Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[7788bitcoin]

Unfortunately team running out of reserves. Gill, KL Rahul, Siraj, Saini, Shardul, Natarajan, kuldeep, Tyagi,Saha all were reserved players. 3 of them (Gill,Siraj,Saini) already made their debut in the last 2 games . KL Rahul is already ruled out due to injury so they are left with Shardul, Natarajan, Tyagi (Fast bowlers) Kuldeep (Spinner) and only one batsman Shaw.

They should hire freelancers and protect the rest of the players so that they could come out and play the final match  . The series had everything, a humiliating score for India in double digits and then loosing their aggressive captain and then coming from behind and winning and in the mean time loosing players due to injury and then drawing a match which everyone though was impossible with injured players in the crease in Ashwin and Vihari.

The only option for the coaching staff and captain is to ask the remaining members whether they are fit enough to play on the day of the match and India should have sent more reserves. 

[1714744004]

1714744004

[Sithara007]

^^^ I would really love to see Natarajan make his debut, but then it depends on Damaadji. If he prefers Kuldeep Yadav for the final test, then Natarajan may need to wait some more time for his test debut. All that said, I have a feeling that India needs a left-arm pacer right now. It will add more variety to their pace attack, which is looking quite homogenous nowadays.

If Ashwin is fit to play then including Kuldeep doesn't make much sense on fast-bouncy track. Shashtri is nutjob but i guess he understand this clearly. They must be brainstorming on Saha's role though.

Check this:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/india-in-australia/india-vs-australia-held-back-in-oz-for-nets-washington-sundar-may-play-gabba-test-jasprit-bumrah-out/articleshow/80230619.cms

TOI is saying that Washington Sundar may make his debut. Officially he is not a part of the squad, but was asked to stay back in Australia after the ODI/T20I series.  And there is still no confirmation regarding Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin. As per the media, they are being considered as 50/50 probabilities. I don't think that including two spinners (Ashwin and Sundar) is a good idea. I would have rather included Natarajan.

The playing eleven, for now, is expected to be on the following lines: Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Mayank Agarwal / Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

[JSRAW]

Unfortunately team running out of reserves. Gill, KL Rahul, Siraj, Saini, Shardul, Natarajan, kuldeep, Tyagi,Saha all were reserved players. 3 of them (Gill,Siraj,Saini) already made their debut in the last 2 games . KL Rahul is already ruled out due to injury so they are left with Shardul, Natarajan, Tyagi (Fast bowlers) Kuldeep (Spinner) and only one batsman Shaw.

Haha After Mayank's Injury there are technically just Pujara, Ashwin and Rahane  left in the team who would have been part of the A team if everyone was fit rest of all of them are reserves and all the time we were cursing how fiercly competitive a place in the team is but now this same thing is helping India as we hav so much of backups. BCCI's decisions of sending more than 30 players on the tour was such an intelligent decision. Otherwise we would have faced the bio-bubble problem with these player. Quite an far sighted decision.

Due to covid CA refused to provide net bowlers to Indian team, which was right call from the Aussie side in tough time. It forced BCCI to bring enough players and Blame the IPL for intensive workload/injuries but at the same time thanks the IPL for enough warm up as well, some short of practice for players, especially new guys ... Tour could have been cancelled if we had 18 Men squad.

Overall , i think departure of Kohli turned out to be blessing in disguise. Every player taking responsibility and showing character now. I hope they keep up the same mindset when he returns, may be Kohli should think about it and give players some space and stop putting pressure on them unnecessary.

~snip~

They should hire freelancers and protect the rest of the players so that they could come out and play the final match  .

Lol
Only Australian players are eligible or they should try some from the BBL, may be bring Rashid Khan. 

^^^ I would really love to see Natarajan make his debut, but then it depends on Damaadji. If he prefers Kuldeep Yadav for the final test, then Natarajan may need to wait some more time for his test debut. All that said, I have a feeling that India needs a left-arm pacer right now. It will add more variety to their pace attack, which is looking quite homogenous nowadays.

If Ashwin is fit to play then including Kuldeep doesn't make much sense on fast-bouncy track. Shashtri is nutjob but i guess he understand this clearly. They must be brainstorming on Saha's role though.

Check this:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/india-in-australia/india-vs-australia-held-back-in-oz-for-nets-washington-sundar-may-play-gabba-test-jasprit-bumrah-out/articleshow/80230619.cms

TOI is saying that Washington Sundar may make his debut. Officially he is not a part of the squad, but was asked to stay back in Australia after the ODI/T20I series.  And there is still no confirmation regarding Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin. As per the media, they are being considered as 50/50 probabilities. I don't think that including two spinners (Ashwin and Sundar) is a good idea. I would have rather included Natarajan.

The playing eleven, for now, is expected to be on the following lines: Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Mayank Agarwal / Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

They didn't include him in the squad yet so i am not sure if we should believe the unnamed source or not. No idea about Sundar's first class career but this doesn't look that bad. With this move Indian tail look okay as Ashwin,Sundar and Shardul can bat as well.

[bryant.coleman]

They didn't include him in the squad yet so i am not sure if we should believe the unnamed source or not. No idea about Sundar's first class career but this doesn't look that bad. With this move Indian tail look okay as Ashwin,Sundar and Shardul can bat as well.

Sundar can bat, but he is not as good as Jadeja in the batting department. So essentially India is going with two spinners for the fourth test match, which I believe is a bad idea. They could have used the slot to include another pacer (probably Natarajan). The Indian team needs to be careful here. If they win one more match, then they can create history in Australia.

[JSRAW]

They didn't include him in the squad yet so i am not sure if we should believe the unnamed source or not. No idea about Sundar's first class career but this doesn't look that bad. With this move Indian tail look okay as Ashwin,Sundar and Shardul can bat as well.

Sundar can bat, but he is not as good as Jadeja in the batting department. So essentially India is going with two spinners for the fourth test match, which I believe is a bad idea. They could have used the slot to include another pacer (probably Natarajan). The Indian team needs to be careful here. If they win one more match, then they can create history in Australia.

That i agree, even draw would be great, with draw they would retain Border Gavaskar trophy again. No one gave them much chance after 36 all out drama. However chances are very slim at Gabba but there is some hope from this Indian team after their brave performance.

@Vishnu.Reang Win the toss and bat first, anyone heard anything on weather forecast?

[Vishnu.Reang]

@Vishnu.Reang Win the toss and bat first, anyone heard anything on weather forecast?

As per the weather prediction, first day will be largely sunny and clear. But for the remaining 4 days, heavy rains are predicted. Expect a loss of at least 150-200 overs as a result of rain. That means unless there is a batting collapse effecting one of the sides, the chance of getting a result from the fourth match is very minimal. BTW, January is the wettest month of the year, in Brisbane and the surrounding areas. CA scheduled the match there, only due to the ongoing pandemic.

[teosanru]

There is a huge lot of fans who want to see Natrajan personally i am not a big fan of him in test format. I think he is more of a short format bowler because his quality is variation. Test cricket is better for bowlers having consistency in their bowling. But let's see if he can perform. With Sharadul and Ashwin team looks pretty good. But I am surely missing the A-team players: no Virat, no Bumrah, no Jadeja, No Vihari, No Umesh, No Shami.

If you remember Jasprit Bumrah had the same tag, it took a while and some injuries in the squad for him to get a chance in the team and everyone was critical that Jasprit Bumrah would fail in the Test format as he is just a short format bowler and now everyone is praising as he is the best bowler in the world across all formats. What i like about Natarajan is his control over his line and length and that is more than enough to be successful in any format.

Mayank is also injured during net session.. they are waiting for his scan. Indian squad turning into meme now.

Not sure what is going on, Ashwin is injured, literally everyone is the team has some sort of injury .

Yes I agree with you and I think this is the sole reason why even the selectors have selected him in the team. Obviously his bowling is considered pretty similar to that of Bumrah but I feel Bumrah's short run up and slinging action was the reason for his success too nevertheless test cricket is not like T20 cricket it always rewards the bowler who is best with his line and length.

Unfortunately team running out of reserves. Gill, KL Rahul, Siraj, Saini, Shardul, Natarajan, kuldeep, Tyagi,Saha all were reserved players. 3 of them (Gill,Siraj,Saini) already made their debut in the last 2 games . KL Rahul is already ruled out due to injury so they are left with Shardul, Natarajan, Tyagi (Fast bowlers) Kuldeep (Spinner) and only one batsman Shaw.

Haha After Mayank's Injury there are technically just Pujara, Ashwin and Rahane  left in the team who would have been part of the A team if everyone was fit rest of all of them are reserves and all the time we were cursing how fiercly competitive a place in the team is but now this same thing is helping India as we hav so much of backups. BCCI's decisions of sending more than 30 players on the tour was such an intelligent decision. Otherwise we would have faced the bio-bubble problem with these player. Quite an far sighted decision.

Due to covid CA refused to provide net bowlers to Indian team, which was right call from the Aussie side in tough time. It forced BCCI to bring enough players and Blame the IPL for intensive workload/injuries but at the same time thanks the IPL for enough warm up as well, some short of practice for players, especially new guys ... Tour could have been cancelled if we had 18 Men squad.

Overall , i think departure of Kohli turned out to be blessing in disguise. Every player taking responsibility and showing character now. I hope they keep up the same mindset when he returns, may be Kohli should think about it and give players some space and stop putting pressure on them unnecessary.

~snip~

They should hire freelancers and protect the rest of the players so that they could come out and play the final match  .

Lol
Only Australian players are eligible or they should try some from the BBL, may be bring Rashid Khan. 

^^^ I would really love to see Natarajan make his debut, but then it depends on Damaadji. If he prefers Kuldeep Yadav for the final test, then Natarajan may need to wait some more time for his test debut. All that said, I have a feeling that India needs a left-arm pacer right now. It will add more variety to their pace attack, which is looking quite homogenous nowadays.

If Ashwin is fit to play then including Kuldeep doesn't make much sense on fast-bouncy track. Shashtri is nutjob but i guess he understand this clearly. They must be brainstorming on Saha's role though.

Check this:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/india-in-australia/india-vs-australia-held-back-in-oz-for-nets-washington-sundar-may-play-gabba-test-jasprit-bumrah-out/articleshow/80230619.cms

TOI is saying that Washington Sundar may make his debut. Officially he is not a part of the squad, but was asked to stay back in Australia after the ODI/T20I series.  And there is still no confirmation regarding Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin. As per the media, they are being considered as 50/50 probabilities. I don't think that including two spinners (Ashwin and Sundar) is a good idea. I would have rather included Natarajan.

The playing eleven, for now, is expected to be on the following lines: Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Mayank Agarwal / Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

They didn't include him in the squad yet so i am not sure if we should believe the unnamed source or not. No idea about Sundar's first class career but this doesn't look that bad. With this move Indian tail look okay as Ashwin,Sundar and Shardul can bat as well.

I don't think IPL is the reason for these injuries. If you see closely most of the injuries were actually on the spot injuries rather than any internal injury especially for the batsmen. Cricketers have been in a much more intense schedule before this. So IPL isn't really the reason for this.

[mersal]

@Vishnu.Reang Win the toss and bat first, anyone heard anything on weather forecast?

As per the weather prediction, first day will be largely sunny and clear. But for the remaining 4 days, heavy rains are predicted. Expect a loss of at least 150-200 overs as a result of rain. That means unless there is a batting collapse effecting one of the sides, the chance of getting a result from the fourth match is very minimal. BTW, January is the wettest month of the year, in Brisbane and the surrounding areas. CA scheduled the match there, only due to the ongoing pandemic.

Hope this will be beneficial for the team India and save them from the loss because they already lost too many key players so they are in need some kind of luck to draw this serious so they won't get much criticism from Indian fans.

[eaLiTy]

~
Yes I agree with you and I think this is the sole reason why even the selectors have selected him in the team. Obviously his bowling is considered pretty similar to that of Bumrah but I feel Bumrah's short run up and slinging action was the reason for his success too nevertheless test cricket is not like T20 cricket it always rewards the bowler who is best with his line and length.

The success of Jasprit Bumrah is his line and length and his control and Natarajan showed his control with his line and length in the T20 format and until you give the bowlers a chance to perform in the longer format you never know whether he will be successful. The difference between Test and the rest of the format is the endurance and stamina in the longer format and you need a smart captain to understand the weakness of a bowler and never burn them out.
Not sure about the Indian line up, reports are coming out that Cheteshwar Pujara injured his hand during net session and considering this to be a fast bowling friendly wicket it is going to be a difficult task for India.

[Sithara007]

Hope this will be beneficial for the team India and save them from the loss because they already lost too many key players so they are in need some kind of luck to draw this serious so they won't get much criticism from Indian fans.

Well.. a draw won't be a bad outcome for team India. Before the test series started, a lot of people were writing them off. Michael Vaughan even predicted that Australia would whitewash them 4-0. And they started very badly, getting blasted out for just 36 runs in the first match. But then, the recovery was unexpected. A draw in the final match would be the perfect ending for India.

[JSRAW]

@Vishnu.Reang Win the toss and bat first, anyone heard anything on weather forecast?

As per the weather prediction, first day will be largely sunny and clear. But for the remaining 4 days, heavy rains are predicted. Expect a loss of at least 150-200 overs as a result of rain. That means unless there is a batting collapse effecting one of the sides, the chance of getting a result from the fourth match is very minimal. BTW, January is the wettest month of the year, in Brisbane and the surrounding areas. CA scheduled the match there, only due to the ongoing pandemic.

Normally they start every tour from there because every visiting team struggle there. Glad that BCCI dozed the bullet and playing last game at the Gabba 

-------------
No update on Indian squad, only speculation. On the other hand Will Pucovski is also injured and Marcus Harris is going to replace him as opener along with Warner.

[bryant.coleman]

No update on Indian squad, only speculation. On the other hand Will Pucovski is also injured and Marcus Harris is going to replace him as opener along with Warner.

Pucovski made one good contribution, and now he is gone too. Marcus Harris was dropped because of poor form, and he performed poorly during the warmup matches as well. But I guess Australia is running out of options now. Anyway, irrespective of the outcome of the 4th match, this series will put them in a very difficult position as far as the World Test Championship is concerned.

[pakhitheboss]

Is anyone also watching the Test match between SL and ENG?

Just checked it on Google and found the probability of winning is more inclined towards SL and not ENG. This will be an interesting match to watch as I was expecting the English team has a good chance. SL has won the toss and chose to bat first

[JSRAW]

Is anyone also watching the Test match between SL and ENG?

Just checked it on Google and found the probability of winning is more inclined towards SL and not ENG. This will be an interesting match to watch as I was expecting the English team has a good chance. SL has won the toss and chose to bat first

Not watching but commentary is on in the background...

Galle stadium is SL stronghold and heavily favors the spinners and they are playing with the 3 spinners.

No update on Indian squad, only speculation. On the other hand Will Pucovski is also injured and Marcus Harris is going to replace him as opener along with Warner.

Pucovski made one good contribution, and now he is gone too. Marcus Harris was dropped because of poor form, and he performed poorly during the warmup matches as well. But I guess Australia is running out of options now. Anyway, irrespective of the outcome of the 4th match, this series will put them in a very difficult position as far as the World Test Championship is concerned.

Feel bad for Pucovski but he's young so nothing to worry about much. Marcus Harris made some runs in Sheffield and he's opener, Burns already wasted the opportunity so Harris was obvious choice.

[bryant.coleman]

Is anyone also watching the Test match between SL and ENG?

Just checked it on Google and found the probability of winning is more inclined towards SL and not ENG. This will be an interesting match to watch as I was expecting the English team has a good chance. SL has won the toss and chose to bat first

Sri Lanka had a horrible series in South Africa and therefore I would consider England as the favorites. But the latter is playing without some of their key players. Right now Sri Lanka is struggling at 22/2, with Stuart Broad picking up both the wickets (his test wicket tally has now increased to 516). Surprisingly, England has chosen two spinners in the playing XI (Dom Bess and Jack Leach).

[Timelord2067]

For anyone interested, here in Brisbane it was a cloudless day, not overly hot day, but tonight (it's after eleven local time) it's very hot and humid. There's a severe storm forecast for Sunday. Originally storms Saturday evening through late Sunday, but now just Sunday.  If it keeps being this hot and cloudless, then it'll be a corker of a downpour (brief, but heavy).

Together with the number of players injuring themselves and the storm having the potential to delay things (and both teams in Covid lockdown in the same hotel (think late night revelry)), I'm seeing the fourth test being a draw. (Even if Warner stops mucking about and starts playing)

[Indymoney]

Is anyone also watching the Test match between SL and ENG?

Just checked it on Google and found the probability of winning is more inclined towards SL and not ENG. This will be an interesting match to watch as I was expecting the English team has a good chance. SL has won the toss and chose to bat first

Sri Lanka had a horrible series in South Africa and therefore I would consider England as the favorites. But the latter is playing without some of their key players. Right now Sri Lanka is struggling at 22/2, with Stuart Broad picking up both the wickets (his test wicket tally has now increased to 516). Surprisingly, England has chosen two spinners in the playing XI (Dom Bess and Jack Leach).

After end of first day England is in complete control as they restricted Sri Lanka on 135 very good bowling by Broad 3/20 and Bes on his best with great figure of 5/30 career best now in batting England 127.2 with Root and Bairstow on crease 110 runs partnership look like they can win this match by an ining because Sri Lanka is far away from their best currently no one able to handle this all for them in test matches.

[mersal]

For anyone interested, here in Brisbane it was a cloudless day, not overly hot day, but tonight (it's after eleven local time) it's very hot and humid. There's a severe storm forecast for Sunday. Originally storms Saturday evening through late Sunday, but now just Sunday.  If it keeps being this hot and cloudless, then it'll be a corker of a downpour (brief, but heavy).

Together with the number of players injuring themselves and the storm having the potential to delay things (and both teams in Covid lockdown in the same hotel (think late night revelry)), I'm seeing the fourth test being a draw. (Even if Warner stops mucking about and starts playing)

It funny t watch some news that Indian team is waiting to create a history in Brisbane but they don't even know how many players were injured in the playing squad and actually have to go with all the remaining players just to meet the 11 eligible players.

[teosanru]

~
Yes I agree with you and I think this is the sole reason why even the selectors have selected him in the team. Obviously his bowling is considered pretty similar to that of Bumrah but I feel Bumrah's short run up and slinging action was the reason for his success too nevertheless test cricket is not like T20 cricket it always rewards the bowler who is best with his line and length.

The success of Jasprit Bumrah is his line and length and his control and Natarajan showed his control with his line and length in the T20 format and until you give the bowlers a chance to perform in the longer format you never know whether he will be successful. The difference between Test and the rest of the format is the endurance and stamina in the longer format and you need a smart captain to understand the weakness of a bowler and never burn them out.
Not sure about the Indian line up, reports are coming out that Cheteshwar Pujara injured his hand during net session and considering this to be a fast bowling friendly wicket it is going to be a difficult task for India.

One more injury? C'mon man without Pujara our middle order can't wait play even 70 overs. What's this thing with injuries in Australia never have I ever seen such a long list of injuries on single series. But coming back to bowlers for tomorrow. i think a few people are even expecting Sharadul Thakur in place of Bumrah. Because if India decides to play with 5 bowlers too chances are only 3 would b pacers. And can't deny the fact that Sharadul Thakur has been great with his line & length too. I think Pujara's injury might be the reason that even the playing XI announcement has been delayed until toss

[vella85]

Its a shame that Will Pucovski will miss the final test match as his career is just getting started. He makes way for Marcus Harris which I think is a good selection as Burns is in poor form and might not ever play test match cricket again. Its been a long while since it has come down to the final test match for a team to win the series in Australia as normally the series is wrapped up by now with Australia mostly winning in Australia so its going to be a great match to watch.