot fight should be between IND, NZ, and to some extent PAK if they manage to perform well. |
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Series should be at least 3 matches, so winner can be decided.
Ideally SA vs IND series should be 4 match series, we might even cross the finishing line if it happens but tough to sustain because of financial reasons. Don't get me wrong SA did earn a big amount from this one month tour, close to $55-$60 Million but the majority of it came from the white ball series. Tests finishing in 2 days are also not helping the long series narrative, it took only 5 days to wrap up 2 test matches, and broadcasters or spectators (if any) paid for 10 days of test cricket. That's why SA's board downgraded 3 matches into 2 match series and added extra white ball cricket. India actually defeated the proteas in Cape Town which is a pretty big achievement. They couldn't win the series, but they drew it implying that both teams ended up sharing the cup at the end.
Dean Elgar has retired from tests in style and Siraj is the man of the match. Crazy test series overall!
From an Indian perspective, it's hardly a big achievement because the target is winning the series which Indians repeatedly failed despite having a good team. |
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Yesterday Siraj, today Bumrah, Mukesh helped team with early breakthrough in second inning. Prasidh helped Markram make century  , Rohit didn't have him bowl since long, if he had no confidence in him, should have let him sit on bench. India needs 79 runs to win, should be doable but you never know. I hate to admit but Prasidh's stocks went down drastically during this series and I am afraid he has to start all over again, maybe some remote opportunity in tests will come if someone is injured or unavailable, even in this scenario management might think twice. It would be tough but India should cross the line unless another 36 all out type of collapse is on the card. |
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That's a test cricket for you ladies and gents. 153/5 and then 153 all out lol. You can't be too comfortable no matter what, especially when a pitch is spicy and kind of lottery. Fingers crossed for 2 day match, have a bet on it.  |
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Jamal probably helped his team win thanks to an amazing knock which surprised me especially when Pakistan looked like they would end up providing a target less than 250 at one stage.
Australia messed up and I am not expecting them to win anymore, but a draw is on the cards as long as they bat well.
My suggestion would be don't get excited. To win a test match, the team needs to take 20 wickets and it was the first day of the match so it's too early to predict a draw or otherwise. Yeah, Aussies messed up but there is a fair possibility of their batters having a field day for the next 5 sessions of stat padding.
Don't think Sexy Iyer deserves more chances in SENA conditions, hope Pant recovers quickly and joins the team for away BGT. |
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lmao! Well, that escalated quickly. Miyan became a nightmare for the Proteas. Prepare a spicy pitch and Skipper goes "We'll have a bat". Alright, thank you very much, Dean . Can we have a 2 day match here? It would be incredibly fun to watch batters running like a headless chicken, doesn't matter even if we lose lol.
Ashwin is out
He's so underrated in this Indian team because our batting lineup is not confident enough in the SENA. Management always tries to find extra batter with all rounder capabilities. I get that condition won't suit his bowling style but he's probably the only guy who can keep the batters quiet from the one end and won't end up with 4 rpo. Ashwin is an all-rounder, I'd have preferred him over Prasidh honestly. Yeah, he is but Jaddu is superior with the bat and more consistent, hence Ashiwn sits out in SENA. |
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Ashwin is out
Ashwin would have played close to 130-140 tests if he had been born somewhere else. Any team maybe barring Australia would pick him and put his name on the roster every time. He's so underrated in this Indian team because our batting lineup is not confident enough in the SENA. Management always tries to find extra batter with all rounder capabilities. I get that condition won't suit his bowling style but he's probably the only guy who can keep the batters quiet from the one end and won't end up with 4 rpo. |
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This was an amazingly dominating partnership between Rizwan and Agha Salman, Its fair to say first in Aussie summer.
This pair dominated the bowlers in their run a ball partnership. The last time someone belted Aussie like that was back in BGT when Gill and Pant took them to the cleaners. Bummer Rizwan threw it away which could've been a wonderful ton and his first away from Asia.
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You should have added another cricketing achievement to that list. The Australian captain, Pat Cummins achievement as a bowler in 2023 was astounding in 2023.
Yeah, he also deserves an honorable mention for Retaining Ashes, Winning WTC, and ODI WC. Dutch could make it surely because they won against Bangbros and Proteas. snip
I would like to include few more. 1. Ravindra Jadeja winning runs for CSK followed by emotional Hug from MSD (best of all). 2. Glorious run feast for Gill including a double ton. 3. Rohit Sharma destructing every bowler in the World cup, including the final. In overall, 2023 had some exciting moments but the curve of ODI is going down evidently since teams are focusing more on T20 leagues hope the legacy will continue better than this. Fair observations but I avoided these because it would become India centric, which wasn't the purpose of my post. |
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ODI WC win might come sooner because on a good day any team can beat big players but winning the test series in SENA or in this case, winning in Australia doesn't come easy. It takes a hell of an effort to win a test series and it gets tougher when you are visiting after 3-4 years gap. Indians compete and win in Australia because they visit regularly and the same with the England tours, playing longer series also helps a lot.
So let's say winning in the ODI WC against India is easy and could happen in the next WC but Test series win in Australia is very far.
Pakistan team is not going much to Australia because of Aussies stance on not touring Pakistan since 1998. Now that we have a full bilateral series in 2022 and there are chances that Aussies might visit Pakistan again. We might now see Pakistan touring Australia more frequently. Pakistan performance in test for last few years is below average because they are more focused on T20 format. Last time Pakistan had a chance to win against 3 major teams but they blew up this opportunity by offering highways. They can still win the home test series against them in the next cycle but my overall point was that the away series is a different ball game and tough affair. |
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Top 10 cricketing moments for me in 2023.
1- Bazball.
2- Yashasvi Jaiswal's debut test Daddy Hundred because of his struggle story.
3- Head's ton in WTC finals and ODI WC final against India.
4- Maxwell's freak double ton against Afghans in ODI WC.
5- Afghanistan beating England and Pakistan in the ODI WC
6- Rachin making a statement in ODI WC
7- Kohli's 50th ODI ton.
8- Shami's dream run and unforgettable spells in the ODI WC.
9- First WPL
10- India W beating ENG W and AUS W in tests.
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The cameraman is a Man of culture but he woke up and chose violence and went rogue, in the spirit of the Men of Culture I don't endorse such bravado and condemn this blasphemous act from this misguided individual. |
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If India W manages to lose the match then it's fair to say that it would be because of their fielding.
Today they dropped only 7 catches, lol yeah only 7 catches and a majority of em were sitters like regulation practice catch but f*ck me. Don't know why this team has so many butter hands.
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Those byes were expensive ones because most of those deliveries went to the boundary line with big brainless wides.
Records and streaks are meant to be broken. Pakistan will cross the line eventually, which could take time or maybe soon. We don't know but it will happen for sure.
Pakistan and India started facing each other in ODI world cup for the first time in 1992 and since then there are 8 matches in a span of 31 years, all going to India favour. 1995 was the year when Pakistan won last time a test match in Australia to avoid a whitewash since then all test series in Australia are whitewashed. They may break these streaks in next 20 to 30 years or even more then that. There must be a limit of losing in such a humiliating manner. ODI WC win might come sooner because on a good day any team can beat big players but winning the test series in SENA or in this case, winning in Australia doesn't come easy. It takes a hell of an effort to win a test series and it gets tougher when you are visiting after 3-4 years gap. Indians compete and win in Australia because they visit regularly and the same with the England tours, playing longer series also helps a lot. So let's say winning in the ODI WC against India is easy and could happen in the next WC but Test series win in Australia is very far. |
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Let me recall it correctly, No shami, No Umesh and No Bumrah because all of them were injured and India managed to win the match at the Gabba the fortress of AUS with only available players and of course it's one that went down on the history, but we can expect every match to be like that. I would only want the Pujara because he may not score runs, but he always take time and face more balls so the chance of losing wickets in string is less.
Gabba test was pure gem. India won the match after conceding a first innings lead to Australia. And also, they were chasing a massive target (329) against top quality Australian bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. It was in this test match that T Natarajan and Navdeep Saini were brought in, as the first-line Indian bowlers were all unavailable. Washington Sundar was the sole option for spinner. And his partnership with Shardul in the first innings was the turning point. It took India from 186/6 to 309/7. IMO The complete series was a pure gem and the greatest in Indian test history as far as the SENA tour goes because of circumstances and narrative buildup. Check out this book The Miracle Makers: Indian Cricket's Greatest Epic. You'll find some backstage stories of this tour. I don't think any Indian test cricket fan will forget this series in their lifetime. |
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In the political arena, he doesn't strike me as a bright one but I think in sports ministry he's okay-ish, most of the time he looks like a photo-op guy that's about it.
Corruption in BCCI at the top level is not a big issue anymore and we hardly hear anything nowadays but in State Boards, it's a different ball game and it has become such a well oiled machine that almost every party takes a cut. Corruption was so prevalent earlier that the Supreme Court had to step in and kick out N Srinivasan as the BCCI president. Those who got to that post after him became a bit cautious. But many of the state boards are still refusing to become transparent and there is no audit or surveillance being conducted on them. BCCI revenues have gone up by almost 10x during the last 10 years or so, thanks to IPL media rights and increased allocation from the ICC. Given this, it is surprising that the level of corruption has gone down. Maybe this has something to do with NDA government taking over in 2014. During the 2004-14 UPA regime, corruption was at its peak. It was Anurag Thakur who got kicked out due to the Lodha Committee but yeah Lodha Committee came into existence because of N Srinivasan's brigade, there were other reasons as well like State power play between all of the parties. Corruption at the top might not be an issue these days but these guys still didn't implement Lodha committee recommendations. Remember how Ganguly kept his chair (They made excuses like COVID)? True, everyone had a field day during the UPA tenure. NDA deserves the credit, for all its faults that's one area they somehow better than the previous gov. Having said that, itwould be naive if we think that they are dudh ke dhule huye. For me, ish hamam mein sab nange hai. |
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