I said 2 years back that Rishabh pant is the biggest talent India has had since Virat Kohli but the way he has been handled in limited overs cricket is appalling. He will now sit at home while Dhoni loses India the WC
India tour to Australia
- Thread starter KM
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Even when we score 600, Kohli's captaincy looks iffy. There was no reason to declare today. :/
Dhonis 4 year retirement tour is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in sport. He should've been done after 2015.
Amazing how you never turn up when he's hitting 20s and 30s, and poking all round when the ball is doing a bit. So far, two centuries in two dead rubber situations. Plays like a decent number 7 while you were going on about him being world class top order batsman. But you wouldn't know any of that because you never actually watch matches and turn up when the scorecard allows you to troll like a simpleton.Who was the clown here who thought Pant would never be good in tests?
329-5 was not a dead rubber situation by any means
You expect him to score 50s and 100s every innings or what?
You need to lighten up a bit, will also help you cut down making stuff up to score points in an effing online argument. You made a bold outlandish call as you do time and again, which smells of attention seeking to me but whatever, so take it easy when it inevitably is contradicted by actual evidence.
Actual evidence is watching the matches. He is at the moment a decent number 7, which is commensurate to what I was saying. Do watch the matches, instead of checking scorecards for cheap internet trolling.
Very, very harsh assessment.
Two times he was dismissed when he was with the tail, two times he was dismissed whilst playing shots for the declaration. Even today when he came in, it was 329/5, it wasn't a dead rubber considering our tails contribution in this series.
Whilst the post you quoted was dickish but you're being harsh on Pant.
I think he's playing well. There are kinks - he has not got a robust game plan or the technique. Whenever the game was simmering in England or here, his leaving or stroke making on the fourth/fifth stump kept getting him out in the most important matches. This has to be tightened up, but what he does have is an incredible range of shots and a natural ability to read length. Even within the string of low scores he makes, there were some low 30s where this ability came through and I'd say some of those knocks demonstrate the value he brings.
The 100s however, aren't evidence of the quality of the batsman he is. He has a great base to improve from. Likes of Agarwal, Pujara, Vihari(barring occasional short ball blips) have a more rounded game simply because their style required them to develop that kind of game. Pant has to develop that because it's needed in test cricket - cannot become a top order batsman without that.
I'm happy he's coming out at 7 because he moves the game along, and I think he will improve, and is here to stay. If he becomes a longer term number 4 or 5, that will be incredible. My expectation is that he will become better at making the 30 average into mid 40s in the more technical games.
But to use these two 100s to come in here and laugh is silly.
The first Indian keeper to score a 100 in England.
The first Indian keeper to score a 100 in Australia.
If you're not convinced now, you won't be later.
The first Indian keeper to score a 100 in Australia.
If you're not convinced now, you won't be later.
I don't think he'll ever become a top order batsman and neither does he need too. He's fine at number six or number seven for India depending on the balance. Its very rare of keeper batsman to bat in the top 5 anyway, I think only the Bangladesh/WI wicketkeeper does and that's because of the lack of quality around them.
You're right about criticising his dismissals in England but I think he's been very good in Australia. Even today he batted patiently with Pujara and then attacked them after Pujara was dismissed.
It's a joke that he isn't in T20 or ODI teams and Dhoni is btw,but that's another matter.
First two tests of this series were quite close I thought - it’s been the latter two matches where India have shown their class and battered Aus. On the bright side, with Smith and Warner returning soon, Harris looks a genuinely quality find and hopefully a mainstay in this team. Worrying times for Aus fans, though...
I think the last two tests could have been surprisingly different if Australia had won the toss. Test cricket is heavily in bias of toss winners.
That said, Smith and Warner will be welcome returnees to the team, not just with their bat not with their attitude (the non-cheating part).
Agree with you on both counts. With an Ashes approaching, it’s profoundly important that those two are reintegrated into the team.
On a different note, does anyone know how Sri Lanka are faring these days? I know New Zealand just beat them, and their ranking isn’t too flash... so Aus would expect to beat them rather comfortably, even taking into account their current woes, right?
Kuldeep is great to watch.
This Australian batting team is so poor its beyond pathetic and its not just ability but straight out decision making.
Ricky Ponting is just falling short of calling them a bunch of fecking idiots.
Ricky Ponting is just falling short of calling them a bunch of fecking idiots.
Not a single player from this lot has made a strong claim for being around Warner and Smith when they're back.
Harris, Khawaja retain their places but not a lot of conviction in their game.
Couldn’t disagree more re Harris. Unlike the rest of them, Harris has looked comfortable every single delivery he’s faced, with the obvious exception of the wicket-taking deliveries. Most Aussie batsmen have looked shaky from ball one, almost as though they could lose their wicket any delivery. Harris, in contrast, has made starts every single innings, and looked very good. Obviously he hasn’t made enough runs, but he’s gotten ‘in’ every innings, and played some beautiful strokes in the process. He rotates the strike well, he’s patient, and he punishes poor deliveries. Defends well too against pace and spin. The foundations seem to be in place for a genuinely good test opener. Surely you can see a lot of promise in his game?
Agree with you on Khawaja though. He’ll retain his spot, but more due to the lack of competition than anything else. He’s a very good player on his day, though.
I agree that he's looked fine. What I meant was there's not a clear third best player who has established themselves in the 12 months they've been out of the team. Probably phrased it poorly.
Khawaja is an automatic pick as well and did well in UAE, but has been underwhelming here this series.
This was a great opportunity to get couple of new players established but that didn't happen.
Yep, all fair points.
Risabh Pant is the second highest run scorer this series.
What I think has been clear in this series is that the Aussie quicks don't seem to have any plans when the wicket is not giving them aid or when the ball is old. Think that India have been fairly useful with the old ball in comparison but also are being helped by batting mistakes. Like the areas where Shami has bowled today even though you would say spin will continue to predominate India's plans for the rest of the match.
I was surprised to see that, too. I thought Kohli was second, but he's a good 70-odd runs below Pant.
Glad to see a youngster like him do well. Pity we couldn't see any Shaw in the series.
I think this match should seal the fate of Ashwin too. No need for him now that Jadeja and Kuldeep have played so well. Should be the third choice spinner.
Not sure of Kuldeep yet, but Jadeja definitely gets in ahead of Ashwin. Good batting, good bowling, terrific fielding.
Lovely interview with Pujara.
Kuldeep is terrific don't worry about him. He'll steamroll teams on Indian pitches.
What a position we find ourselves in. 2 days away from an historic series victory. It'd be incredible to win this match and the series 3-1.
I would still keep ash-jadeja option as the primary combo on any spinning track. You can't just discount what he has achieved. Kuldeep has proven nothing to take over ashwin's spot yet. Can't see management dropping their best spinner just because of couple of test.
Reminds me of those days when indian fans wanted yuvraj to replace laxman in test just because they wanted to see a new flavour in this side. In India I would play 3 spinners and in overseas my first choice would always be ash but if the pitch is a spinning one, will surely play two spinners, jadeja being the second one as I still believe ash-jadeja as a combo is too hot to handle.
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It also does not help when Starc is out of forn big time and Hazlewood has bowled the worng way all series.
Warne on aus coverage said that around 208 of the balls bowled by aus would go on to hit the stumps. Shocking bowling by aus.
Any idea why they're bowling so poorly? The commentators were suggesting that the bowlers are discouraged by the terrible batting displays but I feel like they are getting even simple things wrong like seam position.
Very true. All the talk is on the weak batting lineup but Aus have bowled poorly all series. Bumrah has set the standard - no Aussies have come close to reaching his level.
Especially when Indian batting hasn't been extraordinary either - even Perth I'd credit the win to poke Indian batting than good Australian bowling. Australia have been really poor in their bowling. Hazlewood has been especially disappointing, and I don't really rate Starc that high. Cummins and Lyon have carried them.
Bad light and rains saving Australians some blushes. By now, we could have easily picked up a few wickets into their second innings otherwise.
Our second choice wicketkeeper scoring a century, our third choice spinner picking five wickets and our fourth choice opener scoring loads of runs.
This Indian team is absolutely special. Need to replace Rahane too with Gill(who imo is the best batting talent in India right now) and we're set.
This Indian team is absolutely special. Need to replace Rahane too with Gill(who imo is the best batting talent in India right now) and we're set.
Special yes, but let’s be honest - that’s your best keeper batsman (this whole Dhoni thing is ridiculous), and a top two opener on this evidence. Fair point about Kuldeep though, as India have three world class spinners. It’s ridiculous depth, yes, but this current lot appears to be virtually your best XI.
Great to see that Shubman Gill had a good first class season. People will scold me for saying this but of all the youngsters coming through in India I reckon Gill has the best chance to reach Kohli's level. Definitely should get a look-in this year imo.
Mayank Aggarwal is in the team because Shaw is injured and Rahul/Vijay couldn't even score double digits. Before the series started, he wasn't anywhere close to being our opener.
Keeper batsman maybe but I think in terms of pure keeper Saha is still India’s best (though doesn’t have the banter that Pant does). He’s also a decent batsman especially at home. But yeah, Pant has done enough to seal his place at least for the foreseeable future
I know it's bad we went off for light, but I've had the TV on in the background for a couple of hours now.. I like seeing good test match analysis, but they've just ranted about light stopping play for a solid 60 minutes..