Road to India in Australia 2024-25

[Spark]

Well both sides have finished their respective major series now and Australia won't play another Test until this starts, so might as well get this thread rolling now.

On Aus I have no qualms with the seven names they've picked but they need to think hard about the order. It just feels wrong as it stands, just really unbalanced.

 

[honestbharani]

I am very worried we will lose this series.


But then I see your batting, and I have hope again.

 

[Sunil1z]

Although a lot can change in 9 months , but I feel IND has better chance this time than the last 2 series (2018 and 2020 ) because of vulnerability in Australian batting.

Now that I have written above post , Aus to smash us 4-0 with SCG Test rained out

 

[Spark]

Although a lot can change in 9 months , but I feel IND has better chance this time than the last 2 series (2018 and 2020 ) because of vulnerability in Australian batting.

Now that I have written above post , Aus to smash us 4-0 with SCG Test rained out

You don't have a better chance than in 2018 surely. That Australian batting lineup was unquestionably the weakest rolled out since the 80s.

It's genuinely difficult to know what state the Aus team will be in by November. I really hope there are at least three rounds of Shield cricket where everyone plays and the pitches are decent (that's also another massive unknown, if the pitches are as bowler-friendly next summer as they were this summer then it could be a real lottery but the Australian climate has gotten particularly difficult to predict in the past two years)

 

[OverratedSanity]

Australia don't look at their strongest, but honestly India don't really do either regardless of the margin of the eng series.

 

[Starfighter]

if the pitches are as bowler-friendly next summer as they were this summer then it could be a real lottery but the Australian climate has gotten particularly difficult to predict in the past two years)

The bower friendliness of the pitches has nothing todo with the climate and everything to do with the groundsmen leaving large amounts of grass on the pitches - as we are seeing in the current Sheffield Shield round despite it not being unusually wet at any of the venues. Stop this silly reasoning.

 

[Spark]

The bower friendliness of the pitches has nothing todo with the climate and everything to do with the groundsmen leaving large amounts of grass on the pitches - as we are seeing in the current Sheffield Shield round despite it not being unusually wet at any of the venues. Stop this silly reasoning.

Come on you more than most should be well aware that the climate has an enormous impact on the state of Australian pitches, in particular the dryness and hence hardness of the centre wicket blocks. I want to buy this lot of curators a lawnmower as much as anyone but whether we get a hot dry year or yet another year where it buckets down non-stop will have a huge impact on what state our decks are in come November.

 

[Sunil1z]

You don't have a better chance than in 2018 surely. That Australian batting lineup was unquestionably the weakest rolled out since the 80s.

It's genuinely difficult to know what state the Aus team will be in by November. I really hope there are at least three rounds of Shield cricket where everyone plays and the pitches are decent (that's also another massive unknown, if the pitches are as bowler-friendly next summer as they were this summer then it could be a real lottery but the Australian climate has gotten particularly difficult to predict in the past two years)

That Australian bowling was in red hot form in 2018 with Cummins starting his peak performance .
Although Aus bowling attack is same even now , Indian players know what to expect and are used to facing Aussie quicks . Whereas in 2018 our team faced Aussie attack of Cummins, Haze, Starc and Lyon first time in their backyard.

 

[HouHsiaoHsien]

A lot of Ind’s hopes depend on whether VK can continue his recent good form. With Pujara not there, and Pant only coming back from injury, he is our most reliable bet there

 

[Spark]

That Australian bowling was in red hot form in 2018 with Cummins starting his peak performance .
Although Aus bowling attack is same even now , Indian players know what to expect and are used to facing Aussie quicks . Whereas in 2018 our team faced Aussie attack of Cummins, Haze, Starc and Lyon first time in their backyard.

I agree with you on Cummins but I strongly disagree on Starc and (especially) Hazlewood; that was the nadir of his career IMO. That was the period where he bowled constantly at the batsman's hip and it shows up in his numbers; aside from 2022 where he was mostly injured and barely played that his statistically worst year in Tests, he averaged 33-odd.

 

[Line and Length]

We need to return Smith to number 4 and slip Green down the order a bit. The conundrum then becomes who opens and who misses out of Green/Marsh/Head assuming Khwaja and Labuschagne retain their spots.
An injection of youth is required and there is no guarantee that our 4 main bowlers will stay the same throughout the series.

 

[honestbharani]

IT will be a fun series but Aus definitely start as favorites. I always feel their batting is due a collapse or two very often and I actually rate the Aussie batting lower than most here, and I recall posting to that effect in 2020 when I seemed to be the only one with any hope for our team. So much for my supposed gambhiring, lol.

Anyways, its way too far out to be predicting anything other than this being an exciting series and hopefully creates a lot of interest for all the right reasons. Every BG series has a few blow ins here at CW and its usually from the side hosting that particular year. Hopefully those can get nipped out soon enough this time.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Can count on Smith resuming normal programming against India with at least two centuries. While it would be exciting to see how our youngers players go in Oz, I'll be far more comfortable with Rohit, Kohli, KL, and Pant providing the backbone through the tour. That being the case and assuming Bumrah and Shami are available, I'll say 60-40 to Aus. Jaiswal will be the real wild card though. I can see him struggling against the likes of Haze and Cummins but I can also visualize him taking to the bounce and being absolutely murderous.

 

[Spark]

Can count on Smith resuming normal programming against India with at least two centuries. While it would be exciting to see how our youngers players go in Oz, I'll be far more comfortable with Rohit, Kohli, KL, and Pant providing the backbone through the tour. That being the case and assuming Bumrah and Shami are available, I'll say 60-40 to Aus. Jaiswal will be the real wild card though. I can see him struggling against the likes of Haze and Cummins but I can also visualize him taking to the bounce and being absolutely murderous.

One thing that can be virtually guaranteed is that he's going to get bombed a **** ton. Like many modern players he likes to play the pull shot from low to high to try and hit sixes off the short ball. If that carries over to Australia then they're going to test that out thoroughly.

 

[Sunil1z]

IND should play Bangladesh at Eden Gardens and Dharmsala and prepare seamy roads . Ideal preparation for Australia tour .

 

[Starfighter]

Come on you more than most should be well aware that the climate has an enormous impact on the state of Australian pitches, in particular the dryness and hence hardness of the centre wicket blocks. I want to buy this lot of curators a lawnmower as much as anyone but whether we get a hot dry year or yet another year where it buckets down non-stop will have a huge impact on what state our decks are in come November.

Nah you're off the mark. The Bureau of Meteorology may have stuffed up the seasonal forecast in their zeal to claim we were going to have 2019 again, but that's not dictating how much grass is left on the pitches, and there's been sufficient dry spells to produce something other than a green top. The groundsmen are supposed to be professionals, they can read a weekly forecast (which has generally been pretty good) and keep an eye on the weather. Perth's wickets have been quite green this year (and for several years) even though they get next to no rain at all in summer (and it's been hotter than average). The Junction Oval pitch looks like it could be at Durham in May, with movement to match, despite the weekend being hot - why wasn't the grass cut and the wicket left uncovered to dry on those two days?

There is no climate related excuse for the pitches we've seen this season. Even if in some places the humidity was greater than normal, they could produce a flatter pitch by cutting the grass and rolling some grass clippings in Les Burdett style. If they want a turning pitch, it doesn't matter if the wicket isn't hard, cut the grass and the spinners will get the ball to bite. The pitches we see now are largely the result of deliberate decisions to grow and leave large amounts of live grass regardless of the weather. The groundsman have mowers, they can cut the grass.

 

[Spark]

Nah you're off the mark. The Bureau of Meteorology may have stuffed up the seasonal forecast in their zeal to claim we were going to have 2019 again, but that's not dictating how much grass is left on the pitches, and there's been sufficient dry spells to produce something other than a green top. The groundsmen are supposed to be professionals, they can read a weekly forecast (which has generally been pretty good) and keep an eye on the weather. Perth's wickets have been quite green this year (and for several years) even though they get next to no rain at all in summer (and it's been hotter than average). The Junction Oval pitch looks like it could be at Durham in May, with movement to match, despite the weekend being hot - why wasn't the grass cut and the wicket left uncovered to dry on those two days?

There is no climate related excuse for the pitches we've seen this season. Even if in some places the humidity was greater than normal, they could produce a flatter pitch by cutting the grass and rolling some grass clippings in Les Burdett style. If they want a turning pitch, it doesn't matter if the wicket isn't hard, cut the grass and the spinners will get the ball to bite. The pitches we see now are largely the result of deliberate decisions to grow and leave large amounts of live grass regardless of the weather. The groundsman have mowers, they can cut the grass.

I'm really talking about the Test pitches, here not the Shield pitches. Those are an entirely different matter.

You can look at SMIPS for the soil moisture % data if you want proof of what I mean. It's still way above where it was in that mid-2010s period when we had all those roads, even now it's somewhat elevated after all this hot weather. The sheer quantity of rain we've had over the last years takes more than a hot week or two to bleed off and none of that applied to the Test pitches anyway.

 

[Starfighter]

I'm really talking about the Test pitches, here not the Shield pitches. Those are an entirely different matter.

There's been plenty of similarities between them - after all it's the same people. And it's not just lack of hard bouncy wickets. Look at the Sydney test vs SA where both teams memed themselves into picking two spinners. Ironically Sydney is the one venue that does do that Les Burdett kind of preparation. The wicket for that test had a thick mat of largely dead grass rolled into the pitch. Of course it didn't break up. And with some of the pitches last season and in the 21/22 Ashes, there was more grass than I can ever remember (or have seen in footage). They could have been mown, but weren't.

 

[OverratedSanity]

We really need Pant back but updates on his recovery sadly have not been giving me any confidence. Pant and Pujara have been huge in Australia and we'll need the youngsters to step up massively to make up for the absence if pant isn't ready. A lot really does depend on kohli as was said before.

 

[Spark]

We really need Pant back but updates on his recovery sadly have not been giving me any confidence. Pant and Pujara have been huge in Australia and we'll need the youngsters to step up massively to make up for the absence if pant isn't ready. A lot really does depend on kohli as was said before.

Pujara is the big miss IMO. There's a chance that one of these talented youngsters might be able to do what Pant does from a shotmaking POV - I know Pant is almost certainly better than all of them - but Pujara is the one who puts miles in the legs of the bowlers and prevents collapses getting out of hand. Also prepared to take the physical punishment that others might not.