Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[libert19]

Jurel, Sarfraz, Jadeja, Siraj comes in for Bharat, Iyer, Axar and Mukesh

Only one surprise for me there that being Siraj as replacement for Mukesh, I expected Akash Deep there.

For England side, Bashir goes out and Mark Wood is back in.


India won the toss and will be batting first.

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[Bitcoin Smith]

Jurel, Sarfraz, Jadeja, Siraj comes in for Bharat, Iyer, Axar and Mukesh

Only one surprise for me there that being Siraj as replacement for Mukesh, I expected Akash Deep there.

For England side, Bashir goes out and Mark Wood is back in.


India won the toss and will be batting first.

I thought Bumrah is going to be rested for this match but due to the inexperienced batting lineup, they have to strengthen their bowling so went with the premium players. Good to see Sarfraz and Jurel got their caps, hope they will make it up to it.

Whenever I watch Jaiswal, he begins with a boundary on the very first ball, just reminding me of Sehwag who revolutionized the test format.

Expected to be a run feast that gives better edge to Englishmen than India in my opinion.

[Sithara007]

Big day for Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, as both of them are making their test debut today. Then we have Rajat Patidar playing his second test match. Overall, the Indian squad looks a little inexperienced IMO. And the Poms are right on the money. They have already taken the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, and now Rohit Sharma and Patidar are trying to settle down things. And surprisingly it was Mark Wood who picked up both the wickets, with James Anderson keeping things very tight from the other end.

[libert19]

India looking in not so good situation right now with 62-3 (Jaiswal, Gill, Patidar gone), Rohit still on crease and Jadeja has come down just after 3rd wicket, which personally I'm not in favor of, whenever someone's original batting position is changed i'm reminded of odiwc where Jadeja came before Surya and well things went downhill

Rohit was dropped by Joe Root, and barely survived LBW, In absence of Rahul, Kohli, Indian score will largely depend on how long Sharmaji stays on crease, he goes and I feel India will be in huge trouble. Sarfraz, Jurel might be a good batters but in absence of experienced player on other side they might give in to pressure.

[Sithara007]

The two debutants are to come next: Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel. I was actually surprised to see Ravindra Jadeja coming to bat ahead of Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz doesn't bat so down the order in domestic cricket. In his last first-class match for Mumbai, he batted at no.4 (vs Bihar during Ranji Trophy). And that means that Dhruv Jurel will be at no.7, and Ravichandran Ashwin will be at no.8. So a lot of depth in batting for India. And with Rohit and Jadeja batting cautiously, they will be expecting to reach a competitive total.   

[Bitcoin Smith]

India looking in not so good situation right now with 62-3 (Jaiswal, Gill, Patidar gone), Rohit still on crease and Jadeja has come down just after 3rd wicket, which personally I'm not in favor of, whenever someone's original batting position is changed i'm reminded of odiwc where Jadeja came before Surya and well things went downhill

I am not fan of swapping player's original position either but about this particular move, I feel it's indeed put hold on the wickets column that Jaddu has to came early and it could gone other way if the debutants were put under lot of pressure.

After the initial chaos, Rohit and Jaddu managed to steady the innings for now with 50+ partnership but this match has long way to go because the avg 1st innings score of this venue is above 400 even including the first class matches. India has batting depth upto no.8 on paper but can they deliver?

IND 93/3 at the Lunch Break.

[Sithara007]

South Africa seems to be having an upper hand, in the second test against New Zealand at Seddon Park. In the second innings, they managed a total of 235, with David Bedingham getting his first test century. But apart from him, none of the other batsmen got to a 50. Neil Brand and Keegan Petersen failed to convert the start that they got to good scores. And no one else even got to double digits, as William O’Rourke picked up a 5-wicket haul in his test debut. Kiwis need another 227 runs, with 9 wickets remaining. But I would say that Proteas are going to win this one.

[elevates]

Another game of test cricket and another bad batting by Shubhman Gill. How long will this guy get a chance to play for the Indian cricket team? Getting out for a duck has now become a new normal for him. Patidar again got out cheaply he got this chance to play for the Indian side after so many years and now he is batting as if he is playing for the first time. Rohit won the toss thinking that the Indian team would bat brilliantly looks like now he has to take the burden of scoring runs and not losing his wicket. Two new debutants in this team and let's see whether they are a big fail or they make it big in this test match.

[vennali]

Shubman Gill goes out on a duck again(He did in the 1st test's 2nd innings). He doesn't seem impressive enough to keep his position at the moment honestly (if not for the 100 he scored in the previous innings). The 100 being the only decent score he's got in a fairly long time while his 2nd best score before that was 36. What do you do with Gill? do you keep playing him in hopes that he scores 1 crucial knock in 10 odd innings? or change his batting order or bench him for another reputed opener?

[libert19]

Shubman Gill goes out on a duck again(He did in the 1st test's 2nd innings). He doesn't seem impressive enough to keep his position at the moment honestly (if not for the 100 he scored in the previous innings). The 100 being the only decent score he's got in a fairly long time while his 2nd best score before that was 36. What do you do with Gill? do you keep playing him in hopes that he scores 1 crucial knock in 10 odd innings? or change his batting order or bench him for another reputed opener?

I don't see Gill getting dropped in this test series, but if he does not get his form back he's surely to get dropped from T20 wc squad, as the competition is going to be tough to retain spots there with some proper t20 players returning such as Pandya, Surya and some such as Rinku Singh likely having their spot already guaranteed, plus Jaiswal is already being paired with Rohit which I feel is likely going to continue in t20wc.

[elevates]

100 runs partnership by Rohit and Jadeja, what way to bring up the partnership. When India was in trouble these two batter kept calm, started rotating strike, found the odd boundary and got India out of the trouble. A good comeback by the Indian captain and the Indian team. Rohit is on 73 and Jadeja is on 4, I hope Rohit gets his century to boost his confidence and Jadeja his half century. I guess after hearing that he will be the captain of the T20 squad for the World Cup he is now out of tension. It shows in his batting as he is batting today like he used to in his early days.

[JSRAW]

With this partnership, there is some fresh air and a sense of relief in the Indian camp but the job is still not done and the batters need to climb a mountain.

As of now, the pitch is looking good to bat on and should remain the same for tomorrow as well so batters need to bat long, no matter what. Anything below 450 in the first inning would be blasphemy.

For bowlers, it's a waiting game and they'd hope for some mistakes from this pair and then we have debutants and a rather long tail barring Ashwin.

[Swordsoffreedom]

South Africa seems to be having an upper hand, in the second test against New Zealand at Seddon Park. In the second innings, they managed a total of 235, with David Bedingham getting his first test century. But apart from him, none of the other batsmen got to a 50. Neil Brand and Keegan Petersen failed to convert the start that they got to good scores. And no one else even got to double digits, as William O’Rourke picked up a 5-wicket haul in his test debut. Kiwis need another 227 runs, with 9 wickets remaining. But I would say that Proteas are going to win this one.

South Africa team managed to set a big target of 267 runs. A target of 267 runs can be called a big target on such a bowling friendly pitch. David Bedingham batted well in both innings. In the first innings he collected 9 runs and in the second innings he collected 110 runs.

Despite giving a big target of 267 runs, it is not certain whether South Africa will win. But the chances of South Africa winning are high. South Africa's bowlers will definitely need to bowl under control. At the end of the third day, New Zealand lost 1 wicket and collected 40 runs. If the South African bowlers can get off to a good start tomorrow, they will win.

[Sithara007]

Sarfaraz Khan has started well. And he looks confident out there. England on the other hand has thrown away the advantage that Mark Wood gave them. Wood still looks like their best bowler out there and he has picked up 3 out of the 4 wickets to fall till now. Shubman Gill has failed once more, and Yashasvi Jaiswal also couldn't shine. I am sure that the selectors are concerned regarding their form. England bowlers are toiling hard without any rewards. Tom Hartley got the wicket of Rajat Patidar, but Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed are still wicketless. 

[virasog]

Shubman Gill goes out on a duck again(He did in the 1st test's 2nd innings). He doesn't seem impressive enough to keep his position at the moment honestly (if not for the 100 he scored in the previous innings). The 100 being the only decent score he's got in a fairly long time while his 2nd best score before that was 36. What do you do with Gill? do you keep playing him in hopes that he scores 1 crucial knock in 10 odd innings? or change his batting order or bench him for another reputed opener?

I don't see Gill getting dropped in this test series, but if he does not get his form back he's surely to get dropped from T20 wc squad, as the competition is going to be tough to retain spots there with some proper t20 players returning such as Pandya, Surya and some such as Rinku Singh likely having their spot already guaranteed, plus Jaiswal is already being paired with Rohit which I feel is likely going to continue in t20wc.

Here we are in the 3rd test match between India and England and in this match India have stated this innings with some good runs on the board. They have scored 252 runs with four wickets down at the drinks break.

If we talk about the Indian batting at Rajkot today, the captain Rohit Sharma made 131 runs followed by Ravindra Jadeja, who is currently batting at 90 and will make his century soon. These two batsmen have given a strong start to the Indian batting line up. The English bowlers look helpless, and they did not get much help from the wicket. However, Mark Wood got three wickets and is the best bowler so far from the England team.

[JSRAW]

For a heavyweight, Sarfraz Khan looks fairly quick on his legs when taking quick runs or even running hard for 3s. So far loving his approach, despite one top edge for sweep he hardly look like a debutant and playing his shots with confidence (fingers crossed).

Rohit did his part but tbh he threw away his wicket, probably got bored. He had a opportunity to go really big in the first inning.

[Minor Miner]

100 runs partnership by Rohit and Jadeja, what way to bring up the partnership. When India was in trouble these two batter kept calm, started rotating strike, found the odd boundary and got India out of the trouble. A good comeback by the Indian captain and the Indian team. Rohit is on 73 and Jadeja is on 4, I hope Rohit gets his century to boost his confidence and Jadeja his half century. I guess after hearing that he will be the captain of the T20 squad for the World Cup he is now out of tension. It shows in his batting as he is batting today like he used to in his early days.

We expected more responsible batting from India's experienced top order. But India lost 3 important wickets for just 33 runs. However, India went on to big collections with the responsible batting of captain Rohit Sharma and Jadeja. India collected 204 runs from this pair. Rohit Sharma got out after collecting 131 runs. Jadeja is still at the crease after scoring 100 runs. Sarfaraz Khan's innings of 62 off 66 balls was also very important. India has now accumulated 315 runs after losing 5 wickets. India will be able to collect 400+ in the first innings.

[libert19]

I think Rohit's reaction was most of us when Sarfaraz got out, dude was playing so good whether it be pace or spin, the run was so unnecessary, though, I can understand their position, in heat of moment such things happen.

Meanwhile, Jadeja played much needed knock today but it may get overshadowed by this run-out.

Sarfaraz will make another century but it won't be of his maiden test innings. It could have been history maker.

[JSRAW]

^^ Maine bhi bhar kar gali di Jadeja ko 


With a bizarre run out of Sarfraz Khan, I'd say it's more like a shared day for both teams. India would be kicking themselves for the last wicket. Sarfraz was dominating spinners and also looked comfortable against Jimmy/Wood.

Jadeja should be blamed for the runout, no doubt about it. He went into his shell when he was in the 90s (which he usually do) and the debutant was helping him to reach 100 quickly with risky singles.
IMO now Jaddu needs to score Sarfraz's runs as well and not throw his wicket in the morning, which he's famous for. Truly feel bad for Sarfraz, his maiden 100 was on the card and India could've benefitted with a run rate as well because he was just spanking everyone.

[Haunebu]

Rohit and Jadeja saved India when they were reeling at around 30 something for 3 wickets down at one point. England messed up by not taking advantage of some LBW calls which could have removed both players earlier.

Also, Sarfraz was awesome on debut and his statistics say everything about him. Am confident he will continue dishing out great performances.