Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[eaLiTy]

The Indian and English cricketers themselves don't have major issues with the pitch. The cricketers who are whining like kids are actually the commentators, England legends etc which is embarrassing to be honest.

There were many pundits who predicted Australia is going to whitewash India and when India won the series they were silent for a while and now they started again complaining about the pitch and it is funny to hear all the complaints. The WTC rules were changed when the pandemic hit and India is supposed to be playing in the final with the matches they played and Australia wisely cancelled the South African tour because they will get the points even without playing and after England loosing they lost the place in the WTC final and now they are finding the reason for the failure .

[ene1980]

Any of you saw this tweet from former England captain Michael Vaughan, "Indian batsman can't play off spinners from Yorkshire." This was referred to Joe Root once after the first innings of India. Joe Root was the one to make a five wicket as a captain after Bob Willis.

Joe Root is a part time bowler and he had success in the pitch that helps the spinners and there are many opinions from former players and England have the best team in a long time and many were hoping England to give a good fight and after the win in the first match everyone expected the matches to be much closer but India dominated the next two matches.

[LittleBitFunny]

Any of you saw this tweet from former England captain Michael Vaughan, "Indian batsman can't play off spinners from Yorkshire." This was referred to Joe Root once after the first innings of India. Joe Root was the one to make a five wicket as a captain after Bob Willis.

Joe Root is a part time bowler and he had success in the pitch that helps the spinners and there are many opinions from former players and England have the best team in a long time and many were hoping England to give a good fight and after the win in the first match everyone expected the matches to be much closer but India dominated the next two matches.

After the first match, everyone thought India would lose the series, and maybe the tug of war will begin with Virat Kohli's captaincy. But in the next two matches, India completely defeated England. I have not seen such a poor performance of England in Test format for a long time. But I think England will win the last Test match. And the series will draw

[Sithara007]

The broadcasters will not like the match finishing early but since it is India they wont have any complaints as they will get the advertisement revenue than any other country and if the match ends quite often then they might raise any concerns and ask to extend the contract as they are paying insane high amount of money for the matches and they are willing to pay because they can return them through advertisement and usually matches will not end in two days.

Under such conditions, I believe that the ICC need to reimburse the broadcasters at least 40% of the amount. Usually we don't expect the test matches to last 5 days, but 4 days is the average. Here because of the poor ground condition, the match got finished in almost 5 sessions of play (two days). It is the fault of the BCCI and they need to cover the losses for the TV broadcasters.

[JSRAW]

Good to see fair amount of people supporting spin track as they support seaming-bouncy wickets and calling out hypocrisy.

If anyone crying about pitch or only spinners taking wicket, should read this article.
Why are only spinning wickets classified as poor?

Read this also "Ashwin interview" or watch on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuBQBwE47Pk
R Ashwin hits back at pitch critics: 'Who defines what a good surface is?'

Nathon Lyon also thinks the same -Its Australian media so don't bother with the catchy headline "Whacks crying Poms"-
‘I want that curator at the SCG’: Lyon whacks ‘crying’ Poms after furore over two-day Test pitch

[bryant.coleman]

^^^ Ashwin and Lyon may disagree. But I don't think that the pitch in which Joe Root got 5 wickets for 8 runs against the world famous Indian batsmen can be considered as adequate for international standards. Two-day test matches has happened earlier as well. But most of these matches resulted lop-sided contests, such as the match in 2018 between India and Afghanistan or the 2017 test match between South Africa vs Zimbabwe. In both these matches, the winning team scored in excess of 300 runs in their first innings.

[mersal]

Good to see fair amount of people supporting spin track as they support seaming-bouncy wickets and calling out hypocrisy.

If anyone crying about pitch or only spinners taking wicket, should read this article.
Why are only spinning wickets classified as poor?

Read this also "Ashwin interview" or watch on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuBQBwE47Pk
R Ashwin hits back at pitch critics: 'Who defines what a good surface is?'

Nathon Lyon also thinks the same -Its Australian media so don't bother with the catchy headline "Whacks crying Poms"-
‘I want that curator at the SCG’: Lyon whacks ‘crying’ Poms after furore over two-day Test pitch

I am sure that every spinner in the world will be amazed to bowl at such a track and there is nothing wrong with it right because if batsmen getting advantage most of the time and pacers getting the remaining then spinners are rarely having such a golden opportunity but still people calling it as not fair.

ENG needs to practice on the spinning tracks as well because this is international arena so they should be prepared to play on every condition irrespective of which is more favorable conditions for them to play.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I am sure that every spinner in the world will be amazed to bowl at such a track and there is nothing wrong with it right because if batsmen getting advantage most of the time and pacers getting the remaining then spinners are rarely having such a golden opportunity but still people calling it as not fair.

ENG needs to practice on the spinning tracks as well because this is international arena so they should be prepared to play on every condition irrespective of which is more favorable conditions for them to play.

Legendary bowlers such as Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan bowled out opposing teams for less than 100 runs in flat tracks which offered hardly any support for the spinners. As far as I remember, Sri Lanka never prepared pitches like this one in any of the 133 tests which Muralitharan played. Because they thought that it was against the spirit of cricket. And back then, Sri Lanka was overly dependent on him.

Before the Ahmedabad test, there were five occasions where the test match ended in 2 days in 21st century. Out of that, four matches involved weak teams such as Zimbabwe or Afghanistan. The only other occasion was the match between Australia and Pakistan in 2002 (Sharjah), when Pakistan was bowled out for totals of 59 and 53 in a track which supported spinners (Warne took 8 wickets). Pakistan were the hosts, so they can't complain.

Ahmedabad test is the only occasion in 21st century, where a match between two equal-strength teams ended in two days. A lot has been talked about pacers getting undue advantage in SENA nations. But as I have posted above, all the two-day test matches of 21st century involved spinners destroying the opposing team, or lop-sided contests.

[JSRAW]

~snip~
Legendary bowlers such as Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan bowled out opposing teams for less than 100 runs in flat tracks which offered hardly any support for the spinners.

Source?? or it didn't happened. Historically English, Aussie, NZ, SA batsmen were never good player of spin, except few exceptions.
How many times Murli or Warne dominated Indian batsmen on spin tracks in India (As it is common believe that Indian pitches are heaven for Spinners? They must have been dominating force in India, right? Both Murli and Warne struggled in India badly. Murli succeeded to penetrate Indian defense only one time in India. The little success Murli got against the Indians were at his home turf, even there he failed to dominate according to his reputation. And Warne, well he never got any significant success against Indians.

Because of this reason Indians got tag of "Good players of spin". Although current batch is not good as it used to be. Because i have noticed them getting knocked out against the part timers in every format couple of times. Root's recent performance with the ball is another add on in that list.

As far as I remember, Sri Lanka never prepared pitches like this one in any of the 133 tests which Muralitharan played. Because they thought that it was against the spirit of cricket. And back then, Sri Lanka was overly dependent on him.

Wrong, Sri Lankan pitches were spin friendly wickets even in ODI, let alone Test format.

Before the Ahmedabad test, there were five occasions where the test match ended in 2 days in 21st century. Out of that, four matches involved weak teams such as Zimbabwe or Afghanistan. The only other occasion was the match between Australia and Pakistan in 2002 (Sharjah), when Pakistan was bowled out for totals of 59 and 53 in a track which supported spinners (Warne took 8 wickets). Pakistan were the hosts, so they can't complain.

Ahmedabad test is the only occasion in 21st century, where a match between two equal-strength teams ended in two days. A lot has been talked about pacers getting undue advantage in SENA nations. But as I have posted above, all the two-day test matches of 21st century involved spinners destroying the opposing team, or lop-sided contests.

let's Check Pink ball D/N game history and judge, Shall we?

We have data of 16 pink ball tests.
-India (Kolkatta and Ahmadabad)
* Ind vs Ban - 2 days
* Ind vs Eng - 2 days

-Australia (Adelaide)
* Aus vs NZ - 3 days
* Aus vs SA - 3.5 days
* Aus vs Pak - Match went to 5th day due to Rain.
* Aus vs Eng - Match went to 5th day due to Rain.
* Aus vs SL   - 2.5 days
* Aus vs Pak - 3.75 days ( Match got over despite multiple rain delays)
* Aus vs NZ  - 3.5 days
* Aus vs Ind - 2.5 days

Pakistan (Dubai)
* Pak vs WI - 5 days
* Pak vs SL - 5 days (first hour of 5th day)

England (Birmingham)
* Eng vs WI - 2.5 days ( despite rain delay)

South Africa (Port Elizabeth)
* SA vs Zim - 2 days

New Zealand (Auckland)
* Nz vs Eng - 4.75 days ( 2 days washed out due to rain)

West Indies (Bridgetown)
* WI vs SL - 4 days ( Match got over in first hour of 4th day. Rain effected the first 2 days heavily, 3 sessions lost due to rain)

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day/night_cricket

Out of 16 games only 2 game went to 5th day without any delay. So I can make up only couple of things, which i already mentioned in my previous posts.
1. Pink ball concept is new for everyone so no one is familiar how it behaves and its going through experimental phase.
2. Ahmadabad pitch was not 5 day test pitch but it was not 2 days pitch either, batsmen from the both teams batted poorly and less shitty team won the game, as simple as that.

[bryant.coleman]

I don't understand the point in excluding Jasprit Bumrah for the squad for 4th test match. He is not a part of the T20/ODI squads, so there is no excuse to rest him further. And India should not become complacent here, as their slot for the WTC final is not yet confirmed. At this point I would have preferred going with an unchanged squad, rather than replacing Bumrah with Umesh/Saini/Siraj. This is a big match, and the team needs to realize that they can't lose it.

[ene1980]

~
After the first match, everyone thought India would lose the series, and maybe the tug of war will begin with Virat Kohli's captaincy. But in the next two matches, India completely defeated England. I have not seen such a poor performance of England in Test format for a long time. But I think England will win the last Test match. And the series will draw

I think they are playing in the same ground and India needs to win the match or draw to get a place in the World Test Championship finals and we have already seen how the pitch behaves and there is no way we will see a draw in the match and India will be prepared to win the match and win the series as well as a place in the WTC finals.

[Vishnu.Reang]

~
After the first match, everyone thought India would lose the series, and maybe the tug of war will begin with Virat Kohli's captaincy. But in the next two matches, India completely defeated England. I have not seen such a poor performance of England in Test format for a long time. But I think England will win the last Test match. And the series will draw

I think they are playing in the same ground and India needs to win the match or draw to get a place in the World Test Championship finals and we have already seen how the pitch behaves and there is no way we will see a draw in the match and India will be prepared to win the match and win the series as well as a place in the WTC finals.

There is no point in being defensive. You can't win a test match with defensive tactics. If you aim for a draw, then the opposing team may end up winning the match. So they should go for the kill, and aim for 3-1 series win. The pitch is expected to behave the same way and the England batsmen are struggling. Last time, they had the advantage of winning the toss. And imagine what could have happened if they lost the toss as well.

[onrise]

~
After the first match, everyone thought India would lose the series, and maybe the tug of war will begin with Virat Kohli's captaincy. But in the next two matches, India completely defeated England. I have not seen such a poor performance of England in Test format for a long time. But I think England will win the last Test match. And the series will draw

I think they are playing in the same ground and India needs to win the match or draw to get a place in the World Test Championship finals and we have already seen how the pitch behaves and there is no way we will see a draw in the match and India will be prepared to win the match and win the series as well as a place in the WTC finals.

The match is held in the same ground not sure the reason for it, because could have had 4 venues like for 4 matches which is generally the case. And now we know that the test match might not last more than 3 days or max the result should be on the 4th day. Also winning the toss and might want to bowl first since Indian in second innings were completely batting in a different way than the first innings and were better in timing the ball as well.

[bryant.coleman]

The match is held in the same ground not sure the reason for it, because could have had 4 venues like for 4 matches which is generally the case. And now we know that the test match might not last more than 3 days or max the result should be on the 4th day. Also winning the toss and might want to bowl first since Indian in second innings were completely batting in a different way than the first innings and were better in timing the ball as well.

It is due to COVID 19 restrictions. The BCCI thought that it will be easier to set up bio-secure bubbles, in case the matches are held in two venues instead of four. So we had Chennai hosting the first two matches and Ahmedabad getting selected for the last two. The other state associations may be unhappy about it. Because normally the hosting rights are decided on a rotational basis among the 38 member associations of the BCCI.

BTW, I don't think that the team winning the toss would elect to bowl first (unless the pitch is different from what we are expecting). That would mean that they need to bat on 4th innings. If the pitch behaves like a minefield, then it will be almost impossible to bat on 4th and 5th day (if the match actually last that long). So I guess the team winning the toss will decide to bat first, as have been the case so far.

[Swordsoffreedom]

I don't understand the point in excluding Jasprit Bumrah for the squad for 4th test match. He is not a part of the T20/ODI squads, so there is no excuse to rest him further. And India should not become complacent here, as their slot for the WTC final is not yet confirmed. At this point I would have preferred going with an unchanged squad, rather than replacing Bumrah with Umesh/Saini/Siraj. This is a big match, and the team needs to realize that they can't lose it.

Maybe BCCI is looking for a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah. If Jaspreet Bumrah is not in the squad or is injured, it is important to know who will be a worthy player for India instead. India has won two matches. Even if they lose the last match, the series will be a draw. They will not lose the series. So maybe BCCI has decided to give a chance to someone other than Bumrah.

[eaLiTy]

~
Because of this reason Indians got tag of "Good players of spin". Although current batch is not good as it used to be. Because i have noticed them getting knocked out against the part timers in every format couple of times. Root's recent performance with the ball is another add on in that list.

Warne and Murali got wickets in seam friendly wickets and so does Anil Kumble when playing outside Asia. The reason Warne and Murali did not find much success in India is because of the batting line who always dominated spin but we cannot say the same with the current crop of players.
 
Warne debuted against India and Ravi Shastri scored a double century in that match and attacked Warne all over the ground and players like Laxman, Dravid, Tendulkar, Azharuddin and Ganguly were great players of spin and no spinner could dominate a batting line up like that.

I don't understand the point in excluding Jasprit Bumrah for the squad for 4th test match. He is not a part of the T20/ODI squads, so there is no excuse to rest him further. And India should not become complacent here, as their slot for the WTC final is not yet confirmed. At this point I would have preferred going with an unchanged squad, rather than replacing Bumrah with Umesh/Saini/Siraj. This is a big match, and the team needs to realize that they can't lose it.

Maybe BCCI is looking for a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah. If Jaspreet Bumrah is not in the squad or is injured, it is important to know who will be a worthy player for India instead. India have won two matches. Even if they lose the last match, the series will be a draw. They will not lose the series. So maybe BCCI has decided to give a chance to someone other than Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah asked the BCCI to release him from the team for the final Test due to personal reasons. 

[pakhitheboss]

Since bumrah is not playing due to personal reasons and since BCCI did not object to it, I guess the next match venue will be again spinners paradise. Indian team has three spinners and I think they will again play them. I am pretty sure Ashwin and Patel will ball, I think this time they will also include yadav. This guy too is a good spinner of the ball with his left arm.

[Sithara007]

Since bumrah is not playing due to personal reasons and since BCCI did not object to it, I guess the next match venue will be again spinners paradise. Indian team has three spinners and I think they will again play them. I am pretty sure Ashwin and Patel will ball, I think this time they will also include yadav. This guy too is a good spinner of the ball with his left arm.

Kuldeep Yadav is a good bowler and he is probably the best wrist spinner India is having right now. He got a very rough deal in the second test match (after being dropped in the first match), when Kohli didn't gave him too many overs. And he was unfairly dropped for the third test match as well. But then Axar came to the squad and picked up close to a dozen wickets in the third match, so I don't know whether Kuldeep will get another chance.

[7788bitcoin]

Kuldeep Yadav is a good bowler and he is probably the best wrist spinner India is having right now. He got a very rough deal in the second test match (after being dropped in the first match), when Kohli didn't gave him too many overs. And he was unfairly dropped for the third test match as well. But then Axar came to the squad and picked up close to a dozen wickets in the third match, so I don't know whether Kuldeep will get another chance.

I wont be surprised if India goes into the match with an all out spin attack, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel but i doubt Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar will get any major role in the match as Washington Sundar got just 4 balls to bowl in the last match and he picked one wicket and i thought they should have given these youngsters more chance in spinning tracks to build their confidence.

[JSRAW]

Kuldeep Yadav is a good bowler and he is probably the best wrist spinner India is having right now. He got a very rough deal in the second test match (after being dropped in the first match), when Kohli didn't gave him too many overs. And he was unfairly dropped for the third test match as well. But then Axar came to the squad and picked up close to a dozen wickets in the third match, so I don't know whether Kuldeep will get another chance.

I wont be surprised if India goes into the match with an all out spin attack, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel but i doubt Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar will get any major role in the match as Washington Sundar got just 4 balls to bowl in the last match and he picked one wicket and i thought they should have given these youngsters more chance in spinning tracks to build their confidence.

Its completely reverse what we see in SENA country so its fair in all means. Would love to see Jadeja-Ashwin-Axar-Kuldeep/Sunder group in India similar to Anderson-Broad-Woakes-Archer or Cummins-Hazelwood-Starc +one more (Green etc).

F**k everyone if they say its spinning track etc, even its turning from day 1, adapt or die as simple as that. If India lose from here then Job well done for Visiting team without any doubt. Yardstick should be same for everyone. India never complain about seam, swing bounce in SENA countries.