Aus coming to India

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Australia squad Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon

Aus has declared their squad and they have 4 spinners + Maxwell who can bowl spin....and smith too can


and only 3 seamers in the squad....implies they will play 2 seamers and 3 spinners

india should produces pitches like they did vs NZ and SA.....krumblers and not the types they did vs Eng

The only hope for India is that among top sides, if any side is to come up with an even better collapse, its Australia. But they aren't playing against England or South Africa unfortunately.......

Warner determined to rub it in, reverse sweeping the 2nd ball as Kohli opens with Ashwin....... 10 overs of Warner out there, Australia will be safe!

That Indian batting effort might be the worst I've seen in what, 5/6 years in test cricket?

jadeja is bowling many unplayable square turning deliveries....too good
He must bring some straight balls in

Ashwin has struck an impeccable length.

Big... Big test of India.......how hard can thy fight.....how much can they pull back from here

Christ. That should not have happened. I wouldnt rule Inida out of this yet , they bounced back form some dodgy positions against England, but really what the hell was that.

Okeefe is not a 6 fer first innings bowler on any pitch, and if it really is that bad then Aus should be all out for under 100. Ashwin is that good on helpful wickets. ....and yeah fair enough hes already making this look like a 3 day game is possible as I type

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:That Indian batting effort might be the worst I've seen in what, 5/6 years in test cricket?

Apparently their worst ever total for the last 7 wickets, and that one of the strongest lower middle orders theyve ever had.

Probably the worst session in Indian test cricket history that

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Probably the worst session in Indian test cricket history that

Yeah letting Marsh survive for 21 balls is pretty humiliating

Well, who saw that coming? Certainly not me, as I thought India would be dominant in this series. OK, still more Tests to come. But what sort of wickets will India prepare now? A turning pitch hasn't helped them, and will they bowl Aus out twice on a good track?

Definitely massive advantage Australia after 2 days.

There's an interesting piece of stats analysis on cricinfo today comparing the inconsistency of S. Marsh & Rahul http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1084022.html

I wouldn't say India are out of winning this match either. If they can keep the Australia lead under 350 they have outside shot (the pitch is not unplayable as Smith has shown, India just batted like a pub side)

But certainly a turn up for the books so far

Contrary to Olly , I wouldn't give India a hope in Hades of getting anywhere near the 350 - 400 they will end up chasing. They surely can't bat as badly as today a second time ; but this pitch , while not totally unplayable , is giving the bowlers a lot of help and won't be getting easier as it goes on.
Australia have shocked everyone with this effort ; and India - who appear to have assumed they only had to turn up to win - don't seem to know what has hit them. Awful batting ; underwhelming bowling allied to poor fielding - and even a total mess of their drs choices!

This one is in the bag for Australia : the question is now whether India will be able to turn the series around after a confidence sapping loss ?

India can at least take heart from England's performance against them in 2014. Then, India took a 1-0 lead yet the home side roared back to take the series. My prediction of a 2-0 or 3-0 win for India in this series, though, has already gone down the plughole.

alfie wrote:Contrary to Olly , I wouldn't give India a hope in Hades of getting anywhere near the 350 - 400 they will end up chasing.  They surely can't bat as badly as today a second time ; but this pitch , while not totally unplayable , is giving the bowlers a lot of help and won't be getting easier as it goes on.
Australia have shocked everyone with this effort ; and India - who appear to have assumed they only had to turn up to win - don't seem to know what has hit them.  Awful batting ; underwhelming bowling allied to poor fielding - and even a total mess of their drs choices!

This one is in the bag for Australia : the question is now whether India will be able to turn the series around after a confidence sapping loss ?

Well India are still the far superior team, so I'd fully expect them to turn it round, and I really wouldn't rule them out of this game yet either.

Olly, your opinon on SOK now? Yeah only one innings, but he clearly isn't 'poopie', as you said..

So not much of a chase then for India. Only a recordbreaking 441 to win!
Terrific innings from the Australian skipper. Real quality there from Smith. Starc again making handy runs, he's any day a far superior all-rounder to Mitchell Marsh every day, week and month of the year. How much damage Starc will inflict in this innings? How will the Indians play O'Keefe now? Will India last the day?

wisden wrote:Olly, your opinon on SOK now? Yeah only one innings, but he clearly isn't 'poopie', as you said..

One game where the opposition bat like 12 year olds doesn't suddenly overturn a career of nothingness

A bit harsh on 12 year olds!

He's bowled very well indeed. A good full length with not much turn as a consequence and the Indian batsmen have either read too much into him (expecting some turn) and/or have been pinned back in the crease and caught in LBW situations. Their reviewing hasn't helped but blind Freddy...

He's read the conditions better than anybody else out there in terms of bowling. A nice 12-fer!

Well, that was a fairly decent start to the series for us.
A real confidence booster for Australia.
India will need to take them more seriously now one would think. They'll be back... (I hope no bookies/players are involved!)

I was watching a program on ESPN a couple weeks ago where they were discussing the greatest athlete in the world. Being an American program, of course their nominees were very American. LeBron James and Tom Brady. But when you look at it from a historical standpoint, wrt what the historical data suggests makes for a great participant in their sport of choice, it's hard to think Steve Smith doesn't have a shout to be the best athlete in the world today, after Bolt anyway

Fabulous win for Australia. This is truly remarkable. Bigger than India's win at Perth following Sydneygate. And if they would somehow manage to close out the series, then it will be bigger than what they did in 2004. In comparison to the 04 side, this one is mediocre. And they can't bat against swing, seam or spin. India have been flying high, smashing everyone coming their way in this home season. This has been a spinning track. Australia's led spinner saved his career from the absolute brink a few tests ago, they picked a 2nd spinner because they just had to!. And look what's he done. He absolutely ripped Indian batting apart, not ones, but twice in 2 days.
Among the 3 sides that visited for a full series, this Australian side has been the weakest. And its them who have brought Kohli side back down to earth with a massive thunk.
Australia didn't bat particularly well specially in the first innings. But their bowling was pretty good, and Indian batting was substandard. Indian bowlers didn't bowl particularly badly. They could have made better use of the conditions in both innings, letting someone like Mitchell Marsh to score 30 test runs is criminal. But Steven Smith was outstanding, and young Matthew Renshaw has a mighty fine temperament and lots of ability. With Warner, Renshaw and Smith, Australia have at last found a strong batting core. Handscomb did look promising. If they can find a decent all-rounder to bat 6 or 7, the glory days of old could be back much before many of us actually expected.

What about India? They pretty much seem to have underestimated Australia. With England they knew they would be up for a fight. Australia's recent away record didn't clearly impressed anyone including the Indians. And with their traditional weakness against spin, on a spinning track they thought all that they needed to do was to turn up. They can go back with their tails between legs, utterly humiliated. Will this be a confidence destroyer? A reality check? Or just one of those games?
Will there be any changes? There is not a lot that need to be changed.
But Wriddhiman Saha's place has to be reviewed regardless of what Dada Sourav thinks. He has been part of almost every collapse that India experienced during this home season. He just isn't a good bat. He kept alright in this test and even took a brilliant catch or 2 and didn't have his customary regulation dropps. But If India are to play with 5 bowlers, he's not the man to keep wickets. Not too safe with the gloves, mediocre with the bat. Parthiv is average with the gloves, but he's a much better bat. Or they should give an opportunity to Pant.
The other man is Ajinkya Rahane. I know this is a bit strange. But I have been saying this, Rahane has had issues playing spin despite being one of India's best test batsman over the last 3 years. Currently he's struggling for form, and his spin weaknesses are more exposed due to that. The 82 against Bangladesh has not brought his confidence back. Should they go for Karun Nair? Rahane overall is a much superior batsman, and I don't see Karun scoring too many away from home. But is it time for Ajinkya to step away from the cauldron for a game or 2? He came out playing his shots in the 2nd innings, didn't quite work, but if he plays the next test, that should be his approach.......
And Ishant was as useless as expected, so much so that Kohli even forgot that he's in the side! But to be fair, he didn't have much of a bowl, and in the overs he bowled, though never looked like taking a wicket, was not as obnoxious as he usually is. So fair enough, have to live with him playing the next game.
So Saha most definitely should go, Rahane should play, but the management needs to have a word with him. And everyone else should be told to wallow in the richly deserved humiliation for a couple of days and then get their act together.......

I am broadly in agreement with msp there.

Well done Australia   Decent first innings with the bat ; and they went on from there. - with some help from an unusually insipid Indian performance .

India must make changes : I thought it was daft to bring back the out of form Rahane and exile Nair after his big innings against England . I agree Rahane is the better player ; but let him wait a bit , make runs lower down - and don't dump a man after he has just hit a high...
And I don't get the love for Saha.  Looks a decent keeper , but nothing special. And a pretty ordinary bat. They did rather well with Parthiv as a batsmen wearing gloves ; think if they want to go with just five batsmen that is a must. Though why they bothered picking Ishant on this pitch is beyond me.

Lot to play for yet.  But India have had a serious reality check ; and how they come back from it will be very interesting. Perhaps the first real test of Kohli's leadership.

Steven Smith, mighty fine player, but he's a jammy fudge. His 109 is being hyped up as one of the greatest innings played by a foreigner in India, yet it fails to get mentioned that he was dropped 5 times during his innings. Lucky bugger.

India need to get a younger keeper in. The lad Pant is talked as the next superstar get him into the side. Saha and Patel are both average at best. Rahane never merited a recall, the poor fella who got the 300 must be suicidal.

[quote="Good Golly I'm Olly"]

wisden wrote:Olly, your opinon on SOK now? Yeah only one innings, but he clearly isn't 'poopie', as you said..

One game where the opposition bat like 12 year olds doesn't suddenly overturn a career of nothingness[/quote
]

You have no idea do you..? Have you seen his f/c record? Have you seen him bowl before? Injuries have wrecked his career, he's a fine left arm spinner, and deserves to be respected...you've clearly seen nothing of him therefore just guessing about his ability.... a 12 wicket match haul and finest figures by an overseas spinner in India..clearly the guy is talented..

Had not heard much of O'keefe until this match, but looking at is FC stats he has a good record and must be a good bowler to basically bundle India out twice for about a hundred on their own patch. Shades of Monty and Swann a few years ago

Alfie, Why they at all bother with Ishant is way beyond me!!
Saha has powerful backers, that's why he's there. Clearly not good enough. To be picked in the side with his less than average batting abilities, he has to be super special with the gloves. Saha is very far from that. He's not even a safe enough keeper. He can pull off some stunners, but drops quite a few really.
Rahane's case is a bit different. It was only in the England series that he really struggled, and that series he didn't play all the games. Throughout the away tours from 2013 to 2016, he was very, very good. Be it in England, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and even in Sri Lanka after initial struggles. No need to mention runs in the West Indies too. He didn't look at his best in the New Zealand series, but made important runs, and that too when Kohli or the top order failed. So he has had plenty of credit in the bank.
But said that, he has had his issues against spin. Among India's top batsmen, he's the weakest against spin. He is a far superior player of pace. His home runs have been more gritty rather than spectacular or dominant. And then in the England series, in the games he played, he just seemed absolutely clueless.
They looked at his credits when they brought him back in straight away against Bangladesh. He came back in, made 82, and from there on, even before, the moment he was recalled for that Bangladesh test, he was always playing this if fit. and think even the next one for that matter.
Its going to be a test of Kohli's ruthlessness as a captain. He made some tough selection calls on Vijay and Pujara earlier, but those were to get in his pal Rohit, who couldn't have done anything more to unearn his chances. But this is a different situation, and Virat does have a very tough decision on his hand.
I'd stick with Ajinkya for one more game for sure........

The 2nd test starts in a few hours.
Can Australia maintain the momentum after their shock win in the first test? Can India bounce back?
Kohli hinted that thre could be surprises in the team combination. There were questions on Jayant Yadav's performance in particular, but the skipper backed him publically. Who else could be on the firing line? Saha? Hope Saha goes. Will they get Rahul to keep and get Karun Nair in? Very unlikely, but with Virat, you never know.
Murali Vijay scored a couple of hundreds in the England series, and during the 2nd of those knocks, he looked like eventually getting back to his a game. But this season has been a bit up and down for him.
Rahane was picked for the Bangladesh test and this game based on the credits he earned earlier rather than on the basis of recent form. There are questions on his spin playing abilities, in relative terms of course.

How's the pitch likely to play for this one msp?

Bangalure pitch usually is good for batting, with some turn for spinners as the game goes on. Even seamers have had some success from time to time. Usually first innings totals are on the medium to the high side.
Hoping for a lively track where the batsmen would again be tested.

Australia are unchanged.

So Australia continue to impress. After losing the toss bowling first, they ripped out Mukund, Pujara and Kohli even before India reached even a hundred. Nathan Lyon getting Kohli and Pujara, and Mitchell Starc making sure Mukund's return to test cirkcet started off poorly for the batsman, dismissing him for a duck.
Ones again India's hopes riding on KL Rahul, who is playing at his home ground. The other local boy, Karun Nair is also back in the side, in place of all-rounder Jayant Yadav. Mukund by the way, is in for Murali Vijay who reportedly, is carrying a shoulder injury.

Australia not being able to convert some tough chances into wickets, Warner and Handscomb not able to take a couple of difficult opportunities, and Rahul should focus harder, and make those count.

What is Rahane playing at there?

This is truely ridiculous. Why couldn't England play against this India?

Again though it does show just how much England suffered from spinners who pose no threat in the first innings.

Seems these pitches are turning a lot more than the England series.
And Kohli and Pujara are not getting in and applying scoreboard pressure.
Tiredness on Kohli's part perhaps?

The ball has started turning. There is life in this track.
Australia have bowled well, but the Indian batting has not been up to the challenge. They are 168-5 at tea. Rahul's still there, batting on 79, and Ravichandran Ashwin's giving him company. Apart from Rahul, the batsman who looked well in control was only Karun Nair, he was playing some nice shots with lots of intent, but then went running down the track without a sense of purpose and was stumped.
Thee is Saha and Jadeja still to come, but this is another underwhelming effort from the Indian batsmen. How far can they go? Will they at least manage to push the score along to around 250? Doesn't seem likely, the way they are going about.

Shame for Nair - he looked impressive until that point.
You got high hopes for him msp?

For 7 now. This has the makings of one of the all time shock tours. 250 looks a big ask from here.

Nathan Lyon is having a giggle today

Electric Demon wrote:Nathan Lyon is having a giggle today

Yep, and he deserves it. Bowled really well today and been an important part of the Australian attack for a long time. Wisden will be .

That said, struggled to understand the last wicket he got from DRS - edge for catch unclear at best, therefore umpire's decision shouldn't have been overturned whilst lbw not considered.

Great performance. 8-fer

I was 70/30 on the wicket. Think it was the right call - just about.

I've always been a bit of a fan of Lyon-o. Good to see today.

Never thought I'd see the day where I'd see someone as pathetic and talentless as Lyon con his way to an 8fer...India have been mesmerized by two awful spinners, Lyon wouldn't get a match in the second xi county championship...I'd retire if I got out to him.

An outstanding performance from Lyon as he takes a career best 8/50. A bit of credit as well to the Australian selectors who continued to support him when his form wavered last year. He and they getting deserved rewards today.

[Anyone suggesting otherwise has little genuine interest (let alone knowledge) of the game.]

Just reading the match report and one thing jumped out at me is that Nathan Lyon is only 29! Genuinely thought he was mid 30s and coming up to retirement. He's actually coming into the peak age for a spinner, and has many years ahead of him

What happened to the comments?

Electric Demon wrote:What happened to the comments?

Hi Electric - certain comments from Nathaniel Jacobs have understandably been moderated / deleted but some of our posts (particularly about Ashwin opening the bowling or not) have been oddly deleted as well. I'll ask if they can be reinstated.

No sweat Guildford

Just didn't want to have missed out on any analysis or opinion.

Cheers

While I would not go as far as some in their views about Lyon I have never seen him as a top-class Test spinner, although 230-plus Test wickets is an impressive haul.
You have to have a bit of a giggle at India being outbowled by opposition spinners on their own wickets, or have some of their batsmen been lulled into a sense of false security by England's fairly toothless attack last autumn?
I thought the 1st Test was a one-off surprise, but India are already in real trouble in this match and you can see Aus going two up.

Hi all,

Apologies but in my half-asleep state this morning when moderating your thread I accidentally moved a few extra posts over and there's no way to migrate them back.

Very sorry but it was very early here!

P