India in Australia, 2018-2019

[Sin Hombre]

Have we lost yet?

[ankit1407]

Hope next test match we don’t see Vijay , Rohit and Ashwin at least from this 11..

[prasen9]

Come on. Let’s talk about what our fast bowlers did vis-a-vis theirs. If Ishant, Shami, and Bumrah do not see the folly of their wanton ways even now, I don’t know what more to say. Ashwin still did his part with the bat, at least in the first innings, which is not a small contribution.

Wow. Are you kidding me? Ashwin scored 30 runs in two innings. That is supposed to be a great contribution from a #8?

Our pacers have done reasonably well. At least Cummins was worse than all three. But, they need to finish the tail. At the end of the day, if India lose, it will be because of Ashwin. Lyon took 8 wickets on this wicket. There is a distinct rough. Ashwin cannot even land six balls on the rough consistently. Utter crap bowling.

[PKBasu]

This is a repeat of the Rose Bowl test, where Ashwin opened the Bowling and took 37 overs (far more than anyone else) and failed to get more than 1 wicket, and England won. Kohli has a bizarre stubbornness about some things — blind trust in Ashwin abroad is one of these.

[PKBasu]

PLEASE bring on Ishant or Bumrah from the other end, now that Starc is gone!!

[PKBasu]

Pant has the record for the most catches by an Indian in a test match, breaking Saha’s record.

[sameerph]

But he dropped a key one of Lyon today. Pant's keeping needs a lot of improvement still. All his catches in this test have been easy. He has dropped a few tough ones.

Ashwin has been disappointing in this innings. Pacers have been good though and hopefully we should get thru now.

[ankit1407]

Kohli is a hopeless test captain..

[prasen9]

Ishant has been crappier than Ashwin. If after 70+ tests, you cannot avoid bowling so many no-balls and that costs you two wickets more or less, then you deserve to be dropped.

Kohli has been very defensive by not blocking the singles and not having enough catchers in the slips.

Yes, Pant did drop one and he needs improvement in his technique. But he is still better than Parthiv.

[ssp]

Our inability to get the tailenders is maddening. Ishant, Ashwin and Roshit have been hopeless. So many edges going through slip and gully area. Only 32 required. With Ashwin at one end, Aussies have a decent chance

[Atithee]

I was going to write yesterday that this test will come to within 10 runs and one wicket after we folded so meekly. Looks like it’s headed that way. And, of course, I’d written before the start of the test series that lower order runs will be the key differentiator. It is now and will remain so. We have made it a habit. The last series in England was the same. Moeen, Curran, etc. proved to be the difference. I hope we somehow end up on the right side this time. It’ll be a travesty if Lyon roars like a Lion and we are the bleating lambs. The God of luck can’t be this cruel!!!!

[ankit1407]

Finally

[Atithee]

Wow. Are you kidding me? Ashwin scored 30 runs in two innings. That is supposed to be a great contribution from a #8?

Our pacers have done reasonably well. At least Cummins was worse than all three. But, they need to finish the tail. At the end of the day, if India lose, it will be because of Ashwin. Lyon took 8 wickets on this wicket. There is a distinct rough. Ashwin cannot even land six balls on the rough consistently. Utter crap bowling.

Huh? What are you talking about? Ashwin added over 50 runs with Pant in the first innings. It wasn’t a major contribution in a total of 250 runs? And, I’m comparing the batting of Ishant et al with their Aussie counterparts. Are we talking of the same thing?

[prasen9]

Ashwin scored 30 runs overall in the test. Unless I am horribly misreading scorecards, that is a fact. The runs Pujara scored are not attributable to him. If you want to take a partnership, then take the partnerships Lyon was involved in and compare. Look at how many Lyon scored in the match. 30 runs in a match is not enough for a #8. I demand more. Ashwin has bowled pretty crappily in this second innings. I have never seen an Indian spinner to be so much outclassed by an opponent spinner both with the bat and the ball. Maybe Moeen sometime? But the amount of trouble Lyon was causing to the Indian #3 onwards and the ease with the #11 was playing Ashwin was stark in comparison.

I have had enough of Ishant and Ashwin. Let us bring in Kuldeep and Bhuvi.

At least Ashwin can bat. Ishant is rather useless. I know Ashwin is favored by Kohli and since India won, he will be retained. Hope no such courtesy will be given to Ishant.

The batting was carried by Pujara and Rahane only. The rest should really go hit the practice net and try to do better at Perth.

On an aside, Pant asked Gilly for an hour of coaching and tips in Perth. Gilly said he agreed. This is funny because Gilly was nicknamed "Clang" by the posters on rec.sport.cricket for his stiff keeping But anyway, he improved to be adequate later on, I suppose. A la Dhoni. Hope he is a better coach than a keeper (at least initially ). Of course, as a batsman who kept, the world has never seen a better batting keeper.

[Atithee]

Prasen, yes, Ashwin scored 52 runs with Pujara not Pant as wrote earlier. Look, I don’t think the job of a #8 bat is to always score runs by himself. It’s giving support to whoever is scoring. Those 52 runs are as valuable as those of Pujara and Rahane in the second innings. Maybe even more because less is expected of Ashwin than Rahane.

Anyway, we won. That’s what matters. I’ll be ok if the same team plays at Perth. Unlike all/most I’m not completely disappointed with either Rahul or Rohit. They did help in one of their two at bats. Perhaps Vijay didn’t live up to my expectations and I’m not sure if I caught it accurately during the handshakes at the end, but Prithwi seemed like he’s still hobbling with bandage around his left leg. Was that the leg he injured? If it was him indeed, I’ll be surprised if he’s ready for Perth. Maybe Mayank?

Ashwin, I’m not sure about. If Perth is the fastest Aussie pitch, perhaps replace him with Bhuvi. I think we will get similar runs from him. To be honest, I’d swap Ishant with Kuldeep Yadav—the only change I’d recommend in addition to the Ashwin/Bhuvi swap. I suppose we need at least one spinner in the team. Even Shami for Yadav, if we want to retain Ishant. Can’t Ishant mark his run up an extra step if he’s overstepping so many times? Recently I saw some bowlers even release the ball from behind the stumps, let alone popping crease.