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*Official* India Tour of Australia 2018/19

Borges

International Regular
I'd like to see Kuldeep instead of Ashwin in the next game; or perhaps better, play five quicks and let Vihari and Vijay bowl the few overs of spin.
 

Woodster

International Captain
I appear to have grown some exceptionally begrudging respect for Smith the batsman in recent times. Aesthetically not my type of batsman at all, but to churn out the serious volume of runs that he had done prior to his suspension was nothing short of phenomenal for a man that possesses a technique that on first glance appears to have so many faults there waiting to be exposed. Yet he scored runs in all conditions against all manner of opposition and deserves the utmost respect for doing so.
 

shifty_eyes

U19 12th Man
cbf checking but quite the coincidence

15 years ago Dravid won us the match in Adelaide. Both man of the match, and both 30 years old at the end of test (11297 and 11277 days to be exact). Although Dravid had crossed 6000 in that Test match, in contrast with Pujara's 5000.

Dravid reached his prime after crossing 5000 mark scoring runs at an average of 70 in his next 70 innings. Pujara will have to work hard to match that.
 
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Kilowatt

School Boy/Girl Captain
India may have won but it wasn't a confidence inspiring performance. The teams are evenly matched and a change of luck with the toss would very likely change this result. As such the Aussies took a 1-0 lead too (by a margin of 300 vs 30 here) and still lost, rather embarrassingly too so we can't rub it in yet unfortunately .
 

Kilowatt

School Boy/Girl Captain
I think the recent series's vs South Africa were very instructional in several regards.

Maharaj fully shut down any talk of Lyon being the best spinner in the world. That after being comprehensively routed by Ashwin just a few months prior.

Kohli dominated a series dominated by ball while Smith folded against the same attack in much friendlier conditions. More importantly the 'best since Bradman' also exposed his (or rather was exposed by a not so friendly broadcaster) complete lack of character when he was found lying to the whole world about cowardly forcing a junior player to cheat on his behalf and then blubbing like a little girl when found out.

Even though India lost, they confirmed themselves as the rightful No.1 team by showing they can at least compete with any team in any conditions on equal footing, without resorting to whinging about the toss, the pitch and even the food. More than you can say about any other team in the world.
 

Arachnodouche

International Captain
Warner and Smith (despite the former's tendency to give away his innings at frustrating times) are probably more technically sound and definitely better equipped stroke wise for this (or any) attack than any of our other batsmen, hence why they average more (duh). The way Smith moves is very frustrating for any bowler and I think would have disrupted Ashwin in particular. I don't see why Ishant would pose any special challenge compared to any other taller bowler.
Do you think Smith's technique is waterproof? From what I remember, he was prone to falling over, at least early doors. Ishant is a much improved bowler today and could have troubled him with the one that holds its line. Not saying Smith wouldn't have found a way around as has been his wont, but would've made for compelling viewing anyway.
 

Arachnodouche

International Captain
15 years ago Dravid won us the match in Adelaide. Both man of the match, and both 30 years old at the end of test (11297 and 11277 days to be exact). Although Dravid had crossed 6000 in that Test match, in contrast with Pujara's 5000.
Dravid reached his prime after crossing 5000 mark scoring runs at an average of 70 in his next 70 innings. Pujara will have to work hard to match that.
The team feels far more at ease with Pujara's role now. All the intent balltalk no longer seems to apply to him. He is there to drop anchor and cover everybody else's ass, and they seem to have finally realized that. Which in turn appears to have made him a bit more confident.
 

h_hurricane

International Vice-Captain
I don't think really anyone thinks he's clearly the best since Bradman. There's no doubt he's a freak though and pre-ban he was at a level very few players reach.
Yeah, 2nd best since Bradman is a pretty big comment at this stage of his career. Sobers,Tendulkar,Richards,Lara and Hobbs are the more fitting choices. What Smith does after his comeback will determine his real legacy.
 

h_hurricane

International Vice-Captain
15 years ago Dravid won us the match in Adelaide. Both man of the match, and both 30 years old at the end of test (11297 and 11277 days to be exact). Although Dravid had crossed 6000 in that Test match, in contrast with Pujara's 5000.

Dravid reached his prime after crossing 5000 mark scoring runs at an average of 70 in his next 70 innings. Pujara will have to work hard to match that.
Between his 100th and 180th innings, Dravid had such an insane peak. Made runs everywhere. Lot of ATG innings as well. Headingley 2002, Adelaide 2003, Rawalpindi 2004, Kingston 2006. All of them some of the highest impact innings played ever by any one. What a player !! If Pujara can do something similar, he will also retire as an ATG.
 

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Do you think Smith's technique is waterproof? From what I remember, he was prone to falling over, at least early doors. Ishant is a much improved bowler today and could have troubled him with the one that holds its line. Not saying Smith wouldn't have found a way around as has been his wont, but would've made for compelling viewing anyway.
Broad bowled pretty much the same sort of stuff that Ishant is bowling (swinging in with odd one going away) though less accurately and never looked like getting past him. Only the Paine delivery was the one from Ishant that really moved away that I noticed, most of the time time when he hasn't moved it in he's been straight in the air and off the pitch, so I don't see why he's a bigger threat than any other bowler. He sometimes seems to walk past left arm spinners but he scored pretty well against Jadeja.
 

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