I understand that Test cricket has changed with teams looking to accumulate runs quickly but surely there is room for a Dravid or Bevan type of player for situations like today - someone who can eat up deliveries all long and guide the tail to safety. I think India need to move on from Rohit and Kohli immediately and use the Sidney Test to start the rebuild, they are now wasting Bumrah's prime.
Cricket
- Thread starter EdWeatherall
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Incredibly entertaining. Didn’t think after tea that an Aus win was possible. Pant’s dismissals in both innings look even worse with the benefit of hindsight…
Yep. Why go for a 6 when the best you can hope for is a draw?
I think he's just too fat and unfit to play much more than about 100 balls in an innings. And he'd reached that point
Bumrah took 71 wickets in 2024 at an average of 14.9 (iirc). Not been done before (wickets and/or average?)? Just caught the bit by the commentary team. Incredible he is. Unfortunately for him, a 1 man wrecking machine most of the times.
Saw Head bowling and his eyes lit up. Australia set him up for the trap and he fell for it.
Kohli is completely finished as a test player. He gets out the same way every single time.
Someone on reddit made a good point - he has to play those balls outside off stump because the only scoring shot he's ever had in his repertoire is the cover drive. He can't cut the ball, and his ultra stiff stance on leg stump means that he'll only ever score off his pads if the ball is well down leg side.
So he just can't resist playing outside off because he can't buy a run any other way, and bowlers just feast on him by bowling outside off.
Someone on reddit made a good point - he has to play those balls outside off stump because the only scoring shot he's ever had in his repertoire is the cover drive. He can't cut the ball, and his ultra stiff stance on leg stump means that he'll only ever score off his pads if the ball is well down leg side.
So he just can't resist playing outside off because he can't buy a run any other way, and bowlers just feast on him by bowling outside off.
This is a very good answer. I think a lot of criticism of Rishabh misses the success he’s produced.
Today, however, I think he made a huge mistake. Generally when he does nutty things, the win and the draw are on the table. Today the win was not there and he should’ve played risk averse cricket.
When Pant came in he got a lot of criticism for his shots & Kohli/Shastri did a poor job of protecting him. We have now gone to the other extreme where there is no accountability at all for his actions. Natural style is a farce and England batters get behind that rubbish a lot as well. I have seen ABD bat a full day just blocking so top batters should be able to adapt as per conditions
It's become a bit unusual as an England fan to see a team approach it like that these days - go down swinging lads 
2-1 certainly the correct series score, Aussies look vulnerable but always find enough at home. So tough to beat.
2-1 certainly the correct series score, Aussies look vulnerable but always find enough at home. So tough to beat.
The Aussies remain the undisputed best Test cricket team on the planet. They've been in complete control from Adelaide and that was not what I expected at all.
Rohit Sharma by the end of this series will have a sub 40 career batting average - which I actually think is reflective of his level as a test cricketer. Mostly poor with a purple patch.
Strange first sentence.
They'd get beat in India. Probably in England. Close in South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to.
Whilst our batters have been out of form, we've still 3 in the top 5 run scorers in this series. Our biggest issue is (obviously Rohit) the lack of a 3rd seamer. Akash and Rana are woeful.
Australia have a problem that needs to be addressed soon and that is poor succession planning.
Theres no obvious contender. Still probably India and Aus for the top 2 but we're declining. Great times for test cricket, so many good teams with no elite level.
He's finished but not for those reasons. Everyone thought he was found out when Anderson had his number in 2014 and he dominated England in 2018. Hes shown that hes capable of overcoming this issue in the past however, as with most players, hes in decline and I don't think he has the same hunger he did 10 years ago. Kohli, in tests, hasnt been the same since we snatched the captaincy from him.
Yep largely agree. Real opening in the next five years for a nation outside the 'big 3' to be number one.
It'll probably just be India though with the amount of players coming through.
Aussies could be in for a tough run after the next Ashes. But they often pull a few top players from nowhere.
Everybody (except NZ) gets beat in India. They beat everybody else anywhere.
I'd put my money on Sri Lanka beating Australia soon.
I think you're being overly critical of Australia. I think a series vs India in India is a toss up. We haven't won a series against them since 2015 in England and have lost 13 out of the last 15 in Australia (the other 2 being draws).
Some of the other nations are on the rise for sure, but I'd still back the Aussies when it came right down to it.
Harsh on Akash. He beat the bat so many times and bowled very well. Even one of Jaiswal's drops was off his bowling.
It's a fair criticism - Australia's batting lineup is suspect. There have been a good number of batting collapses - both top and middle order - over the past years.
The opening situation is still unsettled with Khawaja recently turning 38 and not in terrific form, and no set partner for him. Labuschagne at 3 hasn't been in good touch (only 1 century since December 2022).
As for the middle order, Smith hasn't been quite his old, all-conquering self. Head has been a sole bright spot in an underperforming batting lineup for the past 2 years, and the less said about Marsh the better - he surely must be dropped for Sydney (and is frankly only in the team because there isn't anyone better to replace the injured Cameron Green who won't be back until after June's WTC final, if Australia qualify).
Our bowling stocks as usual seem fine, but whoever comes in next will have the burden of following up a generational attack that is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Not sure how much more Starc and Hazlewood have in the tank, but I would hope that Cummins could stick around for a 1-2 years after them to help blood in the next crop.
As @Di Maria's angel said, there's no team at an absolutely elite level - on their day, any team can beat any other, Australia included.
Yeah, maybe I am being a little harsh but he has 4 or 5 wickets this series. I am afraid that just isn't good enough. We'd have won this series if we had Shami. Heck, I reckon we'd be leading with either Ishant or Umesh, too.
This is very harsh.
Yeah, you've seen ABDV grind out a day. I've seen KP, Adam Gilchrist, Joe Root, Steven Smith all grind out draws or wins doing the same despite being naturally aggressive batsmen. But guess what?
Every single one of those players will make it into a "Make a Best XI of the 2000-2010 decade" or "Make a Best XI of the 2010-2020" decade. They are Greats to ATG's in cricket.
Pant is not. Atleast not yet. Do you expect Sehwag, Dhoni, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell to make a 115* (300)?
I don't see how that's harsh, when Abdv played that great innings he was accompanied by Faf who did the same. Pant is a supremely talented batter and if the situation of the game demands a more disciplined style then he should be doing that. This idea that his natural style is aggression so he can't stop himself is an easy excuse imo
Because he isn't good enough to do it.
It's like asking why Park Ji Sung can't score and assist 20/20 a season.
I think all that is fair. All i would say (and what i was trying to say) is that IMLTHO Australia are still the best test team out there. The gap is not as wide as it has been in previous years, but i would still pick them as number 1 over everyone else.
That's an awful analogy. Batters should be able to adapt their natural game if the situation demands it. Pant actually has a very solid defence and in that situation he should have put the high risk shots away.
You’re overestimating batsman’s ability to accelerate/bog down.
Joe root is the best batsman in the world right now and he couldn’t go at a run a ball in tests no matter how hard he tried. In first year of bazball he forced himself to try and smash hit everything and suffered for it.
Stokes in the other hand can just tuk, go at a normal pace or smash.
How many batsman can actually do what you’re describing in the world right now? Consistently shift their natural game to both ends of the spectrum on demand?
Stokes, Smith can. even Root can’t just completely smash a bowling attack to pieces at his very best.
I’m struggling to think of literally anybody else.
Fair enough - I agree that Australia probably edges out the competition, but it's solely on the strength of the attack (and some handy lower order rescue runs from Carey and Cummins).
Cummins is just a monster of a cricketer
It takes concentration to do that. He doesn't have it.
Why isn't Aaron Hardie in contention to step in for Green instead of Marsh? His FC record seems decent and he's been touted as a genuine test all rounder for years.
Marsh's test record against any side not called 'England' is derisory.
Nepotism. The number of tests that both Shaun and Mitch Marsh have played for Australia is a joke.
A more serious answer is that Hardie has been battling a niggling quad injury so he's being managed.
But still nepotism.
Again that's an easy excuse. He is a professional cricketer getting paid a lot so he needs to do better.
What about Inglis, Matt Renshaw or even Oliver Davies?
While we can hate on Pant for his shot ( and I am raging) we are playing 2 men down with Kohli and Rohit. Add that to Siraj and Deep not getting wickets, and it's amazing we are putting on a fight at all..
You have Jasprit Bumrah and they don't.
Do any of you post/follow the match day threads on Reddit? At tea, so many people on Reddit were saying things like “India can win here..”, “Draw is a certainty..” etc etc. I couldn’t understand if all of them were being sarcastic or if they had no understanding of test cricket.
I think Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should just retire. Or at the very least be dropped from the team. Bring in Gill and maybe a bowler (or maybe Jurel) for the next test and see how that goes.
This series if anything, has highlighted the lack of bowling options for India again. The pace bowlers in the current squad aren’t good enough to contain runs and build pressure for the team or take wickets themselves. Akashdeep went past the bat a few times, so maybe good enough to be the third bowler but when Siraj is out of form, Akashdeep can’t become the 2nd bowler and the other two - Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana aren’t good either.
Something needs to be done to improve the bench strength. It won’t happen overnight but unfortunately it doesn’t even appear that the team management is building towards that.
I think Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should just retire. Or at the very least be dropped from the team. Bring in Gill and maybe a bowler (or maybe Jurel) for the next test and see how that goes.
This series if anything, has highlighted the lack of bowling options for India again. The pace bowlers in the current squad aren’t good enough to contain runs and build pressure for the team or take wickets themselves. Akashdeep went past the bat a few times, so maybe good enough to be the third bowler but when Siraj is out of form, Akashdeep can’t become the 2nd bowler and the other two - Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana aren’t good either.
Something needs to be done to improve the bench strength. It won’t happen overnight but unfortunately it doesn’t even appear that the team management is building towards that.