Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Vishnu.Reang]

India lost one test match abroad and all the hell breaks loose. It is not uncommon for top ranked teams to lose in sports. I have seen Brazil getting thrashed in the FIFA world cup. There was real shock, when the United States couldn't even reach the finals of the FIBA World Cup. It happens sometimes and that's what makes sports exciting.

BTW, New Zealand is facing a real dilemma with the selection of the bowlers for the second test. Neil Wagner is back to the squad. So they should drop one of the four bowlers (Boult, Southee, Jamieson and Ajaz). The coach is thinking about dropping Jamieson and I think that it will be a very stupid move. I would rather drop Ajaz and go with an all pace attack.

[BitSat19]

India lost one test match abroad and all the hell breaks loose. It is not uncommon for top ranked teams to lose in sports. I have seen Brazil getting thrashed in the FIFA world cup. There was real shock, when the United States couldn't even reach the finals of the FIBA World Cup. It happens sometimes and that's what makes sports exciting.

BTW, New Zealand is facing a real dilemma with the selection of the bowlers for the second test. Neil Wagner is back to the squad. So they should drop one of the four bowlers (Boult, Southee, Jamieson and Ajaz). The coach is thinking about dropping Jamieson and I think that it will be a very stupid move. I would rather drop Ajaz and go with an all pace attack.

This could be very interesting decision who is going out of second test for me also Ajaz Patel should be dropped because on these pitches he is not going to do any good thing for home team.
I was reading India just won 2 test matches in last 44 years and not can they win third and level series because its very important for them what you guys thinking about this can they won and level series.

[JSRAW]

~snip~
Ummm, Well, Ummm....

Prithvi is the only new guy in this team. Mayank is part of the test squad for quite some time now, he's playing almost every test after his Debut against Australia in Dec 2018. How many time we have seen Virat batting at no 3 in the test match? hardly 5-6 innings may be? he always prefer 4th position in test. Ashwin is debatable but he did okay job in last game as bowler.

My bad.. but I always felt that no.3 position suits more for Kohli, when compared to the no.4 slot. But it is his choice, since he is the captain. Anyway, for now India has nothing to worry. Although this series is a part of the ICC World Test Championship, as of now India is far ahead of the second placed team (Australia). And the other teams are too far behind them.

For limited over cricket, then yeah he likes to bat at 3rd position but not in test format, its fixed for Pujara. Similarly Dravid used to bat at no 3 and Sachin at no 4.

Sad to see Prithvi Shaw's performance in one day's and test. I expected some good innings by the youngster. I feel there was a hype created by the media about his batting.

No hype in case of Prithvi Shaw. he's blu eyed boy for everyone since he was 13yo due to his batting and non-stop good performances.

Kohli's experiment to change his batting order has failed miserably and I think he should stick to his old position.

Bhai, please read the post you quoted, one more time  

~snip~
Can understand your opinion and I agree with some of your points, but T-20 and ODI form does actually help with tests sometimes. Lets take Rohit as an example. This man was known for his prowess in the T-20 and ODI formats specifically, but he was wonderful opening in tests too. Some cricketers are versatile basically.

Haha now backing KL Rahul with Rohit's example? Rohit doing exceptionally great in Indian subcontinent as an test opener but only time will tell if he's able to play same in SENA countries as an opener or not. So far he didn't opened the inning there so there is no sample size and we can only speculate. BTW There is a reason why management keeps him in middle order instead of giving him opening slot whenever India tours SENA countries. Hope he remains fit when India tours Australia this year (Dec).

On KL Rahul we can agree to disagree. And i don't see him in the Test Squad as an opener in the next couple of years. for him to get selected in the team he needs to perform in 4 day cricket and Rohit, Prithvi or new guy Shubham (whenever he gets his test cap) needs to fail miserably.

[Vishnu.Reang]

This could be very interesting decision who is going out of second test for me also Ajaz Patel should be dropped because on these pitches he is not going to do any good thing for home team.

Ideally Ajaz Patel should be dropped, but the coach (Gary Stead) is not very comfortable in going with an all-pace attack. I watched the interview where the journalists pointed out that Ajaz played hardly any part in the first match. Stead then went on the aggressive mode and claimed that he would have played a major role, had the match went on for more than 4 days.

The signals are clear. Rather than Ajaz, Jamieson will be dropped and that is going to be a historic blunder.

[LittleBitFunny]

With the return of Neil Wagner, New-Zealand bowling attack has become stronger again. Another obstacle awaits for India.
Let's see how effective Neil Wagner can play in the field.

[Haunebu]

On KL Rahul we can agree to disagree. And i don't see him in the Test Squad as an opener in the next couple of years. for him to get selected in the team he needs to perform in 4 day cricket and Rohit, Prithvi or new guy Shubham (whenever he gets his test cap) needs to fail miserably.

For some reason, I feel like Rahul will become a permanent addition to the test squad in the near future(Just a wild guess). Shaw has been under-performing constantly along with Vihari. Am not expecting much from Shubman either.

With the return of Neil Wagner, New-Zealand bowling attack has become stronger again. Another obstacle awaits for India.
Let's see how effective Neil Wagner can play in the field.

Damn. He is a great bowler. If India can defeat NZ with such a strong bowling attack after losing to them in such a bad way recently, kudos to them. This will be a great test for the newbies to prove themselves against such sensational bowlers.

[mersal]

Sad to see Prithvi Shaw's performance in one day's and test. I expected some good innings by the youngster. I feel there was a hype created by the media about his batting.

Kohli's experiment to change his batting order has failed miserably and I think he should stick to his old position.

Youngsters need time to settle down for international career but unfortunately in India you won't get too many chances to prove your ability because there is a long queue of good players waiting to get a chance to prove them.So he should tried his best from the beginnings and I feel he might get another chance in this series because there is nothing to loose even if India lost the another match.

Kohli's spot in test is no.4 so he is not doing any experiment with his slot but he is taking or the selection committee while selecting the squad.

[pakhitheboss]

For some reason, I feel like Rahul will become a permanent addition to the test squad in the near future(Just a wild guess). Shaw has been under-performing constantly along with Vihari. Am not expecting much from Shubman either.

There is no doubt about it. KL Rahul has proved himself to be the best batsmen for all the three formats. He is not only a good batsman but also a reliable wicketkeeper. Without him and Rohit Sharma the Indian batting has been in shambles.

[mersal]

For some reason, I feel like Rahul will become a permanent addition to the test squad in the near future(Just a wild guess). Shaw has been under-performing constantly along with Vihari. Am not expecting much from Shubman either.

There is no doubt about it. KL Rahul has proved himself to be the best batsmen for all the three formats. He is not only a good batsman but also a reliable wicketkeeper. Without him and Rohit Sharma the Indian batting has been in shambles.

Moreover KL Rahul is copying the style of Dhoni,even though he is not best as Dhoni but he can learn from him and can give that extra fast run out strategies same as Dhoni and better batsmen than Pant to be honest still he is ignored in this test.I think India will learn from this loss and will take better decision from the next series.Not to forget IPL is getting near where new players will born.

[JSRAW]

Speculation.... NZ vs India

For second test, i have a feeling that team management might go with Shubham Gill as he scored a double ton on same venue recently (against NZ A). If it happens then chances are Prithvi is going to sit out. It would be interesting to see that who gets the opportunity to open with Mayank.

Shubham Gill or Hanuma Vihari ? Hanuma took the bullet last time when he was asked to fit in the similar opening role against the Australia.

[Juggy777]

Speculation.... NZ vs India

For second test, i have a feeling that team management might go with Shubham Gill as he scored a double ton on same venue recently (against NZ A). If it happens then chances are Prithvi is going to sit out. It would be interesting to see that who gets the opportunity to open with Mayank.

Shubham Gill or Hanuma Vihari ? Hanuma took the bullet last time when he was asked to fit in the similar opening role against the Australia.

@JSRAW I don’t know if there’s any merit in this speculation, but I also feel that team India needs immediate changes as their performance in the first test match was very poor. In my personal opinion Shubham Gill should be selected as he has already scored a double ton on this venue, which means he’s already accustomed to the conditions out there and he’ll perform way better than Hanuman.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Speculation.... NZ vs India

For second test, i have a feeling that team management might go with Shubham Gill as he scored a double ton on same venue recently (against NZ A). If it happens then chances are Prithvi is going to sit out. It would be interesting to see that who gets the opportunity to open with Mayank.

Shubham Gill or Hanuma Vihari ? Hanuma took the bullet last time when he was asked to fit in the similar opening role against the Australia.

Not a big fan of Hanuma Vihari here... so if I need to chose between the two, then I'll go for Shubham Gill. I am not happy with the performance of Hanuma Vihari during the past few months. He seems to have retained his slot in the squad only because the chief selector favors him (MSK Prasad). Gill is an exciting young talent, and he deserves a few outings.

[JSRAW]

Speculation.... NZ vs India

For second test, i have a feeling that team management might go with Shubham Gill as he scored a double ton on same venue recently (against NZ A). If it happens then chances are Prithvi is going to sit out. It would be interesting to see that who gets the opportunity to open with Mayank.

Shubham Gill or Hanuma Vihari ? Hanuma took the bullet last time when he was asked to fit in the similar opening role against the Australia.

Not a big fan of Hanuma Vihari here... so if I need to chose between the two, then I'll go for Shubham Gill. I am not happy with the performance of Hanuma Vihari during the past few months. He seems to have retained his slot in the squad only because the chief selector favors him (MSK Prasad). Gill is an exciting young talent, and he deserves a few outings.

In this scenario i was looking at

-Prithvi (Not Hanuma) to sit out if Shubham Gill plays
-Who should open the inning with Mayank as an opener Gill or Hanuma?

Vishnu i am not sure bhai what are your sources are but i think you need to reconsider your statement of "Chief Selector" or if there are any such thing, then please post here, I might learn something new. Because as far as i know there is no such thing and Hanuma Vihari playing on merits. he played couple of good innings in Oval and Sydney when condition were tough for every batsmen.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Vishnu i am not sure bhai what are your sources are but i think you need to reconsider your statement of "Chief Selector" or if there are any such thing, then please post here, I might learn something new. Because as far as i know there is no such thing and Hanuma Vihari playing on merits. he played couple of good innings in Oval and Sydney when condition were tough for every batsmen.

I don't have any personal enmity against Hanuma Vihari. I was just saying that he was given too many opportunities (similar to Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav), and this was not given for other players such as Karun Nair and Sanju Samson. MSK Prasad is the chairman of the BCCI Senior selection committee, and many of his selections were controversial.

[mersal]

Vishnu i am not sure bhai what are your sources are but i think you need to reconsider your statement of "Chief Selector" or if there are any such thing, then please post here, I might learn something new. Because as far as i know there is no such thing and Hanuma Vihari playing on merits. he played couple of good innings in Oval and Sydney when condition were tough for every batsmen.

I don't have any personal enmity against Hanuma Vihari. I was just saying that he was given too many opportunities (similar to Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav), and this was not given for other players such as Karun Nair and Sanju Samson. MSK Prasad is the chairman of the BCCI Senior selection committee, and many of his selections were controversial.

Indian cricket has always inside politics while selecting the players and I heard people get discriminated if they are not Hindu based religion and will be terminated from the squad completely even many players who faced this openly stated this but I don't want to comment anything about it now.Only people were selected for this series and not enough experience,whoever plays this may not get any advantage because once Rohit and other players comeback into team will take their spots permanently.

[JSRAW]

Vishnu i am not sure bhai what are your sources are but i think you need to reconsider your statement of "Chief Selector" or if there are any such thing, then please post here, I might learn something new. Because as far as i know there is no such thing and Hanuma Vihari playing on merits. he played couple of good innings in Oval and Sydney when condition were tough for every batsmen.

I don't have any personal enmity against Hanuma Vihari. I was just saying that he was given too many opportunities (similar to Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav), and this was not given for other players such as Karun Nair and Sanju Samson. MSK Prasad is the chairman of the BCCI Senior selection committee, and many of his selections were controversial.

Rishab is WK batsman
Kedar Jadav is ODI batsman
Karun Nair is Test Opener ( Long queue for Opening position)
Sanju Samson is ODI and T-20 player
Hanuma vihari is Middle order batsman in Test Match only

I know MSK prasad is lousy selector but honestly I don't even see any connection here.

Indian cricket has always inside politics while selecting the players and I heard people get discriminated if they are not Hindu based religion and will be terminated from the squad completely even many players who faced this openly stated this but I don't want to comment anything about it now.Only people were selected for this series and not enough experience,whoever plays this may not get any advantage because once Rohit and other players comeback into team will take their spots permanently.

With all due respect to your opinion. I can guarantee that you heard it wrong. Indian cricket is good because there is no such thing Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian in Indian team. List is long but Few names stand out to me.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi ( Former Indian Captain)
Mohammed Azharuddin ( Former Indian Captain who got banned due to Match-Fixing, people still celebrate him.)
Syed Mustafa Hussain Kirmani ( Decorated WK in Indian history)
Sayed Mustaq Ali ( T-20 league Sayed Mustaq Ali trophy is dedicated to him)
Saba Karim
Zaheer Khan
Mohd Kaif
Irfan Pathan
Yusuf Pathan
Mohammed Shami
Wasim Jaffer ( He's considered legend in the Domestic cricket)

If by any chance you are talking about recent Kashmiri cricketer then let me break it out for you that he got suspended because he faked his birth certificates and he's not alone, 2 other players faced similar suspension and atleast 3-4 cases are pending on similar incident.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Indian cricket has always inside politics while selecting the players and I heard people get discriminated if they are not Hindu based religion and will be terminated from the squad completely even many players who faced this openly stated this but I don't want to comment anything about it now.Only people were selected for this series and not enough experience,whoever plays this may not get any advantage because once Rohit and other players comeback into team will take their spots permanently.

Here I have to disagree with you. If there was any discrimination, it was based on regional basis. There was never any discrimination based on religion. If that was the case, then Mohammed Azharuddin would have never captained India. He later went on to become a parliamentarian (despite being charged for match fixing). Indians are proud of their home states, and usually they have a soft corner for individuals from their region. But this has nothing to do with religion.

[erikalui]

Anyone's betting on India in the second test?

I haven't read about there being any change in the team till now and believe that the new ground is good for batsmen. I feel again we'll get to see the same fate as NZ are too strong in their home land and Indians are playing carelessly.

[mersal]

Wasim Jaffer ( He's considered legend in the Domestic cricket)

Even though he is legendary player on Domestic level he didn't get enough chances to play for Indian ODI side to be honest.But lets keep the religious talk aside.

[Indymoney]

Wasim Jaffer ( He's considered legend in the Domestic cricket)

Even though he is legendary player on Domestic level he didn't get enough chances to play for Indian ODI side to be honest.But lets keep the religious talk aside.

This case is just about his style or any other its happen with many players around the world as in Pakistan we have Zahid Fazal he was legend in domestic but fail in International level as I also have some good names in English counties and many other local players they was very good in domestic but completely fail in International level because fail to handle pressure.