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Whiteman has not made a duck so that’s a big positive.
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Kuhnemann flown over. Smacks of desperation but to be honest he should have been ahead of Agar as the best left arm orthodox bowler in red ball cricket for Australia. Went well on the Aus A tour to Sri Lanka last year.
Problem is all of our bowlers are bunnies with the blade. Compared to Ashwin and Jadeja who must have close to 10 Test tons between them and Axar who averages about 32 in FC cricket. So playing 3 spinners will make our tail just as long with Cummins still at 8.
Edit - apparently as a replacement for Swepson who is returning home for the birth of his first child. Even more confusing squad selection as surely he would have known when she was due.
Problem is all of our bowlers are bunnies with the blade. Compared to Ashwin and Jadeja who must have close to 10 Test tons between them and Axar who averages about 32 in FC cricket. So playing 3 spinners will make our tail just as long with Cummins still at 8.
Edit - apparently as a replacement for Swepson who is returning home for the birth of his first child. Even more confusing squad selection as surely he would have known when she was due.
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Forward Press
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We were always up against it - India in India may be the toughest tour in Test cricket - but we definitely should have done something radically different.
Like you said, Kuhnemann (the last debutant we had picked up 7, btw), dropping Warner in spite of the double ton at the MCG, keeping Head, Baz-ball...
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Maxwell is the only spinner I can think of who can bat well, and while he’s better than a part timer he also averages 41 in first class cricket. It’s obviously easier to bowl spin in India than in Australia, but Ashwin and Jadeja average 24 in tests and Axar is around the same in first class. Even when they play outside India, Ashwin averages 32 and Jadeja 34, which is not too bad.
That being said, Maxwell definitely would have value as a right handed batsman who has a lot of experience in India and can bowl offspin.
That being said, Maxwell definitely would have value as a right handed batsman who has a lot of experience in India and can bowl offspin.
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Still recovering from an ACL isn't he ?
Ochre
:o
Broken leg. Have to imagine he'd almost certainly have played had he not got hurt based on how they've picked the team.
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If you're talking part-timers, Head goes alright.
Forward Press
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Still trying to work out why on earth we dropped Head.
It's akin to Mr Burns subbing in Homer for Darryl Strawberry - never mind the actual talent and output, we're more likely to win if we can pick a player that bats with a different hand. Renshaw, Handscombe - yes, I understand, especially with Green out, but not both at the expense of Head.
Anyway I don't hold out hope for the rest of the series if the same selections are made.
It's akin to Mr Burns subbing in Homer for Darryl Strawberry - never mind the actual talent and output, we're more likely to win if we can pick a player that bats with a different hand. Renshaw, Handscombe - yes, I understand, especially with Green out, but not both at the expense of Head.
Anyway I don't hold out hope for the rest of the series if the same selections are made.
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I feel like India would protest
- Apr 30, 2015
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Because Head only averages 21 on the sub-continent. Whereas in India, Renshaw and Handscomb average... checks notes... 23.4 and 25.77
It was a no-brainer!
We need head in the next!
Ochre
:o
3 of Heads sub continent tests were on the highways in Pakistan last year where he averaged 23. The two tests in Sri Lanka he averaged just under 8.
Hanscombs stats weren't overly impressive but I thought after Smith and Marnus he looked easily the best of our top 6 in the first test.
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It was a poor decision and everyone knows it.
Ochre
:o
I can see why they dropped him but it didn't work out. I find it hard to imagine he would have done anything against Ashwin and Jadeja in that test.
For all the criticism of the selectors, had they not picked Murphy over Agar/Swepson, India might still be batting.
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The selectors got the Murphy call right, but had a net loss due to the Head dropping. I still just can't fathom it. They just tried to got too funky in their decision-making I think.
Wicket looking too green? Talk about chopping and changing on the run. Sounds like something CA would do to the Perth cricketing public, just pull a Test from a venue.
Apparently the groundstaff at Nagpur watered the centre wicket and nets today despite the Australians asking that they not do so to allow them to train on them. Was supposed to be day 4 of the Test today so not like they’d be in a rush to prepare the square for another fixture.
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Hard not to see it as deliberate.
Australia's plans to train in Nagpur scuppered after ground staff water pitches
www.espncricinfo.com
Shame Dharamsala won't host, one of the prettiest grounds in the world.
Australia's plans to train in Nagpur scuppered after ground staff water pitches
Australia's plans to train in Nagpur scuppered after ground staff water pitches
Australia had asked the VCA Stadium ground staff if they could leave the centre wicket and training pitches untouched for players to train on Sunday afternoon
Shame Dharamsala won't host, one of the prettiest grounds in the world.
You must be one of the few who could try and justify the dropping of Head.
He was the 4th ranked bat in the world at the time.
Was coming off averaging nearly 90 for the summer and was in the form of his life.
If the reason the selectors were worried about his form in the subcontinent, why play Warner?
One of the worst decisions ever by Aussie selectors that I can think of.
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My goodness. India have just flogged us on merit! No need for silly stunts like this at all. In these conditions they are the better than us. Let us lick our wounds, practice and try and give both sets of supporters a better showing in the next test.Hard not to see it as deliberate.
Australia's plans to train in Nagpur scuppered after ground staff water pitches
Australia's plans to train in Nagpur scuppered after ground staff water pitches
Australia had asked the VCA Stadium ground staff if they could leave the centre wicket and training pitches untouched for players to train on Sunday afternoon
Shame Dharamsala won't host, one of the prettiest grounds in the world.
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My analysis of the first test vs India and is there any hope for Australia for the rest of the test series?
Well India were favorites coming in to this match and were expected to win but it was a disappointing showing from the Australians. 300 - 350 would've been a par score on that pitch especially batting first when the conditions were at their best but the Australian batting failed to capitalize.
BBL and limited overs matches instead tour matches and acclimatization.
Some of the Australians like Marnus, Smith and Usman are too focused on their BBL sides which is fair enough. However the current BBL format now is too long and they should cut down the seasons like what they're planning to so so next year (I still think ten games is too much, it should be eight games imo). Lack of tour matches before the series may comeback to haunt Australia for the remainder of the series unless they adapt quickly. In the 2018-19 and 2020-21 BGT series India had some tour matches before the first test at Australian series. That got them ready to adapt in Australian conditions and it helped them greatly by being able to post good scores and bowl Australia out for a decent amount.
The Australian team arrived in India at the 1st of February, eight days before the first test which is not enough time to adapt especially that they had no tour matches. India in contrast during the 2020-21 series had two tour matches. Virat's form has taken a dip for the past three years and he should've played in the Ranji leading up to the series but he didn't and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even score a 50 this whole series due to poor shot selection and technical deficiencies.
Australian selectors overreacted to the pitch and Ashwin. Also India also didn't select the right players (mainly batsmen) too.
Head was dropped because there would be "too much left handers" in the batting lineup which would play into Ashwin's hands (dude is a gun against lefties). However Axar and Jadeja two left hand lower order batsmen easily negotiated Murphy and Lyon and took the game out of our reach when we were just still in it at 7-240, hoping to bowl them out for 260 giving hope to our batsmen to get a decent lead to make India bat again and give a decent total to defend (assuming we don't get bowled out for 91 lol). I reckon Head's best plan against the Indian spinners is to go full Bazball and score at near a runner ball like he did at the GABBA greentop.
India on the other hand are being saved by it's superior spin attack, Rohit and their lower order batting which masks the failures of the other top and middle order batsmen (that's like having a gun defense and top midfield but having a deficient forward line). Pant was a huge loss, his counter attacking batting would've greatly helped. KL Rahul seems to have waay too much credits in the bank as he should've been dropped after failing in the Bangladesh series. Agarwal or Gill should've played instead of KL Rahul (would prefer Agarwal due to his Ranji form for Karnataka). Suryakumar Yadav should've never been selected in the first place as he only got in due to his T20 form (pitches are more flatter in T20s and the white ball doesn't move as much as the test red SG ball) plus his first class average is 44 which is just below average in India where top batsmen averages over 50. Imo Sarfaraz Khan should've played and he would've been the perfect number 5 batsmen as he counter attacks something this Indian batting lineup lacks since Pant's injured, the dude averages nearly 80 and has scored a truck loads of runs in the past three Ranji seasons and number 5 is natural for him as that's where he bats for Mumbai in the Ranji trophy.
Don't let aesthetics fool you. This big guy has scored mountains of runs in Ranji and would be the perfect number 5 batsmen for India with his counterattacking style.
My ideal XI for the second test.
Australia.
India.
Indian bowlers just too good, too accurate and batting was poor.
Axar, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami and Siraj bowled well in tandem. Shami and Siraj cleaned out Warner and Khawaja early forcing Smith and Marnus in early which is not ideal. Jadeja cleaned out our best batsmen for his five wicket hall and Ashwin contributed as well in the first innings. They bowled accurate line and lengths letting the pitch do the work and they have more natural variations than our spinners. In the second innings Ashwin tore through our batting lineup and good captaincy from Rohit to bring on the pacers to bowl at our tail at the end.
Some of the shot selection was dreadful such as Carey reverse sweeping an arm ball when the conventional sweep would've been better (I can understand Carey reverse sweeping with the turn from Ashwin's off break but what if he bowls the carrom ball or the arm ball that turns the other way or doesn't turn at all). India figured that if they bowled straight, they are likely going to get a wicket if the Australian batsmen missed which is what happened as seven wickets fell to lbw or bowled and would've been eight if Jadeja didn't no ball to Smith.
Got lucky there mate, you miss I hit. Indian bowlers can just bowl at the stumps knowing that the Australian batsmen are prone to missing.
Cummins's poor first over set the tone for the match and poor tactics at times.
He bowled too straight to Rohit who's strong off the leg side and he paid for it early on. It gave Rohit confidence for the rest of his innings as he went on to make a century and by the time he got out, India already had a decent lead but Australia were still in it. Boland was under used and would've been perfect to shut the Indian batsmen down with his control, accuracy and natural variation. Should've had him and Murphy bowling in tandem more often during Axar and Jadeja's partnership that took the game out of our hands.
Once Jadeja got out, Cummins' should've gotten himself and Boland on to bowl at Shami (Axar treats the tailenders like proper batsmen and will give the strike to them regardless). Shami is not as good against pace as he is against spin and he looked comfortable facing Lyon and Murphy and smashed them for sixes. By the time he got out (yes Murphy got him out), India were already at 380 a 203 run lead.
What the hell was that? Ashwin has the ability to bowl the ball that doesn't turn (armball) or one that goes the other way (carrom ball) which makes reverse sweeping more riskier for left handed batsmen. However the intent is there just like when Matthew Hayden swept the hell out of the Indian spinners.
What can Australia do to get back?
Well not having tour matches and coming just a week before the first test certainly makes it harder but not impossible. Fans think a four nil sweep is incoming but the same was said when India got bowled out for 36 and went on to win the series.
Make sure to NOT lost more than three wickets AND have two well set batsmen in the first forty overs.
The older SG ball becomes easier to bat once it gets older. In this test in Australia's first innings, they were 4/93 (Handscomb not yet set) after forty overs compared to India who were 1/118 after 40 overs. Marnus and Smith were doing a good job in the first innings but Jadeja bowled a beauty to dismiss them both.
Drop Warner and have Renshaw opening. Bring Head back as well.
Warner has lived on a thread that never breaks. He hasn't really done much after his 200 and I feel he's coasting on that as mentioned plus his record in the subcontinent is poor. Renshaw operates best as an opener and he just doesn't look comfortable against the older ball when coming in the middle order. As an opener he can face the new ball and get set by the time the ball gets older. Head's in great form that he has to be bought back regardless in place of Warner.
Show more intent.
You can't have great bowlers like Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar tying you down as they will inevitably bowl that unplayable delivery. Alex Carey had the right intent just the execution and decision shot making were off. Ideally Australia should be targeting going at four an over. What that does is make India bowl different line and lengths which could favor the batsmen. Better to just yolo it like what England does now. Head coming back if he does get selected will greatly help.
Lyon needs to bowl more sidespin.
Lyon's overspin style is effective at Australian pitches where it's bouncy and can even trouble subcontinent batsmen as they're not used to the extra bounce he generates. Question is that can Lyon bowl a natural sidespin like what Murphy does. Once Ashwin developed the overspin it was no coincidence that he outbowled Lyon during the 2020-21 BGT series. If not then he maybe impotent for the rest of the series but he does have the control to keep the runs down.
Well India were favorites coming in to this match and were expected to win but it was a disappointing showing from the Australians. 300 - 350 would've been a par score on that pitch especially batting first when the conditions were at their best but the Australian batting failed to capitalize.
BBL and limited overs matches instead tour matches and acclimatization.
Some of the Australians like Marnus, Smith and Usman are too focused on their BBL sides which is fair enough. However the current BBL format now is too long and they should cut down the seasons like what they're planning to so so next year (I still think ten games is too much, it should be eight games imo). Lack of tour matches before the series may comeback to haunt Australia for the remainder of the series unless they adapt quickly. In the 2018-19 and 2020-21 BGT series India had some tour matches before the first test at Australian series. That got them ready to adapt in Australian conditions and it helped them greatly by being able to post good scores and bowl Australia out for a decent amount.
The Australian team arrived in India at the 1st of February, eight days before the first test which is not enough time to adapt especially that they had no tour matches. India in contrast during the 2020-21 series had two tour matches. Virat's form has taken a dip for the past three years and he should've played in the Ranji leading up to the series but he didn't and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even score a 50 this whole series due to poor shot selection and technical deficiencies.
Australian selectors overreacted to the pitch and Ashwin. Also India also didn't select the right players (mainly batsmen) too.
Head was dropped because there would be "too much left handers" in the batting lineup which would play into Ashwin's hands (dude is a gun against lefties). However Axar and Jadeja two left hand lower order batsmen easily negotiated Murphy and Lyon and took the game out of our reach when we were just still in it at 7-240, hoping to bowl them out for 260 giving hope to our batsmen to get a decent lead to make India bat again and give a decent total to defend (assuming we don't get bowled out for 91 lol). I reckon Head's best plan against the Indian spinners is to go full Bazball and score at near a runner ball like he did at the GABBA greentop.
India on the other hand are being saved by it's superior spin attack, Rohit and their lower order batting which masks the failures of the other top and middle order batsmen (that's like having a gun defense and top midfield but having a deficient forward line). Pant was a huge loss, his counter attacking batting would've greatly helped. KL Rahul seems to have waay too much credits in the bank as he should've been dropped after failing in the Bangladesh series. Agarwal or Gill should've played instead of KL Rahul (would prefer Agarwal due to his Ranji form for Karnataka). Suryakumar Yadav should've never been selected in the first place as he only got in due to his T20 form (pitches are more flatter in T20s and the white ball doesn't move as much as the test red SG ball) plus his first class average is 44 which is just below average in India where top batsmen averages over 50. Imo Sarfaraz Khan should've played and he would've been the perfect number 5 batsmen as he counter attacks something this Indian batting lineup lacks since Pant's injured, the dude averages nearly 80 and has scored a truck loads of runs in the past three Ranji seasons and number 5 is natural for him as that's where he bats for Mumbai in the Ranji trophy.
Don't let aesthetics fool you. This big guy has scored mountains of runs in Ranji and would be the perfect number 5 batsmen for India with his counterattacking style.
My ideal XI for the second test.
Australia.
- Matthew Renshaw
- Usman Khawaja
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Steve Smith
- Travis Head
- Cameron Green (if fit) or Peter Handscomb if not fit
- Alex Carey
- Ashton Agar or Boland if we want an extra quick
- Pat Cummins
- Todd Murphy
- Nathan Lyon
India.
- Rohit Sharma
- Mayank Agarwal
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Virat Kohli
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Srikar Bharat
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Axar Patel
- Mohammed Shami
- Mohammed Siraj
Indian bowlers just too good, too accurate and batting was poor.
Axar, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami and Siraj bowled well in tandem. Shami and Siraj cleaned out Warner and Khawaja early forcing Smith and Marnus in early which is not ideal. Jadeja cleaned out our best batsmen for his five wicket hall and Ashwin contributed as well in the first innings. They bowled accurate line and lengths letting the pitch do the work and they have more natural variations than our spinners. In the second innings Ashwin tore through our batting lineup and good captaincy from Rohit to bring on the pacers to bowl at our tail at the end.
Some of the shot selection was dreadful such as Carey reverse sweeping an arm ball when the conventional sweep would've been better (I can understand Carey reverse sweeping with the turn from Ashwin's off break but what if he bowls the carrom ball or the arm ball that turns the other way or doesn't turn at all). India figured that if they bowled straight, they are likely going to get a wicket if the Australian batsmen missed which is what happened as seven wickets fell to lbw or bowled and would've been eight if Jadeja didn't no ball to Smith.
Got lucky there mate, you miss I hit. Indian bowlers can just bowl at the stumps knowing that the Australian batsmen are prone to missing.
Cummins's poor first over set the tone for the match and poor tactics at times.
He bowled too straight to Rohit who's strong off the leg side and he paid for it early on. It gave Rohit confidence for the rest of his innings as he went on to make a century and by the time he got out, India already had a decent lead but Australia were still in it. Boland was under used and would've been perfect to shut the Indian batsmen down with his control, accuracy and natural variation. Should've had him and Murphy bowling in tandem more often during Axar and Jadeja's partnership that took the game out of our hands.
Once Jadeja got out, Cummins' should've gotten himself and Boland on to bowl at Shami (Axar treats the tailenders like proper batsmen and will give the strike to them regardless). Shami is not as good against pace as he is against spin and he looked comfortable facing Lyon and Murphy and smashed them for sixes. By the time he got out (yes Murphy got him out), India were already at 380 a 203 run lead.
What the hell was that? Ashwin has the ability to bowl the ball that doesn't turn (armball) or one that goes the other way (carrom ball) which makes reverse sweeping more riskier for left handed batsmen. However the intent is there just like when Matthew Hayden swept the hell out of the Indian spinners.
What can Australia do to get back?
Well not having tour matches and coming just a week before the first test certainly makes it harder but not impossible. Fans think a four nil sweep is incoming but the same was said when India got bowled out for 36 and went on to win the series.
Make sure to NOT lost more than three wickets AND have two well set batsmen in the first forty overs.
The older SG ball becomes easier to bat once it gets older. In this test in Australia's first innings, they were 4/93 (Handscomb not yet set) after forty overs compared to India who were 1/118 after 40 overs. Marnus and Smith were doing a good job in the first innings but Jadeja bowled a beauty to dismiss them both.
Drop Warner and have Renshaw opening. Bring Head back as well.
Warner has lived on a thread that never breaks. He hasn't really done much after his 200 and I feel he's coasting on that as mentioned plus his record in the subcontinent is poor. Renshaw operates best as an opener and he just doesn't look comfortable against the older ball when coming in the middle order. As an opener he can face the new ball and get set by the time the ball gets older. Head's in great form that he has to be bought back regardless in place of Warner.
Show more intent.
You can't have great bowlers like Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar tying you down as they will inevitably bowl that unplayable delivery. Alex Carey had the right intent just the execution and decision shot making were off. Ideally Australia should be targeting going at four an over. What that does is make India bowl different line and lengths which could favor the batsmen. Better to just yolo it like what England does now. Head coming back if he does get selected will greatly help.
Lyon needs to bowl more sidespin.
Lyon's overspin style is effective at Australian pitches where it's bouncy and can even trouble subcontinent batsmen as they're not used to the extra bounce he generates. Question is that can Lyon bowl a natural sidespin like what Murphy does. Once Ashwin developed the overspin it was no coincidence that he outbowled Lyon during the 2020-21 BGT series. If not then he maybe impotent for the rest of the series but he does have the control to keep the runs down.
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WA showing some good fight but the mountain is probably too tall to climb.
Grind it out boys
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Nathan Lyon has never bowled a no-ball in Test cricket. The only player who has bowled over 30,000 deliveries to achieve the feat .
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He'll go out with a chest high full toss.
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