India in Australia, 2020-21

[Kumar]

Would kohli willingly give up captaincy like Sachin? I cannot comment to his tactical acumen, but his style needs to change! Rahane also made few perplexing decisions, but looked like most of his decision worked!

[PKBasu]

It was truly stupid of Sundar to have played that reverse sweep against Lyon, but we cannot forget that the six (hook) and four off Cummins by Sundar opened up the chase and made the win a certainty. I have no doubt that Washington Sundar was one of the authentic heroes of the Gabba triumph. He did get a bit carried away in playing that reverse-sweep, but I'm willing to forgive him for it...Shardul revealed real lack of temperament with the shot he played at the end.

[Atithee]

Agree with your judgment on Sundar and Shardul, PKB.

[prasen9]

Absolutely agree about Washi's contribution. Without his 20 odd, we may be even lose this game.

I think this is our most thrilling victory overseas. I cannot think of any other. I do not remember the Gavaskar heroics in West Indies. Like everyone else, I have a recency bias I suppose.

The comparables would be Adelaide 2003, and the Laxman special in Colombo in 2010. Of course, the '76 West Indies (Port of Spain) victory is a legend but I was too young then and we did not have TV to have watched it. The 2018 Adelaide victory was also quite special because we fought back and Pujara, etc. were phenomenal but we were not chasing then.

[Kumar]

Absolutely agree about Washi's contribution. Without his 20 odd, we may be even lose this game.

I think this is our most thrilling victory overseas. I cannot think of any other. I do not remember the Gavaskar heroics in West Indies. Like everyone else, I have a recency bias I suppose.

The comparables would be Adelaide 2003, and the Laxman special in Colombo in 2010. Of course, the '76 West Indies (Port of Spain) victory is a legend but I was too young then and we did not have TV to have watched it. The 2018 Adelaide victory was also quite special because we fought back and Pujara, etc. were phenomenal but we were not chasing then.

I have to agree! I don’t think we have lot of series win abroad let alone thrilling ones! Further the ones from 70s were probably not watched as much as this one! So we can say post 1980, this is our best abroad win!

Our win percentage at one point was 1% yesterday

Question, when it comes to bowling attack, should we seriously consider rotating our pacers even in same series! Maybe we got lucky, but it is possible that both Bumrah and Ashwin may have been ineffective even if they had been fit?

[Kumar]

After bombarding Pujara with a short ball, Hazelwood appears to ask him

Hazlewood was unhappy; Hazlewood is seldom happy, save around wickets. His response to the butterfly was to sting like a bee. His sharp lifter dislodged Pujara’s stem guard as it seamed back and cuffed the helmet firmly. “Did ya see that one?”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/ ... f07badb9c8

[Kumar]

I feel this is a more formidable lineup than what India had for the first test, batting wise. This lineup that can score 300+ consistently in SENA which gives the bowlers a chance.

Rahul vs Vihari is touch and go. Vihari has been a beast on the A tour / Warm up matches - so probably deserves a run. He needs to score a century in one of the next 3 matches. Otherwise he will do himself no good. If he does terribly (<40 score inning in both innings), he will likely make space for Rahul or Rohit in the next match.

vReddy amazing call at beginning of second test! Has been very sharp is his evaluations

[suresh]

I am sure that Vishnu did not have Washington, Shardul, Siraj etc. in mind when he was talking about the team.

[PKBasu]

Greatest moment in Indian test history yesterday. A day later, I think that is probably the right call. Beating the main challenger for the title of world's best test side in the final 3 overs of a titanic test series on their home ground. Nothing can quite beat that. Other challengers for the title of greatest Indian test moment:

2. (Kennington) Oval victory 1971 to win the series against the world's best side (on their soil).
3. India win the 2018-19 series with victory at Adelaide & MCG (2-1) and draw at SCG after a 300+ first innings lead and rain.
4. India win at Chennai to secure a 2-1 victory over Waugh's Australia (a seemingly unbeatable side) after the Eden heroics.
5. India beat Pakistan at Rawalpindi by an innings to secure a series triumph 2-1 (2003-04).
6. Port of Spain draw 1971 (Gavaskar 124 and 220) to secure our first series triumph over the West Indies, a great power then.
7. 2-0 victory over England in 1986 (Madanlal, Binny, Chetan Sharma, Maninder and Kapil bamboozle England in England).

[rajitghosh]

Pretty good summary though as individual test victories, 2 wins can be added- Port of Spain 1976 when India chased down 400 with Gavaskar and Vishwanath scoring centuries and Melbourne 1981 with injured Kapil and Doshi bowling Australia out of 83-remember Australia had Chappel, Walters, Border and Marsh. None of these series were won though.

[PKBasu]

I was only mentioning series victories. Otherwise Adelaide 2003-04 was a great victory too, as was the drawn series (a rarity for India in Australia). India's first series victory overseas in 1968 over NZ, ending 3-1 with victory at Eden Park (Auckland) should probably be the 8th one on the list (Prasanna was the hero of that series).

[Rajiv]

In hindsight, after the 36 all out debacle, the change in leadership, the change in personnel and injuries was good to team’s cause; as we did not have the mental scars of it.

It will be difficult to say, whether we would have pulled this off, with the same leadership and it would have been tough to recoup and recover.

Rahane calmness helped a lot in managing the team on field. Off field, it may be a combination of management staff, Rahane and individual self-belief. But what i saw in the team huddles was that, Bumrah was taking lead with pacers, Jaddu-Ashwin were more vocal and even Pujara was talking a lot.

These are really strong individuals and world class performers. So in essence, the style of leadership with Virat vs. Rahane, I think Rahane’s will work better, given all these characters are alphas, and we want all of them to express themselves.

[VReddy]

I am sure that Vishnu did not have Washington, Shardul, Siraj etc. in mind when he was talking about the team.

No it might sound stupid and all hindsight benefit but I did believe in this. If Jadeja went out, I would always go with Washington. The player who did surprise me is Shardul Thakur - I categorised him similar to Vinay Kumar. One big difference is the pace - Thakur now seems to bowl in the 132-140 bucket where as I thought he was more of a 126-133 km bowler (ala Vinay Kumar) which has been the biggest difference with him.

We did have a small debate on day 1 of second test too - Rahane is a perfect leader for this team as he lets other leaders in the team to flourish. Indian Sport Fan did not agree then but so far worked out.

Another thing I will bring up from our old conversations in this group - IPL vs First Class cricket as the benchmark for Test team selection. I mentioned it before that Ranji Trophy should not be a basis for Test team selection anymore. I will bring up that conversation from old post in a day or two.

[suresh]

@vishnu

[Kumar]

What if India barely win the England series or even lose it altogether? I think there is a point when teams can tune out the captain! Happens all the time in American sports league with coach/ managers !

Further his captaincy style is not sustainable(all fire) !

I think there is going to be tremendous pressure on Kohli during the upcoming series! How he handles this pressure could determine the course of his captaincy! After having won the test series without Kohli, BCCI may now be comfortable saying no to him!