Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Haunebu]

Wtc points table

-Aussie started quite well and no surprises here because of opponent.
 
-SL could've been in better position if not for one draw. In a long run, they won't top the chart by drawing at home.

-England did satisfactory job so far, although pundits predicted easy run for them against India but so far first 3 tests were tough and they are lucky to be at 2-1.

-India need to pull their socks up.

Australia actually struggled in the batting department though their bowling department was exceptional in that series. They would have lost the series if their opponent was a stronger team with a great batting lineup.

Sri Lanka could have done better for sure while England are definitely struggling at home. They probably would have lost the 3rd test if it wasn't for Archer's inclusion in the lineup.

[Sithara007]

It feels awkward only because somehow this indian team manages to put up solid fight throughout first 3 test matches and won more sessions.

But before no pundit gave them a chance, which looked reseanable because it's a team which is going through transition period and lot of new guys in the team.

One would hope that they would be alright at home, you never know. After all, no one expected Kiwis to beat them .

To tell the truth, some of the players performed much above what was expected from them. Shubman Gill was unbelievable so far. He has scored a total of 607 runs, at an average of more than 100. Rishabh Pant also provided good support to him. Also I need to mention KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Bowling was the weak point for India. As always, they are overdependent on Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Siraj is taking wickets, but at the same time he is leaking too many runs. Akash Deep showed promise, but again the same issue as in the case with Siraj.

[JSRAW]

Wtc points table

-Aussie started quite well and no surprises here because of opponent.
 
-SL could've been in better position if not for one draw. In a long run, they won't top the chart by drawing at home.

-England did satisfactory job so far, although pundits predicted easy run for them against India but so far first 3 tests were tough and they are lucky to be at 2-1.

-India need to pull their socks up.

Australia actually struggled in the batting department though their bowling department was exceptional in that series. They would have lost the series if their opponent was a stronger team with a great batting lineup.

Sri Lanka could have done better for sure while England are definitely struggling at home. They probably would have lost the 3rd test if it wasn't for Archer's inclusion in the lineup.

Bowling track and some might term it as lottery deck. Aussie batters did show more resistance in comparison to their counterparts, hence the whitewash. Bowlers from both sides had a field day throughout the series.

From India's pov, Lots of ifs and buts in the 1st and 3rd match but scoreline still reads 2-1 and unfortunately that's what matters.

It feels awkward only because somehow this indian team manages to put up solid fight throughout first 3 test matches and won more sessions.

But before no pundit gave them a chance, which looked reseanable because it's a team which is going through transition period and lot of new guys in the team.

One would hope that they would be alright at home, you never know. After all, no one expected Kiwis to beat them .

To tell the truth, some of the players performed much above what was expected from them. Shubman Gill was unbelievable so far. He has scored a total of 607 runs, at an average of more than 100. Rishabh Pant also provided good support to him. Also I need to mention KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Bowling was the weak point for India. As always, they are overdependent on Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Siraj is taking wickets, but at the same time he is leaking too many runs. Akash Deep showed promise, but again the same issue as in the case with Siraj.

On batting i agree but i would argue that even bowling did more than enough in absence of Bumrah, newbies won 2nd match and picked up 20 wickets.

[Sithara007]

On batting i agree but i would argue that even bowling did more than enough in absence of Bumrah, newbies won 2nd match and picked up 20 wickets.

Even in the second match, England was able to score 400 plus in the first innings and close to 300 in the second. India won the match only because of the 269 from Shubman Gill (none of the other batsmen got to a hundred, with Ravindra Jadeja making 89). Siraj picked up 6 wickets in the first innings, but that was after the bowlers allowed England to recover from 84/5 to 387/5. During the second innings from England, again no.9 batsman Brydon Carse was able to score runs quite easily.

[UmerIdrees]

It feels awkward only because somehow this indian team manages to put up solid fight throughout first 3 test matches and won more sessions.

If test matches were decided on how many sessions each team has won, then for sure India would have won all three test matches but unfortunately, it is not like that.

Analysing only the two tests where the Indian team lost their way, it was their batting in the 2nd innings that let them down. In the first test, they made 364 runs in the 2nd innings and in the last test, they made only 170 runs in the 2nd innings again and lost the match. No matter how bad the wicket was, 192 should have been chased by the Indian team, they had some big names in the team but they collapsed badly.

[Sithara007]

If test matches were decided on how many sessions each team has won, then for sure India would have won all three test matches but unfortunately, it is not like that.

Analysing only the two tests where the Indian team lost their way, it was their batting in the 2nd innings that let them down. In the first test, they made 364 runs in the 2nd innings and in the last test, they made only 170 runs in the 2nd innings again and lost the match. No matter how bad the wicket was, 192 should have been chased by the Indian team, they had some big names in the team but they collapsed badly.

I agree. 192 was chasable. After all the hard work in the first innings by KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, it was a massive let down to get bundled out for 170 in the second innings. England didn't even had a quality spinner. Shoaib Bashir is miles away from achieving the sort of reputation that Jack Leach once held. So for England it was left to the pace-bowling quadrant of Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse to get the crucial wickets. 

[JSRAW]

On batting i agree but i would argue that even bowling did more than enough in absence of Bumrah, newbies won 2nd match and picked up 20 wickets.

Even in the second match, England was able to score 400 plus in the first innings and close to 300 in the second. India won the match only because of the 269 from Shubman Gill (none of the other batsmen got to a hundred, with Ravindra Jadeja making 89). Siraj picked up 6 wickets in the first innings, but that was after the bowlers allowed England to recover from 84/5 to 387/5. During the second innings from England, again no.9 batsman Brydon Carse was able to score runs quite easily.

You have to take 20 wickets if you want to win a match, batters clicked and set the match but still bowlers had to bowl 100-ish overs on 5th, that too on a flat deck. On such deck it's a thankless job because batters gets all the credit for scoring truckload of runs.

If England had brain then they could have dig out and walk over with a draw so bowlers do deserve credit.

[Haunebu]

.
If England had brain then they could have dig out and walk over with a draw so bowlers do deserve credit.

This just goes to show how well Bumrah and Siraj played under pressure while aiding Jadeja to the best of their ability and that is a tall ask. India are lacking a player like Pujara who can stabilise such situations.

Felt great to see Stokes back in form in literally every department though after a while. Loved the video he and Rahul did together recently.

https://youtu.be/onXn0YUmeWQ?si=Z069PeiZms9TWgNi

[JSRAW]

^^ I was pointing at 2nd test, which Bumrah missed and not 1st-2nd test.

Bumrah is class act and already have god level numbers. Siraj is pure workhorse and hardly gets credit from the fans due to inconsistency but they forget that this guy never takes a break due to anything and always remain a fit despite his workload so management backs him for right reasons.

[ibuddy122505]

If test matches were decided on how many sessions each team has won, then for sure India would have won all three test matches but unfortunately, it is not like that.

Analysing only the two tests where the Indian team lost their way, it was their batting in the 2nd innings that let them down. In the first test, they made 364 runs in the 2nd innings and in the last test, they made only 170 runs in the 2nd innings again and lost the match. No matter how bad the wicket was, 192 should have been chased by the Indian team, they had some big names in the team but they collapsed badly.

I agree. 192 was chasable. After all the hard work in the first innings by KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, it was a massive let down to get bundled out for 170 in the second innings. England didn't even had a quality spinner. Shoaib Bashir is miles away from achieving the sort of reputation that Jack Leach once held. So for England it was left to the pace-bowling quadrant of Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse to get the crucial wickets. 

KL Rahul played quite well others should support him by scoring runs too. He alone can't score quickly and also protect his wicket at the same time. His batting has been sensible and he's been fairly consistent in his Test career so far.

India could have won if they had handled the key moments more better. In Test cricket, you have to step up during crucial times, not let things slip. India probably had one more session to play, but they lost those important moments and got bundled out for just 170! The team has all the skills, they just need to be a bit smarter. In certain conditions, it might help to restructure the batting order by promoting players who are more solid and less flamboyant.

[MusaPk]

I agree. 192 was chasable. After all the hard work in the first innings by KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, it was a massive let down to get bundled out for 170 in the second innings. England didn't even had a quality spinner. Shoaib Bashir is miles away from achieving the sort of reputation that Jack Leach once held. So for England it was left to the pace-bowling quadrant of Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse to get the crucial wickets. 

Jack Leach is a good spinner but I don't know why he is not given much chances in test cricket since 2023. He is 34 years and still has time to play test cricket for England. Shoaib Bashir stats are also good but if he permanently want to be part of English team then he has to further  improve his stats.

Third test match was very much in favour of India after English team gave a small target of 192 runs but English bowlers did well to win the game. Ravindra Jadeja tried his best but couldn't win the game just because luck favours England towards the end of game. 

[doomloop]

192 was chasable. After all the hard work in the first innings by KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, it was a massive let down to get bundled out for 170 in the second innings. England didn't even had a quality spinner. Shoaib Bashir is miles away from achieving the sort of reputation that Jack Leach once held. So for England it was left to the pace-bowling quadrant of Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse to get the crucial wickets. 

England scored 387 in first inning India also done same score even on one point India had chance of taking lead but Rishabh Pant run-out was turning point into this game because Rahul and Pant was doing good for fourth wicket partnership and things were completely favourable for India for minimum 500 runs.

In second inning, England were badly down due to slowness of pitch and quality bowling from India but here need to check one thing if England failed on fourth day of match on slow pitch then surely it's never been easy for India to chase this target even their best sides were never able to have chase in last 50 years their best chase was 171 and Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse done good job which was the main trigger  for India's lose.

[JSRAW]

Management seems to be clueless. They had India A tours in England and end up sending all top performing players to India but kept Harshit in the mix and after some outrage they sent him back after 1st test, saying that his stay was related to fitness, don't know what does it mean?

Now they are bringing back Anshul khamboj as backup, he was one of the top performer against England Lions. guess he will be back up bowler for Bumrah in last test?

[noormcs5]

Lol I was disappointed with the performance of West Indies. I didn't think a team like West Indies would be all out for 27 runs in a Test match. Australia scored 225 runs in the 1st innings and 121 runs in the 2nd innings. On the other hand, West Indies were bowled out for 143 in the 1st innings and West Indies were bowled out for 27 in the 2nd innings which was a shame. Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland bowled brilliantly, which surprised everyone. Scott Boland scored a hat-trick which is very commendable. West Indies batted very badly in this Test series, but the bowling line was good. Congratulations to Australia, Australia won 3-0.

Never understood how a team can be all out at only 27 runs in a test match innings. Even a club-level team can play better than this West Indies national team. I watched the scorecard many times just to see how is it even possible. The seven batsmen were out on a duck, unbelievable. Only one player Justin Greaves moved into double figures and made 11. The extras were 6 which is the 2nd highest score for West Indies.

Before this, New Zealand made 25 runs in a test innings against England but that was way back in 1955. That record is still intact by the way.

[General_Bitcoin]

Management seems to be clueless. They had India A tours in England and end up sending all top performing players to India but kept Harshit in the mix and after some outrage they sent him back after 1st test, saying that his stay was related to fitness, don't know what does it mean?

Now they are bringing back Anshul khamboj as backup, he was one of the top performer against England Lions. guess he will be back up bowler for Bumrah in last test?

India having huge players pool in all formats but still doing blunders like these surely mismanagement or something else its never been clear if they want to have some less workload on Bumrah then surely they needed to work on this and clear all things.
Already have few quality bowlers those can do things and win in second test is also given some relief to them about this confusion and then having players on and off clearly indicating all is not going with good strategy something happening behind the scenes which are going to be clear after end of this tour.

[Haunebu]

Never understood how a team can be all out at only 27 runs in a test match innings. Even a club-level team can play better than this West Indies national team. I watched the scorecard many times just to see how is it even possible. The seven batsmen were out on a duck, unbelievable. Only one player Justin Greaves moved into double figures and made 11. The extras were 6 which is the 2nd highest score for West Indies.

Before this, New Zealand made 25 runs in a test innings against England but that was way back in 1955. That record is still intact by the way.

The answer is Starc and shitty West Indian batting lineup. Name one batsman among them who is actually popular in modern day cricket. None because their popular players prefer spending their time and effort on more lucrative leagues.

The only good thing about that West Indian team is their excellent bowling lineup. Both Alzarri and Shamar are an epic combo together if you ask me.

[JSRAW]

Management seems to be clueless. They had India A tours in England and end up sending all top performing players to India but kept Harshit in the mix and after some outrage they sent him back after 1st test, saying that his stay was related to fitness, don't know what does it mean?

Now they are bringing back Anshul khamboj as backup, he was one of the top performer against England Lions. guess he will be back up bowler for Bumrah in last test?

India having huge players pool in all formats but still doing blunders like these surely mismanagement or something else its never been clear if they want to have some less workload on Bumrah then surely they needed to work on this and clear all things.
Already have few quality bowlers those can do things and win in second test is also given some relief to them about this confusion and then having players on and off clearly indicating all is not going with good strategy something happening behind the scenes which are going to be clear after end of this tour.

With series on the line, don't think they will consider resting Bumrah but you never know how his body reacting.  Would be bummer if the next match seals the series. Blockbuster if it's 2-2.

Maybe they are considering rotating other seamers ( Siraj or akash).

[Compromise me]

India having huge players pool in all formats but still doing blunders like these surely mismanagement or something else its never been clear if they want to have some less workload on Bumrah then surely they needed to work on this and clear all things.
Already have few quality bowlers those can do things and win in second test is also given some relief to them about this confusion and then having players on and off clearly indicating all is not going with good strategy something happening behind the scenes which are going to be clear after end of this tour.

England International test cricket team is playing the test matches in their home ground and that is the reason they are doing well in all matches. England International cricket team played well in the the test which they lose but Indian International cricket team played well in the second test . Third test was also exciting but all fans were thinking that target is very low but Indian batters could not do well against bowlers of  England cricket team. England team won the match due to great effort of bowlers.Ravindra Jadeja was very disappointed because he gave hundred percent in this match and he was top scorer of this match but unluckily Mohammed Siraj was out at 170 runs and Indian team lost the match.

[Crypto Library]

England International test cricket team is playing the test matches in their home ground and that is the reason they are doing well in all matches. England International cricket team played well in the the test which they lose but Indian International cricket team played well in the second test . Third test was also exciting but all fans were thinking that target is very low but Indian batters could not do well against bowlers of  England cricket team. England team won the match due to great effort of bowlers.Ravindra Jadeja was very disappointed because he gave hundred percent in this match and he was top scorer of this match but unluckily Mohammed Siraj was out at 170 runs and Indian team lost the match.

It is true that the home team always gets an extra bit of advantage from their ground, but I think England is under a bit of pressure in this series because they have had to play dragons in almost every match, even though they have won with close performances.
I have seen the Indian team a little stronger in this series in terms of performance, but although the England team is a little comfortable right now, it will be clear after the next match which team will have the last laugh. But I think the Indian team will take the next match very seriously and will try their best to win. Because tomorrow will decide the future of India's series.

[General_Bitcoin]

Management seems to be clueless. They had India A tours in England and end up sending all top performing players to India but kept Harshit in the mix and after some outrage they sent him back after 1st test, saying that his stay was related to fitness, don't know what does it mean?

Now they are bringing back Anshul khamboj as backup, he was one of the top performer against England Lions. guess he will be back up bowler for Bumrah in last test?

India having huge players pool in all formats but still doing blunders like these surely mismanagement or something else its never been clear if they want to have some less workload on Bumrah then surely they needed to work on this and clear all things.
Already have few quality bowlers those can do things and win in second test is also given some relief to them about this confusion and then having players on and off clearly indicating all is not going with good strategy something happening behind the scenes which are going to be clear after end of this tour.

With series on the line, don't think they will consider resting Bumrah but you never know how his body reacting.  Would be bummer if the next match seals the series. Blockbuster if it's 2-2.

Maybe they are considering rotating other seamers ( Siraj or akash).

Just few days left in start of fourth test match at Manchester while England is picking their momentum for another win and problems for Indian team are increased their two bowlers are injured now they are looking for Anshul khamboj.

What could be their next strategy for this coming test match it's going to be interesting because they needed something extraordinary otherwise I am having expectations now England is heading for 3–1.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/trouble-mounts-for-team-india-as-akash-deep-arshdeep-injured-ahead-of-fourth-test-anshul-kamboj-added-to-squad/ar-AA1IWrhh?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4ae3541c412e4bb5ac9004c2a2a8f5ff&ei=25