***Official*** India in Australia 2014-5

[honestbharani]

Some people believe that rather than seeking home advantage, grounds men all over the world should aim for that "perfect" pitch where it seams day one, is flat days 2 and 3, and dries out days 4 and 5 - I.e. Something for everyone.

If that's Harris' belief then yeah you could say those pitches were shockers as there was no attempt to give the seamers the first session. You could also be moderately frustrated with the pitches in this series.

Not saying it's my belief, just a different perspective.

I just find it funny he didn't feel that way after last years' Ashes where he clearly points out it was too much towards the fast bowlers... As I said, it was a classic whinge after being beaten.

 

[honestbharani]

Bowl out opposition on day 1.

Bat out days 2 and 3.

Bowl out opposition on day 4.

"Perfect pitch".

I find every single greentop and seamers paradise to be the most boring cricket I Have ever seen.. And I think a turning pitch with couple of spinners running rampant and men around the bat and batsmen totally lost as to what to do next makes for much much more exciting cricket...

 

[Antihippy]

How was he beaten? He got 6 wickets and could very well have won the match if he had more overs to bowl.

 

[honestbharani]

I don't think Harris was whinging about the loss in India (which was down to poor preparation, team management and being outplayed than the pitch conditions) just that he was expecting to be looked after by our groundsmen.

Just on the Brissie practice wickets issue I can see the logic in having the practice wickets deteriorate as the game pitch but it runs the risk of incidents occurring as happened to Dhawan. I'd have thought batsman would want a practice session where you get time middling the ball and building confidence before facing challenges in the middle. If you play on a deteriorating practice wicket and end up only edging or getting bowled by the balls that don't hit you then I wonder about the value of that in preparation for your innings.

Calling those pitches "Shockers" when it is how wickets have been in the subcontinent for ages is the very definition of whinging about that loss...

 

[vic_orthdox]

Last year's wickets were flat. They just had some extra pace in them to make them good cricket wickets. Adelaide's been the best cricket wicket in the series thus far.

 

[honestbharani]

TBF, while complaining about Indian wickets reeks of sour grapes, I do think the wickets haven't been spicy enough. All 3 wickets have been flat as a pancake (particularly Adelaide and Melbourne), and have allowed the Indian batsmen to settle in far better than what they did in England or over here last time. I understand that going for greentops make the toss too important, but the obvious option was to make a wicket with lots of natural bounce but true enough to punish bad bowling and reward good batting.

AWTA.. And I honestly think a good spinner will always find a way to be a threat on a wicket with decent bounce, just like a good fast bowler will always find a way to remain a threat on a roughed and scoffed up dustbowl... There are times when a genuinely fast bowler reverse swinging the ball is a bigger threat than some run of the mill spinners on dustbowls...


Didn't McGrath, Kasper and Gillespie show how good they can be on pitches far worse than the 2013 ones during the 2004 series in India?

 

[honestbharani]

How was he beaten? He got 6 wickets and could very well have won the match if he had more overs to bowl.

He = his team.. And this is about his whinge on the tracks they played in India.. He was not part of the XIs there but that just makes it even more stupid that he would call those tracks as "shockers"...

 

[honestbharani]

Last year's wickets were flat. They just had some extra pace in them to make them good cricket wickets. Adelaide's been the best cricket wicket in the series thus far.

Don't you think Adelaide was as interesting as it was only because of the rough created for the offie? I mean, I still think it would have been flat had there been little less rough for Lyon to work with... As such, the track itself didn't help any of the bowlers too much IMO.. Which is why the INdian guys struggled and only the best in the Aussie line up posed a threat...

 

[Spikey]

Ric Finlay ‏@RicFinlay 30s31 seconds ago
I'm thinking 2013-14, 59 wkts @ 15.23 will be the pinnacle of Mitch's career.

Man who saw that coming?!?

 

[the big bambino]

Believe Ric passed his peak but we didn't know it at the time until we could compare his previous crud with his subsequent crudier crud.

 

[Flem274*]

Chris Rogers sounds like such a good dude.

Rogers' home Test farewell no secret | Cricket News | Australia v India | ESPN Cricinfo

Massively underrated opener as well. I'll be sad to see him go. I love it when guys who were never Chosen Ones break into the test side after being in First Class since the Jurassic.

 

[harsh.ag]

Rogers is my favorite opening batsman at the moment after Vijay. Warner who?

 

[Swingpanzee]

Absolutely love Rogers, such a gritty guy and he brings a ton of character to the team. Deserves a big daddy ton. I too will be sad when he retires.

 

[Daemon]

Raina, Rahul in the frame for Sydney | Cricket News | Australia v India | ESPN Cricinfo

India wot r u doin?

India

Stahp

 

[harsh.ag]

For the Kohli era to begin with Raina would be awesome, tbh.

 

[Jono]

Usually I'd be spitting chips at Raina playing but if Rahul played those shots not due to team instructions but because he's just a dumb ****, well...

 

[OverratedSanity]

Usually I'd be spitting chips at Raina playing but if Rahul played those shots not due to team instructions but because he's just a dumb ****, well...

Rohit's got to come back in that case surely. The last thing this Indian team needs is a ton from Raina in a dead rubber with no Mitch to expose his biggest weakness, leading to him being picked above Rohit in the future.

He'll probably be embarassed by Harris anyway though.

 

[anil1405]

Wonder what's cricinfo's obsession with fixing something that ain't broken....the new format sucks.

 

[GotSpin]

Raina still a chubby fella then. Hope he plays.

 

[harsh.ag]

Newly retired MS Dhoni continued to be with the side, and bowled quite enthusiastically in the nets. Wriddhiman Saha's right thumb was heavily strapped, but he kept wicket and batted without much discomfort. All things being similar Saha will add to his three Test caps in two days' time, but in the unlikely scenario of his missing out, Dhoni will have to come out of retirement.

Yesss.