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**Official** Australia in Sri Lanka Jan - Feb 2025

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
He actually looked really good today tbh so maybe it was just that he couldn't line up Bumrah. Or maybe being forced into some positivity actually helped him get his feet moving.
These lines are so thin man. He top edged a rushed pull in one of his very first scoring shots. Same shot in Perth went up in the air and he was caught. Today, you are saying he was looking good. It just shows how thin and feeble a line the luck in cricket is. Head nicks any one of the countless balls he was beaten by in the WTC or WC or even in one of the tests here and we are speaking very differently about him. To me, it shows how mentally tough batsmen have to be at any level but especially at the test level, coz it really is a lot of the 90-10 rule like Richie Benaud famously put it.
 

Nintendo

Cricketer Of The Year
He actually looked really good today tbh so maybe it was just that he couldn't line up Bumrah. Or maybe being forced into some positivity actually helped him get his feet moving.
He also got 50 in that Melbourne game when konstas hit bumrah out of the attack. He's clearly past it but I reckon you still get a decent opener out of him when he's not playing bumrah.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
These lines are so thin man. He top edged a rushed pull in one of his very first scoring shots. Same shot in Perth went up in the air and he was caught. Today, you are saying he was looking good. It just shows how thin and feeble a line the luck in cricket is. Head nicks any one of the countless balls he was beaten by in the WTC or WC or even in one of the tests here and we are speaking very differently about him. To me, it shows how mentally tough batsmen have to be at any level but especially at the test level, coz it really is a lot of the 90-10 rule like Richie Benaud famously put it.
Mostly I just liked that he was willing to get on the front foot and drive on the offside. That's what really characterised Khawaja's batting in his renaissance period and what he seemed to lose over the last year. Having said that, that's probably also down to the bowling - got more half volleys in 40 balls than he had all series up to that point.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Mostly I just liked that he was willing to get on the front foot and drive on the offside. That's what really characterised Khawaja's batting in his renaissance period and what he seemed to lose over the last year. Having said that, that's probably also down to the bowling - got more half volleys in 40 balls than he had all series up to that point.
I think he definitely made an effort but it is probably a combination of the situation, knowing Bumrah was out, the small target, and the fact that the Indian seamers are inexperienced and they erred in length as well as you pointed out.
 

the big bambino

Cricketer Of The Year
I don’t think any opener facing Bumrah and Siraj on the kind of pitches served up this test summer should be overly criticised. Just how much of his form was described by those circumstances? Maybe he should’ve listened to his own advice earlier, and adapted to the conditions he said were not conducive to good technique, and played more aggressively. Let’s see how he goes on pitches fairer to batting.
 

TheJediBrah

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If its best to leave Konstas and Sween at home to play domestically rather than be spare wheels in SL, then maybe they can be replaced by KPat and Maxie.
Surely for the future exposing them to Sri Lankan conditions would be great experience for them, rather than playing more in the shield
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Marnus saved the last game with two 70s and he is a very good player of spin. Wtf is wrong with people

Head
Khawaja
Marnus
Smith
Handscomb
Webster
Carey
Starc
Murphy/Boland
Lyon
Kuhnemann

If you want to win
In the last 2 years, he’s averaging 30 from 23 tests

That’s not a small sample size

May well be the case that it’s his level
 

Burgey

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God it’s horrendous having to contemplate playing three spinners. It’s just not real cricket.
 

Qlder

International Regular
Mitch Marsh will 100% be going to Sri Lanka!


OP missed that there's also an ODI game 😉
- Only ODI (D/N), February 13, 2025
 
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TheJediBrah

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as good as bolo has been lately, with webster i don’t think you need two pacers

bowling attack should be starc lyon murphy kuhn webster to my mind
Agree with the first point, but do you really need 3 specialist spinners? Surely 2 specialist spinners + a part timer like Head would be sufficient. I feel like the diminishing returns with a 3rd spinner gives you less benefit than just playing another batsman or all-rounder
 

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