India tour to Australia

[Djemba-Djemba]

Great , great win by India.

Australia are a mess right now but it's still difficult to beat them in Australia. Would be some achievement if Kohli can now finish the job.

 

[KM]

Best pace bowlers right now.

Rabada, Anderson, Bumrah and Abbas. Cummins also up there.

 

[zing]

Am I the only one who finds Cummins a boring bowler? Find him too attritional. I love bowlers like Hazlewood and Abbas who keep plugging away on good length, but I don't find Cummins natural length interesting to watch.

 

[Xaviesta]

Well congrats to India for retaining the Border Gavaskar trophy and probably winning a series here for the 1st time. They've been better for longer with bat, ball and in the field.

Cricket Australia's decision to ban Steve Smith and Dave Warner for as long as they did helped India but they can only beat the team they're up against. No Australian batsman has scored a century thus far in this series.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricke...e/news-story/c0f90d03036e3333dd99b4ec9316008b

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Wonderful stuff from India. You can quibble about the top standard of test cricket now (and the importance of the toss) but I think for the first time in quite a while there is a really good balance between bat and ball. Bumrah, Rabada, Cummins, Boult, Mohammad Abbas, Anderson etc vs. Kohli, Williamson, Root, Smith, Pujara etc, fun times. It's arguable that there now more top bowlers than batsmen, that might be a reflection of the types of pitches test cricket is increasingly played on.

Hope India take care with Bumrah, I personally would be inclined to play him in as few a home tests as I could get away with.

 

[kps88]

It's arguable that there now more top bowlers than batsmen, that might be a reflection of the types of pitches test cricket is increasingly played on.

There's a stat going around that 2018 had the lowest Test batting average since 1959.

 

[zing]

Wonderful stuff from India. You can quibble about the top standard of test cricket now (and the importance of the toss) but I think for the first time in quite a while there is a really good balance between bat and ball. Bumrah, Rabada, Cummins, Boult, Mohammad Abbas, Anderson etc vs. Kohli, Williamson, Root, Smith, Pujara etc, fun times. It's arguable that there now more top bowlers than batsmen, that might be a reflection of the types of pitches test cricket is increasingly played on.

Hope India take care with Bumrah, I personally would be inclined to play him in as few a home tests as I could get away with.

I would take a nuanced view of the toss. If batting fourth versus third put a team at a significant disadvantage due to the pitch, then it is worth a debate. Games like this one, where Australia's first innings no-show is due to a combination of great bowling, poor technique, scoreboard pressure aren't directly a fault of the toss. Batsmen will improve over time. I, for one, am happy to see away wins, and the fact that test cricket has honestly had a brilliant year all round with consistent result pitches.

 

[mariachi-19]

By what metric?

The guy has taken 424 wickets in 89 tests at an average of 22.19 and strike rate of 42.19. When fit, he takes wickets for fun. Save for injuries, there probably wouldnt be any dispute regarding him being the greatest fast bowler of all time. Absolute force of nature.

 

[TheGame]

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Haven't seen much of him but the Aussies on my twitter timeline are losing their shit at him being picked.

Is this the best Australia can come up with? I know Warner and Smith are out but seriously do they not have anyone else outside of the current squad?

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Best pace bowlers right now.

Rabada, Anderson, Bumrah and Abbas. Cummins also up there.

What about Shami? Deserves a shout, in my opinion.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Wonderful stuff from India. You can quibble about the top standard of test cricket now (and the importance of the toss) but I think for the first time in quite a while there is a really good balance between bat and ball. Bumrah, Rabada, Cummins, Boult, Mohammad Abbas, Anderson etc vs. Kohli, Williamson, Root, Smith, Pujara etc, fun times. It's arguable that there now more top bowlers than batsmen, that might be a reflection of the types of pitches test cricket is increasingly played on.

Hope India take care with Bumrah, I personally would be inclined to play him in as few a home tests as I could get away with.

I reckon India will stop playing him in T20s first. Limit him to ODIs and Tests.

 

[JezChan]

I agree with you on the racism point but will call you out on the other point.

My first cricket heroes were Kepler Wessels and Vivian Richards playing tests. We didn't have TV at that time but I used to hear Cricket commentary on AIR. But the first full tournament I remember was the 87 Reliance world cup and as a 7 year old boy, Steven 'Iceman' Waugh became my true sporting hero. Although I'm Indian, I loved the West Indies team and I've always followed them but I would always look up the Waugh twins. I was well caught up in the 'we play hard and we sledge hard' narrative till that McGrath/Sarwan incident. I just couldn't understand how either Glenn McGrath or Steve Waugh didn't have the vaguest idea that they were in the wrong and somehow comments about McGrath's wife became the bigger monster. Aussies always sledged hard and played hard as long as the other teams accepted that Aussies played hard. If the other teams gave them back as good as they got, it was always ended up with Aussies whining about the spriti of the game.

I'm not even going into the cheating bit. I find it mighty convenient that ball tampering was limited to David Warner, Bancroft and Steven Smith alone but it's laughable that you still take some sort of higher ground on it by comparing it to Du Plessis and Afridi. I think Aussies are massive hypocrites. Whether that makes you shitholes is entirely up to you. If you judge based on the moral code and all that bullshit by Waugh in the 2000's, I'd say it makes the Aussie cricket legacy a massive shitholes.

Appreciate this post - I only started following cricket closely in 2009 (I know, well into the downturn of Australian cricket), missing the peak of what you were describing. I see this bullying that Australian cricketers employ on the field, and I too hate it when:

a) different sets of standards are applied to different people
b) there are those who can't take the same kind of medicine that they dish out

Re: comparisons to Du Plessis/Afridi/any other case of ball-tampering - I think what I was more alluding to was the response by Cricket Australia in how the affair was handled. Cricket Australia deemed it necessary to ban Warner/Smith/Bancroft for a significant, unprecedented period of time. Other cricketers who had been caught ball-tampering received punishments which pale in comparison to what the Australian trio received. No other national cricket board has yet seen fit to take such drastic action against ball tampering.

Whether this is viewed as Australian cricket peddling a continued narrative of (misaligned?) moral superiority or a genuine attempt at changing culture by demanding integrity is up to the individual. As usual in reality, the truth would probably lie somewhere in between.

P.S. thanks for keeping me accountable to how I view Australian cricket!

 

[JezChan]

Yeah but my point is the toss wouldn't have mattered because both captains got what they wanted and even if Australia had won the toss they would have bowled. So the argument that the toss played a big part in the outcome of the game not valid here.
The Australians misread the pitch just like the Indians did in the second test.

Having been at the MCG on Day 1, I would have to agree. There was a very convincing green covering on the pitch that would have made it look very enticing to bowl. Reading the pitch is a skill that is part and parcel of Test cricket...

I would take a nuanced view of the toss. If batting fourth versus third put a team at a significant disadvantage due to the pitch, then it is worth a debate. Games like this one, where Australia's first innings no-show is due to a combination of great bowling, poor technique, scoreboard pressure aren't directly a fault of the toss. Batsmen will improve over time. I, for one, am happy to see away wins, and the fact that test cricket has honestly had a brilliant year all round with consistent result pitches.

... combined with this point, that's what makes the journey of Test cricket so fascinating. Life isn't always fair, when it rains it pours, and you don't always get what you want - but are you willing and able to give your best regardless of what life throws at you? Long live Test cricket.

 

[MDFC Manager]

The guy has taken 424 wickets in 89 tests at an average of 22.19 and strike rate of 42.19. When fit, he takes wickets for fun. Save for injuries, there probably wouldnt be any dispute regarding him being the greatest fast bowler of all time. Absolute force of nature.

I agree that he's in contention when talking of GOAT fast bowlers. However he isn't the best currently, let alone the best by a country mile as you claim.

 

[fishfingers15]

Appreciate this post - I only started following cricket closely in 2009 (I know, well into the downturn of Australian cricket), missing the peak of what you were describing. I see this bullying that Australian cricketers employ on the field, and I too hate it when:

a) different sets of standards are applied to different people
b) there are those who can't take the same kind of medicine that they dish out

Re: comparisons to Du Plessis/Afridi/any other case of ball-tampering - I think what I was more alluding to was the response by Cricket Australia in how the affair was handled. Cricket Australia deemed it necessary to ban Warner/Smith/Bancroft for a significant, unprecedented period of time. Other cricketers who had been caught ball-tampering received punishments which pale in comparison to what the Australian trio received. No other national cricket board has yet seen fit to take such drastic action against ball tampering.

Whether this is viewed as Australian cricket peddling a continued narrative of (misaligned?) moral superiority or a genuine attempt at changing culture by demanding integrity is up to the individual. As usual in reality, the truth would probably lie somewhere in between.

P.S. thanks for keeping me accountable to how I view Australian cricket!

I'm just expressing my views. Its probably not right as I'm known to be an idiot.

 

[berbatrick]

The guy has taken 424 wickets in 89 tests at an average of 22.19 and strike rate of 42.19. When fit, he takes wickets for fun. Save for injuries, there probably wouldnt be any dispute regarding him being the greatest fast bowler of all time. Absolute force of nature.

Was looking at the stats and noticed McGrath had a better average (21.5) - but a much worse strike rate (51). I guess that's testament to both Steyn's amazing wicket-taking and Mcgrath's economy.

Rabada though: 21.5, 39

 

[Cooksen]

Is this the best Australia can come up with? I know Warner and Smith are out but seriously do they not have anyone else outside of the current squad?

Renshaw, joe burns, Maxwell could be some names considered.

But the slecetors and Langer will play favorites.

 

[hasanejaz88]

Best pace bowlers right now.

Rabada, Anderson, Bumrah and Abbas. Cummins also up there.

Aamir has to be there IMO. I feel bad for him that the stats don't back it but that's because the opposition is scared of him and play him very tentatively at the start of the innings, his economy rate is very low almost all times because batsman simply don't try to hit him and risk wickets.

Abbas faced a similar problem in his last test against New Zealand where we went 3 innings without a wicket but his rpo was less than 2 because the new Zealand batsman targeted the other bowlers.

Abbas and Amir together are fantastic because the opposition can't target either one.

Love Bumrah. Him and Bhuvi Kumar, thought they were world class potential when I saw him first.

 

[KM]

Aamir has to be there IMO. I feel bad for him that the stats don't back it but that's because the opposition is scared of him and play him very tentatively at the start of the innings, his economy rate is very low almost all times because batsman simply don't try to hit him and risk wickets.

Abbas faced a similar problem in his last test against New Zealand where we went 3 innings without a wicket but his rpo was less than 2 because the new Zealand batsman targeted the other bowlers.

Abbas and Amir together are fantastic because the opposition can't target either one.

Love Bumrah. Him and Bhuvi Kumar, thought they were world class potential when I saw him first.

Nope sorry I don't think Amir is near the top bowlers for me right now.

 

[KM]

Rohit Sharma out of the 4th test, flying back to Mumbai due to the fact that he's become a father. Congrats to him.

So what's gonna be our team?

 

[zing]

Rohit Sharma out of the 4th test, flying back to Mumbai due to the fact that he's become a father. Congrats to him.

So what's gonna be our team?

We will pick Pandya at seven, two spinners. It'll be a fast wicket where we lament team selection and 2-2.

 

[KM]

We will pick Pandya at seven, two spinners. It'll be a fast wicket where we lament team selection and 2-2.

Would like to see Kuldeep play if the pitch is spinning. Won't be the case but still. Loads of Aussie lefties so he'll be a handful.

 

[crappycraperson]

We will pick Pandya at seven, two spinners. It'll be a fast wicket where we lament team selection and 2-2.

Defo this. Pandya for Rohit and Ashwin for Shami.

 

[fishfingers15]

Nope sorry I don't think Amir is near the top bowlers for me right now.

But the guy is a super bowler though. Shame about his match fixing malarkey but what a bowler

 

[zing]

Defo this. Pandya for Rohit and Ashwin for Shami.

It'll work if it's a spin friendly wicket.

I would drop Ishant if this is the strategy though. And keep Shami - better wicket taking option based on performances this series.

Pandya has his fans as an all-rounder but I think he is a second rate test batsman, and like Rahul, would benefit from playing Ranji and some A team tours.

It's a shame BCCI scrapped test matches in NZ. Would have been great to see India play there. NZ are on top of their game as well

 

[hasanejaz88]

Nope sorry I don't think Amir is near the top bowlers for me right now.

I know most people won't agree. He bowled really well against South Africa so hopefully he'll start getting some wickets and gain in reputation.

 

[MJJ]

Aamir has to be there IMO. I feel bad for him that the stats don't back it but that's because the opposition is scared of him and play him very tentatively at the start of the innings, his economy rate is very low almost all times because batsman simply don't try to hit him and risk wickets.

Abbas faced a similar problem in his last test against New Zealand where we went 3 innings without a wicket but his rpo was less than 2 because the new Zealand batsman targeted the other bowlers.

Abbas and Amir together are fantastic because the opposition can't target either one.

Love Bumrah. Him and Bhuvi Kumar, thought they were world class potential when I saw him first.

Don't think aamir belongs there as of yet , he has become a bowler who bowls great spells occasionally rather than being one who is consistently at a high level.

 

[KM]

Cool that's sorted now. So I'm gonna delete the posts and make this about the series.

 

[hasanejaz88]

Don't think aamir belongs there as of yet , he has become a bowler who bowls great spells occasionally rather than being one who is consistently at a high level.

That's true.

*not trying to troll any Indians here* That opening spell in the Champions Trophy final really should go down as one of the best spells of ODI bowling ever, really underrated. To take out India's top 3 batsman, 3 of the best batsman in the tournament till the final, was incredible; add in the fact he had Kohli dropped one delivery but still got him out the next.

 

[MJJ]

That's true.

*not trying to troll any Indians here* That opening spell in the Champions Trophy final really should go down as one of the best spells of ODI bowling ever, really underrated. To take out India's top 3 batsman, 3 of the best batsman in the tournament till the final, was incredible; add in the fact he had Kohli dropped one delivery but still got him out the next.

Yeah that was the aamir I remembered from his youth, such a great game. But I think he has also been unlucky in the sense that he requires movement from the pitch or the right conditions more than other bowlers which he doesn't get in UAE and all those dropped catches at the start must have had an impact on his confidence.

I seriously thought we had lost the game then, giving kohli two chances is always fatal.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

That's true.

*not trying to troll any Indians here* That opening spell in the Champions Trophy final really should go down as one of the best spells of ODI bowling ever, really underrated. To take out India's top 3 batsman, 3 of the best batsman in the tournament till the final, was incredible; add in the fact he had Kohli dropped one delivery but still got him out the next.

Can't deny that spell - it was game changing on a flat wicket. However, Amir has actually been below par since he came back from the ban - certainly not heading in the direction he looked to be back in 2010. Averaging 32 since his return is... average.

I wouldn't have him in the top 10 pacers at the moment. The test rankings have him sitting in a lowly position of 34th which probably isn't too far off the mark - I think the 25th best fast bowler.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

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[The Taurean]

 

[KM]

We will pick Pandya at seven, two spinners. It'll be a fast wicket where we lament team selection and 2-2.

Well Pandya isn't picked in the XIII for the match, so he isn't playing. Also no Ishant Sharma as he's injured.

Looks to be Rahul in for Rohit and Vihari back to middle order.

 

[iKnowNothing]

India's 13-man squad for SCG Test:

Virat Kohli (C), A Rahane (VC), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, C Pujara, H Vihari, R Pant, R Jadeja, K Yadav, R Ashwin, M Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

With Ishant, Rohit and Ashwin not making it for this test, I would have loved to see Pandya and Kuldeep given an opportunity for Ishant and Rohit.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

If Umesh plays, we'll lose. Why we wouldn't play Bhuvi is beyond me.

 

[freeurmind]

Do the selectors have something against Kumar?

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Do the selectors have something against Kumar?

Slept with Moyes' daughter.

 

[Xaviesta]

Word is that Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh will be dropped with Peter Handscomb and Marnus Labuschagne coming into the Aussie team. As Finch seems set to be dropped, there'll be a reshuffle of sorts at the top of the order.

 

[zing]

Slept with Moyes' daughter.