[deathwalkr]

I saw the WI win news on my newsfeed yesterday and I could not believe my eyes. By 8 runs! Against Australia IN Australia!!!

A team with hardly any famous players having their day in the sun. I was so overjoyed to see one of favourite teams win again.

And seeing Carl Hooper and Lara break into tears goes to show just how much that win meant for the once mighty West Indies cricket team.

What a story they crafted. Amazing.

[Shumi_21]

So Jadeja and KL are out of the second test with niggles. Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar & Sarfaraz Khan (finally!) have been added to the squad.

Saurabh took a 5-fer & Sarfaraz hit 160 against England "A" at Ahmedabad just days ago. I think Sarfaraz replaces KL at 4 & Patidar replaces Gill at 3. The replacement for Jadeja is a tough one, with Saurabh, Sundar & Kuldeep in the fray. I'd go with Sundar.

Really happy for Sarfaraz. Hope he gets to play all remaining 4 matches.

[PreludeSH]

Kuldeep has been bowling well and should play in the team and can test the english with googlies since they use sweeps shot to try and negate the spinners. Have been seeing this from Gatting/Gooch era.

I think we lost the test match due to out batsmen and hope they come good by playing with some patience without hurry.

[schumi_pete]

Well, it seems to me that Rohit and co. feel like the solution to the problem of losing in ICC finals is to not get to the finals in the first place

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Shumi_21

I think Sarfaraz replaces KL at 4 & Patidar replaces Gill at 3.

Gill will get another chance I feel. The team management should play the extra batter & both Patidar and Sarfaraz should play in the XI, but I bet thats not gonna happen!

The replacement for Jadeja is a tough one, with Saurabh, Sundar & Kuldeep in the fray. I'd go with Sundar.

Kuldeep,Ashwin,Axar & Bumrah should be our frontline bowlers. Surely its going to be a dustbowl at Rajkot!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

I think we lost the test match due to out batsmen and hope they come good by playing with some patience without hurry.

Poor batting in first innings, like millionaires throwing away money at the casino.
Questionable tactics when England were 5 down and not in the lead. All debit to Rohit here.
Hare brained batting in a chase. We got to within 30 runs of winning. Only if 1 of Iyer or Jadeja was still around.
I know it's the responsibility of the top order but what in high hell were Ashwin and Siraj doing? If they couldn't cover the spin, they should not have stepped out of the crease. I thought Ashwin was the calm one.
Siraj needed to block 4 balls to take it to another day and he did a srinath type dance down the pitch.
A poor poor performance.
IMO Iyer should not be anywhere near the Indian XI. And Jadeja should be rested for a few matches just for his idiotic runout.
I don't really know what to make of Gill and Jaiswal. Normally I would say they batted as poorly as English batsmen. But the English seem to have taken a leaf or bunch out of the Flower textbook of batting in India.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Poor batting in first innings, like millionaires throwing away money at the casino.

And Jadeja should be rested for a few matches just for his idiotic runout.

Jadeja was the common factor involved in 2 runouts in 2 innings.

Getting run out in Tests is just beyond my understanding when there is no asking run rate pressure.

[harry10]

I picked these figures from Reditt -

Shubman Gill since Gabba-

29, 50, 0, 14, 11, 15*, 0, 28, 8, 52, 1, 44, 47, 17, 4, 20, 110, 20, 7, 21, 5, 128, 13, 18, 6, 10, 29*, 2, 26, 36, 10, 23, 0.* *

In 33 Innings Gill scored 804 runs with an average of 25.9, while keeping in mind that 2 tons which he scored came on Chattogram and Ahmedabad which were flat decks.

How is someone who is averaging 26 since a long long time is able to play for India at no.3 (most important position to hold the innings together which Dravid and Pujara used to do for India) is beyond me. When will this favoritism by team management end.

Sarfraz who is averaging 80 in domestic since 2019-20 was not even given a debut. He is added to the squad now and Ideally should debut at KL's spot. Gill should be dropped and Patidhar should be played at 3. Kuldeep, Ashwin, Axar and Bumrah should be the primary bowlers. We can even drop Siraj who isn't gonna work out on Indian pitches and play Washington Sundar to add muscle to bowling and batting.

These are hard calls which teams like Australia take and that's why they win so many trophies. While I am sure our management will stay stuck with favoritism and vibes.

[VWAllstar]

My playing XI (wish which won't come true) for 2nd Test

R Sharma
Y Jaiswal
S Khan
S Gill
S Iyer
R Ashwin
A Patel
KS Bharat (wk)
W Sundar
K Yadav
J Bhumrah

Though playing with one fast bowler is never going to happen but on Indian Pitches against Eng, this could well be the next 'Dhoni' trick selectors can play!

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

My playing XI (wish which won't come true) for 2nd Test

R Sharma
Y Jaiswal
S Khan
S Gill
S Iyer
R Ashwin
A Patel
KS Bharat (wk)
W Sundar
K Yadav
J Bhumrah

Though playing with one fast bowler is never going to happen but on Indian Pitches against Eng, this could well be the next 'Dhoni' trick selectors can play!

Shreyas Iyer is absolutely rubbish and is a blot on test match batting. It was plain obvious that he cannot play pace the moment the ball jumps above knee height. I kept reading and hearing that he is great against spin. Watching him bat in the second innings proved that propaganda and backing is all the spin that you need. I am yet to see a batsman who claims to be great against spin bowling, yet cannot use his feet against spinners. He is absolutely disgraceful and should stick to T20.

Gill should also go back to ranji, score runs and claim his place back. But at least he has some class in him.

Sad that players like Easwaran will die wondering without ever getting even a couple of games to try and prove his worth. They should stop the ranji trophy and declare that the IPL is the one and only proving ground for all forms of cricket.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by harry10

These are hard calls which teams like Australia take and that's why they win so many trophies. While I am sure our management will stay stuck with favoritism and vibes.

Quoting my own post as I picked one another damning Stat which shows how overrated Gill and Iyer are-

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by harry10

Quoting my own post as I picked one another damning Stat which shows how overrated Gill and Iyer are-

Unfortunately BCCI thinks Gill is another case of R Sharma. Remember, Rohit was given a long rope till he actually started to perform. I agree to many that IPL performance is valued more than that at domestic/ Ranji. Moreover, age is not a factor to determine ones place in the playing XI. Replacing Pujara & Rahane to groom Gill & Iyer is a mistake. By that logic, Sachin should have been dropped as soon as he was 35 years old. Hope S Khan comes good and he is given atleast 2/3 test matches before being replaced by a fit KL Rahul.

[creative420]

Amazing stats by Cricinfo as we head to the second test. I’d really want Patidar, Sarfaraz and Washy to replace KL, Gill and Jaddu. I’d really want Washy in so that Ashwin can mentor him as a future bowling all-rounder for the team. Gill just needs to go back to FC or county cricket to come back stronger. Iyer will anyway pave way for Kohli once he’s back.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by creative420

Amazing stats by Cricinfo as we head to the second test. I’d really want Patidar, Sarfaraz and Washy to replace KL, Gill and Jaddu. I’d really want Washy in so that Ashwin can mentor him as a future bowling all-rounder for the team. Gill just needs to go back to FC or county cricket to come back stronger. Iyer will anyway pave way for Kohli once he’s back.

This is a meaningless Stat by cricinfo and provides no insight whatsoever for the upcoming match. Root is the member of Fab4 club and I believe we all may agree probably the best performing member in tests among the fab4 for last couple of years. Add his clever off spin bowling and he becomes even much bigger asset than Kohli, Williamson and Smith.

I agree. Ideally, Sarfraz should play in KL spot. Patidhar should replace Gill and Sundar should replace Siraj. I don't see Sundar getting a long rope as an off spinner because his bowling is more suited to white ball than red ball cricket. But maybe as an all rounder he develops.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by harry10

How is someone who is averaging 26 since a long long time is able to play for India at no.3 (most important position to hold the innings together which Dravid and Pujara used to do for India) is beyond me. When will this favoritism by team management end.

Its clear that Gill has been given the long rope because the Team Management thinks highly of him. There's no doubt he's a classy player when on song. His form has nosedived especially at no.3! He's got into this habit of lunging ahead & committing onto the front foot early. Everyone in the lineup has some sort of a weakness or two.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

I am yet to see a batsman who claims to be great against spin bowling, yet cannot use his feet against spinners.

Thanks to T20s, most batsman believe in the theory of stand & deliver! Also spinners are bowling much flatter & faster through the air over the years thus resulting in batsman being reluctant to use their feet.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Replacing Pujara & Rahane to groom Gill & Iyer is a mistake.

Who were the other options? Iyer is ok in Asian conditions but KL is a good player with a sound technique which is required in foreign conditions. He seems the best among the lot. The team carried Pujara & Rahane for several years when they weren't in form. Pujara will continue to get runs in domestic but its time to move on. Rahane has really underachieved.

Originally Posted by harry10

Root is the member of Fab4 club and I believe we all may agree probably the best performing member in tests among the fab4 for last couple of years.

Root was a really classy player but he's started playing audacious shots to fit in the Bazball scheme of things.I still prefer old school batting like Virat.