remoh

Axar is key. If he falls, the tail is really bad. Axar has to stay on to give Pant a chance to get India to 350. Axar has a pretty good first-class avg so I am cautiously optimistic, but hey man, this is test cricket. i am really really impressed by joe root the captain. Probably part of this is the english management/coaching too. I dont quite understand all the field placement strategies (dont have that deep a cricket mind), but it seems planned/strategic. For instance, having both short mid-on and short mid-off is something I dont quite understand... but it seems to work. in contrast, coming to realize i am starting to strongly dislike kohli the captain. mainly because he is always complaining when things dont go his way (in first test alone: pitch; sg balls; support spinners - which he bloody picked). He also relies most exclusively on talent with so little to no strategy. (Fat ravi to get a huge blame for this too, but he is more of a babysitter than a coach so maybe bcci is to blame). India has superior talent (or equal at worst) to almost all teams right now, so that’s fine. But just an ounce of strategy would India make unbeatable. (I guess this shows why his ipl captaincy is so trash - he doessnt have clearly superior talent over the other ipl teams). And worst of all is his selection. Fucker doesnt know how to pick a team. india should always prioritize 5 best, wicket-taking bowlers - if the bowlers cant bat, thats fine. That is not their job. And india has, on averages alone, the best top 6 bats in the world right now. You fucking dont need Washington sundar as a 7th batsman for insurance. You need a wicket-taking bowler like kuldeep as 2nd spinner waaaaaay more. 2nd team selection is much better but only cuz he got to pick Axar; he is such an idiot- he needs to pick Kuldeep first; then you can pick the last spinner and maybe you still come to the same team, but, his selection thinking is really suspect and fat ravi doesnt have the balls to object to this thinking. also guy is not humble at all. Gets clean bowled out and his face looked like he would’ve wasted a review if the umpire hadn't asked for review himself. also, wtf, umpire - why review clean bowled? If you cant confidently give that out on field, maybe, dont umpire a test. And it is getting me to dislike him as a player, which is a huge pity.

Hundo for hitman

Dont know. Pujara rarely wastes anything. That was a beautiful bowl. Kohli on the other hand wtf. Why such an attacking shot when you havent scored and just got on. Then stays there like wtf happpened.

Just play like ODI. This pitch is not for playing like test. good news is Pant and Axar are gonna get halfies cuz thats the only mode they know how to bat at.

2 ducks today. Jinks in for redemption? or 3rd duck? i say redemption

Cuz they wanted to see Kohli? Who got out for duck!

If Rohit tries to play a test like a test he will get out for a low, low score. If be plays a test like an ODI he will at least match his ODI avg, which is not bad at all.

Thats cuz you hate all the pakis

I had predicted he was gonna get 3 100s this series since it’s in India. Today has to be one (even with copious amount of luck).

😂

😑 disagree. bumrah needs to play every game! rest is for the dead.

Ok. Guess not. Good call not reviewing

Gill out. Thought he should’ve reviewed it. It was kinda high.

Bumrah rested? Wth. You dont rest a race horse in his prime. Otherwise, all sensible choices from India.

Jadeja not coming back this series per Cricbuzz. I am putting my captain bat on. Ashwin / Bumrah / Ishant / Kuldeep. Stick with these 4 for the next 3 tests unless one of em gets injured. 5th: Pick from hat: Axar / Washington / Siraj / Thakur. Must be made to bowl at least 15 overs per 100. Batsman: Stick with current lineup for rest of series unless injury. Drop all who fail consistently at end of series. If injury, Mayank is next up.

Nah. Hardik is unlikely to be a better bat than Ajinkya or Rohit. You gotta stick with those two for the series no matter. Then cut then if they dont perform - India has always been way too knee jerk and we cant do that - they need to be selected for a series or not selected. Players cant perform when being cut on a game by game basis is always on their mind. More than batsman, The bigger problem is the 4th and 5th bowlers. You cant win a test match in India with just 3 bowlers - especially when 2 of em are seamers. To be honest, 4th haaaaaas to be Kuldeep. He haaaaaas to be given a chance. A real chance. For the rest of the series. More below. Would actually prefer Siraj or Thakur for 5th until Jadeja comes back. Those guys bring a lot more moxie/energy even though they are pacers. More on Kuldeep: What is Kohli’s problem with Kuldeep? Does anyone know? Nadeem wasnt even in the main list pf players for the first two tests. He was an alternate. He picked him over Kuldeep when Axar got injured. WTF. Kuldeep should have been picked over Axar so why does that matter. I think Indian board gives way too much flexibility too Kohli. He should be forced to pick from the main list of players before going to alternates. Otherwise, whats the point of even selecting Kuldeep. Just keep him home.

And this is why people hate test matches. When the pitch does nothing for the first 3 days then deteriorates like crazy. India will have to play really well rest of the series to make WTC final. Kuldeep has to get a chance for the next match over Nadeem. Also, not sure about Washington - you have to bowl him more if you pick him. Otherwise, you are selecting him as a batsman.

Tie is the the least likely outcome 😉

I am anywhere close to as optimistic as you. Absoutely zero chance for India to win. Most likely England wraps up the win by tea. India’s only chance for a draw is Pujara. He needs to survive until after Tea for a shot at the draw.

Its gonna be funny if Australia quality for WTC final. Looking like there is a decent chance for that happening if England win the first one.

Bring back Kumble as coach. Kohli will quit automatically. No matter how good a player Kohli is, I cant get past him running out a coach. A good one too. If I can have my dream coach, it would be Rahul Dravid. He did amazing work with India A and U19s. But Kohli/Shastri team selection is almost always suspect. Not sure who to blame here... but it seems Shastri just lets the captain do whatever he wants. His maIn job is to do Press Conferences and speak Yoda.

England used a heavy roller before the start of the day to accelerate pitch deterioration. Really great tactic. (Found it kinda interesting In the Pakistan-SA test, Pak didn't use heavy roller yesterday because they didnt have enough runs on the board to confidently defend.) With all that said, I think the pitch is to take a lot of blame - the pitch simply gave too much advantage to the toss winner. Day 4 and day 5 will get even better for the spinners. Its hard to see anything but an English win here. If India force a draw, that would mean they continue with the grit they showed off in Oz. But I dont see that happening with the current XI. Would be happy to eat crow here.

Thats true. Though I’d be surprised if this pitch doesnt start worsening from day 3. India in big trouble if it does. Not sure why TNCA couldnt find a professional groundsman - and gave the contract to a businessman with a hobby. Probably nepotism. Or something.

Not sure about this. He was giving Stokes some problem for a while. Sundar is clearly worse spinner so far in my opinion. it should have been ashwin first, and kuldeep second and a coin toss for the third. also, Ashwin/Kohli wasting two really nad reviews and now they’re out. Its desperate times.

I cant see England losing this test if they bat 5 innings here. They hired some amateur to prep this pitch. Did he f this up? Probably not. Virat and Ravi will get more of the blame for selection if Sundar doesnt get better fast.