Australia in India

First topic message reminder :

Srinivasan stays....puts his own men is the big event that will have it's impact on Indian and global cricket.
meanwhile Indian squad for the ODIs vs. Aus is announced.

the only noteworthy change is the return of Yuvraj....who will most likely play instead of Dinesh Kaarthik....who should have no complains at being dropped.
he blew so many chances of establishing himself as an India regular......his international career is over  from what I can see.
Yadav is not in the squad...I hope he has not picked an injury....and it's a case of preserving him for test matches.....whihc would be a wise move.
Shami ahmed should be the first choice 3rd seamer in that case


Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat

I haven't been a big fan of Mishra, but the latest international version of him was an improvement on the previous one. He might have taken all those wickets against Zimbabwe, but there was some noteworthy improvements. The most irritating thing about Mishra for me was the propensity to bowl a no-ball every over. His work on that front seemed to have come off at last in Zimbabwe. And Mishra seemed to have been able to make better adjustments with the pace of his bowling that often let him down in the past as he tended to bowl too slow through the air at times giving the batsman lots of time to adjust. In Zimbabwe he bowled at a better pace and still got the ball to turn.
This is going to be a big test for Mishra. Australia is not Zimbabwe. The likes of Bailey are good players of spin and the track could be a horrible flat one where Mishra can't expect much assistance. So when coming under attack, how would he react? Coming up on the right side of test might see Mishra getting the node for the 3rd spinner spot in the test side, though the competition is getting tough as both Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh are among the wickets in the first round of the Ranji.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gives India an early wicket. Bhuvi hasn't been able to deliver his customary new ball wicket in this series so far, but this time he does, not a typical Bhuvneshwar wicket, Hughes just not been able to keep a pull shot down and very well caught by Virat Kohli. Australia 30-1 in the 7th over.

Ravichandran Ashwin strikes with his first ball to clean up Finch. A turn around in fortunes for India's embattled led spinner?

Australia 52-2 after 14. Watson and Bailey at the crease.

Australia 112-2 in the 25th over. Shane Watson now looking dangerous. He was caught of a no-ball of the bowling of Jadeja when on 24. How much will the overstep cost India? He has already brought up his 50.

After looking in control in the initial part of the game, the bowlers are yet again losing out the brutishness of modern bats on a Shastri of a pitch.

Australia 255-4, another 9 overs to go and Bailey has reached his hundred and going strong, Watson was out soon after getting his hundred. Glenn Maxwell the last man out, caught in the deep of Ashwin. How many more in the last 9 overs? 100? 120? 150?
What a bor!. BCCI are utterly useless, what borring Shastries of tracks they come up with!.

India need to chase down 350 to win.

anotehr slog-fest pitch.....nagpur is as bad as rajkot patta strip

and India make a mockery of a 350 chase.

Kohli is the best ODI batsman in the world.

Yuvraj and Raina have both flopped and it's a testimony to India's strength.....that Inspite of their failures India is doing so well

So, India win and now have completed both the second and third highest chases in ODI history in the same series. Whilst taking nothing away from very, very good knocks from Watson and Dhawan and obscene ones by Bailey and Kohli I think we can all agree that those two pitches in particular are not good for cricket. There is batsman friendly and then there is this.

India have chased down 350 with 6 wickets and 3 balls remaining. Shikhar Dhawan scored a hundred at the top and Rohit Sharma scored 79, and Kohli then finished it all off by smashing an unbeaten 115 of only 66 balls. A double strike from Johnson, dismissing, well, his usual suspects Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh gave Australia a bit of hope, but skipper MS Dhoni calmly picked off the 1s and 2s along with Kohli to finish off the chase.

JD, we've to call such a pitch as a Shastri!.

JDizzle wrote:So, India win and now have completed both the second and third highest chases in ODI history in the same series. Whilst taking nothing away from very, very good knocks from Watson and Dhawan and obscene ones by Bailey and Kohli I think we can all agree that those two pitches in particular are not good for cricket. There is batsman friendly and then there is this.

yeah...not good at all

JDizzle wrote:So, India win and now have completed both the second and third highest chases in ODI history in the same series. Whilst taking nothing away from very, very good knocks from Watson and Dhawan and obscene ones by Bailey and Kohli I think we can all agree that those two pitches in particular are not good for cricket. There is batsman friendly and then there is this.

Agree with this. It would be a statistical freak for the 2nd and 3rd highest chases to be within 3 matches of each other under normal circumstances.

These are absolute roads and whilst there is still quite a lot of skill needed to make these chases (India are the No 1 ODI side with 2 of the best finishers in history), it is not good for ODIs if they just become extended T20s. I think ODIs can be a good format if they sit somewhere between Tests and T20s i.e. good bowling is rewarded but the crowd can expect to see some big hitting.

The best innings of them all was played by the Indian skipper and he did it off the field.
MS Dhoni, India captain: "I think its something we need to think about (about the fact that so many high run chases have been achieved of late). Is 350 the new 280, 290 or 300? With the new bowlers they are mostly getting smashed. Even the fast bowlers are bowling with their third man up and fine leg up. Not sure where its going but if we are chasing like this it is not going to be good for the long-term health of the game. Only seeing boundaries and sixes for seven hours? We knew a bit of dew will
come later, and now it is slightly easy as we can break down the game at intervals. We can evaluate after the 30-over mark as to what we need to do and what we can achieve. We were evenly placed. I think Shikhar and Rohit batted really well, and Shikhar got a century, but for Rohit it was one of those days when you can't find the gaps and he absorbed the pressure so well. Yes I think Virat was brilliant, the reason being that as the ball got old he was counterattacking and maintaining a good position
when going for the big shots. He made it look easy and the way he took pressure off the batsmen was amazing. Its always about taking the pressure off the new batsman. Bangalore is known for its big runs so not sure how much we will need to chase or how much we have to set to chase over there".

I feel good that India have won, but as the Indian captain said, I am really worried and feeling rather despondent about the direction the game is taking.
Dhoni has always championed the cause of the bowlers and that of the game even though it hasn't always gone down well with many and he has done it again. He did get his way to an extent during the Australia test series and we had a good test series though the inabilities of the Australian batsmen didn't make as good a clash that it could have been.
I am not holding out too much for hope for the final game of this series, but I do hope the West Indies test series would have wickets that turn and bounce from the first session and also facilitate a bit of reverse swing as well during the course of the game.

Runs galore, but there is something extremely grotesque about this series. MS Dhoni has it right..nobody wants to see bat dominate ball for 7 hours. The sooner this average inflating series ends, the better.

Nevertheless, well batted Watto, Bailey, Dhawan and Virat.

Not sure this track was that flat tbh. There was turn on offer and some reverse swing too.

As MSD has been hinting for quite some time now, the new ODI rules need a relook and need it soon. The 2 new balls and the additional fielder in the circle aren't helping bowlers in sub-continent conditions. The seamers aren't able to reverse it, the spinners also struggle to grip the new ball and try and turn it a bit. And the additional fielder in the circle in this day and age of the edgeless monster bat and small boundaries. Well, Who'd want to be a bowler?

These rules have been in place since October last year. We won the CT under the same rules and it wasn't that high scoring. The ODI series in England haven't been very high scoring nor the ODI series in Aus or SA. The simple fact is our bowling has been utterly woeful in this series. Apart from Jaipur, I don't think the pitches have been that flat either. We really need to stop blaming the rules and pitches and find some decent bowlers.

Nevertheless, insane from Virat and Bailey. Shikhar and Watson weren't half bad either.



Btw, does 79 count as a substantive score, msp?

Shanky, 79 just about makes it!.

Third in a year, fabulous record by the previous standards!.
But I hope that won't prevent him from getting an extended run as Mumbai's captain when India play all those tests but I feel I might end up getting disappointed on that count!.

So you still don't want him in the Test side?

Average of 50+ in ODIs this year. Thats fabulous by any standards.

The CT was played in England where the bowler has some meaningful condiions to bowl at. Even Ishant Sharma looked a half-decent international bowler over there!. The sub-continent pitches do not offer much the seamer, and as these are day-night games, there is no early morning assistance in the air either.
Mitchell Johnson has been bowling really well in this series and Clinton McKay is a very experienced ODI bowler and they are also getting smashed around more often than not. Don't think it is fair to demand that the bowler has to adapt to every rule that is made for the batsman.

Would want Rahane over him in the test side. Wouldn't mind taking him to South Africa though, in a dual backup role.

Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Why Rahane?

Dhoni is asking the right questioni is 350 the new 300

CT also saw some pretty darn big scoring games......as did the Aus -Eng series.
the totals seem to have been stretched by 20%

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

because he is the first in line in reserves for tests as chosen by selectors...so he has to be given a run of about 10 test innings before anyone else is considred......

and I agree woith selectors choice...Rahane has technique temperament, great recxord and good form

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

AFTER he has done meaningul....it would not require analysts to make a call..it would be common known fact.

Now it's a judgment call

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

For a start, he's the man in possession and does deserve a proper run in the side.
He has a good technique.
He has a fine first class record.
He has played First class cricket as recently as yesterday.
He has been in good form in recent times, did well in the CLT-20 and showed good technique and temperament on a challenging track against Haryana in the Ranji trophy.

msp83 wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

For a start, he's the man in possession and does deserve a proper run in the side.
He has a good technique.
He has a fine first class record.
He has played First class cricket as recently as yesterday.
He has been in good form in recent times, did well in the CLT-20 and showed good technique and temperament on a challenging track against Haryana in the Ranji trophy.

Rohit has a good technique too.
Rohit has an even better FC record.
Thats a stupid reason, sorry. Rohit is not playing FC cricket ATM because he is good enough to be in the ODI side whereas Rahane isn't.
Rohit has been in exceptional form in recent times. Rahane indeed played well at Lahli on a difficult track. If Rohit had played the same knock though, he would've been castigated for not converting yet another start into a 100.


As far as "man in possession" is considered, Raina was also a part of our last Test squad. I presume you want him in the Test squad too then?

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

AFTER he has done meaningul....it would not require analysts to make a call..it would be  common known fact.

Now it's a judgment call

You think Rahane will do better than Pujara in Test cricket?

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

because he is the first in line in reserves for tests as chosen by selectors...so he has to be given a run of about 10 test innings before anyone else is considred......

and I agree woith selectors choice...Rahane has technique temperament, great recxord and good form

I don't mind Rahane. I'd pick both in SA at 5 and 6 but for this series, with Sachin playing, only one spot is vacant and that IMO has to go to Rohit. Far better than Rahane IMO.

I don't want to sound anti Rahane btw. I do like the kid and want him in the Test side as well at 6, when SRT retires. For now, with only one slot available, it has to be Rohit for me.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

AFTER he has done meaningul....it would not require analysts to make a call..it would be  common known fact.

Now it's a judgment call

You think Rahane will do better than Pujara in Test cricket?

Pujara will go more down the line of VVSL.....as a stroke player......but a batting average higher than VVSL

Rahane will go down the line of Dravid........in style of play.........but an average a lesser than Dravid.

who said "Rahane will do better than Puajara"?

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

AFTER he has done meaningul....it would not require analysts to make a call..it would be  common known fact.

Now it's a judgment call

You think Rahane will do better than Pujara in Test cricket?

Pujara will go more down the line of VVSL.....as a stroke player......but a batting average higher than VVSL

Rahane will go down the line of Dravid........in style of play.........but an average a lesser than Dravid.

who said "Rahane will do better than Puajara"?

Hard to disagree there. Didn't realise you were comparing batting styles. Please accept my apologies.

ShankyCricket wrote: I don't want to sound anti Rahane btw. I do like the kid and want him in the Test side as well at 6, when SRT retires. For now, with only one slot available, it has to be Rohit for me.

there is a principle of consistency of selection.
You don't just dump who you picked as your best bet test match bastmen after only one inning......just because someone else is doing good in ODIs.

regarding Raina being in possesion of a test place...is incorrect....he had a place...was given plenty of chances against NZ..and then dropped
then replaced by Yuvraj..who failed
then Rahane came in...and now needs about 5 tests to prove himself...else it's a mckery of test match selection process.

ShankyCricket wrote:

msp83 wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

For a start, he's the man in possession and does deserve a proper run in the side.
He has a good technique.
He has a fine first class record.
He has played First class cricket as recently as yesterday.
He has been in good form in recent times, did well in the CLT-20 and showed good technique and temperament on a challenging track against Haryana in the Ranji trophy.

Rohit has a good technique too.
Rohit has an even better FC record.
Thats a stupid reason, sorry. Rohit is not playing FC cricket ATM because he is good enough to be in the ODI side whereas Rahane isn't.
Rohit has been in exceptional form in recent times. Rahane indeed played well at Lahli on a difficult track.  If Rohit had played the same knock though, he would've been castigated for not converting yet another start into a 100.


As far as "man in possession" is considered, Raina was also a part of our last Test squad. I presume you want him in the Test squad too then?

What Rohit doesn't have is temperament. And we can't give him a hundred tests to start delivering.
Rohit's recent ODI runs came on flat roads while Rahane has to guts it out in really challenging circumstances.
Rohit, with his recent experience and success opening the innings can be considered for South Africa as reserve opener and reserve middle order bat, or perhaps even the additional middle order bat in place of the all-rounder.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Rahane is the first in line to replace Tendulkar

his innings of 51 and 40 total  runs were a picture in compact defense , playing close to the body with a staright bat.....this guy is the true replacement of Dravid.....more than Pujara

Let him do something meaningful at int'l level before any comparisons with Pujara, a bloke who has Test double hundreds.

AFTER he has done meaningul....it would not require analysts to make a call..it would be  common known fact.

Now it's a judgment call

You think Rahane will do better than Pujara in Test cricket?

Pujara will go more down the line of VVSL.....as a stroke player......but a batting average higher than VVSL

Rahane will go down the line of Dravid........in style of play.........but an average a lesser than Dravid.

who said "Rahane will do better than Puajara"?

Hard to disagree there. Didn't realise you were comparing batting styles. Please accept my apologies.

I saw a lot of portions of the Mumbai-Haryana game on the seamng / bouncy minefield and Rahane in hs 2 innings wby far was the most compact batsman on eitehr sides.....technically reminscent of Dravid which is why I made that remark

Rahane was good in both the innings. I'd have been very surprised had Rohit played a similar knock. His Ranji runs mostly came on flat tracks. He does have a decent technique that could help him succeed in proper conditions, but doesn't have the temperament to apply himself to the task, or at least that has been the impression that he has largely given over the last 7 years.

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote: I don't want to sound anti Rahane btw. I do like the kid and want him in the Test side as well at 6, when SRT retires. For now, with only one slot available, it has to be Rohit for me.

there is a principle of consistency of selection.
You don't just dump who you picked as your best bet  test match bastmen after only one inning......just because someone else is doing good in ODIs.

regarding Raina being in possesion of a test place...is incorrect....he had a place...was given plenty of chances against NZ..and then dropped
then replaced by Yuvraj..who failed
then Rahane came in...and now needs about 5 tests to prove himself...else it's a mckery of test match selection process.

Well, I have wanted Rohit in the Test side for the whole of last year even before he started doing well in ODis and was always my choice before Rahane. So I'm being consistent myself.

And yes, Raina was a part of our last Test squad, the Delhi Test when Dhawan got injured and Gambhir was ill.

msp83 wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

msp83 wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Why Rahane?

For a start, he's the man in possession and does deserve a proper run in the side.
He has a good technique.
He has a fine first class record.
He has played First class cricket as recently as yesterday.
He has been in good form in recent times, did well in the CLT-20 and showed good technique and temperament on a challenging track against Haryana in the Ranji trophy.

Rohit has a good technique too.
Rohit has an even better FC record.
Thats a stupid reason, sorry. Rohit is not playing FC cricket ATM because he is good enough to be in the ODI side whereas Rahane isn't.
Rohit has been in exceptional form in recent times. Rahane indeed played well at Lahli on a difficult track.  If Rohit had played the same knock though, he would've been castigated for not converting yet another start into a 100.


As far as "man in possession" is considered, Raina was also a part of our last Test squad. I presume you want him in the Test squad too then?

What Rohit doesn't have is temperament. And we can't give him a hundred tests to start delivering.
Rohit's recent ODI runs came on flat roads while Rahane has to guts it out in really challenging circumstances.
Rohit, with his recent experience and success opening the innings can be considered for South Africa as reserve opener and reserve middle order bat, or perhaps even the additional middle order bat in place of the all-rounder.

Well, Rahane didn't show a great temperament on Test debut either.

Anyways, its not just ODIs. FWIW Rohit scored a hundred in his last FC innings, ie for Ind A vs SA A in SA. Rahane was also a part of that tour and didn't manage a single hundred in his 3 innings. Rohit has a much better FC record than Rahane over the last couple of years and slightly better overall.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote: I don't want to sound anti Rahane btw. I do like the kid and want him in the Test side as well at 6, when SRT retires. For now, with only one slot available, it has to be Rohit for me.

there is a principle of consistency of selection.
You don't just dump who you picked as your best bet  test match bastmen after only one inning......just because someone else is doing good in ODIs.

regarding Raina being in possesion of a test place...is incorrect....he had a place...was given plenty of chances against NZ..and then dropped
then replaced by Yuvraj..who failed
then Rahane came in...and now needs about 5 tests to prove himself...else it's a mckery of test match selection process.

Well, I have wanted Rohit in the Test side for the whole of last year even before he started doing well in ODis and was always my choice before Rahane. So I'm being consistent myself.

And yes, Raina was a part of our last Test squad, the Delhi Test when Dhawan got injured and Gambhir was ill.

Raina was in the squad for his fielding.....but Rahane was in playing 11.
1 inning of Rahane means nothing to judge him.....he needs a about 5 tests and 7 to 10 innings unbvroken run...and he will be given.

that you wanted rohit even before is your wish....but no-where close to how selectors looking at the succession hierarchy

As I said, I will pick both in SA.

Any day I would prefer Rahane over Rohit, Rohit bores me to death, even on flat track he can't bully bowlers, he is good for IPL only, how many chances do we have to give for Rohit to shine? the same amount of chance if given to Rahane he would have made double the achievements of Rohit.

Johnson has been sent home to prepare for the ashes..