***Official*** 4th Test @ The Oval, London - 2nd-6th September

[Spark]

I still think Pant's main problem is that he doesn't seem to quite know what he's doing out there. He basically seems to have only one attacking shot at the moment, the wild slap outside off stump. It's very all or nothing out there; for all the talk of the irresponsibility and recklessness of yesterday's innings he had a strike rate of under 30. If anything the problem for him is a lack of good attacking options.

 

[honestbharani]

How do you know?

TBF, if Team A sets target of 250 for Team B in 4th innings, Team A will win is a blanket template statement you can make in most tests in most conditions. lol

 

[Shri]

more in a Chanderpaul-like role

chanderpaul actually was a gun bat with shots all around the ground and was more like WI's dravid to WI's sachin (lara)

chanderpaul is a level above poo as a batsman

 

[Shri]

Pant will do well outside of England/NZ/SA

pant will dominate in SA

 

[Chrish]

I don’t understand how anyone can even think about dropping Pant. We all had a speculation on how he would go in these conditions. But he is an asset when conditions are right which is everywhere outside of England/ NZ. And it’s not like India have another keeper who can do better than him. There are much bigger fish to fry in Pujara and Rahane. Any possible alternative for these two can’t do any worse, but on a bright side it might actually work out.

Bring even Shaw, Gill or heck Sundar or Shardul as specialist batsmen; not just these two! Kidding but not really.

 

[sunilz]

England are still massively ahead. Would take a very good bowling effort to dismiss them cheaply.

 

[harsh.ag]

I don’t understand how anyone can even think about dropping Pant. We all had a speculation on how he would go in these conditions. But he is an asset when conditions are right which is everywhere outside of England/ NZ. And it’s not like India have another keeper who can do better than him. There are much bigger fish to fry in Pujara and Rahane. Any possible alternative for these two can’t do any worse, but on a bright side it might actually work out.

Bring even Shaw, Gill or heck Sundar or Shardul as specialist batsmen; not just these two! Kidding but not really.

It's not a bad idea to drop Pant in England and NZ.

 

[Nintendo]

It's not a bad idea to drop Pant in England and NZ.

Who do you replace him with as keeper? Dropping pant for a 36 year old saha who is extremely unlikely to contribute anymore then he does with the bat is so extremely counter-productive I can't describe it adequately, and Rahul is A Opening, and B not a tested keeper in those conditions. You either burden one of your best bats to open and keep and risk his average dropping, or you move him down the order to keep and have to let a hack like agarwal or shaw open, no offense to either but they'll get eaten alive opening in England.

Pant is not the problem, the 3-4-5 who average 20/25 ARE the problem.

 

[honestbharani]

The idea should be to see who can make runs off the backfoot for England and NZ. Virat will always be a front foot player and that is fine. But we need guys who can do well off the backfoot. Rohit never had much feet movement anyways and strangely that is an asset these days against the swinging ball. Rahul can bat well off either foot too. I think Shaw has a backfoot game. I think Surya has a game closer to Rohit. Sundar seems comfortable off the backfoot too. Once you get the predominantly backfoot players, we can see if they can get used to playing swing. The imperative to playing late is to play off the back foot as much as possible and leaving a lot. Still need to get forward when the ball is pitched right up, but a back and across trigger movement would work better than the forward press most of these players are keen on.

 

[White Ball]

How do you know?

Because this England batting line up is fragile under pressure

 

[harsh.ag]

Who do you replace him with as keeper? Dropping pant for a 36 year old saha who is extremely unlikely to contribute anymore then he does with the bat is so extremely counter-productive I can't describe it adequately, and Rahul is A Opening, and B not a tested keeper in those conditions. You either burden one of your best bats to open and keep and risk his average dropping, or you move him down the order to keep and have to let a hack like agarwal or shaw open, no offense to either but they'll get eaten alive opening in England.

Pant is not the problem, the 3-4-5 who average 20/25 ARE the problem.

Didn't mean right now. For future tours. Yes, you are right that if the only other option is Saha, then it's not a good idea.

Cute how KL suddenly became one of India's top batsmen. Not that you're wrong about that and I love his batting, but he wasn't in the team until Gill got injured.

By definition, something like dropping someone is only a good idea if there is a feasible replacement.

 

[GIMH]

Should be a cracking day today tbf. Tbh anything less than a 100 lead and India will probably consider themselves favourites.

 

[honestbharani]

Should be a cracking day today tbf. Tbh anything less than a 100 lead and India will probably consider themselves favourites.

Gambhiring

 

[h_hurricane]

A lead of 100 for England makes India favorites to lose by an innings.

 

[GIMH]

Gambhiring

Nah not really. India have got the bats to set us a decent target if we don’t eke out a huge lead. The Oval not the easiest place to chase either.

 

[_00_deathscar]

India have got the bats

Yes but no batsmen actually wielding said bats.

 

[CricAddict]

Why is there so much Jadeja bashing for him batting at 5? He has improved his batting by notches and has a solid defence now. He is as good as any specialist batsman at that position and has domestic credentials on getting high scores from that position. Has always done well for Saurashtra at #5 position. It is not his mistake that he is a good bowler too.

At least give him a couple of innings to fail before judging that he is a failure at 5.

 

[CricAddict]

A lead of 100 for England makes India favorites to lose by an innings.

It is forecasted to aid spin on later days. If England get only a slender lead (which I think they won't), they are still in trouble since they have to bat last. Any support from the pitch and Jadeja will become a different bowler from what he has been so far in the series.

 

[Apex Predator]

Why is there so much Jadeja bashing for him batting at 5? He has improved his batting by notches and has a solid defence now. He is as good as any specialist batsman at that position and has domestic credentials on getting high scores from that position. Has always done well for Saurashtra at #5 position. It is not his mistake that he is a good bowler too.

At least give him a couple of innings to fail before judging that he is a failure at 5.

Jadeja is good enough for his odd 50's or 30's.. That too don't come often. His ceiling isn't as high as a specialist batter should have.
Just the pathetic middle order is making even mediocre contributions look good.
Pujara & Rahane both need to go.

 

[CricAddict]

Jadeja is good enough for his odd 50's or 30's.. That too don't come often. His ceiling isn't as high as a specialist batter should have.
Just the pathetic middle order is making even mediocre contributions look good.
Pujara & Rahane both need to go.

Below are his last 16 innings. He has been extremely consistent in almost all the test in the 30s-60s category. At number 7 with bunnies batting at the other end, you cannot be expecting centuries.

In the form that he is in, give him a chance at #5 to convert those not-out or last out thirties and fifties to hundreds. How do we know that his ceiling is not high without giving him a chance at higher positions? Domestic cricket?

81	-	81	2	73	0	0		v Australia	Sydney	3 Jan 2019	Test # 2339
58	1*	59	2	106	0	0		v West Indies	North Sound	22 Aug 2019	Test # 2358
16	DNB	16	4	77	0	0		v West Indies	Kingston	30 Aug 2019	Test # 2359
30*	40	70	6	211	1	0		v South Africa	Visakhapatnam	2 Oct 2019	Test # 2363
91	-	91	4	133	0	0		v South Africa	Pune	10 Oct 2019	Test # 2364
51	-	51	3	55	1	0		v South Africa	Ranchi	19 Oct 2019	Test # 2365
60*	-	60	0	57	0	0		v Bangladesh	Indore	14 Nov 2019	Test # 2366
12	-	12	0	13	1	0		v Bangladesh	Kolkata	22 Nov 2019	Test # 2369
9	16*	25	2	46	2	0		v New Zealand	Christchurch	29 Feb 2020	Test # 2387
57	DNB	57	3	43	2	0		v Australia	Melbourne	26 Dec 2020	Test # 2398
28*	DNB	28	4	62	0	0		v Australia	Sydney	7 Jan 2021	Test # 2402
15	16	31	1	45	0	0		v New Zealand	Southampton	18 Jun 2021	Test # 2425
56	DNB	56	0	50	1	0		v England	Nottingham	4 Aug 2021	Test # 2428
40	3	43	0	48	0	0		v England	Lord's	12 Aug 2021	Test # 2429
4	30	34	2	88	0	0		v England	Leeds	25 Aug 2021	Test # 2432
10	-	10	-	-	0	0		v England	The Oval	2 Sep 2021	Test # 2433