New zealand's Tour Of India (Nov 17-Dec 07, 2021)

[DAP]

Bold from Rohit. Chose to bat first on a Kolkata track, rested Ash & KLR. Great decisions indeed!

Nice to see Southee rest himself to keep himself fresh for the Test series.

Agreed. Plus bowling Venky today too. I just wish Avesh debuted today somehow. Maybe in place of Bhuvi? But, Rohit has had a great outing as captain today.

 

[SaiSrini]

I fully understand that my 'Yellove' bias might be pulled up by folks here, but why is Ruturaj not given a chance today? I understand that Ishan needed a chance but SKY could've been rested today. He played in the T20 WC and also the first two games of this series. Ruturaj could've opened with Rohit with Ishan at 3 and Shreyas at 4 and so on.... Also the same case with Avesh Khan. I know Deepak Chahar played a cameo with bat today, but he has been below average with ball in the first two games and it could've surely been a case to give Avesh Khan a go while resting Chahar. Or could've rotated Avesh for Bhuvi. This is a dead rubber and maximizing opportunities for the fringe players is how you can build a good side for the next T20 WC.

On another note - hope Deepak Chahar recaptures his bowling mojo. Has been very ordinary when there is no hint of help for him from the air/pitch. With his increasing batting reputation, he can be a serious utility player in the white ball formats.

 

[DAP]

I fully understand that my 'Yellove' bias might be pulled up by folks here, but why is Ruturaj not given a chance today? I understand that Ishan needed a chance but SKY could've been rested today. He played in the T20 WC and also the first two games of this series. Ruturaj could've opened with Rohit with Ishan at 3 and Shreyas at 4 and so on.... Also the same case with Avesh Khan. I know Deepak Chahar played a cameo with bat today, but he has been below average with ball in the first two games and it could've surely been a case to give Avesh Khan a go while resting Chahar. Or could've rotated Avesh for Bhuvi. This is a dead rubber and maximizing opportunities for the fringe players is how you can build a good side for the next T20 WC.

On another note - hope Deepak Chahar recaptures his bowling mojo. Has been very ordinary when there is no hint of help for him from the air/pitch. With his increasing batting reputation, he can be a serious utility player in the white ball formats.

I feel the players that have been rested have performed well, and the players who haven't been having the best of time are being given the long rope. I wanted to see Avesh too, along with Rutu, but I feel it's still a good call by the team today with their decisions.

 

[Ashutosh.]

Pant at 4 and Iyer at 5. Virat-Shastri's fault?

 

[DAP]

Pant at 4 and Iyer at 5. Virat-Shastri's fault?

Nah, won't say that. If you have a look at India's tour of WI 2019, Shreyas was making the No. 4 spot his own. Rishabh was seen as a finisher at that point and establishing himself in T20Is. So, at that point it wasn't wrong. Now I feel, Rishabh should be our No. 4.

 

[Skankhunt_42]

Good series win! Coach Dravid is back, so does Discipline!

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Pant at 4 and Iyer at 5. Virat-Shastri's fault?

India were in a good position and had Pant played a cameo India would've achieved a good platform for a big score and possibly given opportunity for Shreyas to go after everything. Also even when Pant failed to score Iyer ensured that we reached to a good score. I don't think it was a bad decision.

 

[Targaryen]

Coach Dravid is back

Fact is he wasn't gone at all.

 

[asprin]

Oh great! A clean sweep. How encouraging.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Apparently there is a test series starting tomorrow against NZ

And we are without Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Rahul. Who do we think we are playing against ? Does this match not count towards Test Championship?

 

[icyman]

I really thought they would prepare Avesh for T20WC 22 , bowling with Bumrah . Deepak Chahar ain't that good . Siraj is okayish ....

We are playing 25 T20is in the lead up to the T20 WC. Am sure Avesh, Ruturaj will feature in, at some point.

Agree, with your point on bowlers. Siraj cannot be selected on the basis of his Test exploits. To me, he is more like an Ishant who is a workhorse in Tests but in ODI/ T20 can spray around.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Siraj cannot be selected on the basis of his Test exploits.

Also had couple of good seasons in IPL and looked RCB's best bowler by a fair margin barring that 2nd half of the previous season where Harshal Patel was almost impossible to hit.

I know he hasn't done well in the past but he does give impressions about how much he has improved himself.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Apparently there is a test series starting tomorrow against NZ

And we are without Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Rahul. Who do we think we are playing against ? Does this match not count towards Test Championship?

As we have seen in the England series at home earlier this year, our spinners alone are capable of winning games for us. Probably we are going to go ahead with this side-

Mayank
Gill
Pujara
Rahane
Shreyas/SKY
Saha
Jadeja
Ashwin
Axar
Siraj
Umesh/Ishant

I think that that's a decent team and is capable of beating a New Zealand team without Conway, Grandhomme & Boult.

I think Rahane might be tempted to play SKY & Ishant. To me neither SKY/Shreyas are going to be our long term prospects. They don't seem to be cut for this format.

 

[abhi_jacko]

I think that that's a decent team and is capable of beating a New Zealand team without Conway, Grandhomme & Boult.

Yes its a decent team. Decent being the keyword.

Are we okay with playing a "decent" team against the no.1 Test team in the world? Most of those players have been in Asian conditions for several months, so acclimatisation wont be an issue. Adjusting their game to play spin will be a challenge (so will it be for us), which they have faced and overcome against Pakistan in UAE a couple years back. We might win, but we have definitely levelled the playing field for the Kiwis here

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Yes its a decent team. Decent being the keyword.

Are we okay with playing a "decent" team against the no.1 Test team in the world? Most of those players have been in Asian conditions for several months, so acclimatisation wont be an issue. Adjusting their game to play spin will be a challenge (so will it be for us), which they have faced and overcome against Pakistan in UAE a couple years back. We might win, but we have definitely levelled the playing field for the Kiwis here

Pujara & Rahane will be crucial to India's success. I get a feeling that Ross Taylor might struggle and it would once again come down to Latham & Williamson just like 2016.

We would have a little bit of spin at Kanpur but that would just be enough for Ashwin, Jadeja & Axar to dismantle the Kiwis. Wankhede match could go close but Kanpur is track clearly going to favour India.