India in England, 2018

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PKBasu
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by PKBasu »

I’ve never seen a new Indian batsman look as out of place in a test side as Vihari. Not a single convincing shot until he straight drove Curran for four (to move to 22), but even that was played way away from the body (with a foot wide gap between bat and pad).

Pant needs to work on his basic batting technique too.
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Re: India in England, 2018

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Vihari was out before scoring, but England didn’t refer the LBW. He miscued two hooks in amateurish fashion, getting a six and a four purely by chance.
Finally settling down now, but he was all at sea against Anderson and Broad.
Rahane has had a wretched series apart from a couple of innings. Quite shocking how he got caught at slip for a duck today.

Very poor day for India with ball and bat.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by PKBasu »

We need Saha back as test wicket keeper as soon as he is fit. Parthiv would have been a better option as ‘keeper-batsman than both the guys who replaced him.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by PKBasu »

Unless tomorrow morning is bright and sunny, this test is lost. It’ll be difficult for Vihari and Jadeja to withstand Anderson and Broad on the third morning, and after them it’s the deluge. Very odd decision to replace Pandya with Vihari.
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Re: India in England, 2018

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I think Vihari will prove that it’s the right decision as will Jadeja.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by ankit1407 »

What has Pandya done to miss him ? Vihari did struggle but give him the benefit of the doubt , it’s just his first test inning ...
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by prasen9 »

I hope Dhawan and Rahul are sent packing unless Rahul does a Pujara. And win us the test or something like that. We may have to do something about Rahane too. I would say give Nair and Vihari a decent run to show if they can do it or not. The other choices are not much better.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by Atithee »

Pandya is hardly a test level player. Should never have been a part of the test team. There have to be better all rounders available. Since our test players hardly ever play long versions of the game that isn’t a test match, we just choose players based on shorter version of the game. And it shows. Need to check who could be a better choice. But, if this test series doesn’t show the value of lower order runs, I don’t know what will. And also the crying need for a proper batting wicket-keeper. Patels, Karthiks, etc. don’t cut it. We got to have bowlers who can bat to add 75-100 runs for the last 2-3 wickets at least in the company of an established batsman. These are not luxuries; they are a must have especially for the brittle top order batting that is India.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by prasen9 »

Good wishlist. The only test we won, we won because of Pandya. I'd take that until there is a real all-rounder who is consistent. Players need time to mature at the international level. Similarly, we need bowlers who can bat. In this series, we did not lose because of the opening bowlers Bumrah and Ishant. We lost because of Shami. We must have a third seamer. It should have been Bhuvi. But, we do not have any depth in case there are injuries. I'd have to drop Shami even though I like him. He should be told to get fitter. So, the only solution is to ask the bowlers Bumrah, Ishant, Shami, Umesh and Bhuvi to take batting seriously and have some reasonable benchmarks for them wrt batting.

Jadeja did okay. He should be the #1 overseas spinner. He can also bat a bit. I'm not averse to Kuldeep. But please, no more automatic Ashwins.

Wrt wicket-keeping, we need Saha back to hold the fort for a year or so. In the meantime, we need to have Pant improve his batting and perhaps others considered. Samson. Whoever is next in line. Instead of going back to retreads such as Karthik or Parthiv, I would work on developing Pant if that is the only choice. If the wicket-keeper was the only difference between winning or losing, I'd go back to Karthik, whose keeping was better but not good enough. Parthiv is a horrible keeper.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by PKBasu »

Excellent batting by Vihari and Jadeja this morning. Bhakti told us at the start of Vihari’s innings that he will struggle against in-swing but is very good against spin (especially with the sweep). Spot on, and Vihari has been good even against in-swing this morning.
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Re: India in England, 2018

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Apart from the sweep, Vihari doesn’t seem all that adept at playing spin; his footwork isn’t particularly good, certainly not as good at playing off the back foot as Jadeja is. And he falls to Moeen.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by prasen9 »

Last two full years Rahane has averaged 32.92 including home and abroad. Should he continue in the team or be told to go back to the domestics or A-team and find form? How long should you carry someone?
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by Atithee »

Prasen, you always use “go back to the domestics” as a solution. But, these guys are domestic “dadas.” As I said earlier, these players rarely play domestics and that’s not really going to prove anything for them but it will make other players better so we have a battle hardened and meaningful bench strength. Playing away India A tours and foreign domestic leagues is the only way to improve and correct your deficiencies and gain confidence. Playing Indian domestics will not really help. I don’t know why BCCI is so loathe to Indian participation in foreign leagues.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by prasen9 »

I am fine with them going back to the A-team. But, A-team tours are so few and far between. So, the best solution is domestics when the A-team is not playing. Yes, Rahane used to be a domestic dada. But, he used to be an abroad dada too. Now, he cannot play abroad. Maybe he cannot even play the domestic guys. Let him show that at least in the domestics, he can play and will not lose concentration.

The reason I said go back to the domestics for Rahane and maybe Shami unless he finds form in the last innings is that Rahane knows how to play abroad. He is just in poor form altogether. So, go back to the domestics and just get your concentration and temperament back even against our cupcake bowlers. Then, maybe A-team tour and then back to the first team should be the pipeline. Ditto with Shami. Shami knows to bowl abroad and even in India. But, he is out of form and fitness. He needs to go somewhere and just bowl and dominate and get wickets. Get match fit and into his bowling rhythm. With respect to Shami, I would play him in the ODIs and try to get his bowling form back. He has become a bit loose. That is, gives away a loose ball per over or so. Not at Umesh rate but getting close to that. So, playing ODIs would help him practice line and length.

I would also send Rahul back to the A-team or domestics, whatever is available. I do not mean either/or. Send them to both.

Yes, if the BCCI can make true A-team tours all year long in the SANE countries, especially, I would be very glad. If not, then send them to domestics. At least get your temperament and/or line and length back.
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Re: India in England, 2018

Post by PKBasu »

This year there was a very sensible A team tour of England before the test series. It would have been sensible to have all the test specialists play for India A, but they were drafted in for only one match. Ironically performances for India A didn’t seem to count for much with the selectors and team management: so Cijay ahead of Shaw, and DK ahead of Pant were decisions devoid of evidence from the India A matches.

I would similarly send an India A side to Australia in October. One did go there last year though, so the Aussies may not oblige.
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