*Official Third Test at Headingley* 25-29 August

[Shri]

Ashwin will come in as a VC if Rahane is dropped

why would that happen when rohit is right there for vc duties

 

[Shri]

Well that unravelled quick. Still think the fight we showed on days 2 and 3 were good signs for us overall. But obviously when you lose 18/140 in a test, there is hardly any coming back from there.

Gotta pick Ashwin for Ishant. Maybe Shardul for Shami as I am worried about Shami's workload now. Bumrah and Siraj are needed. Hopefully it is a typical Oval wicket which should help our batsmen and our spinners.

I wish I had more good things to say about England but I genuinely think this was a match that we lost than they won. I mean, the first day bowling was very disciplined, tight, good and all that, but there is no way any test team should be getting out for 78 from that bowling. And then when they batted, it was also the worst session of bowling I have seen from this line up in a while - at least post pandemic. Gotta hope both are aberrations and we revert to being better, especially with the ball.

Malan looked very good though. Root continues to be Root. And Hameed looks like he can be a better partner for Burns than Sibley was. Woakes coming back for Curran should be a huge shot in the arm for England as well. Still think we will take the series and also bat lot better in the last two tests. Lets see.

adelaide and this match were freakish where we just nicked everything without playing and missing a lot in the 1st dig

will back us to get 200 every innings from now on

whether that'll be enough is to be seen

 

[Niall]

Missing that Vihari had a miserable county stint and the last thing India need is a sure failure

To be fair his last innings was excellent for India so he should be next in line.

What's Yadav done to justify selection over him?

 

[Bijed]

To be fair his last innings was excellent for India so he should be next in line.

What's Yadav done to justify selection over him?

I quite like Vihari, but as great as that innings was in context, he made 23* and had done virtually nothing leading up to that in the series IIRC. Faced a lot of balls, which was the important thing, but right now India want someone to make runs, not just eat up deliveries. Yadav has been good in the handful of LO games he's played (with the caveat of no *big* scores) and obviously cricket is full of players who don't translate that to test success, but if Vihari hasn't been doing well recently I couldn't blame them for taking a punt of Yadav

 

[_00_deathscar]

First of all it’s SKY not Yadav, stop with this nonsense

Second, he is/we’ll become an excellent LO player. But even there he’s struggled to pick up the length sometimes. He’ll be eaten up in England.

Third, Vihari isn’t the answer.

Fourth, I know it’s Ranji but Jadeja bats 5 there. And while he should have scored more centuries than he has in tests, be good to see what he can do when he isn’t just batting with the tail.

 

[Manee]

He's been mostly really good in his role for a little while now but I do sort of feel that in the majority of cases when you've got a bowling all-rounder/lower-order batsman making good runs down the order, you need to be happy with what you've got and take an "if it broke, don't fix it", even if the theoretical upside is alluring and/or you feel they're being wasted. Plenty of much more 'proper' batsmen can suddenly look out of their depth when pushed up the order even when everyone thinks they should have the tools to succeed there and in a lot of cases the difference in pressure of expectation, let alone technical ability, can destroy their output.

Plus (and this isn't to belittle what Jadeja has been providing with the bat) lower order contributions always feel just sort of better simply because they feel a bit like bonus runs. Your number 7/8 makes a few 30s and a couple of 50s and you're really pleased. You bump them up to 5 or something, and suddenly you start to notice how often they don't go on with a start.

That said, I'm happy to accept that Jadeja is probaby a better batsman than most of those that normally get talked in these sort of situations. But if we were talking about doing a similar thing for an equivalent English player, I'd be tempering my expectations.

Yes it's a great point well-made and tbh, I'm on the fence.

 

[Arachnodouche]

India has conceded 303, 394, and 432 in the three Tests so far. While they've also skittled Eng out under 200 twice, the upward trend in what should be a low-scoring series is worrying, even allowing for Root's form. Too many four balls, not enough swing, not bowling dry enough either.

 

[neerajchopra]

the issue is that rahane is not scoring at all. if whoever comes in can score 30-35 that would be great. with india's bowling lineup and england's weak batting getting to 250-300 is a good score.

if sky/agarwal/viahri etc can hit a 30 odd at 5 and along with say jadeja/ashwin/pant and the tail manage to get 70-100 odd post fall of the 5th wicket would be great.

 

[neerajchopra]

India has conceded 303, 394, and 432 in the three Tests so far. While they've also skittled Eng out under 200 twice, the upward trend in what should be a low-scoring series is worrying, even allowing for Root's form. Too many four balls, not enough swing, not bowling dry enough either.

i think ashwin is definitely required. jadeja is not even getting used much.

bumrah ashwin jadeja shami shardul/siraj seems good.

ishants falling away sucks cause he kept it tight.

 

[Niall]

I could be wrong,,,not the first time etc

But pretty sure Rahane has a very poor record in test series that consist of more than 2 matches?

He always has a day out in England but its a lot of failures after that. I suspect last test he may have peaked !

 

[neerajchopra]

I could be wrong,,,not the first time etc

But pretty sure Rahane has a very poor record in test series that consist of more than 2 matches?

He always has a day out in England but its a lot of failures after that. I suspect last test he may have peaked !

he has a day out in all series tbh and often leads to us winning but then is quiet for the rest of the series.

mcg century.
in the home series against eng had a good partnership with rohit at a tricky time in the 2nd chennai test.
last match at lord's.

in 2018 wanderer's, trent bridge, adelaide etc.

kohli is the one who makes lots of runs in losing causes.

 

[Anil]

let's close this foul thread now!

 

[neerajchopra]

considering rahane's quota of one good knock per series is over, can drop him now hehe.

 

[subshakerz]

If India can't win in England now, with England playing a weakened team and India having the longest prep for it, I don't know when India can beat England.

 

[silentstriker]

Jadeja would be wasted at 8. He is not the kind of batsman who likes hitting out.

Right now, in the series context, he should be promoted to 3. Agreed with more batting required.

Rohit
KL
Jadeja
Kohli
Shaw
SKY
Pant
Ashwin
+3 pacers

Gives India the best chance.

Jadeja at three is madness. Absolute madness.

 

[Burgey]

he has rabbits for company all the time this series.

He has rabbits for company because the correct spot for him in the batting line up is one spot above those rabbits.

 

[Adders]

It's honestly like watching Clarke in 2012 or Sanga at his peak. Not only do you not look like getting him out, not only can you not stop him scoring, but it honestly feels like he is completely dictating the play when in theory it should be the bowlers who do that. Like watching a bloke having an extended net. This is vanishingly rare form he's in right now.

Cook in 10/11 is probably the only other time Ive seen an Eng batsmen look so impenetrable......sensational to see (from our pov)

I'm desperate to see Root have a big series in Aus, it's a bit of a hole in his CV atm and quite frankly if he's not in the big runs this could turn out to be the most humiliating tour down under yet. And there's some stiff competition for that mantle.

Is it too much to expect this absurd form to carry on into next year? My pessimistic side thinks that yes it probably is.

 

[Burgey]

Jadeja at three is madness. Absolute madness.

Meanwhile, the actual number three made 90 a day ago. What is this insanity?

 

[Arachnodouche]

Cook in 10/11 is probably the only other time Ive seen an Eng batsmen look so impenetrable......sensational to see (from our pov)

I'm desperate to see Root have a big series in Aus, it's a bit of a hole in his CV atm and quite frankly if he's not in the big runs this could turn out to be the most humiliating tour down under yet. And there's some stiff competition for that mantle.

Is it too much to expect this absurd form to carry on into next year? My pessimistic side thinks that yes it probably is.

Why not? He's still only 31, so he's just about to enter the golden period for a batsman. Scary thought. I see no flaws in his game at the moment, other than the compulsive opening the face to third man. But he has that down pat too, so what possible strategy can you devise around that?

 

[Adders]

Why not? He's still only 31, so he's just about to enter the golden period for a batsman. Scary thought. I see no flaws in his game at the moment, other than the compulsive opening the face to third man. But he has that down pat too, so what possible strategy can you devise around that?

Haha, it's just an English thing I guess. We've had plenty of batsmen that look like world beaters for brief periods.....but they don't keep doing it year after year, series after series.

That said though I do feel Root is by far the best in my time of watching cricket so maybe he can?