***Official*** Australia in India 2017

[Burgey]

Thoughts on the game:


- Australia were immense for the first 2.5 days and it s really a body blow to lose from that situation. I kept saying how they had all the luck go their way in this test for the first two days but it deserted them when they needed it the most and Pujara and Rahane somehow got in and made them pay. They were very unlucky to not to have dismissed one of them, esp. Pujara, early on.

- The pitch or the previous both were test standard AFAIC. As long as this is not the norm I dont mind odd wickets that help bowlers this much. But FWIW, this pitch was much more of a lottery to survive on than the last one and if anything, I would have minded it far less if the idiot Broad called this one poor. Last one was not poor. It was predictable in what it did and INdia's incompetence with the bat was the reason we got bowled out for 100 odd each innings.

- India finally showed the fight they never did at Pune from day 2. As I said, it was a good sign even if it would have been for zilch had Australia kept their composure during the 3rd and 4th innings this match. They were definitely back to the old #intent game. Whether that was Lehmann or Smith himself, they need to understand that you are not gonna punch your way out of trouble in India in test cricket. Need attrition, calm heads, bit of humility and leaving the ego back in the dressing room. Everything they did so well for the first 6 innings of this series.

- I am not too fussed about Smith and team asking the dressing room. If it was more than once, sure, they deserve the spraying Kohli gave them. If not, Kohli should cop a ban for basically accusing them of cheating publicly. But I think it was an excellent presser overall. Aussies have tried to get under his skin way too much since 2011 and guess they just hate someone giving it back to them. Social can lie all he wants about India being sledging leaders but his green and gold tinted lying wont fool anyone. Aussies love sledging and hate it when given back in equal measure and that is just wonderful to watch.

- Ranchi is usually slow and low and favors a lot of attritional cricket where small mistakes like batsmen throwing away starts will matter a lot. So Aussies need to go back to what they did for the majority of the series and not do the stuff they did on days 3 and 4 of this test. They are still in with a very good shout as it is totally possible India are the ones to throw it all away in some hubris after winning this test. Can only hope Kumble being there will help limit such things.

Didn't you post this this morning, or am I having a bad Alzheimer's day?

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah, um no. Smith kept out between 6-10 of those sort of balls across both innings, and it was remarkable he did so. The one which got him he did pretty much everything right to, it just went diabolically low, even by the standards of some of the other balls Yadav had bowled.He's the only batsman on either side who consistently kept out so many grubbers, and tbh he's probably the only bloke on either team here who would have been in the same postcode as the ball which got him. Pujara maybe a shout, but he's not as good a player of pace. Kohli would have left it. Mitch Marsh would have got bowled then looked around real confused.

Mate, I have watched lots of games over the years when balls kept even more low. A lot of tracks in India do that and I have seen batsmen make very conscious attempts to get forward. Smith does not have a frontfoot movement to help him play such balls. He kept going back and across but cut down his backlift and trusted his eye to keep out the grubbers, which as you said, he was doing successfully till then. But it does not take away the fact that had he gone on the front foot he would have had more chance to at least get an inside edge on the ball. I am not saying it was something he should have easily kept out but batsmen do play that. It was not as impossible as he made it seem.

In fact, the comms mentioned how he was not putting away some balls to the boundary because he was so worried about the grubber and was always looking for it. Mitch Marsh got a number of boundaries because he had put that out of his mind and was looking to score. And lo and behold, he smashed them off their lengths. There are various ways to counter low bounce and grubbers, no matter how low they keep mate. That is all I am pointing out. Read my previous post to know what I felt of the pitch. I was just responding to someone saying it was impossible to play that. I have seen enough cricket to know that it is not really true.

 

[honestbharani]

Didn't you post this this morning, or am I having a bad Alzheimer's day?

Nah posted it juz now. Not sure of Alzheimers' but maybe a bit more booze yest night?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Mate, I have watched lots of games over the years when balls kept even more low. A lot of tracks in India do that and I have seen batsmen make very conscious attempts to get forward.

Honestly, I'm going to have to ask you which games specifically. I literaly haven't watched a match where so many balls rolled along the ground.

The only worse one that I've seen in terms of inconsistent bounce was Jamaica 06. That;s it.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'd rather have a green seaming pitch with no spin that suits Australia 100% rather than having a batting friendly pitch. I'm so freaking tired of watching sessions where the biggest mystery is when the team will declare or what the strike rate of the next centurion will be. I prefer matches where there could be a wicket every delivery. If you don't like this type of wicket, fine. But please no batter friendly ones.

Anything other than another dustbowl. Just stinks up the whole series when pitches are doctored to suit the home side. It shouldn't happen in 2017 and it's not like India need to do that to beat Australia in India.

Yeah, not a sign of dire batting or anything.. Really loving the whining and the whinging and the waaaahing from social and stephen this thread.. This is why beating Australia is always great. TJB still caught in the Trisangu Haven between going completely old school TJB and being this new Warner-esque poster he is trying to be now.. Love this!!!

Whereas while you haven't really gotten any worse since I've been here, you certainly haven't improved. Still easily the worst poster on here, by a margin.

 

[honestbharani]

Honestly, I'm going to have to ask you which games specifically. I literaly haven't watched a match where so many balls rolled along the ground.

The only worse one that I've seen in terms of inconsistent bounce was Jamaica 06. That;s it.

Ahmedabad 96, couple of tracks in the 98 series, any number of pitches in the Windies in the 00s... You can think this is the only pitch to have ever behaved this way all you want. It wont make it true. What do you think Handscomb and Marsh were doing to survive?

 

[OverratedSanity]

One thing on the Smith dismissal though, which I don't think has been pointed out:

While Smith was obviously ridiculously unlucky, I don't think Yadav was lucky, if that sentence makes sense. Because if you look at the replays, Yadav was bowling plenty of cross seam deliveries which is why he got several to shoot through like that, even more than Ishant/Starc did. Bloke might actually have grown a brain. You still don't like seeing the ball do that though.

 

[honestbharani]

Anything other than another dustbowl. Just stinks up the whole series when pitches are doctored to suit the home side. It shouldn't happen in 2017 and it's not like India need to do that to beat Australia in India.



Whereas while you haven't really gotten any worse since I've been here, you certainly haven't improved. Still easily the worst poster on here, by a margin.

That is just such a huge compliment coming from you.

 

[honestbharani]

About the low bounce, I dont like seeing that on days 1-3 which did happen here, tbf, but balls shooting around days 4 and 5 should be ok, esp. if the corresponding high bounce balls are not there. I dont think the variable bounce was so variable that a batsman could not get on the front foot here on day 4. It was not the case on the first 3 days, hence me saying this pitch was more of a lottery than Pune.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Today I learned you can keep out 140kph grubbers that go underground by getting on the front foot

I hope this will help my game

 

[Zinzan]

One thing on the Smith dismissal though, which I don't think has been pointed out:

While Smith was obviously ridiculously unlucky, I don't think Yadav was lucky, if that sentence makes sense. .

No it doesn't make sense. Whether he was aiming for the short of a length straight one with a cross-seam or not, to get it to skid like that right in front of the stumps is extremely fortunately no matter what way you look at it.

Shades of Steyn's dismissal of Ross Taylor last year, he had absolutely no price.

 

[social]

About the low bounce, I dont like seeing that on days 1-3 which did happen here, tbf, but balls shooting around days 4 and 5 should be ok, esp. if the corresponding high bounce balls are not there. I dont think the variable bounce was so variable that a batsman could not get on the front foot here on day 4. It was not the case on the first 3 days, hence me saying this pitch was more of a lottery than Pune.

Balls were running along the ground on day 1

Anyway, the problem with your theory is that it only works when the bounce is consistently low and that was not the case here as evidenced by the dismissals of Renshaw, Pujara, etc and a host of other batsmen who were hit on the handle, glove and body

 

[Burgey]

One thing on the Smith dismissal though, which I don't think has been pointed out:

While Smith was obviously ridiculously unlucky, I don't think Yadav was lucky, if that sentence makes sense. Because if you look at the replays, Yadav was bowling plenty of cross seam deliveries which is why he got several to shoot through like that, even more than Ishant/Starc did. Bloke might actually have grown a brain. You still don't like seeing the ball do that though.

Yep. He bowled really well. Been the most consistent quick from either side this series.

 

[Burgey]

Today I learned you can keep out 140kph grubbers that go underground by getting on the front foot

I hope this will help my game

Grubbers pitching short of a length, mind you

 

[Zinzan]

Grubbers pitching short of a length, mind you

That's the key, when it's short of a good length, the batsmen don't have a price.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Grubbers pitching short of a length, mind you

Got to get on the front foot regardless. Smith just doesn't have that particular skill-set though.

 

[Arachnodouche]

You don't get on the front foot to short of length balls anticipating they're going to shoot through. You should be playing for the norm, not the anomaly. That is what makes these pitches utterly *********. Let it turn, let it bounce, let it seam, but let it be consistent in whatever it does. Being consistently inconsistent makes it a farce.

 

[social]

Got to get on the front foot regardless. Smith just doesn't have that particular skill-set though.

Smith and virtually every batsman in history to play fc cricket has that skill-set as the first shot almost every kid is taught to play is the forward defensive

He chooses not to and conservatively managed to negotiate at least 15 grubbers in 2 innings by hanging back and playing late

The fact that the best batsman in the world couldnt keep it out should tell how much chance the rest would have had

 

[Spark]

Michael Clarke says Virat Kohli's allegations Australia were infringing on DRS rules may have merit

Good on Clarke for having the temerity and decency to call it like it is. For far too long Smith and the Australian sides have gotten away with gamesmanship(there were several such instances which were responsible for their series wins in England and SA in recent years, all of which I shall talk about in a separate thread some time after the India series).

Ciao AK.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Michael Clarke says Virat Kohli's allegations Australia were infringing on DRS rules may have merit

Good on Clarke for having the temerity and decency to call it like it is. For far too long Smith and the Australian sides have gotten away with gamesmanship(there were several such instances which were responsible for their series wins in England and SA in recent years, all of which I shall talk about in a separate thread some time after the India series).

lmfao