*Official* 1st Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 05 - 09 Feb 2021

[cnerd123]

Yeah, I am speaking too early, but India should try and bat the rest of the match. No hopes of winning here, just tire out the bowlers for the upcoming matches like England did today.

Bat aggressively first, get bowled out quickly enough to bait England into enforcing the follow on

Bat properly the 2nd time around and grind them

Doubt England will enforce the follow on even if it is 36 a/o tho. Maybe WTC points will bait them.

 

[cnerd123]

If the other strip for the second Test is likely to be as **** as this one, we can bin Sundar and Nadeem, and bring in Siraj and Kuldeep. Seamers have looked better anyway and Nadeem on anything other than a crumbling wicket is little more than garden-variety subcontinental slow make-up-the-numbers. Whose son-in-law is the baniya-turned-curator again?

The poor groundsman is gonna cop so much flack. Good article about him on Cricinfo. I think he's erred towards a classic bat first win match kind of pitch. One that's super firm at first but the crumbles almost instantly on Day 3. Hopefully it holds firm for all 5 days, otherwise we're defo losing.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Have a low-key feeling England will win this test. India just looked off the pace with the ball/field and I can see that manifesting in their batting

 

[artvandalay]

Easy to be wise after the event, but a couple of the Indian comms were suggesting the players enjoyed Rahane's more "relaxed" style of captaincy once England's score had ticked over 500.

The obvious inference is Virat has micro managerial tendencies, which, as an outside observer, would seem to fit the general MO he projects.

Clearly though if England had been skittled for 200 they'd have been praising his attention to detail. Success has many fathers and failure is an orphan and all that.

tbf losing this game will only heap more pressure on kohli and invite even more comparisons to rahane's more serene leadership. Knowing the ego he has I'm not sure he will give it up like dhoni did mid tour in 2015, not after the pr overdrive after the brisbane game making it seem like kohli was still responsible for the win in spirit.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Kohli might not be much chop tactically but I agree with Shastri that the team carries his stamp in spirit. Disingenuous to suggest the wins under Rahane don't owe at least a little to a cumulative process that began under Kohli's leadership.

 

[karan_fromthestands]

Kohli might not be much chop tactically but I agree with Shastri that the team carries his stamp in spirit. Disingenuous to suggest the wins under Rahane don't owe at least a little to a cumulative process that began under Kohli's leadership.

That's certainly not true. Although T20s and Tests are totally different, Kohli has been the captain of RCB since forever and has always looked terrible as a captain. I am not saying that because RCB has never won the IPL, it's just that you don't see him leading the team with street-smart tactics and awareness like MSD has done for CSK or Gambhir for KKR. Again, I am only highlighting his IPL captainship because in the shortest format the captain has to think on his toes and frequently change tactics and use the bowlers smartly.

Leadership skills are natural, you cannot manufacture a captain. Again, I am a huge fan of Kohli's batting, but captainship is simply not for him.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Think you're conflating leadership in its myriad aspects with strategic maneuvering on the field. If we're talking of the former, there's only one real leader in the Indian set-up and he sets the expectations and standards, with his vision and performance, for Indian cricket at large.

Not being dismissive of Rahane. The way he conducts himself is far more to my tastes, but Kohli for better or worse is too pivotal a figure to be playing second fiddle.

 

[Shri]

games where a team has still been batting at the start of day 3:

this one will almost certainly end in a draw

 

[Anil]

At this point the only two options are an England win or a draw...

 

[silentstriker]

The poor groundsman is gonna cop so much flack. Good article about him on Cricinfo. I think he's erred towards a classic bat first win match kind of pitch. One that's super firm at first but the crumbles almost instantly on Day 3. Hopefully it holds firm for all 5 days, otherwise we're defo losing.

"It will be a typical Chepauk pitch with English look. It will work for all three departments. It will be a keen contest between bat and ball. First day, there will be something for the fast bowlers. Second and third days will favour batsmen. Fourth day onwards there will be wear and tear and support the spinners."

Hmmmmmmm

 

[Burgey]

Pujara rings a bell isn't it ?

Not really. They’ve got india by the balls and may as well twist

 

[Arachnodouche]

"It will be a typical Chepauk pitch with English look. It will work for all three departments. It will be a keen contest between bat and ball. First day, there will be something for the fast bowlers. Second and third days will favour batsmen. Fourth day onwards there will be wear and tear and support the spinners."

Sounds like the saree salesman that he is. Sab badiya hai, madam.

 

[BSM]

It's not going to happen but a match winning 10fer from Simply the Bess would be glorious.
Think a draw is most likely result but tbh I don't think England are doing the wrong thing for batting so long. On a road you just want to bat as long as you can and then hope the pitch deteriorates later on when you eventually bowl. Realistically, India aren't going to get bowled out for a low score on that pitch Day 2/Early Day 3, so the plan should be to try and tire them out as much as possible before you put them in.

 

[centurymaker]

It's not going to happen but a match winning 10fer from Simply the Bess would be glorious.
Think a draw is most likely result but tbh I don't think England are doing the wrong thing for batting so long. On a road you just want to bat as long as you can and then hope the pitch deteriorates later on when you eventually bowl. Realistically, India aren't going to get bowled out for a low score on that pitch Day 2/Early Day 3, so the plan should be to try and tire them out as much as possible before you put them in.

Don't agree with England's strategy. It is a negative approach. Trying to save the game first at all costs and in the processing minimising chance of victory.

Had it been Australia they would have got 600, and declared 10 overs before stumps. Giving themselves more time to win this game.

India-

1st test vs South Africa 2019/20-
502/7 declared in 136 overs

2nd Test-
601/5 declared in 156 overs

3rd Test-
497 declared 116 overs

India won the series 3-0 comfortably.

England have already batted 180 overs and not even passed 600-650! You don't win matches in India by doing what England have done! They are so afraid of India also scoring 500/600 that they have taken this 20th century approach where test matches often ended in draws because teams played slow and safe.

 

[Daemon]

Their slow run rate needs a bit of context though. It’s only that low because of Sibley, but Sibley opened and set up a great platform for them.

It’s very hindsight thinking to say he should’ve shown more aggression.

Perhaps Pope and Buttler could’ve batted a bit quicker because England were far ahead of the game while they were there.

 

[Arachnodouche]

All unwarranted. We're finding ourselves in some soup if Leach and Bess bowl half-decently. And who's to say evergreen Jimmy won't cause a few hiccups before we get to that stage.

 

[trundler]

All unwarranted. We're finding ourselves in some soup if Leach and Bess bowl half-decently. And who's to say evergreen Jimmy won't cause a few hiccups before we get to that stage.

 

[NotMcKenzie]

How long did you spend on making that one?

 

[Spark]

Had it been Australia they'd have been 380ao by lunch yesterday.

It's the first innings of a four test series. There's a lot to be said for batting as long as you possibly can and making your opponents bake in the heat.

 

[centurymaker]

Bumrah and Ishant haven't been bowling many overs.

They only bowled 12 overs each yesterday.

In a way it is good that Kohli has tried to preserve his fast bowlers given all the injuries. There was no point burning them out in docile conditions.