*Official* Australia in India 2023

[Spark]

England could have tried bazballing and made 350 AO here (and I'm being very generous even assuming that they are going to succeed doing that on a slow pitch against this quality bowling), they will be letting India bat on the best batting conditions for the next two days
Australia can grind it out for two more sessions and get to 450 (not saying they will but they have given themselves a chance) and get more overs in to the pitch. Yeah wonder what is better

Not to mention not overs in the bowlers legs - Umesh and Shami looked cooked by the end of the day and even the spinners were bowling more loose balls than they had all day. Batting time pays dividends in overs 120+ of an innings, but you have to earn that time to dine out on tired bowlers in scorching heat.

 

[Gob]

If Smith alone had batted with a bit of intent and got his runs at SR of 50, Australia would be close to 300 today.

38 off 135
vs
38 off 75


No English batsman will bat super conservatively like him- '**** runs, don't want to get out at any cost'.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

Given how flat the pitch was, Smith I'm sure would have wanted to make sure Aust only bat once and grind India to the dirt. In another day, he would have done that and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that thinking. You also have to play super risk free cricket until you get to around 350 and after that it gets easier

There is nothing wrong with Aust approach today If they can bat till 10 overs left tomorrow with 500 on board. Its much better than getting out for 350 with intent

I'm not saying they will get there but they have atleast given themselves the best chance

 

[centurymaker]

Yeah Australia have to score big now and they have a chance to do it. If they can bat 75 overs on day 2 and get 500, it would be ideal in this situation. Ofcourse India can bat well enough too and escape with a draw but Australia definitely has a good chance.

England play differently atm, they try to rule out draw first while risking defeat. Simple win or lose.

 

[Socerer 01]

half the reason for England approach winning is their bowling being good enough and aggressive to take wickets to keep the opponent under pressure before fatigue sets in for their bowlers

 

[subshakerz]

I don't see the point in predicting anything. The way I see it, they are somewhat evenly matched yet either are capable of delivering killer blows.

- Australias lower order collapses tomorrow and India go big

- Australia push it to 400 plus and India collapse due to shaky top order giving sizeable big lead

- They both score super high and the game is drawn

- They both score 350 odd ish in the 1st innings and one of them collapses in the second

All of these possibilities to me are almost equally likely at this point. None is suprising. Pitch is flattish but Australia lower order is weak and India top order is shaky.

 

[Gob]

I didn't see a single ball turning so that's a concern

Fully firing Cummins with the old ball will be missed

 

[Xix2565]

The one time England got a similar pitch to this two years, they amassed 580 at pretty much exactly 3 an over. Root got a double ton at 58, but Sibley used up 286 balls to score 87. I think you'd see a lot more sweep shots than Australia, both normal and reverse, whether that brings about their downfall, who knows? But hard to imagine them not going at 4 an over on this pitch.

You faced Washington Sundar in his 2nd Test and Shabaz Nadeem who's nowhere near Axar or Jadeja. I don't think getting 578 in very good batting conditions vs basically 3 bowlers is indicative of success at hitting out vs 4-5 bowlers.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

I had the TV on all night, and I woke up periodically to see that Usman was still there and the Indians were getting frustrated.

This morning I love how the put it on Shami. Usman and Green

 

[Daemon]

Tbf he did really well in the second innings of the last test, took a blinder from usman to get rid off him.

He’s been a bit unlucky. Looked good in his brief first outing of the series before nailing a flick straight to short leg. Second innings we were chasing a small target and he got out trying to slog. Wouldn’t say his scores so far are cause for concern at all.

 

[Anil]

so...headed for 2-2, aren't we?

 

[Daemon]

so...headed for 2-2, aren't we?

Could be 2-1 if we bat well (lol i know)

 

[Sunil1z]

so...headed for 2-2, aren't we?

Aus can declare now and still win by innings.

 

[Anil]

Could be 2-1 if we bat well (lol i know)

good one...

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

When is England touring India next ?

 

[Nintendo]

When is England touring India next ?

In the next 12 months I think unless India are going to England two tours straight.

 

[Niall]

When is England touring India next ?

5 tests from January to March 2024. I think India will lose that series if England can find a second spinner to compliment Leach.

 

[Shri]

we should not be playing these ****s in january. series should start in april and we should make them lose their will to live let alone thinking about competing in a test series

 

[Chrish]

Indian team has been in a decline for a while now. Our batting was always vulnerable and has steadily gotten worse. Ashwin isn’t getting any younger. We went almost a decade without loosing home series.

It’s an achievement in itself and I feel content as a fan.

Edit: more than a decade already since home series loss.

 

[Molehill]

5 tests from January to March 2024. I think India will lose that series if England can find a second spinner to compliment Leach.

That's a rather big If. The back up at the moment seems to be either Jacks, more of a batsman than bowler and Ahmed, almost certainly too raw for a series in India.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Indian team has been in a decline for a while now. Our batting was always vulnerable and has steadily gotten worse. Ashwin isn’t getting any younger. We went almost a decade without loosing home series.

It’s an achievement in itself and I feel content as a fan.

The batting decline is more down to favoritism towards big stars rather than the quality that exists in Indian domestic cricket , a lot can change from now till that England series , especially in a World Cup year where players tend to walk away from international cricket when the tournament concludes.