Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

Prithvi Shaw is a young talent but he needs to improve playing against spin and the moving ball, in foreign tours the moving balls were troubling him and even today he got out to a moving ball in T20 International and to play Test cricket especially in foreign pitches he needs to improve his batting and needs experience and for that he needs to play domestic matches outside India and whenever he plays in India i am sure he will score big.

Playing a few county matches in the UK might help him, as in India the players don't get regular opportunities to play in green surfaces that are supportive of pace bowling. But the big question is does Prithvi Shaw has the patience to play test cricket? Some of the younger Indian players (Rishabh Pant is an example) have a habit of batting in test format just like they do in the T20. That may or may not work for them, depending on the opponent. But they will be successful, if they change their strategies for test matches, and I haven't seen any of these younger Indian players doing that.

[Juggy777]

Prithvi Shaw is a young talent but he needs to improve playing against spin and the moving ball, in foreign tours the moving balls were troubling him and even today he got out to a moving ball in T20 International and to play Test cricket especially in foreign pitches he needs to improve his batting and needs experience and for that he needs to play domestic matches outside India and whenever he plays in India i am sure he will score big.

Playing a few county matches in the UK might help him, as in India the players don't get regular opportunities to play in green surfaces that are supportive of pace bowling. But the big question is does Prithvi Shaw has the patience to play test cricket? Some of the younger Indian players (Rishabh Pant is an example) have a habit of batting in test format just like they do in the T20. That may or may not work for them, depending on the opponent. But they will be successful, if they change their strategies for test matches, and I haven't seen any of these younger Indian players doing that.

@Sithara007 I have a different perspective here when it come to these player’s, because we’re so used to seeing slow and boring cricket in test so we tend to get annoyed when player’s like these try to quickly score runs.

Lastly in my opinion instead of playing slow and steady cricket, it’s time these player’s are allowed to express themselves, till they can get odd 50 - 200 runs I see no harm in them attacking the opposition bowler.

[Vishnu.Reang]

@Sithara007 I have a different perspective here when it come to these player’s, because we’re so used to seeing slow and boring cricket in test so we tend to get annoyed when player’s like these try to quickly score runs.

Lastly in my opinion instead of playing slow and steady cricket, it’s time these player’s are allowed to express themselves, till they can get odd 50 - 200 runs I see no harm in them attacking the opposition bowler.

The criticism is not directed at their scoring rate. Personally, I would have no issue, if someone try to score a run per ball in test cricket. A lot of people criticize the fact that players like Rishabh Pant try to attack each and every ball, which would be a stupid strategy even in the T20 format. Look at the way Pant, Ashwin and Gill got out during the WTC final and you will get my point. A good player would leave good deliveries and attack those which are of poor line and length. If you throw your bat at every ball, then the term to be used for such players is not "aggressive", but "stupid".

[pakhitheboss]

There has been a constant debate about Prithvi shaw, some say he is suited for the shorter format and some say he is for the longer. I have seen him suited for only domestic cricket. He is a big disappointment in my opinion for all formats of International cricket. To date, I have not seen him batting the way he did in domestic cricket excluding IPL. I might be wrong but just compare him with other newcomers and you will know the difference.

No one will debate about the skill level of Prithvi Shaw, even though he did not play a long innings the shots he played were world class and outstanding and his skill level as a batsman is visible with each of the strokes as he is not powering those shots but his timing is out of the world but he lacks concentrating and he lost his wickets to spinners, he might need to fine tune that and he will be a force to reckon in world cricket if he can be consistent with his performance.

Who cares now what kind of shot a batsman plays? Those days are gone! If you can hit the ball, score runs and stay till the end matters. I am not saying that Prithvi Shaw is a bad batsman, what I am trying to imply is that his temperament is bad. He thinks himself to be the best batsman in the world without anything to prove his mindset. Just look at the way he enters the stadium as if he is the god of cricket. He might be good, but at present, he is not good for any format in my opinion.

[JSRAW]

Eng vs India series is about to kick in soon, top order problem is visible for both the team but when looking at tail then England is in far better position in comparison to India and if India wants to perform well or may be wining the series, which is very tough task to achieve. They need to solve their tailender problem. In recent time Indian tailenders failed to score run against the oppositions (away series), adding some nice data to show how bad they are lol

To add another point Indian bowlers also have problem when bowling against their opponent tailenders.

That's five of India's last seven defeats in Test cricket away from home. In each of those five Tests, India's first-innings score at six wickets down was better than (or, in the case of Perth, equal to) that of their opponents at the same point. But while the lower orders of England, Australia and New Zealand added 160, 75, 82, 80 and 87 to their scores in those innings, India's last four wickets added 84, 32, 45, 38 and 35.
India, quite clearly, have a lower-order problem.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/karthik-krishnaswamy-india-have-a-tailender-problem-and-its-not-one-they-can-solve-easily-1271069

[Vishnu.Reang]

I am not in favor of including some bowler in the playing XI solely because his batting is good. In the test format, the top three pace bowlers for India have been - Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami. All three are genuine tailenders and not known for their batting skills. There are pacers who have better batting skills like Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur. But I don't think that these two can match the others in terms of maturity and bowling skills. And even Siraj/Shardul can't be considered as genuine all rounders. India never had a pace bowling all rounder, ever since Manoj Prabhakar retired in 1996.

[JSRAW]

I am not in favor of including some bowler in the playing XI solely because his batting is good. In the test format, the top three pace bowlers for India have been - Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami. All three are genuine tailenders and not known for their batting skills. There are pacers who have better batting skills like Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur. But I don't think that these two can match the others in terms of maturity and bowling skills. And even Siraj/Shardul can't be considered as genuine all rounders. India never had a pace bowling all rounder, ever since Manoj Prabhakar retired in 1996.

India badly need 4th seamer who is able to contribute with the bat when touring England. They can't afford to have 4 tailenders in absence of our semi-all rounder Hardik.

Bhuvi and Shardul both can bat, at least contribute 10-20 runs, which is big plus for number 8 batter. Shardul is better batsman but Bhuvi is arguably one of the best swing bowler especially in England, although his fitness is big issue but i'm sure if he was fit to bowl in the test then he would be very strong contender for sharing new ball. I'm worry about Bumrah's form nowadays, he's doing very badly nowdays.

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Big update

- Ben Stokes taking indefinite break from all cricket (including Test series against India ). He's prioritizing his mental well being.
- Sri Lankan's cricket board banned Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka almost 2 years. Reason -Breaching bio bubble in England-

[kro55]

"Ben Stokes to miss India series, takes an 'indefinite break from all cricket". Is it a good news for team India? Because Stokes is one of the key players of England. It seems that India will get some advantage if Stokes is not in the team. However, a win against England at home will not be easy for team India.

Link - https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng-vs-ind-2021-ben-stokes-to-miss-india-series-takes-an-indefinite-break-from-all-cricket-1271558

[Sithara007]

Big update

- Ben Stokes taking indefinite break from all cricket (including Test series against India ). He's prioritizing his mental well being.
- Sri Lankan's cricket board banned Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka almost 2 years. Reason -Breaching bio bubble in England-

Big surprise from Sri Lanka. Normally the Asian boards don't have the courage to take disciplinary action against their players (the exception have been the Bangladesh board). Recently there were multiple occurrences of bio-bubble breach with Indian and Pakistani teams, and in none of the cases the players were punished. Rishabh Pant even photographed himself at the Wimbledon without wearing a mask (and that was a few days before he was tested positive for COVID), and yet not even a warning was issued by the BCCI.

[LittleBitFunny]

"Ben Stokes to miss India series, takes an 'indefinite break from all cricket". Is it a good news for team India? Because Stokes is one of the key players of England. It seems that India will get some advantage if Stokes is not in the team. However, a win against England at home will not be easy for team India.

Link - https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng-vs-ind-2021-ben-stokes-to-miss-india-series-takes-an-indefinite-break-from-all-cricket-1271558

Very bad news for England. Because Ben Stokes is one of the key players of England. It is very difficult to beat England on their own pitch. However, with Stoke not in the squad, it will be a bit easier for India to win the match. But I don't expect much from the Indian team. Their performance against Sri Lanka is disappointing. We did not get the expected good performance from them in the last few series.

[JSRAW]

Big update

- Ben Stokes taking indefinite break from all cricket (including Test series against India ). He's prioritizing his mental well being.
- Sri Lankan's cricket board banned Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka almost 2 years. Reason -Breaching bio bubble in England-

Big surprise from Sri Lanka. Normally the Asian boards don't have the courage to take disciplinary action against their players (the exception have been the Bangladesh board). Recently there were multiple occurrences of bio-bubble breach with Indian and Pakistani teams, and in none of the cases the players were punished. Rishabh Pant even photographed himself at the Wimbledon without wearing a mask (and that was a few days before he was tested positive for COVID), and yet not even a warning was issued by the BCCI.

I am afraid there is more into in this drama, may be some political angle, which we don't know. 2 years ban for breaching the bio bubble doesn't make sense to me. Having said that Gunathilaka and Mendis are controversial cricketers.

BCCI granted Indian team 15 ish days leave that time so they can't take any action against Pant or any other players.

[ene1980]

~
- Ben Stokes taking indefinite break from all cricket (including Test series against India ). He's prioritizing his mental well being.
- Sri Lankan's cricket board banned Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka almost 2 years. Reason -Breaching bio bubble in England-

Damn, Ben Stokes is having mental breakdown, was wondering why he is not playing and i though he was injured or something but this is serious and glad he came out and taking it seriously and seeking help which is really great about him.

Bold move by Sri lankan board to ban players for 2 years to breach the bio bubble, i think it is excessive, how about BCCI and what they are going to do with the players that breached the bubble.

[pakhitheboss]

Damn, Ben Stokes is having mental breakdown, was wondering why he is not playing and i though he was injured or something but this is serious and glad he came out and taking it seriously and seeking help which is really great about him.

A mental breakdown, why? what happened? is it because of COVID19 or something else! I have never thought a mental breakdown can happen to a player like him. To be precise, I have never heard or read such mental issues with successful players. I hope he recovers soon and comes back to active cricket.

Bold move by Sri lankan board to ban players for 2 years to breach the bio bubble, i think it is excessive, how about BCCI and what they are going to do with the players that breached the bubble.

That is not harsh but a good decision in my opinion. Players should understand people are dying because of this disease and with the new variant the mortality rates are much higher. BCCI will not do anything they are a bunch of mindless retards who think only about money and believe everything is okay. I am also eagerly waiting for their response.

[Sithara007]

I am afraid there is more into in this drama, may be some political angle, which we don't know. 2 years ban for breaching the bio bubble doesn't make sense to me. Having said that Gunathilaka and Mendis are controversial cricketers.

BCCI granted Indian team 15 ish days leave that time so they can't take any action against Pant or any other players.

I would support the SLCB, and would further say that other boards also need to learn from them. For the past few months, I have seen players behaving extremely irresponsibly, causing breaches in the bio-bubble and causing postponement or even cancellation of the matches. They have caused tens of millions of USD in losses to the boards and the TV broadcasters. Is it that hard to stay inside your hotel for a few weeks? I would say that these players were lucky that they didn't got a life ban. Those who refuse to obey the rules (especially during the pandemic period) need to be dealt with strictly, irrespective of whether it is Niroshan Dickwella or Krunal Pandya.

[JSRAW]

I am afraid there is more into in this drama, may be some political angle, which we don't know. 2 years ban for breaching the bio bubble doesn't make sense to me. Having said that Gunathilaka and Mendis are controversial cricketers.

BCCI granted Indian team 15 ish days leave that time so they can't take any action against Pant or any other players.

I would support the SLCB, and would further say that other boards also need to learn from them. For the past few months, I have seen players behaving extremely irresponsibly, causing breaches in the bio-bubble and causing postponement or even cancellation of the matches. They have caused tens of millions of USD in losses to the boards and the TV broadcasters. Is it that hard to stay inside your hotel for a few weeks? I would say that these players were lucky that they didn't got a life ban. Those who refuse to obey the rules (especially during the pandemic period) need to be dealt with strictly, irrespective of whether it is Niroshan Dickwella or Krunal Pandya.

You're not wrong when talking about disciplinary behavior of many players during bio bubble but 2 years ban seems overreaction to me, there must be some kind of other reason as well which didn't come out in the public and we still don't know how Krunal got infected. no one from the BCCI and SLC didn't release any statement.

[Vishnu.Reang]

You're not wrong when talking about disciplinary behavior of many players during bio bubble but 2 years ban seems overreaction to me, there must be some kind of other reason as well which didn't come out in the public and we still don't know how Krunal got infected. no one from the BCCI and SLC didn't release any statement.

Well.. it is obvious. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been engaged with a turbulent relationship with most of its players, ever since a section of them refused to tour Pakistan in 2019. The players claimed that Pakistan was not safe enough to visit, but the board disagreed with their views. The relations have remained tense ever since, and this might have contributed to the high-handedness in dealing with the disciplinary breach.


Both the BCCI and SLC have refused to launch an investigation in to how Krunal got infected. So we may never know the exact reason. We can only consider several possibilities, which may or may not be true.

[kro55]

I am afraid there is more into in this drama, may be some political angle, which we don't know. 2 years ban for breaching the bio bubble doesn't make sense to me. Having said that Gunathilaka and Mendis are controversial cricketers.

BCCI granted Indian team 15 ish days leave that time so they can't take any action against Pant or any other players.

I would support the SLCB, and would further say that other boards also need to learn from them. For the past few months, I have seen players behaving extremely irresponsibly, causing breaches in the bio-bubble and causing postponement or even cancellation of the matches. They have caused tens of millions of USD in losses to the boards and the TV broadcasters. Is it that hard to stay inside your hotel for a few weeks? I would say that these players were lucky that they didn't got a life ban. Those who refuse to obey the rules (especially during the pandemic period) need to be dealt with strictly, irrespective of whether it is Niroshan Dickwella or Krunal Pandya.

You're not wrong when talking about disciplinary behavior of many players during bio bubble but 2 years ban seems overreaction to me, there must be some kind of other reason as well which didn't come out in the public and we still don't know how Krunal got infected. no one from the BCCI and SLC didn't release any statement.

Players must be punished for breaking the rules of bio bublle. But the two-year ban seems overwhelming to us just because it violates the rules of bio bubble. I think the board has some animosity with the player. Players could only be fined or a six-month ban was enough.

[eaLiTy]

~
Both the BCCI and SLC have refused to launch an investigation in to how Krunal got infected. So we may never know the exact reason. We can only consider several possibilities, which may or may not be true.

Even if Sri Lankan cricket board investigate and finds out about the truth, who is to take action and i do not think the BCCI is willing to take any harsh decision against the players, i am surprised that the Lankan board suspended players for two years for basically breaking the bubble and i think it is a bit harsh considering someone who is not informing about bookies approaching gets the same punishment. Give them a warning and get over with it rather than destroying their career for a mistake during a pandemic.

[JSRAW]

You're not wrong when talking about disciplinary behavior of many players during bio bubble but 2 years ban seems overreaction to me, there must be some kind of other reason as well which didn't come out in the public and we still don't know how Krunal got infected. no one from the BCCI and SLC didn't release any statement.

Well.. it is obvious. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been engaged with a turbulent relationship with most of its players, ever since a section of them refused to tour Pakistan in 2019. The players claimed that Pakistan was not safe enough to visit, but the board disagreed with their views. The relations have remained tense ever since, and this might have contributed to the high-handedness in dealing with the disciplinary breach.


Both the BCCI and SLC have refused to launch an investigation in to how Krunal got infected. So we may never know the exact reason. We can only consider several possibilities, which may or may not be true.

To add another one there was some new clash between players and board regarding new contract policy. According to the players board clearly showed their biased when handing out grade or points to the players, like player who play all 3 format for the national team got lower points in comparison of who play only 1 format of the game.

Then there is new contract for every new series, which means no security for the players at all.

[Sithara007]

To add another one there was some new clash between players and board regarding new contract policy. According to the players board clearly showed their biased when handing out grade or points to the players, like player who play all 3 format for the national team got lower points in comparison of who play only 1 format of the game.

Then there is new contract for every new series, which means no security for the players at all.

The last part really sound ridiculous. Why there should be a new contract after every series? If the board wants to pay the players based on the performance then they can add a variable pay component on top of the annual contract. A new contract after each series sounds really absurd. None of the other boards have this policy of series-wise contracts. It looks to me that some incompetent people are in the SLC right now. The ICC needs to take action, or else I am afraid that they will end up like Zimbabwe.