4th Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, 15 - 19 Jan 2021

[Smudge49]

Lol he also said at the end that he was just joking and he had no issues with his sledging but I guess the media has to media

Pretty sure if his wife is mocking the Australian captain on twitter moments after one of the biggest come from behind victories in cricket history, rather than celebrating the moment, then it is safe to say Paine's words were probably grinding Ashwin's gears that bad.

 

[honestbharani]

Rahane needs to justify his place with batting average of 42 .
Ashwin has proved his critics wrong by having SENA bowling average of 40.
Make up your mind will you ?

Virat has the best win percentage of all India captains and yet you want him to be removed as captain. Maybe something like that here.

 

[honestbharani]

Pretty sure if his wife is mocking the Australian captain on twitter moments after one of the biggest come from behind victories in cricket history, rather than celebrating the moment, then it is safe to say Paine's words were probably grinding Ashwin's gears that bad.

I don't think his wife needs to feel exact same way about things as him though. She can have her own views of what happened.

 

[Teja.]

Pretty sure if his wife is mocking the Australian captain on twitter moments after one of the biggest come from behind victories in cricket history, rather than celebrating the moment, then it is safe to say Paine's words were probably grinding Ashwin's gears that bad.

Dude, she is hardly Caeser's wife. You are putting too much power in her hands. She is just a shitposter like the rest of us. What if she makes fun of the next Australian captain as well on twitter? Should he also be axed?

 

[Senile Sentry]

.

Rahane's exact mix of strengths and weaknesses does make him a little more valuable than the 42 average might immediately suggest though.

Agarwal averages 45, which includes an average of 100 at home. If he averaged 60 at home instead of 100 I don't think India would win any fewer series. Rahane realistically not being amongst the top 10 or so Indian batsmen in home conditions probably doesn't cost much at all because India win almost all their home series regardless, and his ability to score runs in tighter away series in SENA countries is very valuable.

It does definitely put him on dicey ground. Much like how you can't drop catches if you're Saha, you probably can't have a bad away series if you're Rahane. But I do think he justifies his place even if someone else might average slightly more overall.

The point is he has been given probably the longest rope in Indian batting history and obviously he is bound to come good once in a while with a performance here or there. But overall he is clearly on the decline and at his age, it is difficult to expect him to have another peak of sorts.

And the irony is that it is the same Virat Kohli who has ensured he got this lengthy rope in the past. I just feel that India should have invested in a young batsman like Vihary in this while and could have moulded a capable number 5 of him. Instead the latter gets thrown to the wolves time and again.

And regarding his performances in SENA, his average is 37. It isn't the worst, but for someone who has been retained in the team for away performances, it is not exactly out of the world either. He has been extremely lucky to be in a team of batsmen who, barring Kohli and to some extent Pujara, haven't set the world on fire in SENA.

In a way, he embodies Indian batting overseas during Kohli era - Conservative, traditional and more safe than sorry approach - and ultimately underwhelming. Diametrically opposite to Kohli's approach regarding bowling.

The emergence of the Gills and Pants look promising. And India really need to look out for such options in place of Rahane as well - even look at promoting Pant to no.5 and getting in Jadeja at no.6 and Pandya at no.7.

 

[Smudge49]

I don't think his wife needs to feel exact same way about things as him though. She can have her own views of what happened.

There is no precedent of wives and girlfriends publicly chiming in on what happens on the cricket field and for good reason I guess, the argument that she is just an average fan expressing her opinion doesn't cut it, if what she says starts making it to the presser and eventually to all the players concerned.

 

[Spark]

It's an obvious joke, but I can forgive Smudge for recalling that similar obvious jokes have been the sources of media-driven controversy and all sort of judgements on the basic character of people in recent memory.

If it had been, say, an Aus player who did that after the Ashes had been secured, it would have made the back page of every newspaper in England.

 

[Teja.]

It's an obvious joke, but I can forgive Smudge for recalling that similar obvious jokes have been the sources of media-driven controversy and all sort of judgements on the basic character of people in recent memory.

If it had been, say, an Aus player who said that after the Ashes, it would have made the back page of every newspaper in England.

Tbf, Ashwin literally clarifies within like a 60 second interval of making the comment that it was a joke not meant to be taken seriously and Paine's sledges were purely a cricket field thing and shouldn't be taken out of context

 

[sunilz]

Virat has the best win percentage of all India captains and yet you want him to be removed as captain. Maybe something like that here.

Doesn't look like highest winning percentage to me

 

[Senile Sentry]

It's a tough era for batting and not the 00s. Batsmen who can average in the 40s with 12-13 hundreds and play world class knocks overseas under pressure against great attacks are not easily replaceable.

Yes, if we find 5 people who can average 50+ consistently, we should replace not just Rahane but Pujara as well along with the rest of the batting line up apart from Kohli but such a situation has no bearing in reality.

It is also the worst time to question his place in the side after he scored one of the most important centuries in the history of India test cricket to win a match for India under immense pressure after we were 36 AO in the previous innings.

I dont disagree overall, and if Rahane was never dropped under Kohli despite loads of underperformance, he is surely not going to be dropped now - he will be given even longer rope.

India needs to start thinking of the right combination to take the team forward in test matches abroad. And for me that right combination involves investing in Jadeja, Pandya and Pant as middle order batsmen. Giving them the rope they deserve, if atleast to fail, than sticking to conservative approach.

India has wasted such a valuable allrounder as Jadeja by batting him anywhere below no.6 really. But for some reason, India's conservatism when it comes to batting cannot even tolerate the idea of letting him bat up the order, because that would somehow violate the notion that only specialist batsmen, however mediocre they are, gets to occupy the top 6.

This has to change.

 

[Prince EWS]

Putting the captaincy on a pedestal by replacing him just because he gets made fun of is really the complete opposite direction to the one CA should be taking.

The captain's job isn't to make you feel good in online ****-slinging matches. It's to get the most of the selected squad and make tactical decisions as to bowling changes, field settings and declarations. Paine did not do a very good job of that in the last series so his captaincy should be criticised, but lets stick to reality instead of inventing abstractions and falling for bullshit media narratives.

 

[Spark]

Tbf, Ashwin literally clarifies within like a 60 second interval of making the comment that it was a joke not meant to be taken seriously and Paine's sledges were purely a cricket field thing and shouldn't be taken out of context

Right but you gotta be particularly naive to not think that in a different context, it would have been cynically blown up for outrage clicks.

 

[Smudge49]

It's an obvious joke, but I can forgive Smudge for recalling that similar obvious jokes have been the sources of media-driven controversy and all sort of judgements on the basic character of people in recent memory.

If it had been, say, an Aus player who did that after the Ashes had been secured, it would have made the back page of every newspaper in England.

Smith wearing spectacles and dancing around like a fool was apparently him mocking Leach. That's the world we live in, a hint a graciousness in victory goes a long way with the kind of press we have these days.

 

[Spark]

Yeah that was exactly the example I had in mind.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Maybe he just doesn't like that style of play and tbf deadbatting outside Asia hasn't given Pujara great outcomes anywhere else apart from Australia.

For a defensive batsman Pujara is vulnerable to a moving ball around both edges of his bat, the dense one's are probably the Australian bowlers who rather than trying to capitalise on that weakness preferred to flex by hitting him on his body.

Pujara has his issues but not in Australia where you simply can't get that kind of swing unless in exceptional circumstances.

Of course Ponting has a right to see players as he likes to, and we have a right to call him dense if evidence is to the contrary.

I do not want to call Aussie bowlers dense - not for nothing they are called World's best. The fact that Pujara had thwarted them for 2000 balls over last couple of series just show how brilliant he has been - in his own way.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Rahane needs to justify his place with batting average of 42 .
Ashwin has proved his critics wrong by having SENA bowling average of 40.
Make up your mind will you ?

Ashwin's average is 25 mate. He doesn't need to justify anything at this point in time and is the autopick for tests anywhere

 

[Teja.]

Putting the captaincy on a pedestal by replacing him just because he gets made fun of is really the complete opposite direction CA should be taking.

The captain's job isn't to make you feel good in online ****-slinging matches. It's to get the most of the selected squad and make tactical decisions as to bowling changes, field settings and declarations. Paine did not do a very good job of that in the last series so his captaincy should be criticised, but lets stick to reality instead of inventing abstractions and falling for bull**** media narratives.

but how can she tweetslap?

 

[Senile Sentry]

Doesn't look like highest winning percentage to me

And by that logic, Amit Mishra and Washington Sunder are better batsmen than Rahane.

 

[sunilz]

Oh I forgot to wish everyone :
Happy Republic Day ??and Happy Australia Day ??

 

[sunilz]

And by that logic, Amit Mishra and Washington Sunder are better batsmen than Rahane.

Rahane 2 Test victory in 3 matches
Kohli 4 Test victory in 17 matches.
I know who I will have as Captain ?