Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Vaskiy]

New Zealand are the champions!

The first ever trophy for them in an ICC global tournament. Test cricket is regarded as the toughest format and New Zealand should be proud of the fact that they managed to overcome the challenge from the Big 3 teams. And the three South African imports played a large role in this victory (BJ Watling, Devon Conway and Neil Wagner), so they should thank the South African quota system as well.

Congratulations to New Zealand on winning this first world test championship. They were very unfortunate to miss out on winning the 50 overs ODI world cup but this win today will heal their feelings. A big moment for them for sure. I am happy for the results.

New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Champions!

New Zealand deserve to be the champion, the play of New Zealand seems to be better compared to India. The team had got good co-operation. It is predicted that the match will end as a draw. As in the above quote, New Zealand have marked it's big win.

[1714748522]

1714748522

[Sithara007]

Rain and bad light destroyed the excitement in first few days but finally the game was a bit exciting in last two days. I'm happy to see a winner of WTC final. There was much possibility to happen a draw but Indian batsman couldn't show their best performance today. Also, Indian bowler was unable to create much pressure on Kiwis batsman. They dropped some easy catches. Anyway, congrats to New Zealand team.

If India had managed to survive for another 10 overs or so, then they could have managed a draw. But some of their batsmen were really irresponsible. The way Pant, Ashwin and Shami got out to unwanted shots was shocking. While playing in bowler friendly conditions in the SENA nations, there is a need to show some patience. Also, you can't go after every ball, especially against world class pacers such as Boult, Southee, Jamieson and Wagner. I had high hopes for Rishabh Pant before this match. But now it looks like he can never fit himself in to the test side.

[onecall123]

Rain and bad light destroyed the excitement in first few days but finally the game was a bit exciting in last two days. I'm happy to see a winner of WTC final. There was much possibility to happen a draw but Indian batsman couldn't show their best performance today. Also, Indian bowler was unable to create much pressure on Kiwis batsman. They dropped some easy catches. Anyway, congrats to New Zealand team.

If India had managed to survive for another 10 overs or so, then they could have managed a draw. But some of their batsmen were really irresponsible. The way Pant, Ashwin and Shami got out to unwanted shots was shocking. While playing in bowler friendly conditions in the SENA nations, there is a need to show some patience. Also, you can't go after every ball, especially against world class pacers such as Boult, Southee, Jamieson and Wagner. I had high hopes for Rishabh Pant before this match. But now it looks like he can never fit himself in to the test side.

Indian batsman were unable to produce a decent total back to back two innings, even more their lower order literally have no contribution on the scoreboard. On other hand, The ICC Test Championship Winner New Zealand performed up to the mark, thus they are very suitable to this trophy. My congratulations goes to the BlackCaps win the World Test Championship 2021. Happy for Taylor and Kane!

[bryant.coleman]

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Having said that BCCI need to figure out something because Indian team need at least 2 practice match before playing any red ball cricket in the England, otherwise we can't crack the English pitches.
~~~~

The BCCI and the Indian players simply refuse to play warm-up matches nowadays. Even this time, they treated the England tour as an excursion, and brought a large contingent with them including family members and friends. And reportedly they spent time on shopping rather than organizing warm-up matches. On the other hand, the New Zealand team prepared for the final for many months and even kept the test series against England just ahead of the WTC final. In the end the team that worked hard won the trophy, and the ones who were arrogant and casual got defeated.

[pakhitheboss]

~~~~
Having said that BCCI need to figure out something because Indian team need at least 2 practice match before playing any red ball cricket in the England, otherwise we can't crack the English pitches.
~~~~

The BCCI and the Indian players simply refuse to play warm-up matches nowadays. Even this time, they treated the England tour as an excursion, and brought a large contingent with them including family members and friends. And reportedly they spent time on shopping rather than organizing warm-up matches. On the other hand, the New Zealand team prepared for the final for many months and even kept the test series against England just ahead of the WTC final. In the end the team that worked hard won the trophy, and the ones who were arrogant and casual got defeated.

Unfortunately, this happens with most of the South Asian teams they treat England as a holiday event rather gaming event. BCCI needs to organize practice matches the condition in England is very different to the subcontinent. In my opinion, most Indian players were not at all serious about this WC.

NZ on the other hand was there and had adapted to the condition. They were very confident from the beginning itself.

[JSRAW]

~~~~
Having said that BCCI need to figure out something because Indian team need at least 2 practice match before playing any red ball cricket in the England, otherwise we can't crack the English pitches.
~~~~

The BCCI and the Indian players simply refuse to play warm-up matches nowadays. Even this time, they treated the England tour as an excursion, and brought a large contingent with them including family members and friends. And reportedly they spent time on shopping rather than organizing warm-up matches. On the other hand, the New Zealand team prepared for the final for many months and even kept the test series against England just ahead of the WTC final. In the end the team that worked hard won the trophy, and the ones who were arrogant and casual got defeated.

Its our wishful thinking, although we all know that nothing is going to change. England series is next and i heard some report that Indian team already took 20ish day break from the cricket and there is no county match schedule for them before the ind vs eng series. There is zero accountability and its kinda weird that India failed to win any ICC trophy after 2013 Champions trophy, despite qualifying into 3 semis and 3 finals with stellar performance.  Kohli is turning Indian team into RCB, Chokers!!

-----------
India's Men -Women -U19 team in ICC tournament

"2014 WT20           -Lost in Final
2015 WC              -Lost in SF
2016 WT20           -Lost in SF
2016 U19              -Lost in Final
2017 WWC            -Lost in Final
2017 CT                -Lost in Final
2018 WWT20         -Lost in SF
2019 WC               -Lost in SF
2020 U19              -Lost in Final
2020 WWT20         -Lost in Finals
Add WTC 2021       -Lost in Finals"

[slaman29]

As much as I hate to admit it, you're all right and it's not just India, it's probably the whole of South Asia (and I bet you if we get the Southeast to play as well they would do the same). These sports are excursions, they probably even eat and drink badly the night before if they don't get too early and do even more, not saying it's a stereotype but I know my own people:(

[RealMalatesta]

BCCI needs to organize practice matches the condition in England is very different to the subcontinent. In my opinion, most Indian players were not at all serious about this WC.

Conditions were alone not the factors for India's defeat in WTC final. They conquered Australia in Australia few months back; how that become possible? I believe India need to work on finding young blood rather than keep giving out chances to experienced people (remember Rahane led India in Aus for last 3 test matches and they won 2 and draw 1).

1. India's both of openers were new and if remember correctly in their first 15 or 18 WTC matches they had different pair and I guess they might have replaced Gill with KL Rahul or Mayank Agarwal.

2. For an England match, 2 spinners are too much. M Siraj might have made impact if have got a chance.

3. Pujara and Rahane (Even Kohli) were form out as per their last 10 test matches (their unavailability/injury must be a the reason why India won Australia in Australia as young people got chances).

[Vishnu.Reang]

Although I am an Indian citizen, I was supporting New Zealand throughout this test match. Virat Kohli makes it hard for people like me to support the current Indian team. His celebration after the dismissal of Kane Williamson in the first innings is the perfect example. He was roaring and jumping like a monkey, as if his team has won the trophy. And the New Zealand captain is just the exact opposite. I still remember the words he said, after New Zealand was robbed of the 2019 ODI World Cup trophy. There is a reason why cricket is known as "gentleman's game". There is no place for intimidation or bullying in cricket.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Although I am an Indian citizen, I was supporting New Zealand throughout this test match. Virat Kohli makes it hard for people like me to support the current Indian team. His celebration after the dismissal of Kane Williamson in the first innings is the perfect example. He was roaring and jumping like a monkey, as if his team has won the trophy. And the New Zealand captain is just the exact opposite. I still remember the words he said, after New Zealand was robbed of the 2019 ODI World Cup trophy. There is a reason why cricket is known as "gentleman's game". There is no place for intimidation or bullying in cricket.

Virat Kohli is very arrogant. He is a talented player. I like her playstyle very much. But I don't like him as a person. He despises other players. These habits of Virat Kohli must be changed. I don't like Jadeja either. Compared to them, Rohit Sharma and Rahane seem to be polite enough.

[LittleBitFunny]

Although I am an Indian citizen, I was supporting New Zealand throughout this test match. Virat Kohli makes it hard for people like me to support the current Indian team. His celebration after the dismissal of Kane Williamson in the first innings is the perfect example. He was roaring and jumping like a monkey, as if his team has won the trophy. And the New Zealand captain is just the exact opposite. I still remember the words he said, after New Zealand was robbed of the 2019 ODI World Cup trophy. There is a reason why cricket is known as "gentleman's game". There is no place for intimidation or bullying in cricket.

Virat Kohli is very arrogant. He is a talented player. I like her playstyle very much. But I don't like him as a person. He despises other players. These habits of Virat Kohli must be changed. I don't like Jadeja either. Compared to them, Rohit Sharma and Rahane seem to be polite enough.

Looking at Virat Kohli's behavior, I think he is still young. In Kohli’s nature, more seriousness has to be brought. He is the captain of a big team like India. He should learn from Dhoni or Sachin. I don't think he will ever be able to have a personality like Dhoni.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Looking at Virat Kohli's behavior, I think he is still young. In Kohli’s nature, more seriousness has to be brought. He is the captain of a big team like India. He should learn from Dhoni or Sachin. I don't think he will ever be able to have a personality like Dhoni.

He's no longer young. He's in his mid 30s, and we expect him to be more mature. Dhoni and Sachin were mild natured guys, so we can't compare Virat with them. One good comparison may be with Sourav Ganguly (who is regarded as the most aggressive captain of the Indian team before Kohli). But while Ganguly was aggressive, he was never disrespectful or arrogant. Also, no one ever complained that Ganguly was biased. On the other hand, Kohli is more like a bully, rather then being aggressive. On top of that, he is accused of bias towards RCB players such as Saini and Siraj.

[7788bitcoin]

Its our wishful thinking, although we all know that nothing is going to change. England series is next and i heard some report that Indian team already took 20ish day break from the cricket and there is no county match schedule for them before the ind vs eng series. There is zero accountability and its kinda weird that India failed to win any ICC trophy after 2013 Champions trophy, despite qualifying into 3 semis and 3 finals with stellar performance.  Kohli is turning Indian team into RCB, Chokers!!

It happens if they want to be a rock star team but do not play the necessary warm up matches to understand the climate and the pitch situation and that is what i understand with your explanation.

In the past every visiting played these warm up matches but now a days there is too much cricket played and they usually rest if they do not have a match scheduled. I think the respective boards should think about these and plan accordingly rather than blaming the players.

[eaLiTy]

~
I don't think that there is any chance of getting a result here. Only 90 overs of play remain and 18 wickets need to fall. And looking at the scoring rate so far in this match, I would say that neither of the two teams is aggressively pushing for a win. The conditions are suitable for seam and swing bowling, and therefore difficult for batting. At this point, India has a lead of just 32 runs. In order to get to a lead of at least 200 runs, they need to bat for another 60-70 overs, which will give them around 20-30 overs to bowl out New Zealand.

The reason i expected a result is because if you look at the recent tours by India, they loose the first match and then come back and win the rest of the match and series and even though the WTC final was disrupted by weather, Indian batsman failed big time and you should give big props to New Zealand to restrict India when everyone thought the match would be a boring draw and then went out and win the match is incredible.

[Sithara007]

The reason i expected a result is because if you look at the recent tours by India, they loose the first match and then come back and win the rest of the match and series and even though the WTC final was disrupted by weather, Indian batsman failed big time and you should give big props to New Zealand to restrict India when everyone thought the match would be a boring draw and then went out and win the match is incredible.

Some of the Indian batsmen went in to the T20 match and threw away their wickets. So actually the New Zealand bowlers didn't had to put much effort in getting them out. It was a combination of irresponsible batting from the Indians and exceptional bowling form the Kiwis.

It happens if they want to be a rock star team but do not play the necessary warm up matches to understand the climate and the pitch situation and that is what i understand with your explanation.

In the past every visiting played these warm up matches but now a days there is too much cricket played and they usually rest if they do not have a match scheduled. I think the respective boards should think about these and plan accordingly rather than blaming the players.

There was more than enough time to organize the warmup matches. They arrived in England almost a month ago. But as usual, the contingent arrived with spouses, children, girlfriends and other family members and they were busy with shopping and sight seeing.

[JSRAW]

BCCI needs to organize practice matches the condition in England is very different to the subcontinent. In my opinion, most Indian players were not at all serious about this WC.

Conditions were alone not the factors for India's defeat in WTC final. They conquered Australia in Australia few months back; how that become possible? I believe India need to work on finding young blood rather than keep giving out chances to experienced people (remember Rahane led India in Aus for last 3 test matches and they won 2 and draw 1).

1. India's both of openers were new and if remember correctly in their first 15 or 18 WTC matches they had different pair and I guess they might have replaced Gill with KL Rahul or Mayank Agarwal.

2. For an England match, 2 spinners are too much. M Siraj might have made impact if have got a chance.

3. Pujara and Rahane (Even Kohli) were form out as per their last 10 test matches (their unavailability/injury must be a the reason why India won Australia in Australia as young people got chances).

-Condition did play some part so we can't ignore that. Rohit did fairly good job as opener in last 2 (Aus-Eng -home-) series and he did okay job in the last game too. Gill was new guy tho.

-Indian team missing Seam allrounder. Pandya is not fit to bawl, which is kinda disappointing and irritating at the same time. Shardul is there with the squad so he might get some outing in upcoming series in England. Selecting 4 pure fast bowler means is your tail is long as none of em can bat, they are genuine tailender. That's why Kohli went with the Jadeja as he's handful batsman at no 7 and performing quite well, he didn't click in last game tho.

- Only Kohli was unavailable in last Border-Gavaskar trophy. In the finals Middle order failed (Kohli-Pujara-Rahane-Pant), that's why India lost against the kiwis IMO.

There was more than enough time to organize the warmup matches. They arrived in England almost a month ago. But as usual, the contingent arrived with spouses, children, girlfriends and other family members and they were busy with shopping and sight seeing.

I don't mind criticizing their behavior as far as practice session goes but this sound wrong info to me, Indian team reached England around June 3rd and stayed at bio bubble. They had 1 county match schedule but it got cancelled due to logistic and new covid cases that's why they had to play intra squad match. IMO Team could have arrive there at the same time as New Zealand team then may be , things could have much better in terms of practice.

@7788bitcoin  2 first class (3-4days) match never hurts the schedule if you're playing 5 match series. I do agree Indian team schedule is hectic and covid didn't help much. Problem is Players are cash cow for BCCI and arrogant statement from the skipper-coach combination making things worse.

[bryant.coleman]

I don't mind criticizing their behavior as far as practice session goes but this sound wrong info to me, Indian team reached England around June 3rd and stayed at bio bubble. They had 1 county match schedule but it got cancelled due to logistic and new covid cases that's why they had to play intra squad match. IMO Team could have arrive there at the same time as New Zealand team then may be , things could have much better in terms of practice.

@7788bitcoin  2 first class (3-4days) match never hurts the schedule if you're playing 5 match series. I do agree Indian team schedule is hectic and covid didn't help much. Problem is Players are cash cow for BCCI and arrogant skipper-coach combination is not helping much too.

The calendar is hectic and there is no doubt about it. But for test and T20/ODI, they now have separate teams, right? At least players such as Rahane, Pujara and Ishant (who are not part of the ODI/T20 squad) could have arrived earlier and participated in some practise matches. Anyway, the IPL is about to start in a couple of months and for the players (both Indian and foreign), the IPL is much more important when compared to the WTC. There are rumors that the BCCI want to restructure the team after WTC final defeat. But I don't think that they have a backbone to act against Kohli.

[pakhitheboss]

Although I am an Indian citizen, I was supporting New Zealand throughout this test match. Virat Kohli makes it hard for people like me to support the current Indian team. His celebration after the dismissal of Kane Williamson in the first innings is the perfect example. He was roaring and jumping like a monkey, as if his team has won the trophy. And the New Zealand captain is just the exact opposite. I still remember the words he said, after New Zealand was robbed of the 2019 ODI World Cup trophy. There is a reason why cricket is known as "gentleman's game". There is no place for intimidation or bullying in cricket.

Virat Kohli is very arrogant. He is a talented player. I like her playstyle very much. But I don't like him as a person. He despises other players. These habits of Virat Kohli must be changed. I don't like Jadeja either. Compared to them, Rohit Sharma and Rahane seem to be polite enough.

Apart from being arrogant, he is also jinxed, every important tournament final he has lost yet he still comes out on the field as if he is the only crusader for team India. I do not know what his problem is but he thinks he is the one 

Not sure which player can replace this guy as a captain but Rohit Sharma would be my first choice.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Apart from being arrogant, he is also jinxed, every important tournament final he has lost yet he still comes out on the field as if he is the only crusader for team India. I do not know what his problem is but he thinks he is the one 

Not sure which player can replace this guy as a captain but Rohit Sharma would be my first choice.

Rohit Sharma is even more arrogant when compared to Kohli. But in his case at least we can say that he know how to behave in public, unlike Kohli who behave like a baboon in the field. The same is the case with the other potential options, such as Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. Anyway, until Kohli retires from the game (that may happen after 7-8 years), there is no chance that someone else will come up as the permanent captain in any of the three formats. Kohli will never resign by himself, and no one else have the courage to demand that he should step down. 

[Swordsoffreedom]

Apart from being arrogant, he is also jinxed, every important tournament final he has lost yet he still comes out on the field as if he is the only crusader for team India. I do not know what his problem is but he thinks he is the one 

Not sure which player can replace this guy as a captain but Rohit Sharma would be my first choice.

Rohit Sharma is even more arrogant when compared to Kohli. But in his case at least we can say that he know how to behave in public, unlike Kohli who behave like a baboon in the field. The same is the case with the other potential options, such as Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. Anyway, until Kohli retires from the game (that may happen after 7-8 years), there is no chance that someone else will come up as the permanent captain in any of the three formats. Kohli will never resign by himself, and no one else have the courage to demand that he should step down. 

If any Indian player is arrogant, I would say Dhoni was very arrogant. Watch the matches in the middle of his career. Then you will understand that he is not paying attention to any player of the opposition. But he does not have a violent nature like Kohli. He knows how to behave in the field. Kohli doesn't know that. As much as I like Kohli as a player, now I dislike him as a person. If India can't win the next World Cup, we don't see Kohli as captain anymore.