Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[ene1980]

This is true and not sure if the Kohli luck as a captain winning the major tournament is bad or so . Beacuse many series India have won under him like test match or ODI but nothing champions trophy or so . Also last couple of years IPL team of Kohli who leads Bengaluru has failed miserably to even reach top 4 .

I have my reservations about Kohli as the best captain as you mentioned he failed miserably as a captain in the IPL even with good players and in my observation Dhoni is the best captain India ever produced as he won all the major tournaments in world cricket and i even remember the first T20 world when he was made captain and he was went with young players and won the world cup which was incredible as no one expected that and that win kick started the IPL tournament in India and he won many IPL tournaments for his team which is not an easy task and it shows his captaincy prowess.

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[erikalui]

Markam won't be playing the third test as he injured himself by taking out his frustration by boxing. This behavior reminded me of Ponting who used to break things getting frustrated and angry with his own performance. Don't understand why to be so frustrated and then harm your own-self by acting immature. It costed him the test match now.

[Indymoney]

This is true and not sure if the Kohli luck as a captain winning the major tournament is bad or so . Beacuse many series India have won under him like test match or ODI but nothing champions trophy or so . Also last couple of years IPL team of Kohli who leads Bengaluru has failed miserably to even reach top 4 .

I have my reservations about Kohli as the best captain as you mentioned he failed miserably as a captain in the IPL even with good players and in my observation Dhoni is the best captain India ever produced as he won all the major tournaments in world cricket and i even remember the first T20 world when he was made captain and he was went with young players and won the world cup which was incredible as no one expected that and that win kick started the IPL tournament in India and he won many IPL tournaments for his team which is not an easy task and it shows his captaincy prowess.

Right now as Kohli and Team India is doing in Test Championship look like they are going to change many things even luck even its just start and we have to wait for some time right now they are in driving seat next series is also very good for them as they are going to host Bangladesh after this New Zealand is also not bad all so they can take some decent lead in points for championship.

[ene1980]

Markam won't be playing the third test as he injured himself by taking out his frustration by boxing.

He made two ducks in two innings and may be the coach informed him that he is not playing the third test and because of frustration he smashed objects and then injured his hands and now the official statement will be that Markram is injured to play the third test  . In the second innings he could have gone for the review and his partner was sleeping too.

This behavior reminded me of Ponting who used to break things getting frustrated and angry with his own performance. Don't understand why to be so frustrated and then harm your own-self by acting immature. It costed him the test match now.

As i said above who knows what the truth is, he is struggling in spinning tracks and who will be replacing Markram in the third test.

[eaLiTy]

As i said above who knows what the truth is, he is struggling in spinning tracks and who will be replacing Markram in the third test.

Aiden Markram scored a century in the warm up match and i thought he will be playing well in Indian condition but that was not the case and there is no replacement for him as of yet and there is another player being injured for the third test Keshav Maharaj and is replaced by another left arm spinner George Linde, it will be a big blow as he is the leading wicket taker for South Africa in the first two test.

[bryant.coleman]

Markam won't be playing the third test as he injured himself by taking out his frustration by boxing.

He made two ducks in two innings and may be the coach informed him that he is not playing the third test and because of frustration he smashed objects and then injured his hands and now the official statement will be that Markram is injured to play the third test  . In the second innings he could have gone for the review and his partner was sleeping too.

He performed well in the warm up match, but was unlucky during the second test match. In the first innings he got out to a very good delivery from Umesh Yadav and during the second innings he was too late in calling for the review. It was not his fault. The ball was clearly missing the stumps and Nigel Llong made a grave mistake to give him out. Markam's morale was down and that was probably why he hesitated in calling for the review. Dean Elgar was not helping things either, by not recommending the review. 

[Indymoney]

Markam won't be playing the third test as he injured himself by taking out his frustration by boxing.

He made two ducks in two innings and may be the coach informed him that he is not playing the third test and because of frustration he smashed objects and then injured his hands and now the official statement will be that Markram is injured to play the third test  . In the second innings he could have gone for the review and his partner was sleeping too.

He performed well in the warm up match, but was unlucky during the second test match. In the first innings he got out to a very good delivery from Umesh Yadav and during the second innings he was too late in calling for the review. It was not his fault. The ball was clearly missing the stumps and Nigel Llong made a grave mistake to give him out. Markam's morale was down and that was probably why he hesitated in calling for the review. Dean Elgar was not helping things either, by not recommending the review. 

After Hashim Amla South African batting line is in very serious trouble as they have not good enough back up for him and other players also not doing good enough as after worst performance in world cup their moral is down and this Indian tour is bringing them more down now they need to think about this and done some brave changes and have decisions which help them like end of quata system for black players and hard work in domestic cricket for high profile players like Graham Smith Deviliier and Hashim Amla.

[justdimin]

Aiden Markram scored a century in the warm up match and i thought he will be playing well in Indian condition

Credits goes to Indian pace attract. If I remember correct, on both of the innings of 2nd test, he got out LBW but by different bowlers. As he became a LBW candidate, Indian bowlers attracted him without letting him settle down. This is the reason, he got out before get off the mark. After 2 ducks in a test, I was thinking like, he wont get another chance where South Africa may play for pride like they push for a draw at least. But, now he is injured so a new player may get his test debut.

Don't understand why to be so frustrated and then harm your own-self by acting immature. It costed him the test match now.

All the news that we are hearing do not need to be as it has to be. It is an usual thing in cricket history that all the out-of-form players are getting injury and making themselves unavailable for a crucial clash.

For 3rd test, Indian may think about testing the strength of their bench. But, I am sure Wriddhiman Saha will not lose his cloves even Indian future plans are highly depending on Rishabh Pant. India may rest Ishant Sharma as Umesh Yadav is seeming more promising than Ishant. Shubman Gill is the another man may get his long awaited opportunity.

[JSRAW]

For 3rd test, Indian may think about testing the strength of their bench. But, I am sure Wriddhiman Saha will not lose his cloves even Indian future plans are highly depending on Rishabh Pant. India may rest Ishant Sharma as Umesh Yadav is seeming more promising than Ishant. Shubman Gill is the another man may get his long awaited opportunity.

Ranchi is spin track. so Indian team might go with 5 bowler combination here as well ( 2 seamers and 3 spinners) kuldeep can come in the squad. it would be interesting to see who get rest or drop in this test. Umesh /Ishant?

Saha is good to go and no change in Batting lineup so no chance for Shubman Gill. 

[SaShiRaJaVu]

Wriddhiman Saha will not lose his cloves even Indian future plans are highly depending on Rishabh Pant.

Wriddhiman Saha was a stand out performer in the second test and he took some incredible catches and i am sure Pant would have being not that efficient like Saha and he is in the team for a reason as he is the best wicket keeper along with Dinesh Karthik and Pant has to improve his keeping and batting skills and there is no doubt he will be a future prospect, let him improve his keeping skills and then make a come back as he dropped some catches in the last series.

[bryant.coleman]

For 3rd test, Indian may think about testing the strength of their bench. But, I am sure Wriddhiman Saha will not lose his cloves even Indian future plans are highly depending on Rishabh Pant. India may rest Ishant Sharma as Umesh Yadav is seeming more promising than Ishant. Shubman Gill is the another man may get his long awaited opportunity.

There is room for experimentation as South Africa is looking very weak right now. On top of that, two of their key players will be missing the third test (Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj). But at the same time, India can't afford to lose the third test under any circumstances. The world test championship is ongoing and the outcome of each and every test is important.

It may not be a bad idea to rest either Ishant Sharma or Mohammed Shami, and give an opportunity to Kuldeep Yadav. As far as the World Test Championship is concerned, India is ahead of their closest rivals by a massive 140 points. They have some room for experimentation, as long as they make sure that they win the third match.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

once again India won the toss and elected to bat, Kohli is really lucky to win consecutive toss and in this pitch toss is a factor as the last days favors spinners and any touring team like to bat first rather than batting in the last innings, India lost their first wicket, Agarwal edged and taken in the third slip and if South Africa is able to pick wickets and put pressure then we will see a good match, India included Shahbaz Nadeem in the team and is making his international debut, i was expecting Kuldeep Yadav to be picked.

[Sithara007]

once again India won the toss and elected to bat

That means that Faf du Plessis has lost the toss 10 times in a row. This may be a new world record!!!

South Africa made some stupid changes for this test match, and I have no doubt that they will end up losing this match as well. First of all, Senuran Muthusamy has been dropped. He was good with the bat during the first two matches and had picked crucial wickets. So he is being left out and surprisingly Dane Piedt has been included in the squad.

Another surprise is that Aiden Markram has been overlooked in order to include Zubayr Hamza. Looks like a political decision for me. Their selection policy is the main reason why South Africa is struggling to win matches abroad.

Anyway, India seems to be in some sort of trouble. Rabada picked up two wickets and both Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal are back in pavilion.

[7788bitcoin]

Good to see that South Africa had a good start as they picked two quick wickets even though they lost the toss yet again and Faf du Plessis should practice on how to get tackle this problem as toss is important in these wickets but the South African bowlers are bowling really good spells and if they are able to pick a couple of wickets then the Indian batting line up will be exposed.

That means that Faf du Plessis has lost the toss 10 times in a row. This may be a new world record!!!

Faf du Plessis needs coaching on how to win a toss, he is finding it difficult to win the match, let him get some coaching for winning the toss .

[bryant.coleman]

Good to see that South Africa had a good start as they picked two quick wickets even though they lost the toss yet again and Faf du Plessis should practice on how to get tackle this problem as toss is important in these wickets but the South African bowlers are bowling really good spells and if they are able to pick a couple of wickets then the Indian batting line up will be exposed.

LOL.. the Indian batting lineup is too strong to be troubled by the fall of one or two wickets. Virat Kohli is batting with Rohit Sharma now, and they should be able to steady the innings. India is having a very deep batting order, with Jadeja, Saha, Jadeja and Ashwin yet to come. All these are good batsmen and it is going to be a tough task for the inexperienced South African bowlers to contain them.

BTW, the left arm spinner from Bihar, Shahbaz Nadeem is making his debut for India today. It is a bit weird. Now they have two left-arm spinners with very similar bowling action in the playing XI (the other being Ravindra Jadeja). Jadeja was very effective during the last match, and ideally they should have gone for more variety by including the wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

[JSRAW]

~snip~
LOL..

71/3 Proteas is in good position but i agree still good amount of batting left. if SA let slip Indians from this stage then no comment...

BTW, the left arm spinner from Bihar, Shahbaz Nadeem is making his debut for India today. It is a bit weird.

I am surprised as well. didn't see his name in the backup players, guess he was selected because of his performance in India A

[7788bitcoin]

LOL.. the Indian batting lineup is too strong to be troubled by the fall of one or two wickets. Virat Kohli is batting with Rohit Sharma now, and they should be able to steady the innings. India is having a very deep batting order, with Jadeja, Saha, Jadeja and Ashwin yet to come. All these are good batsmen and it is going to be a tough task for the inexperienced South African bowlers to contain them.

The star batsman Kohli is also gone and if the South African bowlers can somehow take the wicket of Rohit Sharma then India will be in real trouble here, if no Rohit has the skills to score a big century which will take the game away from them, i hope they attack them and take a few more wickets and one more wicket here and India will be under immense pressure, i know they have a long tail but i am happy to see South Africa putting some pressure on the Indian batsman.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

71/3 Proteas is in good position but i agree still good amount of batting left. if SA let slip Indians from this stage then no comment...

There is no doubt that South Africa got the best start in this tournament but India does have players who scored centuries in Test matches and it will not be a huge problem and it all depends upon how South Africa bat too, India has three spinners in the team and you mentioned earlier that it is a spinning track and there is no way South Africa is going to win this match  .

 

[bryant.coleman]

LOL.. the Indian batting lineup is too strong to be troubled by the fall of one or two wickets. Virat Kohli is batting with Rohit Sharma now, and they should be able to steady the innings. India is having a very deep batting order, with Jadeja, Saha, Jadeja and Ashwin yet to come. All these are good batsmen and it is going to be a tough task for the inexperienced South African bowlers to contain them.

The star batsman Kohli is also gone and if the South African bowlers can somehow take the wicket of Rohit Sharma then India will be in real trouble here, if no Rohit has the skills to score a big century which will take the game away from them, i hope they attack them and take a few more wickets and one more wicket here and India will be under immense pressure, i know they have a long tail but i am happy to see South Africa putting some pressure on the Indian batsman.

The LBW verdict against Kohli was very surprising. The ball was just grazing the wicket and ideally the umpire should have given it as a not out. Anyway I don't think that India needs to worry much, as their batting lineup is quite solid. Also, I think that during the initial session, the pacers were able to get some advantage from the pitch (especially Rabada and Nortje). This will not be the case for the next two sessions.

Out of the total of 23 overs bowled during the first session, only one over was bowled by a spinner. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane is at the crease now, and they should be able to put things in order during the post-lunch session. South Africa don't have Keshav Maharaj and they dropped Senuran Muthusamy. Let me see how they deal with the Indian batsmen.

[7788bitcoin]

The LBW verdict against Kohli was very surprising. The ball was just grazing the wicket and ideally the umpire should have given it as a not out.

There is nothing surprising here as the on field umpire gave the decision and Kohli went for the review and according to the rule if the review shows that the ball graces any part of the wicket then it will be given out, i am not telling that the DRS is perfect as i have seen many decisions going in the favor of batsman even though it was hitting the wicket and the ball tracking is objective in my opinion, the main advantage is to avoid blunders from on field umpires and it was a normal occurrence in the past.

After lunch there is a scope for South Africa to pick another wicket  .