Surly Cricket Thread

[remoh 87]

Pitch was worse on day 4 than day 5. Or these aussie quicks are tired and not able to hit the cracks.
 

They could probably go for it at this point... it seems even Pujara is speeding it up after lunch. Pant, Thakur, and Washington need to get promoted if we lose wickets with runs flowing. Akinkya and Mayank with the rearguard to draw it out if needed. 

[remoh 87]

Oh this is perfect retire hurt Pujara. Cmon. This is it to get Pant out. 

[remoh 87]

Lol. He is continuing. Great. 

[remoh 87]

Shubman Gill. Holy hell. Only 21. This guy is going to break all the records.

[UDontKnow 10,444]

Gill falls at 91, still a good knock for him. If India can average about 3.8 runs per over from here on out, they win. Now what's the strategy? Block for match drawn or go down swinging? Not really sure considering Pujara is still at the crease despite the number of body blows he's taken.

 

EDIT: It's Ajinkya at 4, so I'm guessing it's for the draw.

Edited January 19, 2021 by UDontKnow

[remoh 87]

Dude. Just retire. Come back later if needed. Dont keep on messing this up. This is probably last chance to go for the win. But send in Pant. Not Agarwal. 

[UDontKnow 10,444]

Ajinkya out on a bad contact with his bat. Seems like the pain has woken up Pujara. Pant into the batting attack with 7 wickets in hand. This is still India's Test to lose.

[remoh 87]

Damn. This series is definitely one of the best ever. India coming back after down 0-1 to this with a B team. 

[UDontKnow 10,444]

[UDontKnow 10,444]

First loss for Australia at the Gabba since 1988. India wins the series 2-1-1! What a knock Rishabh Pant! Chased down 329 with a rain shortened 4th day of play! And this MASH unit of a squad! Just wow!

[cashman 20]

Wow what an incredible comeback

[remoh 87]

I said India couldnt score 150 batting 4th in this pitch. I guess no one told Gill, Pujara, and Pant.

 

highest successful chase at gabba. 

first aussie loss since 1988. 

india back to back series win in oz.

so much young talent discovered. 

 

With that said, i love pat cummins. He is sooooo good. Just as good as McGrath

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

I cannot believe what I just saw.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Rahane for full-time captain.

This has to go down as one of the all-time greatest test series in the history of cricket.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Fudge Nuggets

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Pujara, Rahane and Agarwal are the only three that were also in the playing XI in the first test.  Agarwal only there because of all the injuries.

[UDontKnow 10,444]

Pujara managed to equally frustrate Indian fans and the Aussie bowling attack. Thought he was going to cost India the victory, turned out he was the key.

[remoh 87]

He definitely frustrated me. But he frustrated Starc and Lyon so much more. Made them completely useless. 

[satyanash 14,481]

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

I’m going to rewatch day 5 today and scream at Pujara through the second session and laugh at Tim Paine through the third session. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

India already announced squad for the four-match series against England. If everyone is fit this should be an absolute ass whipping even with Shami still out.  Chennai test should go with four spinners 😀
 

[UDontKnow 10,444]

6 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

India already announced squad for the four-match series against England. If everyone is fit this should be an absolute ass whipping even with Shami still out.  Chennai test should go with four spinners 😀
 

Who would be your lone quick? Siraj is in form, but you have better quality in Bumrah and likely Ishant. But then you might want to give Bumrah a break because he's guaranteed to be one of your death bowlers in the limited over formats. Ishant is coming back from injury, so maybe play him when the series shifts to Motera?

[remoh 87]

Indian selectors can never take bold steps. 
 

Just keep Ajinkya as test captain .. or at least until he loses a test.
 

Ajinkya is so calm under pressure or bad news (like losing every single first choice bowler). He has this demeanor of come what may, we will figure it out. It definitely had its effect on calming the team. And he can lead by example too.. last innings yesterday and in Melbourne after the 36. Kohli is much more of an emotional being and that suits the whiz bang formats so much more. 

[UDontKnow 10,444]

Everyone is bunched up at the top of the table and England is likely to increase their PCT during this series with Lanka.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/world-test-championship/standings

I just wonder if it is possible for India to whitewash England in this next series. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

It’s a travesty that NZ get away with playing so many two match test series. 

[remoh 87]

On 1/25/2021 at 8:39 AM, Fudge Nuggets said:

It’s a travesty that NZ get away with playing so many two match test series. 

tests are just not financially sustainable/viable unless it involves one of the big 3. And the big 3 dont play long series except with themselves and some traditional rivals. 
 

and thats why icc members made the rule to allow 2 test match series. Otherwise, hard to see each country getting to 6 series each in 2 years. 
 

you really cant blame the kiwis. They are a small dinky country. They did best given their circumstances. 

as much as i test cricket, it definitely is on its way out. younger kids definitely dont care about it. I see some of the next generation of players not even trying for test - just t20 and odi.  Bang bang, yorker wowzas  

 You know it when commentators have to mention how amazing it is in every single session of every single match. If it was something more cricket fans agreed with, you wouldnt have to say it everytime. But test match is going the way of manual transmissions - whether we accept it or not  

with all that said, test championship is an awesome idea  gives value to dead rubber matches  - gives india reason to go for win instead of draw on the fourth match and merely retain the border gavaskar trophy. 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by remoh

[UDontKnow 10,444]

NZ through to the final because of Aussie dipshittery (haha).

India needs to win the series 2-1 at worse to advance, but they need to curbstomp England if given a chance because India will tour England later on this year.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/new-zealand-qualify-for-world-test-championship-final-after-australia-south-africa-postponement-1249849

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

That's awesome, the four point penalty for slow overs did them in.  Of course England conditions are well-suited for the Kiwi seam attack so if they have all their guys available they will be a tough side to beat at Lords.

[UDontKnow 10,444]

This is interesting. But I'm not rooting for a Dallas team. Fuck that.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cricket-u-league-aims-elevate-120000101.html

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

That would be cool.  You figure due to proximity it will have a high number of West Indian players and based on the time of season maybe some Aus, NZ and SAF presence as well.  I hope they can attract some decent names even if they aren't in their prime.  But goal #1 should be raise as much money as possible and hand over a blank check to the Universe Boss and Andre Russell. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Here's how the WTC final breaks down based on the ENG / IND series:

I'm hearing there's a good chance IND goes with three spinner in the first test in Chennai; Ashwin, Axar, and Kuldeep.  Man how I wish Jadeja was available for this series.

[APMP 688]

Here's how the WTC final breaks down based on the ENG / IND series:

I'm hearing there's a good chance IND goes with three spinner in the first test in Chennai; Ashwin, Axar, and Kuldeep.  Man how I wish Jadeja was available for this series.

Jadeja out the whole series or only the first two tests?

[remoh 87]

BCCI hasnt officially said anything about selection beyond 2 matches, so not sure. 
 

but seriously i wasnt watching and jadeja has become the best all rounder in the world. His batting avg over last 3 yrs is good enough to merit selection as the fifth specialist batsman (above Ajinkya) right now. Crazy. (Though I am not suggesting this, just reviewing the stats). 
 

 

[remoh 87]

Also since this is home series, Rohit gonna hit like 3 centuries in 4 matches. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

1 minute ago, remoh said:

BCCI hasnt officially said anything about selection beyond 2 matches, so not sure. 
 

but seriously i wasnt watching and jadeja has become the best all rounder in the world. His batting avg over last 3 yrs is good enough to merit selection as the fifth specialist batsman (above Ajinkya) right now. Crazy. (Though I am not suggesting this, just reviewing the stats). 
 

 

Be hard to put him above Stokes as best AR in the world.

[remoh 87]

I was looking at only stats. Jadeja is better by some margin on difference between batting avg and bowling avg over last 5 years:

 

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=allround_average;qualmin1=20;qualval1=matches;spanmin1=01+jan+2016;spanval1=span;template=results;type=allround

 

[remoh 87]

With that said, Stokes to bat for my life. Jadeja to field for it.  Neither to bowl for it. 

[APMP 688]

What team in the world would Jadeja not walk into besides India, that still have this bad habit of not putting him in every playing eleven they can? He'd play for England too...probably be their best spinner. The flexibility of having him and Stokes on the team would let them have the upper hand in any match on any wicket.

[satyanash 14,481]

New ball in use for the England series... seems to be India's take on the SG

 

[remoh 87]

I feel sads for Kuldeep. Guy cant get a match. Not sure if India made right call picking Sundar over him. 
 

and they kept mentioning Sundar had not played any first class match since 2017 before the Gabba test. I still dont know why - was he not good enough to merit selection for his state team? Or he had no interest in first class? Or something else?

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Well they went with three spinners but picked Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem along with Ashwin.  I didn't know Shahbaz was even on the team, where the f' did that selection come from?

[satyanash 14,481]

Sundar's not doing anything on this pitch. Dude bowls the most gentle, inoffensive offbreaks lol.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

KP = Captain Obvious.

[remoh 87]

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.  

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

2016 Chennai test England scored about 450 runs in their first innings.  India beat them by an innings plus a handful of runs.

[satyanash 14,481]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:20 PM, remoh said:

I feel sads for Kuldeep. Guy cant get a match. Not sure if India made right call picking Sundar over him.

How about Nadeem? Dude is worse than useless despite the deteriorating pitch, he's getting slaughtered and keeps bowling too short.

[remoh 87]

 

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

How about Nadeem? Dude is worse than useless despite the deteriorating pitch, he's getting slaughtered and keeps bowling too short.

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. 

[remoh 87]

7 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

2016 Chennai test England scored about 450 runs in their first innings.  India beat them by an innings plus a handful of runs.

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. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

I’m glad Willow isn’t covering this else I would be tempted to stay up to all hours of the morning watching this travesty.  India can only hope for a draw at this point.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Two things from the "How is that even possible" department:

1.  Nadeem has six freaking no-balls.  For someone with a two or three step run-up this is amazing.

2.  Joe Root has won 10 out of the last 11 tosses against India.