Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[coinism]

I know this statistic. And I think the main reason for New Zealand's remarkable performance is the pitch on the field. I watched several matches at Hagley Oval. The batting of New Zealand's opponents was disgusting. Although the team was in form, their batting order was badly broken. No batsman has been able to stay at the crease for long against New Zealand bowlers.

You may be right that pitch may be one of the key factor at Hagley Oval but on same pitch NZ is scoring tons of runs. NS have only played one inning in last three matches, 482 vs SA, 521 vs Bangladesh and 659 vs Pakistan. These days touring countries get idea of pitches through there domestic cricket. So its SA fault that they didn't come prepared against this pitch.

[JSRAW]

-Sri Lanka at the top and they would like to draw 1 test against India. if it happens then they might fancy their chances.
-Australia stat padded enough against Poms, now their majority of series are in Sub-continent. If they succeed then they deserve to be in the finals.
-Pakistan has a strong claim.
-Proteas chance are slim.
-India is just hanging in there.
-Kiwis are no different.
-Windies, BAN and Eng seems dead already.
 

[mm2543363580]

-Sri Lanka at the top and they would like to draw 1 test against India. if it happens then they might fancy their chances.
-Australia stat padded enough against Poms, now their majority of series are in Sub-continent. If they succeed then they deserve to be in the finals.
-Pakistan has a strong claim.
-Proteas chance are slim.
-India is just hanging in there.
-Kiwis are no different.
-Windies, BAN and Eng seems dead already.
 

ICC Test Championship 2021 is in its very early stages and we cant yet say who will grab top slots, as most teams have just played 1 or 2 series. In 2019, teams played 6, 5 and 4 series before we saw the final table. Right now NZ are looking good as they just destroyed SA in first test and they are also defending champions.

[JSRAW]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

Indian squad for 2 test series against Sri Lanka

* Ashwin's selection will depend on his fitness, he's injured atm.
* Surprisingly India went with tested combination of Jaddu-Ash and Axar-Washi are left out from the squad so it seems pitches are going to be pace friendly, makes sense as Lankan's spinners are no dummy.

[mm2543363580]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

As far as Pakistan is concerned they are trying to play series in Pakistan as not many countries are willing to travel to Pakistan. I don't think they have played much cricket in subcontinent as they never play with India and NZ along with ECB cancelled tour to Pakistan. 

[Lordshiva]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

As far as Pakistan is concerned they are trying to play series in Pakistan as not many countries are willing to travel to Pakistan. I don't think they have played much cricket in subcontinent as they never play with India and NZ along with ECB cancelled tour to Pakistan. 

Yes but pakistan play alot of cricket in UAE where conditions are quiet similar to pakistan and other parts of subcontinent. Yes you can say the pitches there are much slower and we dont see many high scoring matches there where as like in india some pitches are batting paradise.
But still there is a lot of similarity. So pakistan have played enough in these similar conditions.

[jostorres]

All done and dusted. South Africa blown away for just 111 runs in their second innings after their two digit total in the first. This time Tim Southee Picked up 5 wickets, while Matt Henry finished with a match total of 9. Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson also picked up crucial wickets. South African batting resembled like an amateur club side, and their bowling wasn't much better either. And New Zealand did all this without some of their key players such as Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Glenn Phillips and Kane Williamson.

Second-worst ever defeat for South Africa against all test playing nations, and it's coming after very good win against India at home really shocked for South African fans and cricket community even New Zealand is playing without their captain Kane Williamson and main bowler Trent Boult.

Here, we can say now home advantage having big factor for all teams and New Zealand is currently WTC Champion which is also very good sign for them their bench power is also working very good for them on other side South African completely out of touch with their internal issues if they are not able to settle these things in near future then surely they will down-and-out like West Indies which is also having same internal politics which killed their cricket, and now they are completely down and out from this game even having great history.

[DanWalker]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

As far as Pakistan is concerned they are trying to play series in Pakistan as not many countries are willing to travel to Pakistan. I don't think they have played much cricket in subcontinent as they never play with India and NZ along with ECB cancelled tour to Pakistan. 

Yes but pakistan play alot of cricket in UAE where conditions are quiet similar to pakistan and other parts of subcontinent. Yes you can say the pitches there are much slower and we dont see many high scoring matches there where as like in india some pitches are batting paradise.
But still there is a lot of similarity. So pakistan have played enough in these similar conditions.

The conditions might be similar but steel it's a very different thing to play in your own country and in any other. First of all, players have a psychological advantage when they are playing in their own country. Secondly, they have the support of the fans which is sometimes really crucial for any team in my opinion.
And if it actually did not matter then I think Pakistan wouldn't stick with their plan of playing at home.

[Mahdirakib]

The performance by South Africa was disappointing after their series victory over India. They were playing under difficult conditions. Home advantage is easy, away advantage is more difficult. Away umpires are also different from home umpires!

Home team always get some advantages, which is a normal thing in every game. But home team can't take the advantages always if their players are in bad form. New Zealand has won in the same way in this field against Bangladesh. But they had lost the previous test match against Bangladesh by showing very poor performance. Anyway, I believe that no-one was expecting such pathetic performance from team South Africa. Umpires always try their best to give fair decisions. Home umpires stays in much pressure than the away umpires.

[S A KHAIR]

Indian squad for 2 test series against Sri Lanka
* Ashwin's selection will depend on his fitness, he's injured atm.
* Surprisingly India went with tested combination of Jaddu-Ash and Axar-Washi are left out from the squad so it seems pitches are going to be pace friendly, makes sense as Lankan's spinners are no dummy.

This is the better choice for India, they are going to do quite well against Sri Lanka with this squad. And I also like that they went with experience over talent. At the moment I think that the experiment that they were doing are over and they are back to their best squad. I trust this squad to do great in the series.

[Emitdama]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

As far as Pakistan is concerned they are trying to play series in Pakistan as not many countries are willing to travel to Pakistan. I don't think they have played much cricket in subcontinent as they never play with India and NZ along with ECB cancelled tour to Pakistan. 

Most chances Pakistan is not going to play at the UAE because currently they are doing very good in PSL, and recently they have some better work out by PCB which is helping them for playing all series at home without any concern you guys are still licking these old things that New Zealand and England cancel their tours now this all is settled and these are going to play in Pakistan as currently 24 players from England are involved in PSL.

It means now they change their minds, and they are feeling sorry about their decision so in future we are going to have all home series in Pakistan just few crap mind peoples still having doubt about these tours but most chances these all will be clear in next few days.

[eaLiTy]

~
It means now they change their minds, and they are feeling sorry about their decision so in future we are going to have all home series in Pakistan just few crap mind peoples still having doubt about these tours but most chances these all will be clear in next few days.

Since players are happy to travel to Pakistan for the PSL they can travel with their national teams as well. Australia will be touring them and i am sure that tour will go ahead and the rest of the countries will follow that and hopefully we will not see any unfortunate incidents like they had in the past and they will have proper security safeguarding the players.

~
This is the better choice for India, they are going to do quite well against Sri Lanka with this squad. And I also like that they went with experience over talent. At the moment I think that the experiment that they were doing are over and they are back to their best squad. I trust this squad to do great in the series.

If they had this team when they toured South Africa it would have been interesting, Sri Lanka is not a tough opponent to have a packed squad.

[Sithara007]

For the first time I am hearing about Sourabh Kumar. Does this guy has an IPL contract? From his ESPN-Cricinfo profile, I could see that he was a part of two IPL franchises in the past - Rising Pune Supergiant and Punjab Kings. But from where this guy attracted the attention of the selectors? I just hope that he's not just another nepo product. And I checked his stats during the India A tour of South Africa. Picked up 4 wickets after conceding 233 runs, at an average of 58.25. What exactly impressed the selectors here?

[blatchcorn]

Most chances Pakistan is not going to play at the UAE because currently they are doing very good in PSL, and recently they have some better work out by PCB which is helping them for playing all series at home without any concern you guys are still licking these old things that New Zealand and England cancel their tours now this all is settled and these are going to play in Pakistan as currently 24 players from England are involved in PSL.

It means now they change their minds, and they are feeling sorry about their decision so in future we are going to have all home series in Pakistan just few crap mind peoples still having doubt about these tours but most chances these all will be clear in next few days.

This year is very important for PCB in terms of bringing international cricket back to home completely as Aussies after 22 years will be touring Pakistan in March after that ECB is coming in Sep Oct followed by CNZ in Dec. CNZ will come again in April 2023. If all these tours went successfully as scheduled then it's all clear for future cricket in Pakistan.

[S A KHAIR]

~
This is the better choice for India, they are going to do quite well against Sri Lanka with this squad. And I also like that they went with experience over talent. At the moment I think that the experiment that they were doing are over and they are back to their best squad. I trust this squad to do great in the series.

If they had this team when they toured South Africa it would have been interesting, Sri Lanka is not a tough opponent to have a packed squad.

I don't think it's true.
Sri Lanka can also surprise sometimes. But, I think that India wants to show dominance in this series. Sri Lanka is going to have a hard time in this series. And I like this Indian squad a lot more.

For the first time I am hearing about Sourabh Kumar. Does this guy has an IPL contract? From his ESPN-Cricinfo profile, I could see that he was a part of two IPL franchises in the past - Rising Pune Supergiant and Punjab Kings. But from where this guy attracted the attention of the selectors? I just hope that he's not just another nepo product. And I checked his stats during the India A tour of South Africa. Picked up 4 wickets after conceding 233 runs, at an average of 58.25. What exactly impressed the selectors here?

They are just trying out new talents and seeing what they can achieve. Because I don't see any other reason. But one thing that could be the reason is that there are not many left-arm-leg spinners in the Indian team. And we all know how important wrist spinners can be nowadays. And his first-class stats are quite decent in my opinion. So I think they decided to give him a chance.

[pakhitheboss]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

Indian squad for 2 test series against Sri Lanka

* Ashwin's selection will depend on his fitness, he's injured atm.
* Surprisingly India went with tested combination of Jaddu-Ash and Axar-Washi are left out from the squad so it seems pitches are going to be pace friendly, makes sense as Lankan's spinners are no dummy.

Thank God Pujara and Rahane have been excluded from the test squad. It is now official that Rohit Sharma will now be the test captain for India. Axar patel replacement is Saurabh Kumar, he is also a left arm spinner. He has been playing well in  domestic cricket and that is why he was selected. Last I read Ashwin was still injured I am not sure why he was selected?

[coinism]

For the first time I am hearing about Sourabh Kumar. Does this guy has an IPL contract? From his ESPN-Cricinfo profile, I could see that he was a part of two IPL franchises in the past - Rising Pune Supergiant and Punjab Kings. But from where this guy attracted the attention of the selectors? I just hope that he's not just another nepo product. And I checked his stats during the India A tour of South Africa. Picked up 4 wickets after conceding 233 runs, at an average of 58.25. What exactly impressed the selectors here?

From what you are saying is totally not in favour of this guy i.e.Saurabh Kumar. He is selected for test squad and these days selection for ODIs and test is all based on how well one is performing in T20 leagues.
But if you see his FC statistics then as an all-rounder he took 196 wickets in 82 innings and scored 1572 runs in 63 innings with 2 hundreds. I think he rightly deserves the chance.

[JSRAW]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

Indian squad for 2 test series against Sri Lanka

* Ashwin's selection will depend on his fitness, he's injured atm.
* Surprisingly India went with tested combination of Jaddu-Ash and Axar-Washi are left out from the squad so it seems pitches are going to be pace friendly, makes sense as Lankan's spinners are no dummy.

Thank God Pujara and Rahane have been excluded from the test squad. It is now official that Rohit Sharma will now be the test captain for India. Axar patel replacement is Saurabh Kumar, he is also a left arm spinner. He has been playing well in  domestic cricket and that is why he was selected. Last I read Ashwin was still injured I am not sure why he was selected?

Yeah their time is up, now not worried about middle order when playing at home but these young guys need to perform in overseas conditions too and they should be given long rope for that. If not then some selectors might try bringing Puji-Rahane back in the team and in such scenario it would look good choice for the Indian team.

Personally i don't mind if Pujara keep travelling with the team when they are playing in the Australia for BG Trophy cause he had good outing there. Meanwhile Rahane scored a century in Ranji recently.

Don't know much about Saurabh Kumar but i think pitches are going to assist pacer (one match is D/N) Spin track is reserved for SENA countries.

[romero121]

^^ Point taken but hardly a early stage because points distribution system is based on match percentage, not series and also if we look at fixtures then Pakistan and SL are playing (5) majority of their series in subcontinent, which is favorable condition to them so one would expect them to perform well in subcontinent in comparison to SENA countries.

Indian squad for 2 test series against Sri Lanka

* Ashwin's selection will depend on his fitness, he's injured atm.
* Surprisingly India went with tested combination of Jaddu-Ash and Axar-Washi are left out from the squad so it seems pitches are going to be pace friendly, makes sense as Lankan's spinners are no dummy.

Thank God Pujara and Rahane have been excluded from the test squad. It is now official that Rohit Sharma will now be the test captain for India. Axar patel replacement is Saurabh Kumar, he is also a left arm spinner. He has been playing well in  domestic cricket and that is why he was selected. Last I read Ashwin was still injured I am not sure why he was selected?

Exclusion of Pujara and Rahane isn't a good decision. This time the selection criteria is much focused on the young players, so that next set of players can be kept active for the test squad. As in one of the quote it is said about the opportunity provided. Every player selected must be given good rope of chances, unlike the performance. Only then it is possible to find the right player. Pujara and Rahane used to give a good starting, if the new players doesn't perform well they could've been brought in. This will help handle unwanted opening pressure.

[lixer]

Exclusion of Pujara and Rahane isn't a good decision. This time the selection criteria is much focused on the young players, so that next set of players can be kept active for the test squad. As in one of the quote it is said about the opportunity provided. Every player selected must be given good rope of chances, unlike the performance. Only then it is possible to find the right player. Pujara and Rahane used to give a good starting, if the new players doesn't perform well they could've been brought in. This will help handle unwanted opening pressure.

I am not agreed with you here because it's fair choice from selectors as they already give enough chance to these both veteran players, and now it's very good time for others to have their chances in test matches and specially at home against team like Sri Lanka where they can give some good performance which will help selectors to have their better choice for next very important tour of Australia.

Even still have few concerns on few player's entry right now it's not good to comment about this all because sometimes it's happening all way many players and different strategies are works for selectors with the exclusion of Rahane and Pujara entry of Saurabh Kumar is also currently talk of town because it's not good and have no fair performance in last few matches lets watch how he has done here.