India in Bangladesh 2022

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Axar is Jadeja's replacement whether we like it or not. A good left-arm spinner who can bat a bit is better than the other junk. We also have to give people time to develop and grow. He can never be the batter Jadeja is perhaps or the fielder. But, hey, we do not win by immitating people who came before us. We win by creating a team that together works. Go Axar!

Already 46 Odis & 37 T20Is, playing international cricket for 8 years. If he had the talent, by now he could have been a genuine allrounder. Can Bat & Can bowl talents can't be Pandya or Jadeja's replacements. Skills like Axar, Thakur or Chahar can do the job against weak opponents but can't do against strong opposition. We can't immitate people came before us but we recall that people when his replacement is underperformed.Just like 60% remembered Jadeja when he was out from Asia Cup & T20WC as a valuable player.Axar has failed to capitalize Jadeja's absence from the team and like T20Is & Odis he is again given chance in Test matches.

[prasen9]

Axar has bowled very well in tests and batted adequately. He is the best available. So, he is in the team. Comparing against others is useless. Do we demand better? Absolutely. He has performed above acceptable levels in tests after Jadeja and he should be in the team. What he has done or not done in ODIs and T20Is is irrelevant. Those are different formats requiring different skills. I would not argue for him abroad but in South Asian conditions, he is a great test bowler and he has performed against good teams and bad at home. So, he should be in the team. Nobody cares about Jadeja. He is injured. If he was there, he is better than Axar and would be in the team.

It is great to see Kuldeep finally do some justice to his batting and bowling talent. He averages 22 in domestics with the bat and I thought he always underperformed internationally with the bat. So, it is good to see some runs. And, glad he got his bowling form back.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Will not debate on spinner performance in South Asian tracks, specially in india, any new commer can deliver with so much assistance from the track. Politics and bad luck for spinners like Shahbaz Nadeem, who could have done best in test matches, if given proper chances in indian tracks. A player is useless if he depends on tracks to give performances.

[SaniaFan]

Actually I was impressed with KY today. It is a turning pitch but not a rank turner that we get in India. And probably that is why our other spinners did not get any wickets. But KY got consistent big turn and then used his variations and the drift and drop well. Two main batters(Sakib and Mushfiqur) he got because of the drop that lead to them misjudging the length of the ball. He has worked a lot on his bowling and that is good to see. It seems he is improving his batting also and putting a price on his wicket. All that is really nice to see.

[Atithee]

I really don’t understand the scoring rate in the second innings by India. What is the point of crawling at 2.5 an over? This after no less than KL admired the Bazball and said Indians will show the intent now too. Embarrassing. I’d rather have Bangladesh follow on than see this tuk tuk academy graduates batting. When will someone other than Pant and Umesh Yadav show any aggression in batting?

[Atithee]

Cheeky! Translation—the biggest question is who will have a “niggle” after Gill’s century in second innings.

[Atithee]

I really don’t understand the scoring rate in the second innings by India. What is the point of crawling at 2.5 an over? This after no less than KL admired the Bazball and said Indians will show the intent now too. Embarrassing. I’d rather have Bangladesh follow on than see this tuk tuk academy graduates batting. When will someone other than Pant and Umesh Yadav show any aggression in batting?

Pujara heard me. Thanks for the Chetball. The guy has been trying at least since his county stint.

[PKBasu]

I hope KL Rahul is dropped for the second test. What a pity that he played the first one ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran.

Ashwin has bowled very poorly so far. He isn't bowling his standard off-spin, top spin and arm ball -- instead trying too many of the legbreaks, carrom-balls etc that have failed him in T20s already. Very strange to see this. Kuldeep Yadav has been very unlucky to have played so few tests so far (this is only his 8th), but let's hope this performance cements his place in the side.

[SaniaFan]

So Kuldeep Yadav is dropped for the second test. If this pitch is going to favor faster bowlers and you are going for a win then wrist spinner makes more sense in my opinion that finger spinner. Crazy decision.

[prasen9]

Kuldeep Yadav has been very unlucky to have played so few tests so far (this is only his 8th), but let's hope this performance cements his place in the side.

Maybe we should say that KY has been left out because of morons. They are destroying his confidence and career.

[rajitghosh]

Any update on the fitness of Bumrah, Jadeja, Shami and Rohit? Or would they be fit just in time to play the IPL?

[PKBasu]

OUTRAGEOUS! No other word for the utterly asinine disgrace of dropping the Man of the Match from the previous test. How dare they get away with such utter insanity?!

Anyway, nobody can be unhappy about Unadkat getting a test match, after 12 years of relentless toil and success in domestic cricket. He played a solitary test at age 19, a ridiculously unfair decision (both to pick him at that age, and then cruelly keep him out for the next 12 years!). He bowled superbly today, extracting bounce from near the good length spot (you need tricks like this to get wickets on his home ground of Rajkot, a famous cremation ground for bowlers). He got the important wickets of Zakir (centurion in the previous test) and Mushfiqur today, but 2/50 does not justly reflect the impact he had, and how often he came perilously close to the edge of various bats.

Umesh turned out to be the star with the older ball, generating reverse swing and finishing with 4/25 in 15 overs. (he was a bit lucky to get Shakib first ball after lunch). Ashwin was very lucky to get the final wicket with a full toss, and his first wicket (Shanto) was adjudged by DRS to be shaving leg stump, having pitched well outside the left-hander's off-stump; the umpire had ruled it out, so umpire's call went in Ashwin's favour).

None of that justifies dropping Kuldeep. If Unadkat had to play, Siraj could have been left out. And if there were only to be two spinners, Kuldeep's should have been the first name on the team sheet, with either Axar or Ashwin being dropped (the latter on last test's performance, the former given Ashwin's career of achievement).

[prasen9]

This is how Subroto Banerjee was destroyed. And Pravin Amre if I recall correctly. The board and selectors have favorites, people born with a silver spoon in their mouths and commoners. That is why Pant gets so many chances in T20Is and Kuldeep gets dropped in tests. And the likes of Samson, etc. don't get fair chances.

[Atithee]

I don’t see anything sinister here. There was grass on the pitch and india wanted an additional pacer. A spinner had to make way for this. It is unfortunate that the axe fell on Kuldeep. Could’ve been Axar or Ashwin instead. Not sure why Kuldeep was axed. Maybe too many lefties in Bangladesh top order? Ashwin’s established batting credentials?

[prasen9]

By that token there is never anything sinister. Or at least after the era, when we have proof of money exchanging hands, etc. Yes, Ashwin comes before Kuldeep because he is an all-time great, a mature bowler, the best bat among the bowlers, capable of playing at #7. Kuldeep cannot play at #7 and Unadkat is a dud with a bat. More than sinister-ness, it is a question of whether the team management are morons. A lot of people think that three pacers on this wicket is a waste. We will see after the match is over if the team management is correct.