Quite frankly, this is not valid excuse in Test cricket anymore, and any defence Kohli seems to have will be hypocritical. Not too long ago we were hearing, "wait till we get back home" calls and deliberate watering of certain areas of the wicket, where his headmaster Shastri first denied, then admitted to doctoring.Kohli shoudn't really be bringing up the toss as an excuse tbh. Might well have changed the unfolding of events (as any slight change does) but they batted poorly both in testing and less testing conditions, and ultimately bowled worse than NZ too. Think they'll bounce back in the second test mind
Expected more from Pujara and thought the way some of the NZ comms dismissed his record as that of a home-track bully was completely wrong. India wouldn't have won in Australia without him, and that was no flash in the pan like McMillan (iirc) was making out. If we wanted to draw some conclusion from his overseas stats (poor in NZ, middling in Eng and SA, great in Aus) it might be that it's swing more than pace and bounce that he struggles with.Kohli and maybe Rahane aside, their last trip to England would suggest otherwise.
I disagree. The series isn't over and FWIW India won in Australia, WI, SL, ran RSA close the last time they toured there and imo they'd start as favorites in South Africa atm. They lost heavily in England but that's about it.There is no #1 team right now. Everyone is a monster at home and can't tour.
NiceNot that weird, we do roll over pretty easy when the first innings doesn’t go well. I suppose one good thing about the second dig was that they didn’t give Jamieson any wickets. Shows that they were better prepared for him and had some sort of a plan at least.
India and Australia are significantly more monstrous than any other team at home right now though, and probably also are the two teams that put up the biggest fight in away tests (Would have said NZ too if it weren't for their recent aus tour as their win in the UAE was really impressive). No team necessarily dominates in all conditions but some teams are noticeably more competitive imoThere is no #1 team right now. Everyone is a monster at home and can't tour.
Last point is the most important imo. Replace him with Jadeja and India are still batting now.Very disheartening performance but it had all the ingredients of a typical overseas test match for India.
Losing the toss
Batsmen failing
Conceding runs to the lower order
No semblance of fight
And of course the most constant of constants, Ashwin bowling underwhelmingly
This is probably India's worst performance since England mopped the floor with them in the second test of the 2018 series. It's worth keeping in mind that India turned around and hammered England by 200 runs a week later.Ravi Shastri said they are going to play like a no.1 team... Honestly best he keeps quiet and let cricket doing all the talking. That was some tall claim. How many tests has India won in New Zealand in this century? From 1998 series India has played in New Zealand 11 test matches, won 1, lost 5 and drawn 4. 1 was abandoned. With this track record India should have done better home work. Should have engaged local consultants or past players to help out. I see India travel with 9 staff. If they engaged the local players from Wellington and Christchurch they will have helped them prepare better. Kohli half blamed the toss but the second inning was no good either. At times it felt like we are not watching the no.1 side play here but a no.7 or 8 side play.
I take it all back. Please forgive me, Timothy.No, Timmy, no! Bad Timmy!