Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[synchronym]

Afghanistan cricket team has come to Bangladesh to play only one test match against Bangladesh. The only Test match between Bangladesh vs Afghanistan will be held at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium tomorrow. 

In the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket team led by Liton Kumar Das will play a Test match against Afghanistan. 

Bangladesh's failure in test cricket against Afghanistan is 100% and Afghanistan's success is 100%. Bangladesh and Afghanistan have played only one official test match so far where Bangladesh lost by a big margin against Afghanistan.  These two teams will face each other in Test cricket in the second match through tomorrow's match. Bangladesh will surely want to win the second Test match to maintain the parity in the statistics.

Bangladesh recently played a test match against Ireland where they struggled to defeat the minnows. Spinners did a good job back then, with Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan picking up the wickets. But their batting performance was less than satisfactory, with batsmen other than Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim failing to make significant contributions. And this time it is going to be much tougher if Shakib is not there. Also, the Afghan bowling attack is much more lethal when compared to the Irish bowlers. Although Rashid is not there, they have quality bowlers like Zahir Khan and Karim Janat. 

Bangladesh started the test better against Ireland, Bangladesh bowled only nine overs and Ireland lost 2 wickets out of 6 runs.  Bangladesh's bowlers put Ireland's batting under a lot of pressure. Bangladesh is batting only 138 runs against Ireland. However, Bangladesh should have batted more and cautiously. All the openers Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim could not bat very well. But one thing to worry about is if Shakib is out then there will be a little problem for the Bangladesh team. However, we who are cricket lovers would definitely want Bangladesh to roar. Best wishes for Bangladesh team.

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[Ayers]

Underwear? Lol. This is easily one of the funniest typos that I have ever observed anywhere.

lol , fixed...

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.
If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

I would actually prefer to see Virat Kohli instead of Ashwin as the test captain of India. Virat Kohli has better experience and he is also performing pretty decently right now. So I believe they can give him a chance. I firmly believe that he will be able to captain the team. Well instead of Ashwin.

The decision of replacing Rohit is probably the right decision at this moment. The India captaincy needs a change right now. And on top of that Rohit is not able to achieve incredible success as well.

[n0ne]

Underwear? Lol. This is easily one of the funniest typos that I have ever observed anywhere.

lol , fixed...

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.
If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

I would actually prefer to see Virat Kohli instead of Ashwin as the test captain of India. Virat Kohli has better experience and he is also performing pretty decently right now. So I believe they can give him a chance. I firmly believe that he will be able to captain the team. Well instead of Ashwin.

The decision of replacing Rohit is probably the right decision at this moment. The India captaincy needs a change right now. And on top of that Rohit is not able to achieve incredible success as well.

Virat Kohli can be given the captaincy, but it is to be noted that in most of the matches he played as the captain his performance is down. He himself had mentioned it as more responsibility and it disturb his real performance out of pressure. For this reason I find Ashwin to be the best choice against Virat. Rohit have got the ability, but his performance is really worse and he needs some break. More players queued and Rohit isn't performing to the expectation will surely be tough for the selectors.

[JSRAW]

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.

If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

[2Pizza410000BTC]

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.

If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

I don't see anything wrong with Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India bowled fairly well in the final of the World Test Championship but it was the complete batting that failed them especially the Indian top order batsmen in both the innings. So what could Rohit Sharma do in this case. But there were some mistakes in the captaincy, those mistakes had to be corrected by losing the wtc final.

[Vaskiy]

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.

If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

I don't see anything wrong with Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India bowled fairly well in the final of the World Test Championship but it was the complete batting that failed them especially the Indian top order batsmen in both the innings. So what could Rohit Sharma do in this case. But there were some mistakes in the captaincy, those mistakes had to be corrected by losing the wtc final.

This is the role of the leader. When something happens around the responsibility will be taken by the leader. Same is here, though the winning/credit goes to the individual players it also gets added to the captain. This is where Rohit Sharma is questioned. The batting line-up hadn't performed good, which is known. Same time people will indicate the batting line-up along with the captaincy as the failure which is the reality.

[2Pizza410000BTC]

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.

If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

I don't see anything wrong with Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India bowled fairly well in the final of the World Test Championship but it was the complete batting that failed them especially the Indian top order batsmen in both the innings. So what could Rohit Sharma do in this case. But there were some mistakes in the captaincy, those mistakes had to be corrected by losing the wtc final.

This is the role of the leader. When something happens around the responsibility will be taken by the leader. Same is here, though the winning/credit goes to the individual players it also gets added to the captain. This is where Rohit Sharma is questioned. The batting line-up hadn't performed good, which is known. Same time people will indicate the batting line-up along with the captaincy as the failure which is the reality.

Your argument is absolutely correct because when the whole team plays well then the whole reputation of the team spreads to all the players including the captain. But when the team performs badly, the full responsibility of the team is given to the captain. But Rohit Sharma wouldn't have had much of a bad name in the WTC final if he had batted well. Just 15 runs in the first innings and 43 runs in the second innings are some examples of his poor captaincy. He will have to answer for his poor captaincy from here on out.

[JSRAW]

~snip~

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

I don't see anything wrong with Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India bowled fairly well in the final of the World Test Championship but it was the complete batting that failed them especially the Indian top order batsmen in both the innings. So what could Rohit Sharma do in this case. But there were some mistakes in the captaincy, those mistakes had to be corrected by losing the wtc final.

It's not a question of right or wrong. He's already 36 yo and can't hold a captaincy for a long due to his age and everyone is looking at the next WTC cycle, he'll be 38 by then.

He also can't play all 3 formats anymore, he has to choose his poison and drop other formats, possibly ODI(after WC) and T-20 (not IPL tho), then maybe there is a chance of him extending his test career for 2 more years.

It's the same for every senior player, who is in mid 30. Everyone makes a way for new blood so nothing new. It's part of the transition process and management needs to think about it now as you don't want to face a situation where your all senior players taking retirement at the same time.    

[vvikkass]

It's hard to beat Australia in test match. Perhaps they are the only team who is fully focusing on test format these days. Rest all teams are busy sending there players to T20 leagues. Events like WTC are great initiative by ICC to attract people towards Test. In the age of T20.there are not many people who are interested in Test.

[Sithara007]

It's not a question of right or wrong. He's already 36 yo and can't hold a captaincy for a long due to his age and everyone is looking at the next WTC cycle, he'll be 38 by then.

He also can't play all 3 formats anymore, he has to choose his poison and drop other formats, possibly ODI(after WC) and T-20 (not IPL tho), then maybe there is a chance of him extending his test career for 2 more years.

It's the same for every senior player, who is in mid 30. Everyone makes a way for new blood so nothing new. It's part of the transition process and management needs to think about it now as you don't want to face a situation where your all senior players taking retirement at the same time.    

These players in their mid-30s and late 30s can't play all the three formats and then also get involved in the IPL. They need to make a choice. If they want to take part in IPL, let them do that. I have mentioned this a few times - BCCI need to have separate squads for limited overs and test cricket. At this point only a few players such as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane concentrate fully in the longer format. India do have the talent pool to create separate squads for different formats and domestic players such as Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran can be included in the test squad.

[n0ne]

It's not a question of right or wrong. He's already 36 yo and can't hold a captaincy for a long due to his age and everyone is looking at the next WTC cycle, he'll be 38 by then.

He also can't play all 3 formats anymore, he has to choose his poison and drop other formats, possibly ODI(after WC) and T-20 (not IPL tho), then maybe there is a chance of him extending his test career for 2 more years.

It's the same for every senior player, who is in mid 30. Everyone makes a way for new blood so nothing new. It's part of the transition process and management needs to think about it now as you don't want to face a situation where your all senior players taking retirement at the same time.    

These players in their mid-30s and late 30s can't play all the three formats and then also get involved in the IPL. They need to make a choice. If they want to take part in IPL, let them do that. I have mentioned this a few times - BCCI need to have separate squads for limited overs and test cricket. At this point only a few players such as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane concentrate fully in the longer format. India do have the talent pool to create separate squads for different formats and domestic players such as Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran can be included in the test squad.

This is the internal politics that is happening with cricket. I don't know how far it is true, but there is an unwritten rule that Mumbai players need to be given priority in captaincy, and it is a must to have Mumbai players included in every format of cricket. BCCI have enough players and there is more of community based politics. Slowly this have been getting ruled out. It takes time for BCCI to do these kind of reforms and give opportunity to more players. Sports and politics should never be mixed, when this happens the cricket in India will progress better than now.

[Juggy777]

Looks like Rohit might get replaced as the test captain in the near future based on information from various sources. Dravid might also get sacked since he hasn't really helped the team achieve much so far.

If Rohit does get replaced, I hope Ashwin gets a shot or Kohli should return since these two have great leadership qualities.

It was clear from the start that Rohit was a captain for a limited time. In T-20 Hardik already took charge, In ODI Rohit will remain the Captain, at least till WC and for a time being in the Tests too. All these guys are 34+ so no one would be captain for a long period of time and I believe it's safe to say Ashwin will never get a captaincy. Need a younger guy in a captaincy role for sure.

Dravid contract is about to finish after ODI WC so there won't be any sacking.  

@JSRAW I too don’t expect Ashwin to become the captain because in two year’s down the line even his spot won’t be secured hence they need a young captain and thus I wonder will they give Pant the responsibility when he’s back? Furthermore Dravid kinda disappointed me because of his past work I thought that he would implement new ideas but at this stage I don’t think his contract will be extended which makes me wonder will Shastri make a comeback?

[Sithara007]

This is the internal politics that is happening with cricket. I don't know how far it is true, but there is an unwritten rule that Mumbai players need to be given priority in captaincy, and it is a must to have Mumbai players included in every format of cricket. BCCI have enough players and there is more of community based politics. Slowly this have been getting ruled out. It takes time for BCCI to do these kind of reforms and give opportunity to more players. Sports and politics should never be mixed, when this happens the cricket in India will progress better than now.

Not sure about that... Rohit was made captain based on his seniority. I guess if we look at the number of matches played, Rohit is second only to Virat Kohli. So that maybe the reason. Also, they (selectors) wanted separate captains for T20 and test format. While Hardik is doing a good job in T20, Rohit has struggled so far in test format. My suggestion was to give the test captaincy to either Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant. But now both of them are out as a result of injury. I can't think about someone else in the current test squad. Maybe the BCCI should wait until Iyer/Pant are back from injury.

[kro55]

Bangladesh VS Afghanistan

After winning the toss against Bangladesh, Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi decided to field. We know Mirpur pitch is usually spin bowling friendly. But I think the pitch this time will be slightly different from the pitch of the previous matches. And so the decision to field Hasmatullah Shahidi seems right. They can get an idea of the condition of the pitch by looking at the batting condition of Bangladeshi batsmen.

Afghanistan won the last Test match against Bangladesh by a big margin. They will play to win this match as well. However, Afghanistan's main star player Rashid Khan is not in the squad. Without Rashid Khan, Afghanistan's batting and bowling line-up will be somewhat weak. But the relief for them is that Sakib is absent from this match due to injury.

[LDL]

Bangladesh VS Afghanistan

After winning the toss against Bangladesh, Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi decided to field. We know Mirpur pitch is usually spin bowling friendly. But I think the pitch this time will be slightly different from the pitch of the previous matches. And so the decision to field Hasmatullah Shahidi seems right. They can get an idea of the condition of the pitch by looking at the batting condition of Bangladeshi batsmen.

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to field first, which is reasonable as the field has been affected by rain for several days, Afghanistan will have an added advantage especially the medium fast bowlers and spinners will get a chance to turn the ball enough. However, if the Bangladeshi batsmen can deal with the first two sessions in a proper defensive mood, then there will be no difficulty on the pitch.

Edited: Afghanistan's fielding decisions have already paid off. The Bangladesh team has lost one wicket in the team's seven runs.
BAN 7/1(Zakir Hasan (1) by Nijat Masood)

[n0ne]

The much popular Ashes Series starts within two days. First test to be played in Edgbaston. Australia after the WTC win will be strong to contend against the English team. It looks like Australia have the same squad played in the WTC. England team squad can't be guessed, spinner Jack Leach is out of the series due to injury. The place is getting filled by Moeen Ali who is getting into test cricket after his retirement announcement that took place two years back. Lets see does his inclusion could make big support to the team and captain Ben Stokes is much positive in winning against Australia.

[noormcs5]

Okay, ladies and gents. It's game over for India and one can't even expect any miracle from this stage as with an hour and a half the tail is exposed. Congrats Australia!

For India, the next WTC cycle will start next month with the away series.

Away: Windes, Australia, South Africa
Home: New Zealand, England, Bangladesh.

Oh common, for god sake, leave the quest for the WTC and give other countries like Pakistan a chance to play in the finals.  

I must say something is not right about this WTC. You are the runners up in all the WTC. You have played all the finals of WTC and lost every one of them. Don't play so many finals and keep this runner-up record that it becomes almost impossible for any team to break.  

I just came happened to read this comment now and was really surprised by this approach. WTC is an open tournament and every team has an equal chance to qualify for the tournament final. It's not that India or Australia made it to the finals by default, or if India would not play the final, Pakistan will get the chance.
India has been unlucky not to win the WTC finals but they are better than all the other teams who fail to even qualify for the finals. Being a runner up is much better than not even reaching the finals.

[Sithara007]

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to field first, which is reasonable as the field has been affected by rain for several days, Afghanistan will have an added advantage especially the medium fast bowlers and spinners will get a chance to turn the ball enough. However, if the Bangladeshi batsmen can deal with the first two sessions in a proper defensive mood, then there will be no difficulty on the pitch.

Not sure about that. Usually the pitch at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur provides zero support for the pacers. On top of that Afghanistan seems to be missing many of their first choice pacers, such as Naveen ul Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi. In their absence it will be the 30-year old Yamin Ahmadzai who will lead the pace attack. And they are also missing two of their experienced spinners - Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman. And for this match they haven't included Noor Ahmed as well. Overall, Afghan squad looks a bit weak for me.

[BALIK]

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to field first, which is reasonable as the field has been affected by rain for several days, Afghanistan will have an added advantage especially the medium fast bowlers and spinners will get a chance to turn the ball enough. However, if the Bangladeshi batsmen can deal with the first two sessions in a proper defensive mood, then there will be no difficulty on the pitch.

Not sure about that. Usually the pitch at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur provides zero support for the pacers. On top of that Afghanistan seems to be missing many of their first choice pacers, such as Naveen ul Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi. In their absence it will be the 30-year old Yamin Ahmadzai who will lead the pace attack. And they are also missing two of their experienced spinners - Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman. And for this match they haven't included Noor Ahmed as well. Overall, Afghan squad looks a bit weak for me.

We all know that the Mirpur pitch always favors spinners and this pitch is not suitable enough for pace bowling. Pace bowlers cannot do much on this pitch. But today's pitch condition seems different to me. Green pitches and pitches have lots of grass. It seems that Barr's Bangladesh pitch curator Gamini de Silva has created a pace bowler-friendly pitch this time. Bangladesh has kept 3 pacers in the squad for this match. Also, there are two excellent spinners like Taijul and Miraz.

[Sithara007]

We all know that the Mirpur pitch always favors spinners and this pitch is not suitable enough for pace bowling. Pace bowlers cannot do much on this pitch. But today's pitch condition seems different to me. Green pitches and pitches have lots of grass. It seems that Barr's Bangladesh pitch curator Gamini de Silva has created a pace bowler-friendly pitch this time. Bangladesh has kept 3 pacers in the squad for this match. Also, there are two excellent spinners like Taijul and Miraz.

Nijat Masood of Afghanistan was making his debut today, and he picked up a wicket of his very first ball in test cricket. Zakir Hasan was out caught behind, and initially the umpire ruled it not out. Afghans decided to review, and the ultra-edge showed a big nick. Now Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto are at the crease and they are looking quite comfortable against the two Afghan pacers (Nijat Masood and Nijat Masood). Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim are about to come next, while captain Litton Kumer Das will be batting at no.6 for today's match.