Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Avirunes]

Now its safe to say Wriddhiman Saha is replacing Pant on the first Test game and 99% chance India is going with 2 spinners ( Jadeja-Ashwin) and 2 seamers (Ishant-Shami), Hanuma Vihari is part time bowler.

* Pant out, didn't see that coming tbh. guess for Home games India is looking at Saha as a first choice wicket keeper - Spin wicket - need good WK-

It will be nice to see Ashwin in action and yeah Jadeja too with him after a long period. They are a good combination when it comes to spin attack in Test.

Kinda surprised that Vihari can bowl too? He is good with bat but his capability to bowl is surprising.

[eaLiTy]

Now its safe to say Wriddhiman Saha is replacing Pant on the first Test game and 99% chance India is going with 2 spinners ( Jadeja-Ashwin) and 2 seamers (Ishant-Shami), Hanuma Vihari is part time bowler.

* Pant out, didn't see that coming tbh. guess for Home games India is looking at Saha as a first choice wicket keeper - Spin wicket - need good WK-

I expected Pant to be replaced as he had many opportunities to show his worth and he never rectified his position in the team, he dropped some chances behind the wicket as well and not made any impact in ODI and T20 and he was getting out in the same fashion all the time, leg side is his strong side and that he started falling for those shots all the time and we have much better keepers in India right now and it is the right decision. Pant can rectify his batting and keeping issues and come back stronger.
I expect two spinners in the team and i like Jadeja Ashwin combination and if they cannot make any impact we have other spinners for the rest of the series.

[AB de Royse777]

I guess I turned out to be an Alien in this thread LOL
Honestly speaking I am having boring time since no international exciting match in progress. I had good time when the Ashes was in progress and looks like this thread was stolen by India vs South Africa series. I am finding out dooring with friends is more interesting since there are no cricket right now.

So far I was able to grab from quick scan:
Pant out! (Happy, the boy needs time to re-think that he is still too young and if he needs to survive then he needs to stop playing lose shots)
Bhumra not playing? (if so and if the reason of giving him rest plus trying others to see their fit in the team is good for Bhumra himself. He really can use the help of other to release some pressure he takes when he play)
8 batsman? (India is always batsmen priority team however in the recent time they are breaking this tradition. But I would prefer 6 batsmen and depending on the pitch condition a combination of spinner and pacer)

How many more days we need to wait for the first official test?

[JSRAW]

~snip~
I think problem with saha is his inconsistency and Rishab Pant nowhere solves that problem. Along with that Saha is a great wicket keeper so this seems to me like a good decision. And yes, just as how I discussed above i think it would 2 spinner 2 pacer and 7 batsmen XI India would go for.

No bro, Saha was out because of his injury, not inconsistency. On another hand, Rishab didn't perform bad per se in the test matches. You don't need to take my words for granted. Just check their batting average, Rishab average is around 44 and Saha's 30ish.

~snip~
It will be nice to see Ashwin in action and yeah Jadeja too with him after a long period. They are a good combination when it comes to spin attack in Test.

Kinda surprised that Vihari can bowl too? He is good with bat but his capability to bowl is surprising.

Yeah, They both are deadly combination in spin wicket for sure. Vihari is okay bowler and doesn't look threatening but he's handy on some occasion, his all 5 wickets came when India was looking for wickets.

~Snip~
I expected Pant to be replaced as he had many opportunities to show his worth and he never rectified his position in the team, he dropped some chances behind the wicket as well and not made any impact in ODI and T20 and he was getting out in the same fashion all the time, leg side is his strong side and that he started falling for those shots all the time and we have much better keepers in India right now and it is the right decision. Pant can rectify his batting and keeping issues and come back stronger.
I expect two spinners in the team and i like Jadeja Ashwin combination and if they cannot make any impact we have other spinners for the rest of the series.

In my point of view, that's the wrong measure to judge a player. No doubt he performed badly in the shorter format, and he should be replaced in ODI and T-20. But In the Test Games, he's solid Batsman in the middle-lower order.

But if he's dropped from the team because of his Wicket keeping skill, then it might be the right decision, and we can justify this decision by saying that in sub-continent pitches we need specialist Wicket Keeper and Saha ticks the box, no doubt about it.

I guess I turned out to be an Alien in this thread LOL

WB,

IND vs SA : 2 Oct

[AB de Royse777]

WB,

IND vs SA : 2 Oct

Ah! thank you :-D

We have two events starting tomorrow. India vs SA and Pakistan vs Sri Lanka.

I will do some prediction here:
Pakistan to win
Team With Top Bowler: India
odd @1.93

Or one can go with this too:
Most Fours: Pakistan
Team With Top Bowler: India
odd @2.16

Good luck guys
I would like your views on these two doubles.

[eaLiTy]

Good luck guys
I would like your views on these two doubles.

Any bets with Pakistan will be a good bet, but team with top bowlers was a risky one as South Africa too does have a good bowling line up and if the pitch starts wearing out then India will have the upper hand and it is expected to spin from the second day as per the pitch report, it all depends upon the weather too, who knows whether it will be raining in the next few days and mess things up.
India won the toss and made the right decision to bat first and the openers are playing really careful without loosing any wickets and this is the first time i am seeing Agarwal and Sharma combination as openers.

But if he's dropped from the team because of his Wicket keeping skill, then it might be the right decision, and we can justify this decision by saying that in sub-continent pitches we need specialist Wicket Keeper and Saha ticks the box, no doubt about it.

Pant dropped many chances including run out and stumping chances in his past series and we is not performing well with the bat either, India does have better keepers and that is the reason Saha got the call, either Karthik or Saha will be fine for the wicket keeping spot as both are brilliant keepers.

[Sithara007]

Very surprising decision by South Africa to include Senuran Muthusamy in the squad. They have gone with two pacers (Rabada/Philander), two spinners (Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt) as well as one all rounder (Muthusamy). I was especially surprised by the inclusion of Piedt, as he was not in good form during the recent matches. They could have included Ngidi instead of him.

The Indian selection is even more perplexing. They have gone with just one full-time spinner (Ravi Ashwin), with two spin bowling all rounders to support him (Ravindra Jadeja & Hanuma Vihari). Yadav missed the selection, and the pace attack will be led by Ishant and Shami. They made the mistake by including just 3 full time bowlers. Could have included either of the Yadavs (Umesh or Kuldeep).

Anyway, India is off to a very good start with both Agarwal and Sharma scoring half-centuries. Current score is 110/0.

[akhjob]

Both Indian openers, M Agarwal and Rohit have completed their half centuries and are at ease now with the SA bowlers except for maybe Rabada and Philander who have been bowling brilliantly well with the new ball. So at this rate, I think India will manage 350+ runs by the end of the day if they didn’t lose quick wickets and with the likes of Kohli, Pujara and Rahane India might declare the 1st innings around 650 runs tomorrow

[teosanru]

Both Indian openers, M Agarwal and Rohit have completed their half centuries and are at ease now with the SA bowlers except for maybe Rabada and Philander who have been bowling brilliantly well with the new ball. So at this rate, I think India will manage 350+ runs by the end of the day if they didn’t lose quick wickets and with the likes of Kohli, Pujara and Rahane India might declare the 1st innings around 650 runs tomorrow

Well it's looking like a batting paradise. A big slap to the haters who said it was a bad idea for Rohit to open up in Test Matches. They both are playing pretty comfortably and even Keshav Maharaj isn't able to get anything out of this surface. Speaking of which reminds me of the fact that even Indians are going up with two spinner and two pacers if pitch doesn't proves to be helpful to spinner then maybe India is going to face some troubles while bowling too.

Very surprising decision by South Africa to include Senuran Muthusamy in the squad. They have gone with two pacers (Rabada/Philander), two spinners (Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt) as well as one all rounder (Muthusamy). I was especially surprised by the inclusion of Piedt, as he was not in good form during the recent matches. They could have included Ngidi instead of him.

The Indian selection is even more perplexing. They have gone with just one full-time spinner (Ravi Ashwin), with two spin bowling all rounders to support him (Ravindra Jadeja & Hanuma Vihari). Yadav missed the selection, and the pace attack will be led by Ishant and Shami. They made the mistake by including just 3 full time bowlers. Could have included either of the Yadavs (Umesh or Kuldeep).

Anyway, India is off to a very good start with both Agarwal and Sharma scoring half-centuries. Current score is 110/0.

I think both the teams just bid on the fact that pitch is going to be a batsmen paradise and a something in it for spinners but it hasn't looked like that until now atleas let's see how the spin goes as the bowl gets older. Moreover with both the teams having an okayish batting until number 8 I think this match will be a big scoring match. 

[JSRAW]

But if he's dropped from the team because of his Wicket keeping skill, then it might be the right decision, and we can justify this decision by saying that in sub-continent pitches we need specialist Wicket Keeper and Saha ticks the box, no doubt about it.

Pant dropped many chances including run out and stumping chances in his past series and we is not performing well with the bat either, .

Not sure bro what run out - stumping chances he missed, not able to recall any missed chance in Red Ball cricket and if we are talking about caught behind the wicket then i must remind you that he's one of the 3 wicket keeper in Cricket history who took 11 catches in one test game. he missed the world record by dropping catch though.

Rishab Pant equals the World Record

Again his batting performance is not bad in Test Cricket. please check his stats based on different pitches, his average is 92 in India.

India does have better keepers and that is the reason Saha got the call, either Karthik or Saha will be fine for the wicket keeping spot as both are brilliant keepers

Yes Saha is pure wicketkeeper and no doubt about that and Kartik Test Career is finished, 100% sure.

If Pant is out because of his bad performance in the shorter format then its wrong tbh. its not a good approach to handle young talent, give credit where it's due and everything should be based on merits. I don't mind if Management kicks him out from the ODI or T-20. he deserves that but in Test Match, Nope.

[teosanru]

But if he's dropped from the team because of his Wicket keeping skill, then it might be the right decision, and we can justify this decision by saying that in sub-continent pitches we need specialist Wicket Keeper and Saha ticks the box, no doubt about it.

Pant dropped many chances including run out and stumping chances in his past series and we is not performing well with the bat either, .

~snip~
If Pant is out because of his bad performance in the shorter format then its wrong tbh. its not a good approach to handle young talent, give credit where it's due and everything should be based on merits. I don't mind if Management kicks him out from the ODI or T-20. he deserves that but in Test Match, Nope.

I think we should start comparing Rishabh Pant with Rohit Sharma instead of comparing him with MSD or Virat Kohli. Just like Rohit Sharma he had a great buzz before his international career even began. People stated that he is gold mine of talent and India sees bright future in him just like we saw 10 years ago in Rohit Sharma and after that the young guy couldn't handle that much of expectations and his career started miserably. Same is going on with Rishab pant. I think what he needs is a redefinition of his role in team and to find out what suits him the most just like what MSD did to Rohit Sharma. Maybe try opening up with Rishab Pant in shorter formats or whatever. Everyone knows he does have some talent so why don't we channelize the correct way rather than kicking him.

[Avirunes]

~snip~
It will be nice to see Ashwin in action and yeah Jadeja too with him after a long period. They are a good combination when it comes to spin attack in Test.

Kinda surprised that Vihari can bowl too? He is good with bat but his capability to bowl is surprising.

Yeah, They both are deadly combination in spin wicket for sure. Vihari is okay bowler and doesn't look threatening but he's handy on some occasion, his all 5 wickets came when India was looking for wickets.

Wow some new facts about Vihari. BTW don't you guys feel like the players starting out as batsman and then becomes a part time bowler and bowls up too often loses shine with their bat? Best example is Mohammad Hafeez who was so good with bat and lost his shine when he became a regular bowler from part time bowler. Now he is unable to give a good performance with both bat and ball. I hope same thing doesn't happen to Vihari. He is a good Test player.


EDIT: Rohit and Aggarwal right now having a good partnership and building score for India. Seems like India will have no problem reaching 500 if things goes like this. Still its the first day so anything can happen since its Test.

[akhjob]

Well it's looking like a batting paradise. A big slap to the haters who said it was a bad idea for Rohit to open up in Test Matches. They both are playing pretty comfortably and even Keshav Maharaj isn't able to get anything out of this surface. Speaking of which reminds me of the fact that even Indians are going up with two spinner and two pacers if pitch doesn't proves to be helpful to spinner then maybe India is going to face some troubles while bowling too.

Nobody would question Rohit's mettle in a home series because he has better stats at home series than abroad series in tests.



As you can see the difference in the average is huge. So, the main question is whether he'll be able to improve himself in the away series as an opener.

Edit: IND 202/0

[JSRAW]

I think we should start comparing Rishabh Pant with Rohit Sharma instead of comparing him with MSD or Virat Kohli.

May be Pant is WK batsman so its makes sense when comparing him with Dhoni, instead of Rohit and never heard that anyone comparing Pant with Virat.

I think what he needs is a redefinition of his role in team and to find out what suits him the most just like what MSD did to Rohit Sharma. Maybe try opening up with Rishab Pant in shorter formats or whatever. Everyone knows he does have some talent so why don't we channelize the correct way rather than kicking him.

IMHO selectors and Ravi shastri (in some extent Kohli too) not doing their job. in the last 3-4 years they made many mistake when selecting Playing XI be it Away test tour or world cup. but they are lucky because they already have bench strength.

~snip~
It will be nice to see Ashwin in action and yeah Jadeja too with him after a long period. They are a good combination when it comes to spin attack in Test.

Kinda surprised that Vihari can bowl too? He is good with bat but his capability to bowl is surprising.

Yeah, They both are deadly combination in spin wicket for sure. Vihari is okay bowler and doesn't look threatening but he's handy on some occasion, his all 5 wickets came when India was looking for wickets.

Wow some new facts about Vihari. BTW don't you guys feel like the players starting out as batsman and then becomes a part time bowler and bowls up too often loses shine with their bat? Best example is Mohammad Hafeez who was so good with bat and lost his shine when he became a regular bowler from part time bowler. Now he is unable to give a good performance with both bat and ball. I hope same thing doesn't happen to Vihari. He is a good Test player.

Batting all rounders comes very handy in World cricket. if we talk about India and go into details then we can notice Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly,Yuvraj,Raina all became batting allrounder and it helped India cause for a long time. India is lacking this skillset in current generation for ex : Kohli is shitty bowler, Rohit used to bowl, Pujara, Rahane, Sikhar and many more are pure batsman. Vihari is new guy so hard to tell if this is going to effect his batting or not but if he can bowl 8-12 overs then its big plus.

M. Hafeez is getting old so its natural IMHO and if i am not wrong he is around 35+ ?

[ene1980]

I never expected India to perform like this against South Africa as i have not seen both the Indian openers play in the longer format of the game, Rohit is a ODI opener but he is opening in Test for the first time and he scored a century is outstanding as he was not even able to perform in the warm up matches as opener and now they reached over 200 runs without even loosing a wicket is outstanding. I thought they will loose the openers quickly and then the middle order will perform, only rain can help South Africa now.

[eaLiTy]

Not sure bro what run out - stumping chances he missed, not able to recall any missed chance in Red Ball cricket and if we are talking about caught behind the wicket then i must remind you that he's one of the 3 wicket keeper in Cricket history who took 11 catches in one test game. he missed the world record by dropping catch though.

Come on bro, if you missed a run out chance or a stumping chance in any form of cricket, it is not a good sign of his confidence, i am taking into account his performance as a keeper in the past few series he played and he dropped many chances, may be those are in the shorter format of the game but what difference does it make if you miss chances in the field. Let him fix his technique and come back stronger as he is really young in his career and can be an asset in the future.

I think we should start comparing Rishabh Pant with Rohit Sharma instead of comparing him with MSD or Virat Kohli. Just like Rohit Sharma he had a great buzz before his international career even began.

I really do accept the fact that there must be someone to guide Pant as he is really young, he can get better by improving his technique including his wicket keeping skills and perform in the domestic circuit or in the IPL and then make a come back in the team through his performance. MSD was not a classic wicket keeper nor a batsman but he over came those short comings with his batting initially and then improved his keeping techniques at a later part, no one can replace players like Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, MSD and the captaincy brilliance of Ganguly, he made the foundation when India was struggling and now we have a bench strength of good players .

[Sithara007]

I never expected India to perform like this against South Africa as i have not seen both the Indian openers play in the longer format of the game, Rohit is a ODI opener but he is opening in Test for the first time and he scored a century is outstanding as he was not even able to perform in the warm up matches as opener and now they reached over 200 runs without even loosing a wicket is outstanding. I thought they will loose the openers quickly and then the middle order will perform, only rain can help South Africa now.

Looks like there is no assistance for the bowlers (either for the pacers, or for the spinners) in the pitch and India was lucky to win the toss. South African spinners didn't got much turn from the surface, and usually Maharaj turns the ball a lot. But this time all the three spinners couldn't get much turn. The bounce was also very low, and Rabada was in better condition when compared to Philander as he found a good line.

A score in excess of 600 looks like a probability for India and the question is how long they are going to take, to achieve it. If there is rain interruption in the coming days, then this match will be heading for another boring draw. There will be chance of a result only if Ashwin or any other Indian bowler is able to get South Africa out for less than 300.

[uray]

A score in excess of 600 looks like a probability for India and the question is how long they are going to take, to achieve it. If there is rain interruption in the coming days, then this match will be heading for another boring draw. There will be chance of a result only if Ashwin or any other Indian bowler is able to get South Africa out for less than 300.

Test cricket is a dying bread and if they prepare dead wickets like this for the batsmen to score runs and end up in a draw after five days of play is not an interesting result everyone is looking forward. I do not think that it is an outstanding performance from the Indian openers as the pitch was not giving any assistance to the bowlers and the pitch was flat in the first day which gives you an idea how the match will go, weather is also not that great and expect sessions to be missed in the next days too and it will end up in a draw.

[Haunebu]

no one can replace players like Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, MSD and the captaincy brilliance of Ganguly, he made the foundation when India was struggling and now we have a bench strength of good players .

Ganguly was a decent captain at best and I feel that MSD laid the foundation by replacing the older players with new talent which worked wonders for India in the long term.

I do not think that it is an outstanding performance from the Indian openers as the pitch was not giving any assistance to the bowlers and the pitch was flat in the first day which gives you an idea how the match will go, weather is also not that great and expect sessions to be missed in the next days too and it will end up in a draw.

202/0 is not an outstanding performance? Hilarious. Rohit and Mayank set up the perfect start for India and I highly doubt this will end in a draw. This looks like a win for India all the way at this point. Even if it rains later, I am expecting India to pack up the South African lineup pretty quickly.

[Ayiranorea]

Well it's looking like a batting paradise. A big slap to the haters who said it was a bad idea for Rohit to open up in Test Matches. They both are playing pretty comfortably and even Keshav Maharaj isn't able to get anything out of this surface. Speaking of which reminds me of the fact that even Indians are going up with two spinner and two pacers if pitch doesn't proves to be helpful to spinner then maybe India is going to face some troubles while bowling too.

Nobody would question Rohit's mettle in a home series because he has better stats at home series than abroad series in tests.



As you can see the difference in the average is huge. So, the main question is whether he'll be able to improve himself in the away series as an opener.

Edit: IND 202/0

Rohit performs well, and he scores good unexpected. Rohit is one of the player who has been into the team even when his performance was not upto the level required by that time. This is all because of politics that is found within the team selection. Those chance provided is the one that helped him recover himself playing good. Whether it is on the home town or away, he used to give an average performance in at least one match out of three.