Cricket - The Greatest Game of all

[Bigfella]

Congratulations to India on winning in Brisbane & winning the series. Its not often a test series gets decided in the last few overs of a match. Great finish.

This Indian team had to overcome all manner of issues and did so remarkably. The resilience & depth of talent was impressive. Pujara showed his critics tha the knows what he is doing, Gill & Pant did a great job wiht the bat & Rahane showed himself a good Captain. Anyone who can get the team playing that wel lafter being bowled out for 36 deserves a lot of credit.

I haven't checked who got player of the series, but for me it was Mohammed Siraj. The kid had every reason to head home after his Dad died, but he stayed. How many players have gone from Test debut to most expreienced bowler in the attack in only 3 Tests? But given responsibility he grasped it with both hands. Someone described him as a warrior - great term. India has a great future with players like him in the team.

Australia faces some serious questions. Our batting has some big holes, and even good players are batting inconsistently. Only two of our bowlers took wickets consistently. Our catching was awful and our Captain had a poor series in the field. None of this is to take away from India, but we have issues that need to be addressed before we tour Sth Africa. It now looks unlikely we will make the final of the World Test Championship. We don't deserve to on current form.

Nice work India. Now, beat up on the Poms.

[Firestorm]

so happy that we are playing Washington freaking Sundar in a test series decider. To go from Ravi Ashwin to Washington Sundar is like exchanging your Mercedes for a tricycle. I know I'm being too hard on him and I hope he makes me eat crow by scoring a 50 and taking 3 wickets but somehow I doubt that is going to happen.

Well I am making a huge bowl of crow soup now. Sundar really surprised me. Shardul Thakur too. India is probably still losing the match but I am loving the fight being shown by this team after all the hits they’ve taken.

[Firestorm]

So this is the team India goes with.


Natarajan gets his first test. I'm happy for the lad. He has a very inspiring story and I really wish he does well. Not so happy that we are playing Washington freaking Sundar in a test series decider. To go from Ravi Ashwin to Washington Sundar is like exchanging your Mercedes for a tricycle. I know I'm being too hard on him and I hope he makes me eat crow by scoring a 50 and taking 3 wickets but somehow I doubt that is going to happen.

[Bigfella]

I would have loved to watch all of them in their prime. Some clips of their old knocks can be still found but not a lot and never full innings. Gavaskar was my grandpa's favorite and my earliest memories of watching cricket are all with him by my side, inculcating the love of Cricket in me that my father somehow never acquired. Unfortunately Gavaskar had long since retired before I was old enough to watch cricket and Kapil Dev was in his final days and only a shadow of his former self. Tendulkar and Lara made up for them though.

Your grandpa was clearly a man of taste & discernment. I've seen most of the great Indian bats, and none bests Gavaskar. However, that generation wiht Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting & was remarkable. I remember being at an Australi/India test where the 3 highest run scoreres in history were playing. Told my mate's cricket mad kids to remember this, as they would probably never see it again.

[Firestorm]

Shastri was elegant and beautiful to watch when he was in the groove. Kapil Dev was great fun to watch bat when he was in the right mood, but the bloke you really missed out on was Gavaskar. Not as elegant as Shastri or perhaps VVS, but his focus and courage were something else. He stood up to the greatest generation of fast bowlers the world has seen and came out with an average over 51. Damn he was good.

I would have loved to watch all of them in their prime. Some clips of their old knocks can be still found but not a lot and never full innings. Gavaskar was my grandpa's favorite and my earliest memories of watching cricket are all with him by my side, inculcating the love of Cricket in me that my father somehow never acquired. Unfortunately Gavaskar had long since retired before I was old enough to watch cricket and Kapil Dev was in his final days and only a shadow of his former self. Tendulkar and Lara made up for them though.

[Firestorm]

Laxman is a player, who has not been given his due. He could have opened or played first down in the ODI team.

Laxman at his best was a treat to watch, looking more classy and elegant than any of his illustrious peers in the Indian team. But I don't think he was ever really meant for ODI cricket. His rather poor ODI record speaks for itself compared to his much more impressive Test record. In the 90's he could have walked into any Indian team but in the 2000's he had people like Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni to contend with in the middle order. Plus Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid and Ganguly were much better ODI players than him. But in Tests he could outshine any of them. Especially while playing Australia. Not sure what it was about the Australians that always brought out the best in him and why he used to inexplicably lose that touch against lesser teams.

[Bigfella]

Have you taken a look at him recently? He is fat, drunk half the time or falling asleep during the match. Indian twitter is filled with jokes and memes about him. Really sad to see to be honest. The only reason he is India's coach is because Kohli wants someone who will say and do nothing except agree with whatever Kohli says. And to think Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan got booted out by Kohli.

I'd love to see his Sydney knock if its on Youtube though. A bit before I started following Cricket regularly. We tend to be biased towards Cricketers we saw play while growing up. I'd love to imagine Laxman and Dravid coming back for one more test to make up the eleven for instance.

Shastri was elegant and beautiful to watch when he was in the groove. Kapil Dev was great fun to watch bat when he was in the right mood, but the bloke you really missed out on was Gavaskar. Not as elegant as Shastri or perhaps VVS, but his focus and courage were something else. He stood up to the greatest generation of fast bowlers the world has seen and came out with an average over 51. Damn he was good.

[Oracle]

Have you taken a look at him recently? He is fat, drunk half the time or falling asleep during the match. Indian twitter is filled with jokes and memes about him. Really sad to see to be honest.

The only reason he is India's coach is because Kohli wants someone who will say and do nothing except agree with whatever Kohli says. And to think Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan got booted out by Kohli.

Exactly. Kohli wants a yes man, and he got one.

I'd love to see his Sydney knock if its on Youtube though. A bit before I started following Cricket regularly. We tend to be biased towards Cricketers we saw play while growing up. I'd love to imagine Laxman and Dravid coming back for one more test to make up the eleven for instance.

Laxman is a player, who has not been given his due. He could have opened or played first down in the ODI team.

[Firestorm]

That would be awesome. He was a beautiful bat to watch. I still remember him tearing apart a chubby young Shane Warne at Sydney in 1992. Beautiful knock.

Have you taken a look at him recently? He is fat, drunk half the time or falling asleep during the match. Indian twitter is filled with jokes and memes about him. Really sad to see to be honest. The only reason he is India's coach is because Kohli wants someone who will say and do nothing except agree with whatever Kohli says. And to think Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan got booted out by Kohli.

I'd love to see his Sydney knock if its on Youtube though. A bit before I started following Cricket regularly. We tend to be biased towards Cricketers we saw play while growing up. I'd love to imagine Laxman and Dravid coming back for one more test to make up the eleven for instance.

[Bigfella]

Some of the injuries were sustained when they got hit while playing (or training as in Rahul's case). People are joking that things are so bad, Ravi Shastri will be in the playing eleven in Brisbane.

That would be awesome. He was a beautiful bat to watch. I still remember him tearing apart a chubby young Shane Warne at Sydney in 1992. Beautiful knock.

[Firestorm]

Assam Ranji team. Don't these guys exercise? Never heard so many injuries in any team before.

Some of the injuries were sustained when they got hit while playing (or training as in Rahul's case). People are joking that things are so bad, Ravi Shastri will be in the playing eleven in Brisbane.

[Oracle]

Aus vs India 4th Test | Jasprit Bumrah ruled out due to abdominal strain

Lol. Might as well just forfeit the match right now. Ashwin is doubtful too, which means, Mohammad Siraj, in his third test will be our most experienced bowler in Brisbane. You can barely call this a C team at this point.

Assam Ranji team. Don't these guys exercise? Never heard so many injuries in any team before.

[Bigfella]

Ashwin & Vihari stole it from you guys. This is what I like about test cricket.

Though my confidence with this second rung Indian team is hovering between 70 & 80%, had Jadeja been fit, 400+ would have been am achievable target, if Indian batsmen played with responsibility. But it's cricket, nothing every goes right, and nothing can be said until the last ball is bowled.

Pant is a good player, he shouldn't go the Kambli way. 2 bad series, and he'd be dropped, he needs to understand that. Too many talented youngsters in the pipeline, waiting for that Indian cap, score runs, and cement their place in the Indian team. Not everyone can make a comeback like Andre Agassi.

It was a great Test, and a reminder why we call it that. A see sawing contest between two pretty equally matched teams.

Pujara more than proved his worth. Pant rode his luck, but that is the way he plays. One more attacking bat & India might have won....or might have lost a couple of vital wickets going for the runs & lost. These things are always finely balanced.

Australia's batting finally found its feet, and with the exception of Wade & Warner everyone looked OK. Warner will find his feet, Wade may be on his last chance. Green played his second impressive innngs of the series. Pat Cummins once again showed that he is not only a threat to the batsmen's wicket, he is a threat to their ability to keep playing.

Given the injury situation Australia should win in Brisbane, but India's confidence is up and ours is not. Paine had a rare bad day, not just behind the stumps but as Captain. I am pleased that he has apologized. He needs to gather himself, focus the team & get the win. We may also be without Pucovski, who has hurt his shoulder.

[Firestorm]

Aus vs India 4th Test | Jasprit Bumrah ruled out due to abdominal strain

Lol. Might as well just forfeit the match right now. Ashwin is doubtful too, which means, Mohammad Siraj, in his third test will be our most experienced bowler in Brisbane. You can barely call this a C team at this point.

[Firestorm]

What a match and what a final day! Monumental effort from Vihari and co. Of all the batsmen in the Indian playing 11, Vihari was the least impressive (at least to me) by far, till now. And to think if KL Rahul hadn't injured himself, Vihari might not have even played this match. Rishabh Pant seems to love the SCG more than any other ground. He now has over 500 runs in ten innings in Australia. Before he came in to bat people were wondering if there was any chance for India to even save the test. When he was batting people were thinking India could actually win.

All in all, lot of character shown by the whole team to stay the course and not give up.

I have zero hopes for Brisbane though. The Indian dressing room looks like a hospital ER ward now. The list of injuries is endless and more keep getting added in every test. We have now lost Jadeja not just for Brisbane but for the England series too. Vihari is most likely out for the next test too and even Ashwin might be in doubt. I hope Pant's elbow heals up or we're going to be playing that god awful Saha again. If the Aussies don't steamroll this team like a second tier Ranji squad in Brisbane, they will be disappointed with themselves.