[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Next big thing, indeed.

A stint with his local coach could help Gill. He keeps repeating the same mistakes over & over again. His dismissal to Anderson is nothing new either.

[AtheK]

No idea what Rohit sharma is doing in this setup, he is non deserving as a player itself, let alone captain. One more failure today, his captaincy was so timid in 1st match. Miss Virat the captain in Test matches, he was easily the best we ever had in Test matches.

Rohit has already lost T20 WC, ODI world cup and Test championship as captain, he should just focus on trying to win Champions trophy next year, with him in the helm, I have very less hopes about T20I WC also now.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Another day, another one man show between all round desolation. Day 1 on a flat batting wicket in home conditions against a benign attach, and our nos 2, 3 and 4 can’t score 75 runs between them. Doesn’t get more shameful than this. All the while a guy scoring mountains of runs in domestic is left to warm the benches. Shameful disgusting locker room politics, nothing else.

Iyer and Gill have to be dropped. Period.

[harry10]

Jaiswal was brilliant.
Such good temperament and his defence is as solid as his attack.

Gill and Iyer played exactly as we expected. No wonders there.

Patidhar looked really good and his backfoot play is beautiful. Unlucky dismissal.

Axar disappointed. He is a solid bat and this was a loose shot.

KS bharat doesn't have a long game or many shots. Time to give Jurel his debut.

I don't care about Rohit. He is a rubbish captain and will keep playing cos of bcci politics.

Also, word of appreciation for Dravid and Co. for playing Mukesh Kumar knowing fully well that an additional pacer won't do anything on this pitch. Could have easily played Sarfraz instead to solidify middle order or even Washington for all round stuff. I am a big fan of this management and their brilliant tactics.

This is a 550-600 batting first wicket. Won a lucky toss and looking great at 336/6 due to proven failures.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Another day, another one man show between all round desolation. Day 1 on a flat batting wicket in home conditions against a benign attach, and our nos 2, 3 and 4 can’t score 75 runs between them. Doesn’t get more shameful than this. All the while a guy scoring mountains of runs in domestic is left to warm the benches. Shameful disgusting locker room politics, nothing else.

Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Eshwaran are perhaps the most unlucky players in India right now. They really don't know what more they need to do to be in the playing XI of the Indian Test Team. I keep thinking of Amol Mazumdar every now and then but he was perhaps playing in the wrong era when there was no spot for him in the team but it's really sad to see two young players at the peak of their form being wasted like this !! More than locker room politics, Sarfaraz is being kept out deliberately for reasons beyond cricket I would think since he is being ignored in the IPL too.

[Emvi]

It is only the second day of the test match, and I'm not going to predict the result at this point. However, India's performance from the first Test until now has been nothing short of disappointing. If not for Jaiswal's superlative knock, India would have already been in dire straits entering the second day. India needs to play exceptionally well from here on to win this match, let alone the series. Quite a few, including myself, expected India to dominate the home series, but currently, it seems more like the hunter being hunted.

[ValarMorghulis]

As much as I respect and love Ashwin, his performance has been pretty ordinary especially in this test so far.
Predictable, and totally lacking any bite. His cricketing mind and brilliance apart, he has been pedestrian.

I now understand why he is dropped from WTC finals. If he’s toothless on spinning tracks, how about on seaming pitches.

[rajeevsulu]

Jasprit Bumrah was a revelation. The way he was getting the old ball to reverse both ways was phenomenal. The look on Ben Stokes face after getting cleaned up was fun.
Cheers

[harry10]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

As much as I respect and love Ashwin, his performance has been pretty ordinary especially in this test so far.
Predictable, and totally lacking any bite. His cricketing mind and brilliance apart, he has been pedestrian.

I now understand why he is dropped from WTC finals. If he’s toothless on spinning tracks, how about on seaming pitches.

Come on. Please realise he is about to reach 500 wickets in test cricket. It's a very very small club of 8 people with 500 wickets and you don't reach that with being an ordinary bowler. He did pick 6 wickets last game and this innings he just bowled 12 overs as more reliance was on Bumrah considering the ball was reversing and he was in his best element.

You can't expect any bowler to bowl brilliantly 10 out of 10 times. They do have ups and downs like every batter can't score a 50 or 100 every innings. It's a game and everyone is allowed an off day.

He has 496 wickets at an average of 23.92. That's Elite level stats in test match bowling. Add his 3242 runs with bat at an average of 27 with 5 centuries and 14 fifties and he becomes one of the biggest match winners India has played in test match ever.

Also, as for WTC final, he was our best bowler in 1st WTC final and at time of 2nd WTC final he was no.1 ranked in the world. It's a shame this stupid management didn't play him.

Also, he is still ranked no.1 Test bowler in the world. Let's not berate a legend. Bumrah is no.4 and Jaddu is no.6.

We do have a replacement of Jaddu in form of Axar but we haven't found a replacement for Ashwin when these guys retire from test cricket.

[Shumi_21]

Two instances of individual brilliance from Jaiswal and Bumrah have put us in an advantageous position. Yashasvi did well to get to 200, loved the way he took the responsibility and made his innings count after getting set. Those 70m+ sixes over cover off the spinners were something else.

Anderson had set up Gill and made him look like an amateur yesterday, but Bumrah did even better today and took out England's middle order and in the process made Root, Pope and Stokes look silly.
That reverse swinging yorker to Pope that dipped at the last second was box office stuff.

Iyer and Gill took a couple of good catches today. I really hope the momentum carries on in their batting too. Both of them would be desparate to get amongst the runs before Kohli and KL return.

Rohit was good with his tactics today. As soon as the largely ineffective Mukesh Kumar was able to get some reverse swing going, he was replaced by Bumrah whose spell accounting for England's number 3,4,5 & 6 has proved to be the difference. Hope he returns to form with the bat tomorrow.

[comfortablynumb]

Mixed 1st session for us today. Lead extended to 273, but 4 wickets lost. Gill, Axar, Bharat and Ashwin really need to bat well and take the lead to 400+, so that the bowlers can maintain attacking fields for long periods. Fingers crossed!

[NomadSK]

At almost 42, Jimmy Anderson is still knocking off the best (so called) in the business, inching closer to 700, that's a remarkable feat for the fast bowler and shows his fitness level. Among the most skilful and prolific fast bowlers. Damn, even the batsmen shelf life is over by this age.

Can he reach 800 and hang his boot, I doubt that !

[kavensri]

Don't we have a better wicketkeeper-batsman than Bharat in the country, with Pant still not available? Already into his 7th match, but I am not still not convinced about Bharat, be it his keeping or his batting.
So many selections in this test series (so far) does not make any sense for me. Starting with Rohit (he is a captain, so I am questioning that decision itself), Patidar, Iyer, Gill (he scored a century today after 3 close calls) and then Siraj and Mukesh in bowling.
Coming to the current test, no positive intent from even a single player while batting. Even Gill, after scoring century he should have simply played his natural attacking game.
The pitch still looks reasonably good to play. So, we could have easily scored many more runs to put this match even beyond 'Bazball' mode from ENG.

[Emvi]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

At almost 42, Jimmy Anderson is still knocking off the best (so called) in the business, inching closer to 700, that's a remarkable feat for the fast bowler and shows his fitness level. Among the most skilful and prolific fast bowlers. Damn, even the batsmen shelf life is over by this age.

While I agree with your point, it is important to note that Anderson is basically a one-format player for England. Looking at his career statistics, I observe that he has featured in fewer than 200 ODIs for his country. Not just that, if I'm not wrong, he has played fewer than 50 T20s in his entire career, domestic and international combined! Another thing to notice is that, for the past few years, he doesn't always feature in the eleven of every Test match, even when he is part of the squad. The shorter formats drain players considerably, mentally and physically. Nonetheless, playing past 40 is a commendable feat, moreover, the way he is currently bowling.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

At almost 42, Jimmy Anderson is still knocking off the best (so called) in the business, inching closer to 700, that's a remarkable feat for the fast bowler and shows his fitness level.

Can he reach 800 and hang his boot, I doubt that !

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

As much as I respect and love Ashwin, his performance has been pretty ordinary especially in this test so far.
Predictable, and totally lacking any bite. His cricketing mind and brilliance apart, he has been pedestrian.

Anderson will probably retire after this series, and Ashwin too will be dropped once he completes a 500-wicket haul. They have been given an extended run as a sign of respect.