Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

Well bhai Pandya last good performance for India was way back in bilateral series against Australia before 50 overs world cup. He's been out of form for like 3 years now, not to mention hehardly contribute with the ball anymore and don't remember when he took his last wickets in any format. 

Even he doesn't contribute (either with the bat, or with the ball) for another 3 years, he will be in the team. When Kohli was fired, I thought that things would change. But the toxic nepotism and bias remain with the team. KL Rahul is also part of the system, so there is no real change. The way he refused to allow Venkatesh Iyer to bowl during the match once again shows the dirty tactics employed by the senior player cabal, to keep out promising youngsters. And that is the reason why I always wanted someone from outside the cabal as the captain (Shreyas Iyer for example). 

[galambo]

Even he doesn't contribute (either with the bat, or with the ball) for another 3 years, he will be in the team. When Kohli was fired, I thought that things would change. But the toxic nepotism and bias remain with the team. KL Rahul is also part of the system, so there is no real change. The way he refused to allow Venkatesh Iyer to bowl during the match once again shows the dirty tactics employed by the senior player cabal, to keep out promising youngsters. And that is the reason why I always wanted someone from outside the cabal as the captain (Shreyas Iyer for example). 

Ahmedabad franchise is all set to appoint Pandya as captain, did this mean they also have nepotism that's why they are appointing him as captain? The point is he has proved himself as a hard hitter batsman just like shahid afridi. Shahid afridi was one of the greatest loser cricket has ever seen but still he managed to play 400 ODI's from Pakistan.

[JSRAW]

Well bhai Pandya last good performance for India was way back in bilateral series against Australia before 50 overs world cup. He's been out of form for like 3 years now, not to mention hehardly contribute with the ball anymore and don't remember when he took his last wickets in any format.  

Even he doesn't contribute (either with the bat, or with the ball) for another 3 years, he will be in the team. When Kohli was fired, I thought that things would change. But the toxic nepotism and bias remain with the team. KL Rahul is also part of the system, so there is no real change. The way he refused to allow Venkatesh Iyer to bowl during the match once again shows the dirty tactics employed by the senior player cabal, to keep out promising youngsters. And that is the reason why I always wanted someone from outside the cabal as the captain (Shreyas Iyer for example).  

I won't mind Pandya in the team if he's fit to ball at least 10-12 a day when playing at SENA (tests) and 5-6 overs in ODI and 3-4 overs in T-20. The reason is he's our best slogger in country and fits perfectly at 6 or 7 number. I really hope that he get his fitness back.

Atm India is going with Ashwin at 7. Don't get me wrong i like Ashwin and consider him clever batter but he's no good for number 7 in any format. Lord Thakur and Ashwin good enough batter at number 8 or 9 regardless of format.

Think of middle lower-lower batting order. Pandya at 6, Jadeja at 7, Thakur at 8 and 3 pure seam option (SENA country) or  Spin (Ashwin) + 2 seam for 9,10,11.

[blatchcorn]

@darewaller I believe that soon we shall see Rahul Dravid dropping non performing player’s, and currently he’s taking his time to understand all the available player’s and once he gets a good idea he’ll start shaping the new Indian team. Also Jadeja is a very important player because he constantly lifts the team by taking that important wicket, or scoring those crucial runs, and it’s important that team India find a player that can be his direct replacement.

Indian cricket team is not having a good time right now. They have lost test series to underdogs i.e. SA and the credit for this goes to kohli and bcci administration. Players who are not performing must be dropped to play domestic cricket and regain form. There is no harm in giving kohli a break, since he is continuously not performing. In India it's a culture that senior players are mandatory part of team whether they perform or not.

[teosanru]

Yes in test match cricket it is not that much issue specially when sir jadeja gets back in side provide depth in batting. The top order is strong and number 4 is kohli and 6 and 7 jadeja and pant arre good as well. I think the time has come that team management replace rahane and pujara and give chance to Iyer and Shubmann gill.

Yup

~snip~
I think the problem with the middle order is inexperience, now when you talk about removing Puji Rahane, you are not left with any experienced test batsmen in the middle order who has played let's say more than even 30 test matches. In fact even overall the team wouldn't have a lot of batsmen who have played Overseas. So removing both of them together is going to be a challenge for the management too. I think removing one of them and rotating each of them for a match can probably be one way of creating a balance, Shreyas Iyer is obviously a very good option for middle-order which is altogether unexplored, he can be a very good replacement for Rahane.

This year India is playing 9 tests.

2 against SL (Home)
4 against Aus (Home)
1 remaining test against England (Away)
2 against Bangbros (Away)

Home series are considered easy series so they have 2 options. They could continue with Puji-Rahane at home and help them to get their form back or go with the young guys like Gill at number 3 and Shreyas/Vihari at number 5 so that they get more exposure and experience. (Vihari must get long rope when playing at SENA)

Gill honestly I don't like that much, he has been given too many chances now, and he is not at all consistent. Vihari and shreyas I think are better options there are a lot of other options in the pool too.

@darewaller I believe that soon we shall see Rahul Dravid dropping non performing player’s, and currently he’s taking his time to understand all the available player’s and once he gets a good idea he’ll start shaping the new Indian team. Also Jadeja is a very important player because he constantly lifts the team by taking that important wicket, or scoring those crucial runs, and it’s important that team India find a player that can be his direct replacement.

Indian cricket team is not having a good time right now. They have lost test series to underdogs i.e. SA and the credit for this goes to kohli and bcci administration. Players who are not performing must be dropped to play domestic cricket and regain form. There is no harm in giving kohli a break, since he is continuously not performing. In India it's a culture that senior players are mandatory part of team whether they perform or not.

True that losing the test against SA was still acceptable but India losing one day international series against underdogs clearly indicates the weakness in the team combination. I hope india finds a solution for it quickly.

[SirLancelot]

Indian cricket team is not having a good time right now. They have lost test series to underdogs i.e. SA and the credit for this goes to kohli and bcci administration. Players who are not performing must be dropped to play domestic cricket and regain form. There is no harm in giving kohli a break, since he is continuously not performing. In India it's a culture that senior players are mandatory part of team whether they perform or not.

Surely they have not good time because it's happen after SENA defeats but never mind because now Sri Lanka is coming and after them Australia is also having tour with this all many players will be back in good form at home and give some extraordinary performance because nothing is good then home.

Pujara and Rahane is also going to shine against Sri Lanka and with this performance they are going to have spot against Australia with someone already mention in above post these Senior Players having some good hold on things which are happening in team, so I am feeling there is no good chance for new emerging players for having spot in team but their dedication and love for sport can give them some better result in near future because every thing is going to change.

[Sithara007]

I won't mind Pandya in the team if he's fit to ball at least 10-12 a day when playing at SENA (tests) and 5-6 overs in ODI and 3-4 overs in T-20. The reason is he's our best slogger in country and fits perfectly at 6 or 7 number. I really hope that he get his fitness back.

Atm India is going with Ashwin at 7. Don't get me wrong i like Ashwin and consider him clever batter but he's no good for number 7 in any format. Lord Thakur and Ashwin good enough batter at number 8 or 9 regardless of format.

Think of middle lower-lower batting order. Pandya at 6, Jadeja at 7, Thakur at 8 and 3 pure seam option (SENA country) or  Spin (Ashwin) + 2 seam for 9,10,11.

Ashwin is too inconsistent to be considered as an allrounder. I wouldn't even consider Shardul as an allrounder. They are not up to a level, where they can be considered above genuine bowlers such as Bumrah, Shami and Ishant. IMO, Jadeja is the only genuine allrounder right now, and he is extremely underrated. Looking at the stats, I can see that Jadeja has performed at a level much higher than either Shardul or Ashwin (especially in SENA conditions). But I don't know why he's not in the team.

[JSRAW]

Gill honestly I don't like that much, he has been given too many chances now, and he is not at all consistent. Vihari and shreyas I think are better options there are a lot of other options in the pool too.

Yes, Gill failed against England at last home season but i believe he's our best bet for the future along with Vihari, Shreyas. Yes there are other options but only for openers, not many banging a door for middle order. Shreyas and Gill are not finished product tho.

I won't mind Pandya in the team if he's fit to ball at least 10-12 a day when playing at SENA (tests) and 5-6 overs in ODI and 3-4 overs in T-20. The reason is he's our best slogger in country and fits perfectly at 6 or 7 number. I really hope that he get his fitness back.

Atm India is going with Ashwin at 7. Don't get me wrong i like Ashwin and consider him clever batter but he's no good for number 7 in any format. Lord Thakur and Ashwin good enough batter at number 8 or 9 regardless of format.

Think of middle lower-lower batting order. Pandya at 6, Jadeja at 7, Thakur at 8 and 3 pure seam option (SENA country) or  Spin (Ashwin) + 2 seam for 9,10,11.

Ashwin is too inconsistent to be considered as an allrounder. I wouldn't even consider Shardul as an allrounder. They are not up to a level, where they can be considered above genuine bowlers such as Bumrah, Shami and Ishant. IMO, Jadeja is the only genuine allrounder right now, and he is extremely underrated. Looking at the stats, I can see that Jadeja has performed at a level much higher than either Shardul or Ashwin (especially in SENA conditions). But I don't know why he's not in the team.

Ashwin has 5 test centuries (against WI and ENG), not many regular batters can brag about this 5 tons stats tbh. Everything depends on the conditions, if playing in subcontinent or Caribbean conditions then Ashwin is genuine all rounder and excellent choice for even number 7 but when playing at SENA then he's good batter for number 8. Having said that i would also opt for Jadeja because of his batting-fielding and more importantly i believe in horses for courses argument when selecting test teams.

Mortals shouldn't judge Lord Thakur  . Anyways i agree that he doesn't look genuine all rounder but bhai he's performing regularly with the bat and ball.

6ish match and Already got 3 50's (1 in Aus -Gabba- and 2 in Eng), averaging 22 with the bat at number 8 + 26 wickets. What else you want from your 4th bowling option?

[LittleBitFunny]

Indian cricket team is not having a good time right now. They have lost test series to underdogs i.e. SA and the credit for this goes to kohli and bcci administration. Players who are not performing must be dropped to play domestic cricket and regain form. There is no harm in giving kohli a break, since he is continuously not performing. In India it's a culture that senior players are mandatory part of team whether they perform or not.

Surely they have not good time because it's happen after SENA defeats but never mind because now Sri Lanka is coming and after them Australia is also having tour with this all many players will be back in good form at home and give some extraordinary performance because nothing is good then home.

It seems to be the same case everywhere that the senior players are almost never dropped from the team regardless of their performance.

We all know where someone becomes too desperate for tilted, they do try to play better but they often make the wrong decisions at the moment when it matters. So it's better to take a break instead of continuing with a tilted mentality. And in that process, a lot of your players will also get their chance to prove themselves.

Pujara and Rahane is also going to shine against Sri Lanka and with this performance they are going to have spot against Australia with someone already mention in above post these Senior Players having some good hold on things which are happening in team, so I am feeling there is no good chance for new emerging players for having spot in team but their dedication and love for sport can give them some better result in near future because every thing is going to change.

But there must be a communication gap between the board and the players and that's why these types of things happen. Maybe the board thinks that they are senior players and they will not take these things slightly if the board approach them about dropping them from the team, or maybe, the players think that if they go to the board and asks for a break, their spot might get taken and later they might have to wait for a rather long time to get in the team again.

[blatchcorn]

Surely they have not good time because it's happen after SENA defeats but never mind because now Sri Lanka is coming and after them Australia is also having tour with this all many players will be back in good form at home and give some extraordinary performance because nothing is good then home.

Pujara and Rahane is also going to shine against Sri Lanka and with this performance they are going to have spot against Australia with someone already mention in above post these Senior Players having some good hold on things which are happening in team, so I am feeling there is no good chance for new emerging players for having spot in team but their dedication and love for sport can give them some better result in near future because every thing is going to change.

This is worrying sign for Indian cricket that they are very easily defeated by SA team who was no way a match to Indian team. India defiantly will perform best at there soil since they have ideal conditions there. India really need some backup of there mandatory players like kohli,  Pujara and Rahane. If these players have backup then they will focus on there game which is not the case right now.

[pakhitheboss]

Surely they have not good time because it's happen after SENA defeats but never mind because now Sri Lanka is coming and after them Australia is also having tour with this all many players will be back in good form at home and give some extraordinary performance because nothing is good then home.

Pujara and Rahane is also going to shine against Sri Lanka and with this performance they are going to have spot against Australia with someone already mention in above post these Senior Players having some good hold on things which are happening in team, so I am feeling there is no good chance for new emerging players for having spot in team but their dedication and love for sport can give them some better result in near future because every thing is going to change.

This is worrying sign for Indian cricket that they are very easily defeated by SA team who was no way a match to Indian team. India defiantly will perform best at there soil since they have ideal conditions there. India really need some backup of there mandatory players like kohli,  Pujara and Rahane. If these players have backup then they will focus on there game which is not the case right now.

The Indian team is going through a very bad phase same result in a different format. I never expected them to lose so easily if they bat well then they will bowl bad and vice versa. 287 was not at all a bad score but the Indian bowlers were not able to take wickets. Malan and De Kock were at their best once again. They both are the reason why South Africa are now leading this series by 2-0.

[romero121]

Surely they have not good time because it's happen after SENA defeats but never mind because now Sri Lanka is coming and after them Australia is also having tour with this all many players will be back in good form at home and give some extraordinary performance because nothing is good then home.

Pujara and Rahane is also going to shine against Sri Lanka and with this performance they are going to have spot against Australia with someone already mention in above post these Senior Players having some good hold on things which are happening in team, so I am feeling there is no good chance for new emerging players for having spot in team but their dedication and love for sport can give them some better result in near future because every thing is going to change.

This is worrying sign for Indian cricket that they are very easily defeated by SA team who was no way a match to Indian team. India defiantly will perform best at there soil since they have ideal conditions there. India really need some backup of there mandatory players like kohli,  Pujara and Rahane. If these players have backup then they will focus on there game which is not the case right now.

The Indian team is going through a very bad phase same result in a different format. I never expected them to lose so easily if they bat well then they will bowl bad and vice versa. 287 was not at all a bad score but the Indian bowlers were not able to take wickets. Malan and De Kock were at their best once again. They both are the reason why South Africa are now leading this series by 2-0.

Yes, once again South African players getting back to form. India never thought it'd loss the series. Once after the first match India made themselves well prepared for the second ODI, but things happened same as that happened with the test series. India managed to score 287 runs, but South Africa scored the same with much confidence as every player are in a state of taking responsibility and fulfilling it.

[galambo]

The Indian team is going through a very bad phase same result in a different format. I never expected them to lose so easily if they bat well then they will bowl bad and vice versa. 287 was not at all a bad score but the Indian bowlers were not able to take wickets. Malan and De Kock were at their best once again. They both are the reason why South Africa are now leading this series by 2-0.

This thread is about test series so I will focus more on test then ODI. Indian start of test series was great they won the first match without there star batsman kohli but after that SA never allowed them to come back in series. The main issue is in Indian batting line up specially in the the top order. India is always best at home but they can't beat teams like SA at there home.

[laurenB7742]

Ashwin is too inconsistent to be considered as an allrounder. I wouldn't even consider Shardul as an allrounder. They are not up to a level, where they can be considered above genuine bowlers such as Bumrah, Shami and Ishant. IMO, Jadeja is the only genuine allrounder right now, and he is extremely underrated. Looking at the stats, I can see that Jadeja has performed at a level much higher than either Shardul or Ashwin (especially in SENA conditions). But I don't know why he's not in the team.

I also agree with this because Jadeja is a far better player than Ashwin and Shardul if we think about all-rounders. If you think only about bowling then the debate becomes more critical. But as an all-rounder, Jadeja is a far better option for India and really very underrated. And if we talk about Ashwin then I think yes maybe he has played some good innings in test cricket and his bowling is quite good but as an all-rounder he is overrated.

Ashwin has 5 test centuries (against WI and ENG), not many regular batters can brag about this 5 tons stats tbh. Everything depends on the conditions, if playing in subcontinent or Caribbean conditions then Ashwin is genuine all rounder and excellent choice for even number 7 but when playing at SENA then he's good batter for number 8. Having said that i would also opt for Jadeja because of his batting-fielding and more importantly i believe in horses for courses argument when selecting test teams.
Mortals shouldn't judge Lord Thakur  . Anyways i agree that he doesn't look genuine all rounder but bhai he's performing regularly with the bat and ball.
6ish match and Already got 3 50's (1 in Aus -Gabba- and 2 in Eng), averaging 22 with the bat at number 8 + 26 wickets. What else you want from your 4th bowling option?

I understand that statistics has a great role while selecting players but for me, stats are not everything because a player also needs to have the calmness to perform under pressure and in key moments. And I think ok I would prefer Jadeja to have my back in those moments instead of Ashwin or Shardul.

[TheGreatPython]

The Indian team is going through a very bad phase same result in a different format. I never expected them to lose so easily if they bat well then they will bowl bad and vice versa. 287 was not at all a bad score but the Indian bowlers were not able to take wickets. Malan and De Kock were at their best once again. They both are the reason why South Africa are now leading this series by 2-0.

This all started after upset defeat against Pakistan in t20 CWC and sadly timing was also not in favour of Indian cricket team and management so just because of this all we are feeling in this way otherwise check in England they were completely dominating against them and having 2 - 1 lead after four test matches.

In this Series all were expecting easy win for India as South Africa were facing some on and off field issues but shocking they settle all things very good and Indian squad still having many issues specially off field which are hurting team performance very badly now after tomorrow ODI management have some good time, so they need to do some long term changes for better future as now after Sri Lankan tour they are going to face Australia and then T20 CWC events which are very important for them.

[JSRAW]

Ashwin has 5 test centuries (against WI and ENG), not many regular batters can brag about this 5 tons stats tbh. Everything depends on the conditions, if playing in subcontinent or Caribbean conditions then Ashwin is genuine all rounder and excellent choice for even number 7 but when playing at SENA then he's good batter for number 8. Having said that i would also opt for Jadeja because of his batting-fielding and more importantly i believe in horses for courses argument when selecting test teams.
Mortals shouldn't judge Lord Thakur  . Anyways i agree that he doesn't look genuine all rounder but bhai he's performing regularly with the bat and ball.
6ish match and Already got 3 50's (1 in Aus -Gabba- and 2 in Eng), averaging 22 with the bat at number 8 + 26 wickets. What else you want from your 4th bowling option?

I understand that statistics has a great role while selecting players but for me, stats are not everything because a player also needs to have the calmness to perform under pressure and in key moments. And I think ok I would prefer Jadeja to have my back in those moments instead of Ashwin or Shardul.

Yes i will also prefer Jadeja over Ashwin but only when playing at South Africa, NZ or majority of green top pitches of England. Ashwin's record in Australia improved in last 2 tour tho so its open for debate. Stats do matters because Jadeja and Ashwin are playing for a long time of period and both of em are great spin allrounder and been on top ICC rank since 2014-15 along with Shakib. No spin all rounder comes close to this trio by country mile.

Shardul is seam allrounder so his comparison with Jaddu is not fair. India need 2-3 more shardul type of seam allrounder when playing at SENA country, in subcontinent we really don't need his services cause we already have 2 best allrounder Jaddu, Ash and Axar- Washi duo is also there.

Like i said horses for courses.

[Sithara007]

I understand that statistics has a great role while selecting players but for me, stats are not everything because a player also needs to have the calmness to perform under pressure and in key moments. And I think ok I would prefer Jadeja to have my back in those moments instead of Ashwin or Shardul.

I agree with this. Statistics can be deceiving. If we go solely by stats, then Shardul and Ashwin may look far better options when compared to Jadeja. But from what I can recall from all these years, Jadeja has performed under pressure, during crucial situations. Matches India won as a result of Jadeja may be far more than the number of the matches India won as a result of Shardul and Ashwin. And in the end it should matter. What is the point in having personal milestones, when you can't guide your team to a win?

[JSRAW]

I understand that statistics has a great role while selecting players but for me, stats are not everything because a player also needs to have the calmness to perform under pressure and in key moments. And I think ok I would prefer Jadeja to have my back in those moments instead of Ashwin or Shardul.

I agree with this. Statistics can be deceiving. If we go solely by stats, then Shardul and Ashwin may look far better options when compared to Jadeja. But from what I can recall from all these years, Jadeja has performed under pressure, during crucial situations. Matches India won as a result of Jadeja may be far more than the number of the matches India won as a result of Shardul and Ashwin. And in the end it should matter. What is the point in having personal milestones, when you can't guide your team to a win?

Yes, stats do deceive sometimes. Which is why Jadeja is first choice spin allrounder in pace friendly countries, no benefit on denying this fact but at the same time it would be pretty ignorant to say that Jadeja is better match winner than Ashwin and also bizarre to compare Shardul with Jadeja. One is seam all rounder and later is spin all rounder, comparison doesn't make sense at all.

Btw this is all time Man of the series list.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283469.html

[laurenB7742]

Yes i will also prefer Jadeja over Ashwin but only when playing at South Africa, NZ or majority of green top pitches of England. Ashwin's record in Australia improved in last 2 tour tho so its open for debate. Stats do matters because Jadeja and Ashwin are playing for a long time of period and both of em are great spin allrounder and been on top ICC rank since 2014-15 along with Shakib. No spin all rounder comes close to this trio by country mile.

Shardul is seam allrounder so his comparison with Jaddu is not fair. India need 2-3 more shardul type of seam allrounder when playing at SENA country, in subcontinent we really don't need his services cause we already have 2 best allrounder Jaddu, Ash and Axar- Washi duo is also there.

Like i said horses for courses.

That is a really good argument but I think Jadeja can take wickets at the key moments of the match. And his crickets look more impactful to me. And his batting is also better. And even if we all say that they are both the same in batting and bowling, Ashwin and Jadeja,
Jadeja can be really electric in Fielding and save a lot of runs.

I understand that statistics has a great role while selecting players but for me, stats are not everything because a player also needs to have the calmness to perform under pressure and in key moments. And I think ok I would prefer Jadeja to have my back in those moments instead of Ashwin or Shardul.

I agree with this. Statistics can be deceiving. If we go solely by stats, then Shardul and Ashwin may look far better options when compared to Jadeja. But from what I can recall from all these years, Jadeja has performed under pressure, during crucial situations. Matches India won as a result of Jadeja may be far more than the number of the matches India won as a result of Shardul and Ashwin. And in the end it should matter. What is the point in having personal milestones, when you can't guide your team to a win?

That's exactly what I'm talking about because when the team is winning and the opponent team needs like 70 runs in 30 balls with 3 wickets left it's really easy for someone to take 2 out of those three remaining wickets.

But if the opponent needs 30 runs in 30 balls and have three wickets in hand that is the time when wicket-taking matters. And for me, I will always prefer Jadeja over Ashwin in those situations

Yes, stats do deceive sometimes. Which is why Jadeja is first choice spin allrounder in pace friendly countries, no benefit on denying this fact but at the same time it would be pretty ignorant to say that Jadeja is better match winner than Ashwin and also bizarre to compare Shardul with Jadeja. One is seam all rounder and later is spin all rounder, comparison doesn't make sense at all.

Btw this is all time Man of the series list.
snip image

I am not saying that stats are everything and I am not also saying that stats are nothing but my thinking is we should not always rely on stats to choose which player should play it which player is better.
And I am sure that in certain situations Jadeja will be better and Ashwin in others.

[galambo]

I agree with this. Statistics can be deceiving. If we go solely by stats, then Shardul and Ashwin may look far better options when compared to Jadeja. But from what I can recall from all these years, Jadeja has performed under pressure, during crucial situations. Matches India won as a result of Jadeja may be far more than the number of the matches India won as a result of Shardul and Ashwin. And in the end it should matter. What is the point in having personal milestones, when you can't guide your team to a win?

Shardul is very new to Indian side, so he can't be compared with Jadeja. Any player that plays for himself rather then team must be limited to leagues only, as there is no place for players in national team who don't care for the team. Overall its downtime for Indian team and they will have it for year or two.