Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[pakhitheboss]

India certainly need some changes in their batting order and inclusion of Ashwin in the playing 11 is also needed. I feel Jadeja must be sent to bat ahead of risabh pant. Most of the cases we see jadeja running out of partners his batting has improved a lot and i feel he can be given more responsibility with the bat now.

The complete batting order was a failure in the first innings. In the second innings except K L Rahul, Rishab Pant and Rahane most of them scored. Rahul won't be replaced and I think either Pant or Rahane might be dropped. It is a possibility that no changes are made to the batting order.   

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[Lordshiva]

India certainly need some changes in their batting order and inclusion of Ashwin in the playing 11 is also needed. I feel Jadeja must be sent to bat ahead of risabh pant. Most of the cases we see jadeja running out of partners his batting has improved a lot and i feel he can be given more responsibility with the bat now.

The complete batting order was a failure in the first innings. In the second innings except K L Rahul, Rishab Pant and Rahane most of them scored. Rahul won't be replaced and I think either Pant or Rahane might be dropped. It is a possibility that no changes are made to the batting order.   

Yeah agree with you that i may be possible that no changes being made as pujara was on the firing line but he scored a 90 so now he cannot be dropped now.
Pant surely wont be dropped and rahane is vice captain so maximum possibility is that India will not make any changes in the batting order.

[JohnBitCo]

India certainly need some changes in their batting order and inclusion of Ashwin in the playing 11 is also needed. I feel Jadeja must be sent to bat ahead of risabh pant. Most of the cases we see jadeja running out of partners his batting has improved a lot and i feel he can be given more responsibility with the bat now.

The complete batting order was a failure in the first innings. In the second innings except K L Rahul, Rishab Pant and Rahane most of them scored. Rahul won't be replaced and I think either Pant or Rahane might be dropped. It is a possibility that no changes are made to the batting order.   

Sometime things go against you and the team is unable to recover. Making only 78 in the first innings, it was always hard for any team to save the match and that's what happen with India. I think India will come back strongly in the next match and no one should expect that they will continue their bad form.

[bryant.coleman]

Yeah agree with you that i may be possible that no changes being made as pujara was on the firing line but he scored a 90 so now he cannot be dropped now.
Pant surely wont be dropped and rahane is vice captain so maximum possibility is that India will not make any changes in the batting order.

This is strange. One half-century is enough for Pujara to cement his slot in the playing XI? His batting average was 20.37 in 2020. And after the Leeds test, his batting average stands at 30.94. I consider Temba Bavuma as the worst test batsman who has a permanent place in the playing XI. And his average is much higher than this. And keeping someone in his mid-30s in the team despite the bad form is unfair to the younger players like Shreyas Iyer. And the selectors need to be consistent. Why Pujara is being given so many opportunities? I could still remember Karun Nair being dropped after a couple of poor performances (despite having a scored a triple century in that year). He was not given another chance and his test batting average remains at 62.33.

[JSRAW]

India certainly need some changes in their batting order and inclusion of Ashwin in the playing 11 is also needed. I feel Jadeja must be sent to bat ahead of risabh pant. Most of the cases we see jadeja running out of partners his batting has improved a lot and i feel he can be given more responsibility with the bat now.

The complete batting order was a failure in the first innings. In the second innings except K L Rahul, Rishab Pant and Rahane most of them scored. Rahul won't be replaced and I think either Pant or Rahane might be dropped. It is a possibility that no changes are made to the batting order.   

Sometime things go against you and the team is unable to recover. Making only 78 in the first innings, it was always hard for any team to save the match and that's what happen with India. I think India will come back strongly in the next match and no one should expect that they will continue their bad form.

I have to agree with you one point that Jadeja should bat ahead of Pant because he's batting like specialist batter nowadays and averaging quite high since 2018-19. He could provide some solidity at no 6. Hard to see any changes on the middle order but if by any chance they do make changes then i think Vihari is going to replace Rahane in the next match and also Ashwin is going to replace one seamer.

[Lordshiva]

India certainly need some changes in their batting order and inclusion of Ashwin in the playing 11 is also needed. I feel Jadeja must be sent to bat ahead of risabh pant. Most of the cases we see jadeja running out of partners his batting has improved a lot and i feel he can be given more responsibility with the bat now.

The complete batting order was a failure in the first innings. In the second innings except K L Rahul, Rishab Pant and Rahane most of them scored. Rahul won't be replaced and I think either Pant or Rahane might be dropped. It is a possibility that no changes are made to the batting order.   

Sometime things go against you and the team is unable to recover. Making only 78 in the first innings, it was always hard for any team to save the match and that's what happen with India. I think India will come back strongly in the next match and no one should expect that they will continue their bad form.

I have to agree with you one point that Jadeja should bat ahead of Pant because he's batting like specialist batter nowadays and averaging quite high since 2018-19. He could provide some solidity at no 6. Hard to see any changes on the middle order but if by any chance they do make changes then i think Vihari is going to replace Rahane in the next match and also Ashwin is going to replace one seamer.

Ashwin surely gonna play the next match and very likely he will replace Ishant sharma because all the other seemers have performed very well in the second test match and i dont think rahane would be dropped for vihari . May be one more match they will see and then make the decision.

[teosanru]

~
Really sad to see such collapse of lower order once again, Yesterday after a strong performance from the top order I was hopeful that India would at least not lose with an innings but once Pujara got out there was a streak of wickets, even Rahane isn't able to find back his form, while Pant is becoming too inconsistent once again

If you score 78 runs in the first innings you cannot expect them to bat any differently and the innings defeat is not a huge surprise but if India somehow avoided the innings defeat that then it would have been a huge surprise  .

In these types of matches you expect Ashwin and Thakur to be in playing 11 for a deeper batting, You can't obviously expect Shami and Bumrah to lead your front in every match.

Not sure adding Ashwin would have made any difference, the pitch was not helping the spinners but the best thing England did was to change their openers and Root owning the ground with his consistent performance and if he fails the entire England team will suffer. The India bowler did not get the correct line and length for this pitch.

O
Yes obviously from a bowling perspective, choice of Ashwin doesn't makes a lot of sense but if you want to see some batting depth then obviously Thakur is one Good option, about line and length I feel Jimmy Anderson had the best line and length among all the bowlers. he was pitching the ball just outside the line of off stump and swinging it both ways from that point. No indian bowler could match this line and length.

[bryant.coleman]

Ashwin surely gonna play the next match and very likely he will replace Ishant sharma because all the other seemers have performed very well in the second test match and i dont think rahane would be dropped for vihari . May be one more match they will see and then make the decision.

I would prefer dropping Mohammed Siraj in order to include Ravichandran Ashwin, because I believe that being the most experienced pacer, Ishant needs to play the third test match. He was disappointing during the second test, but would consider that as a one-off occurrence. He is currently the only Indian pacer to have a tally of more than 300 test wickets. But it will be really hard, as Kohli prefers Siraj. Also there is a perception that Ishant is the weakest tailend batsman in the Indian playing XI.

[7788bitcoin]

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I would prefer dropping Mohammed Siraj in order to include Ravichandran Ashwin, because I believe that being the most experienced pacer, Ishant needs to play the third test match. He was disappointing during the second test, but would consider that as a one-off occurrence. He is currently the only Indian pacer to have a tally of more than 300 test wickets. But it will be really hard, as Kohli prefers Siraj. Also there is a perception that Ishant is the weakest tailend batsman in the Indian playing XI.

Ishant Sharma is having the experience but Mohammed Siraj is bowling really well and he should be in the team and if they need to include another spinner which i highly doubt in pitches that help seam bowling and i am not sure whether the spinners could make any major impact either. They can replace Jadeja and add another proper extra batsman if they keep getting dismissed for double figures .

[eaLiTy]

~
Ashwin surely gonna play the next match and very likely he will replace Ishant sharma because all the other seemers have performed very well in the second test match and i dont think rahane would be dropped for vihari . May be one more match they will see and then make the decision.

Even i think Ashwin deserves a place in the team as he is the best spinner in the world and they need to replace Jadeja as India cannot afford to put two spinners in the team. They need to rest Ajinkya Rahane and include Suryakumar Yadav and see how he will perform because he always performed in other formats whenever he was given the opportunity and it is time for him to make his debut in Test.

[ene1980]

^^^ One loss and now everyone wants a change in the team . England lost the second Test and there was a huge cry about changing the team and they changed the openers and it showed in their performance and then Root is in good form and that is the strength of England. When it comes to India the bowlers were its strength as the batsman was struggling for a long time and one time they were not able to pick wickets and the team lost and that is mainly because of the utter batting failure. If they need to change the team, they need to change the batsman than the bowlers.

[JSRAW]

^^^ One loss and now everyone wants a change in the team . England lost the second Test and there was a huge cry about changing the team and they changed the openers and it showed in their performance and then Root is in good form and that is the strength of England. When it comes to India the bowlers were its strength as the batsman was struggling for a long time and one time they were not able to pick wickets and the team lost and that is mainly because of the utter batting failure. If they need to change the team, they need to change the batsman than the bowlers.

England also made changes when they lost and India should have followed the same but they didn't because they end up winning the game. When you win then every genuine critics goes into silence mode and they don't change the team, i hate this idea of not changing the team when you win. It seems Koach & co also giving long rope to the middle order, the only reason i can think of is Koach also is in bad form and it would look bad if he let go Pujara-Rahane because if look at last 2-3 years, Puji and Rahane at least contributed in the Indian victories when comparing to him.

If kohli was in form then things could have been different, let's say new batter in the middle order without any second thought.

[Sithara007]

Ishant Sharma is having the experience but Mohammed Siraj is bowling really well and he should be in the team and if they need to include another spinner which i highly doubt in pitches that help seam bowling and i am not sure whether the spinners could make any major impact either. They can replace Jadeja and add another proper extra batsman if they keep getting dismissed for double figures .

Replacing Jadeja will backfire, as he has scored crucial runs under pressure. Among the middle and lower order batsmen, he seems to be the one in best shape right now. Remove Jadeja from the middle order and the Indian middle order will be exposed by the England pacers. Also, his spin has provided the much needed variation, supplementing the pace bowlers (even in England pitches where not much help for this type of bowling can be expected). If anyone has to be dropped, it has to be Ishant, after his poor performance in the third match.

[TheGreatPython]

Replacing Jadeja will backfire, as he has scored crucial runs under pressure. Among the middle and lower order batsmen, he seems to be the one in best shape right now. Remove Jadeja from the middle order and the Indian middle order will be exposed by the England pacers. Also, his spin has provided the much needed variation, supplementing the pace bowlers (even in England pitches where not much help for this type of bowling can be expected). If anyone has to be dropped, it has to be Ishant, after his poor performance in the third match.

India must need to consider the problems of middle order but unfortunately they are having too wreaked middle orders and I am not sure they will dare to bench their skipper Kohli. In my opinion they must consider to play Shaw to open (KL Rahul for 5th down) and for 6th down, Surya Kumar Yadhav might be a right choice and this way they may bench Rahane and Pant (KL Rahul will take care of wicket keeping). For the balance of experienced and new players, Pujara and Kohli may retain their spots.

[bryant.coleman]

India must need to consider the problems of middle order but unfortunately they are having too wreaked middle orders and I am not sure they will dare to bench their skipper Kohli. In my opinion they must consider to play Shaw to open (KL Rahul for 5th down) and for 6th down, Surya Kumar Yadhav might be a right choice and this way they may bench Rahane and Pant (KL Rahul will take care of wicket keeping). For the balance of experienced and new players, Pujara and Kohli may retain their spots.

Shaw is not suitable for test cricket. The only young player who has the temperament to play test cricket in my opinion is Shreyas Iyer. Other like Shaw and Gill doesn't know how to change their batting style in surfaces that offer a lot of bounce and seam movement. And I am against changing the opening pair of Rohit and Rahul. They have done relatively well so far, when compared to the middle order batsmen. SKY needs to play the fourth match. I would kick out Rahane to make room for him (not sure about Pant though).

[JSRAW]

Shaw is not suitable for test cricket. The only young player who has the temperament to play test cricket in my opinion is Shreyas Iyer. Other like Shaw and Gill doesn't know how to change their batting style in surfaces that offer a lot of bounce and seam movement. And I am against changing the opening pair of Rohit and Rahul. They have done relatively well so far, when compared to the middle order batsmen. SKY needs to play the fourth match. I would kick out Rahane to make room for him (not sure about Pant though).

Shaw is only 5 tests match old and he's averaging 40+ with 1 ton and 2 50s, to add one more stat he only played 1 game in Australia and 2 in NZ ( tough conditions). He's new in test cricket so him being useless in the test cricket is kinda weird comment imo. Same with Shubham Gill, he's also new and let me remind everyone that he was excellent in the Australia tour and produced match winning partnerships. 

India is lucky to have 4-5 good tests openers. All they have to do is rotate them well according to their form or conditions and keep them in the loop every time they tour any SENA country. Shryas is middle order batsman so comparing him with Shaw-Gill is out of the equation.

[Sithara007]

Shaw is only 5 tests match old and he's averaging 40+ with 1 ton and 2 50s, to add one more stat he only played 1 game in Australia and 2 in NZ ( tough conditions). He's new in test cricket so him being useless in the test cricket is kinda weird comment imo. Same with Shubham Gill, he's also new and let me remind everyone that he was excellent in the Australia tour and produced match winning partnerships. 

India is lucky to have 4-5 good tests openers. All they have to do is rotate them well according to their form or conditions and keep them in the loop every time they tour any SENA country. Shryas is middle order batsman so comparing him with Shaw-Gill is out of the equation.

Still remember some of the good knocks from Gill in Australia, and therefore I would rate him above the rest of the younger openers. Shaw played two of the matches against New Zealand, who currently has the best pace bowling attack in the world. IMO, India should go for the best possible combination along with Rohit. It needs to be seen who fits more with Rohit in the long run, and it can be either Shaw or Gill. If needed, KL Rahul can be asked to bat down the order and this will strengthen the middle order as well.

[kro55]

Shaw is only 5 tests match old and he's averaging 40+ with 1 ton and 2 50s, to add one more stat he only played 1 game in Australia and 2 in NZ ( tough conditions). He's new in test cricket so him being useless in the test cricket is kinda weird comment imo. Same with Shubham Gill, he's also new and let me remind everyone that he was excellent in the Australia tour and produced match winning partnerships. 

India is lucky to have 4-5 good tests openers. All they have to do is rotate them well according to their form or conditions and keep them in the loop every time they tour any SENA country. Shryas is middle order batsman so comparing him with Shaw-Gill is out of the equation.

Still remember some of the good knocks from Gill in Australia, and therefore I would rate him above the rest of the younger openers. Shaw played two of the matches against New Zealand, who currently has the best pace bowling attack in the world. IMO, India should go for the best possible combination along with Rohit. It needs to be seen who fits more with Rohit in the long run, and it can be either Shaw or Gill. If needed, KL Rahul can be asked to bat down the order and this will strengthen the middle order as well.

India now has a lot of talented players. So it is very difficult to make a potential team for their management. But they need to see which players have been able to adapt to experienced batsmen. Only new players who can adapt to Kohli and Rohit should be given a place in the national team.

[bryant.coleman]

India now has a lot of talented players. So it is very difficult to make a potential team for their management. But they need to see which players have been able to adapt to experienced batsmen. Only new players who can adapt to Kohli and Rohit should be given a place in the national team.

Younger players don't have any experience of playing alongside Kohli or Rohit. And the Indian domestic sector hasn't witnessed any 4-day competition since 2019. This has adversely impacted the skills of yonger Indian players in the longer format. As it is clearly noticeable, many of them fail to adjust themselves to test format. How many times we have seen these players getting out, trying to play test matches the same way as they do in T20 matches? It would help immensely if the BCCI could organize a few India A tours to SENA nations.

[JSRAW]

What if for the next match India give rest to their 2 seamers (Ishant + 1 more) and include Ashwin and Thakur saab?

No changes in the batting order and inclusion of Ashwin and Thakur might able to do some damage control because our middle order is not in great form and Pant is looking dim too.

Jaddu, Ashwin, Thakur batting at number 7,8,9 looks okay.