As the other sports forums seem to have taken old to some respect, well here is a cricket forum. NOTE: This forum will be heavily moderated and can be revoked at any time is discussions go out of hand.
I did not get my wish in that Pujara could not get his double
Pant can play bounce. He looks like the best batsman-keeper that we have ever had in tests. If he can become better technically, that will be great. Now, my wish is for Pant to get a century and Jadeja a 50 one hour before end of play and India declares. That would be about 100 runs more to get around 520.
Pant needs to work on his temperament, he has been out to Lyon in the deep after pushing all the fielders back previously. That's exactly the time to milk singles and doubles as he has done in his last 2 innings.
On this pitch, it is hard to get 20 wickets. Each missed chance makes it harder. Well, the series cannot be lost barring some totally inept batting in I2, I suppose.
The series is effectively won, and the 204 run 7th wicket stand -- at 5.5 runs an over -- has put the match beyond Australia's reach. Pant is now a well-established test batsman in the Gilchrist mould, although his 'keeping leaves something to be desired. Wriddhiman's test career is basically over, I think.
PKBasu wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 5:30 pm
The series is effectively won, and the 204 run 7th wicket stand -- at 5.5 runs an over -- has put the match beyond Australia's reach. Pant is now a well-established test batsman in the Gilchrist mould, although his 'keeping leaves something to be desired. Wriddhiman's test career is basically over, I think.
I think for the better. He was a decent keeper but did not seem to work hard enough on his batting and overall the Indian team needs a decent bat from the keeper position.
Wriddhiman's batting was never in Pant's league. Saha was a nervous starter with the bat, and was a bit too cautious -- albeit a much better bat than the likes of Bob Taylor, Bharat Reddy, Krishnamachari, etc., and about in the league of Kirmani (but worse than Engineer). Pant has already done better than Dhoni as a test batsman in England and Australia. While Saha was a better keeper than Dhoni (slightly) and much better than Pant, the latter is clearly a better package (as a 'keeper-batsman) than Saha, and probably about equal to Dhoni already in tests. Oddly, Pant hasn't succeeded in any LOIs yet, but it is surely only a matter of time before he slots into Dhoni's place in those formats as well.
Australia continue their bizarre ODI selections. They have Siddle, who never was a wicket-taker in ODIs, but somehow no Faulkner and no Kane Richardson, who had not done too poorly in the chances he had gotten. Behrendoff, I can understand, because he is a left-armer and Jhye is supposedly an upcoming youngster.
Similarly, on the batting side, they got back Khawaja and Handscomb, more test bats than ODI players, imho. Gone is Head and Lynn, more hard hitters! Go figure.
There is no doubt that Pant is the best bat among all the keepers we have used. At least in tests. Now, what is the cost of all his drops, misses, and byes? We will have to wait and see. I would pick Pant over Saha any day based on current evidence. Now, if Pant's keeping becomes Parthiv-esque in that he misses on average a couple of chances a match, then we will have to reconsider.
The equation is very simple. Whether it is Parthiv or Saha, their average is the low 30s. Let us say 30-32. Now, if a Pant can be about 17-18 runs/inning more than them, then he can afford to miss one chance more than them. So, essentially, Pant has to be about 47-50 runs/innings. If you are missing two per match on average, then you have to be replaced. There is no way it pays off unless you are a Bradman with the bat. Essentially, the average wicket is worth around 30-35 runs. I am assuming the average miss is worth that. So, as long as Pant is keeping the misses to one or less per match (on average) and keeps scoring to make that up, he still is the better choice.
