***Official*** Australia in India 2017

[anil1405]

Rohit in the team for the final test after such a hard fought comeback in the series would be like a 'chilli pepper' on a cake.

 

[mr_mister]

the 68* was also important

but yeah, i feel as long as Saha-Ash-Jadders is 7-8-9 not 6-7-8 there should be room for Rohit soon

 

[OverratedSanity]

As long as we don't drop Rahane or Pujara for him it's fine. Looked like he'd genuinely turned a corner in that series vs nz.

 

[Burner]

Dropping Nair for Rohit is a no-no as well surely? Nair for me looks more solid. Rohit always has that loose thing about him. Nair's in the exact same mould but to a lesser degree.

 

[Prince EWS]

As long as we don't drop Rahane or Pujara for him it's fine. Looked like he'd genuinely turned a corner in that series vs nz.

What's interesting with Rohit is that he's actually played twice as many away games as home games. I think his average will start to look better if that evens up, particularly given he does seem to do a lot better at home.

Pujara on the other hand has the opposite thing going on, playing a high percentage (62%) of his games at home. They actually have similar looking averages when you break it down:

Rohit averages: home 69, away 26
Pujara averages: home 62, away 33

Now of course I don't think Rohit is actually as good as Pujara - the context of their home runs (Pujara lots of runs at 3, Rohit WI-bashing and declaration knocks) really needs to be considered, as well as the fact that Pujara has made a couple of seriously good away contributions as opposed to Rohit's frustrating consistent starts - but it's an interesting way to look at their careers. While Pujara has got the rough end by being dropped for Rohit a couple of times when it was plainly absurd, Rohit has got the rough end another way by seemingly being selected in more adverse conditions a lot more often.

 

[OverratedSanity]

What's interesting with Rohit is that he's actually played twice as many away games as home games. I think his average will start to look better if that evens up, particularly given he does seem to do a lot better at home.

Pujara on the other hand has the opposite thing going in, playing a weirdly percentage (62%) of his games at home. They actually have similar looking averages when you break it down:

Rohit averages: home 69, away 26
Pujara averages: home 62, away 33

Now of course I don't think Rohit is actually as good as Pujara - the context of their home runs (Pujara lots of runs at 3, Rohit WI-bashing and declaration knocks) really needs to be considered, as well as the fact that Pujara has made a couple of seriously good away contributions as opposed to Rohit's frustrating consistent starts - but it's an interesting way to look at their careers. While Pujara has got the rough end by being dropped for Rohit a couple of times when it was plainly absurd, Rohit has got the rough end another way by seemingly being selected in more adverse conditions a lot more often.

Yeah that's fair. Poor bloke went from bashing Shane Shillingford and tino best on debut in India to facing Steyn and Philander at joburg. Thats why Rahane is such a brilliant weirdo.

 

[cnerd123]

Rohits manner of dismissals infuriate me. It's one thing to be posed with stiff challenges and struggle, it's another to go out there, look a million bucks, then bop one to mid on

 

[EggsOnToast]

I thought India fought back great, Rahul and Vijay were brilliant early on and we're looking at a really interesting test match now. Best moment for me though was Maxy's hundred, one of the nicest blokes in world cricket who finally showed he can compete in the long form, great stuff!

 

[silentstriker]

So this pitch will certainly be rated better than the previous two but is this cricket more fun to watch? Not necessarily.

With that said, the innings by Smith and the late spell by Cummings were exceptional to watch.

 

[quincywagstaff]

I posted a few days back that Australia may miss Starc's batting as much as his bowling and today was a good example of that; Australia really missed his ability to smash 30-40 in no time (or more like he did in the BD Test v Pakistan) as their innings seemed to just drift along a bit aimlessly at times today. It's almost as if they felt that batting time would ensure India can't win which is a very dangerous view to take.

I think Australia really lifted their game in the final 45 minutes or so, and they needed to. They were pretty flat post-Tea, partly because of some excellent Indian batting. O'Keefe in particular was disappointing in his first half-dozen overs; was too inaccurate and if he hasn't got that on a pitch like this then he has very little to offer.

But once Cummins kicked into gear with his final spell Australia really lifted as a whole; India did pretty well to only lose one wicket in that period.

Also, that was a great battle between Vijay and Lyon towards the end of the day. Really looking forward to continuing that tomorrow.

 

[burr]

Videos | cricket.com.au

That was very sweet, I really hope Maxi does kick on, he hasn't had it easy and he seems like one of the good ones. Plus, would be massive boon for Australia.

India's day without doubt. Yet again Aus failed to press home the advantage. The batting was sloppy and also think Smith needed to go a bit harder at times, particularly as he lost partners. This has a strong whiff of the England series, could be a loss coming up. Still, as long as Pat doesn't break down I won't mind too much.

 

[Anil]

you are scared you will lose after putting up 451 in the 1st innings...and are still leading by 331!

 

[Shri]

Cummins could spark a collapse with his raw pace if he clicks but if he doesn't tomorrow should be smooth for our batsmen. Last session of tomorrow should give us a hint as to where the test is headed. If the pitch stays dead and if we have someone set at the crease, it will either be a draw or an Indian win.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Cummins could spark a collapse with his raw pace if he clicks but if he doesn't tomorrow should be smooth for our batsmen. Last session of tomorrow should give us a hint as to where the test is headed. If the pitch stays dead and if we have someone set at the crease, it will either be a draw or an Indian win.

You don't really sound as confident as you think you do

 

[burr]

you are scared you will lose after putting up 451 in the 1st innings...and are still leading by 331!

I'm not 'scared', I'm summing up the match situation and reaching a conclusion based in part on recent matches in India.

Anyway, this is a nice article on Cummins, it was a mighty fine spell:

Pat Cummins shines in Test return with brainy bowling | The Roar

 

[Tangles]

Poor effort for the tail to not hang around and help TPC get a double. He was locked in for one I thought.

 

[akilana]

Poor effort for the tail to not hang around and help TPC get a double. He was locked in for one I thought.

Clearly no 3 is too low for him. Always running out of partners.

 

[social]

There was a thread on Rabada vs Starc. I think if Cummins stays fit, the real rivalry of the next ten years will be between Rabada and Cummins.

Cummins just has to stay fit as he has everything

Amazing that a guy who basically hasn't played has such control over line & length, can swing the new and old ball, bowl cutters & slower balls plus has high pace and is smart

 

[Burgey]

Well, he's had plenty of time to sit down and think about it.

 

[social]

Can probably add "saint" to his list of qualities if Social Jnr is anything to go by

He has spent 3 months in the past 10 in a moon-boot and turns into an absolute an absolute **** within days of not being able to do anything