*Official* Australia in India 2023

[silentstriker]

Subjectively it seems odd to me mostly because I don't think anyone is used to it, objectively there is nothing wrong with it and I think anyone will struggle to prove otherwise.

Ok, thank you for answering. I think that while probably not breaking any current rules, I do think such a thing should not be allowed as it goes too far. We can disagree on that point and that’s fair, but at least we are talking about the same thing instead of arguing different things.

 

[Shri]

But surely we should have some idea of where people stand on an issue

there is no issue

seems like standard practice from articles that i have read

there was a recent really low scoring ranji game in the venue recently so maybe they were trying to improve the pitch to avid that scenario

 

[Shri]

What are the curators doing with the Nagpur pitch?

It is difficult to predict but this is not something that has been done by Indian pitch curators for the first time. This ploy of selective treatment of the pitch is done to create an illusion in the minds of the visiting team. The less rolling and more watering on the side generally leaves the top layer of the pitch loose, which makes the surface appear dusty in the beginning but it settles down from the second day and starts to assist spinners aiming at a particular length.

 

[Molehill]

Travis Head is the 4th ranked batsman IN THE WORLD

Australian selectors: "We have better"

WTF

Who could have predicted this turning bad bar everyone

Well you say that, but Head has played 33 Tests of which just 11 were away. He averages 57 at home, 21 away. He's ranked 4th based solely on his home performances. As a Sussex fan, I have first hand experience of how god awful he was in England and can't wait for Ollie Robinson to get revenge on the worst overseas player we've ever had.

 

[silentstriker]

there is no issue

seems like standard practice from articles that i have read

there was a recent really low scoring ranji game in the venue recently so maybe they were trying to improve the pitch to avid that scenario

Sure. Fine. Forget Nagpur. I’ll concede for the sake of argument that everything was treated equally etc and the pitch preparation for this game was perfect.

Let’s say you had a brand new stadium, and a pitch, and you had a visiting team with 6 left handed batsmen in their top eight, is it ok to specifically treat certain areas of the pitch where the ball may pitch against them differently compared to the areas for your own right handed side - and in the next series assuming now the batting is switched (eg you now have mostly LHBs and they have RHBs), to prepare the inverse?

 

[Prince EWS]

You’re still not answering the question. That’s fine.

SIlentstriker: Forget about how the pitch played, that's not what I'm asking.

Shri: Here's a chart showing how the pitch played.

 

[Molehill]

View attachment 34531

This is really good. I love how it shows the reaction from losing the First Test against England and how to counteract Root when he was in vintage form. It worked too...

 

[Nintendo]

On the topic of head being dropped, I see nothing wrong with the call in a vacuum. Mcdonald indicated that head would likely not start the series in an interview earlier in the Aussie home summer. He averaged sub 20 across 50 test's in the subcontinent earlier this year and there's been no significant change in his technique to indicate that he's suddenly gonna start making runs in the subcontinent vs decent spinners. He made home runs vs a good english attack on some absolute seamers at a high SR the summer before those subcontinent tours in 2022, just like he did this summer vs Windies and SA before the India tour.

With that in mind, if we where gonna drop head for that reason, warner probably deserves the axe as well. Even with that double hundred vs SA earlier this summer he's averaging 30 odd since the last ashes in AUS and looks nowhere near the player he was at home pre 2020, also has never made consistent runs vs Ashwin, home or away, or runs in the subcontinent for that matter, since the 2015 tour of bangladesh. I'm inclined to think warner may not have started this series if Green was fit, with renshaw opening and handsomb at 5 over head, but thats conjecture.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Australia look outgunned and outclassed. Jadeja bowling like that on comeback means this series is as good as done for them. India need to hobble to 250+ through the series and they'll take this close to 4-zip.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Australia look outgunned and outclassed. Jadeja bowling like that on comeback means this series is as good as done for them. India need to hobble to 250+ through the series and they'll take this close to 4-zip.

I see the flaw in your plan...

 

[anil1405]

Australia look outgunned and outclassed. Jadeja bowling like that on comeback means this series is as good as done for them. India need to hobble to 250+ through the series and they'll take this close to 4-zip.

Easy tiger. Don't do the same mistake that Aussie pundits and fans did after 36 all out.

 

[_00_deathscar]

On the topic of head being dropped, I see nothing wrong with the call in a vacuum. Mcdonald indicated that head would likely not start the series in an interview earlier in the Aussie home summer. He averaged sub 20 across 50 test's in the subcontinent earlier this year and there's been no significant change in his technique to indicate that he's suddenly gonna start making runs in the subcontinent vs decent spinners. He made home runs vs a good english attack on some absolute seamers at a high SR the summer before those subcontinent tours in 2022, just like he did this summer vs Windies and SA before the India tour.

With that in mind, if we where gonna drop head for that reason, warner probably deserves the axe as well. Even with that double hundred vs SA earlier this summer he's averaging 30 odd since the last ashes in AUS and looks nowhere near the player he was at home pre 2020, also has never made consistent runs vs Ashwin, home or away, or runs in the subcontinent for that matter, since the 2015 tour of bangladesh. I'm inclined to think warner may not have started this series if Green was fit, with renshaw opening and handsomb at 5 over head, but thats conjecture.

Yea in isolation I don't think anyone minds him being dropped specifically, it's more his replacements.

Sometimes, you just have to let the guys in a hot run of form play on - I'm not keen on Shreyas in England, SA or Aus, but I'd rather have him there than some spud with a low ceiling/someone who will also likely fail and isn't actually any better than Shreyas either way. Plus, Shreyas is in good form.

I'd have let Head play - and sort out the rest accordingly. The point about Warner is valid.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Easy tiger. Don't do the same mistake that Aussie pundits and fans did after 36 all out.

What difference do ****y fans and pundits make to the conditions in the middle? That Indian win was a fluke, helped by fairly benign batting conditions. This is as good as batting on Mars for the Aussies. I hope we get a good series too but all gambhiring aside it seems unlikely.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Batting on Mars would be pretty easy actually.

 

[Sunil1z]

Australia look outgunned and outclassed. Jadeja bowling like that on comeback means this series is as good as done for them. India need to hobble to 250+ through the series and they'll take this close to 4-zip.

Easily forgotten 2012 England series.
We won 1st Test comprehensively only to get destroyed in next 2 Test .
It is only Day 1 . So relax ?

 

[Arachnodouche]

Obviously, it was eleven years ago. Destroyed plenty of brain cells since but you do you, nervous nellie.

 

[h_hurricane]

The supposed condition of the pitch played weird tricks in the minds of the batsmen today that most of them got dismissed in perfectly ok or straight balls.

That Jaddu ball to Smith will go down as a legendary one. Smith was looking really well set and could have taken the match somewhere else.

 

[Nintendo]

Yea in isolation I don't think anyone minds him being dropped specifically, it's more his replacements.

Sometimes, you just have to let the guys in a hot run of form play on - I'm not keen on Shreyas in England, SA or Aus, but I'd rather have him there than some spud with a low ceiling/someone who will also likely fail and isn't actually any better than Shreyas either way. Plus, Shreyas is in good form.

I'd have let Head play - and sort out the rest accordingly. The point about Warner is valid.

Tbf Renshaw wasn't a bad replacement. He's made runs all over the order for QLD, Aus-A, somerset and the heat across formats in the past 1-2 years and averaged 50+ vs Ashwin and Jadeja last time we toured India (I know technically renshaw played the 3rd test vs SA and handscomb replaced head, but common, Renshaw is a left hander batting 5, handscomb is a right hander batting 6, its clear who the selectors where replacing with who in this lineup).

 

[Nintendo]

Australia look outgunned and outclassed. Jadeja bowling like that on comeback means this series is as good as done for them. India need to hobble to 250+ through the series and they'll take this close to 4-zip.

Lol this is some next level gambhiring. India dominated today but Smith and Marnus looked really solid before copping some good balls, and usman got a rare low score in subcontinent conditions.

 

[Shri]

Let’s say you had a brand new stadium, and a pitch, and you had a visiting team with 6 left handed batsmen in their top eight, is it ok to specifically treat certain areas of the pitch where the ball may pitch against them differently compared to the areas for your own right handed side - and in the next series assuming now the batting is switched (eg you now have mostly LHBs and they have RHBs), to prepare the inverse?

we will see when such a thing happens