[Eddy]

I think we need at least one Pujara type batsman in the top 3. Definitely needed. Let the other 5 take care of "intent".

Shaw has such obvious technique gaps that he will need to be at Sehwag level hand-eye coordination to succeed. Mayank is ok for now but not sure for how long, he is in Murali Vijay mode. Kohli will definitely be back. Rahane has nothing to do now, except excel in the IPL. They should give him one more overseas tour before starting to think of a replacement.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

More often than necessary, Kohli has been telling that Pujara should improve his strike rate. Prithwi Shaw is showing with example that a high strike rate but no big runs will not help the team in any way. But the question is are Kohli and the coach ready to watch and learn?

The coach is advising the bowler to improve batting - Ashwin would want to improve his batting, says Ravi Shastri
In these 2 test matches, India batted with 8 good enough batsmen and still failed to cross 200 in an innings on 3 occasions. This proves playing 1 or 2 extra batmen doesn't help if the top 5 don't score.

The current captain is a great believer in not playing practice matches since cricketers now are fit to play cricket on any day . Since Kohli is a key member to sign off the tour schedule, is not playing enough practice matches affecting other Indian batsmen?

BTW, NZ tour has been diaster for No 1 ranked test team. NZ had a brain fade during T20Is & lost. Except that, ODIs & tests have been one-sided affairs.

[am1m]

So I'm obviously not any kind of expert and I'm sure professional cricket teams know what they're doing when it comes to modern coaching methods and all that.

But does anyone else find Kohli's (and of course Shastri's, but that goes without saying, what Kohli wants Shastri also always wants!) responses a bit 'management gyaan/bs'-types?

"Kohli was asked what mistakes his side needed to rectify. "Having clarity, as batsmen,""

"When asked how his team would process this result, Kohli said it would be important for the players to accept that they had made errors with their approach and execution. "Acceptance is the first word," he said."

I mean, this is the sort of nonsense IT industry managers begin to spout when things go wrong and they don't want to admit that they've messed up in preparations or that they just don't have the right people in the right roles. Like a good wicketkeeper and a good spinner for TEST cricket, irrespective of their T20 batting abilities!

And then they also try and screw up those few team members who are actually doing the correct thing, making them change their 'approach' to fit management strategy. Pujara anyone?


The parallels are interesting.

[harry10]

This is the world cup year so we don't care about tests

Well, this was expected. We can't play swing, period. And we have a captain and coach who only makes bolstrous claims rather than trying to improve their team in such conditions. Kohli didn't even bothered to bat in one practice match before 1st test. Such overconfidence in your ability showed in his complete failure in 4 innings.
Anyways, IPL is coming so everyone will forget this tour fast.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by msdivy

The current captain is a great believer in not playing practice matches since cricketers now are fit to play cricket on any day . Since Kohli is a key member to sign off the tour schedule, is not playing enough practice matches affecting other Indian batsmen?

I am no fan of Kohli the captain, but it's not right to blame him for lack of practice matches. How many tours in the last 20 years have had enough practice matches? Practice matches used to be the norm when Test cricket was the main focus of international cricket. Now ODIs & T20s have to be fitted into the tour schedule & it's nearly impossible to have enough practice matches. It's the same reason why Indian international cricketers don't play too many domestic FC matches also - with IPL, T20, ODI & test matches going on through the year, players will have no break if they also add domestic FC seasons to their schedule.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I think we need at least one Pujara type batsman in the top 3. Definitely needed. Let the other 5 take care of "intent".

Why can't Rohit Sharma do that job? Atleast he can try to play sensibly, won't encounter too much movement in Australia later this year. We anyways come across swinging conditions only in England & NZ, which happens once in two years.

Shaw has such obvious technique gaps that he will need to be at Sehwag level hand-eye coordination to succeed.

Sehwag was smart, he managed to keep the good balls out. Shaw's weakness are there for all to see, but there's something about him for sure. He's only 20 & has time to work on his game with the coaches.

Originally Posted by msdivy

The current captain is a great believer in not playing practice matches

The Test Match specialists apart from playing the sole practice game infact even turned up & played for the 'A' team before that. Can't fault the BCCI at all for not having enough tour games!

Originally Posted by harry10

Kohli didn't even bothered to bat in one practice match before 1st test.

He preferred an 'intense' net session instead.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by PPS

Shaw's weakness are there for all to see, but there's something about him for sure. He's only 20 & has time to work on his game with the coaches.

He should be doing that in domestic cricket & not on the biggest stage in the game. This is the problem with selecting people who haven't played much FC cricket.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

tests a player's temperament and patience among others.

If you look at the strike rates of Pujara, whenever he's dismissed for scores of less than 30, his strike rate is around 33...

On pitches with less or no lateral movement, it works well to bide time. In conditions with a lot of swing, batsmen of the current era aren't technically equipped to patiently negotiate the bowling.

So, I do agree with Kohli that it's better to be scoring in singles throughout the innings instead of getting bogged down and allowing the bowler to set you up for dismissal.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by carboy

He should be doing that in domestic cricket & not on the biggest stage in the game. This is the problem with selecting people who haven't played much FC cricket.

Agree with you. But the thing is when you spot someone special & immediately fast track him into International Cricket, he has to do all the learning at that level itself. Same thing would apply in the case of Bumrah & Hardik Pandya who have played very little first class cricket. Thanks to their IPL exploits, they were fast tracked into International Cricket.

[harry10]

Shaw has 2 biggest issues, technique and temperament. You can't survive on international level with both these deficiencies. He has been figured out as a candidate who can't play short ball convincingly and once word gets out it's easy for all bowlers to set him up again and again. Sehwag was an enigma. He didn't had the technique of a tendulkar or dravid but he had the temperament to counter attack and not let the bowlers set him up. Sadly we may never get such a player again.

Opening is and has been always our biggest issue. Mayank looks promising but not consistent. Rohit is untested in overseas conditions. Dhawan is past his Prime. KL Rahul again has issues once the ball starts swinging. Shaw is clearly out of his depth at this level. Gonna be very tough in australia.

[hemanth.anand]

I just took this stat out from Cricinfo. In the last 5 years, we have the highest W/L ratio in tests both at home and away. That's exactly why we are the #1 test side now.





All this thing about India do not desrve to be at #1 position because they have not won in SENA countries is something that media in SENA countries use against India while they themselves are worse outside their home turfs!

But I do want India to play well in SENA countries

[carboy]

Originally Posted by PPS

But the thing is when you spot someone special & immediately fast track him into International Cricket, he has to do all the learning at that level itself.

Our country seems to have hell of a lot of special cricketers but we still suck outside India.

[PPS]

India among Asian teams has the best away record among SENA countries. Sure they can do much much better provided the potential shown is converted into performance. Nowadays most teams struggle outside of home, except maybe the odd series here & there. Issues with the Indian team are well documented, but Captain & Coach are too busy boasting about being no.1! Since we only play Tests in November now, all their energy should be concentrated on the T20 WC, a format in which India is a very average team.

[Amit_breakfree]

Surprised to see no discussion about the ongoing women's t20 world cup where our team is doing really well.

We beat Australia by 17 runs, Bangladesh by 18 runs, New Zealand by 3 runs, and Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. Our bowlers and opener Shafali Verma are doing really well. Shafali is 16 years old and is only the second India batswoman after Mithali Raj to be ranked 1 in t20 batswoman ranking.

We are playing England tomorrow in the semi-final and I hope we can make it till the end. Godspeed.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Amit_breakfree

Surprised to see no discussion about the ongoing women's t20 world cup where our team is doing really well.

And as a reward for that good performance we advance to the final when the semifinal is washed out. Why no reserve day...beats me. But England won the men's 50-50 Worldcup because of the rules and they lost their chance at a final berth because of the same rules.

And in the other game, SA lost another DLS dictated game.

So it's the home team Australia vs India for the finals on Sunday at MCG.