India tour of West Indies Aug-Sept 2019

[zwarrior]

Bumrah you beauty ! For once Kohli used the review perfectly.

 

[Aalay]

Ishant 2.0 is quality all around. Good on Vihari to get the hundred that he also deserved in the last game as well. It's good to see him grinding out in A tour in WI just before this series has helped him. Bumrah is a freak and I don't think many non-Indian fans will understand how much he means to this team. I guess for all fast bowling fans like me who never imagined India having a fast bowler of quality can be proud of what we saw from Bumrah today.

 

[PEACE MAKER]

Boom Boom Bumrah

 

[Bevab]

In contrast to Ishant brilliant innings, good old Shami has now scored a total of 0 runs in the last 6 matches and has survived a total of 8 deliveries

Amazing considering he used to be the best of the lower order at one point in time and was expected to fill the role of someone like Zak getting valuable 15_20 runs every now and then by tonking a few in the stand

He should have been India’s version of a Southee or Hasan Ali, a lower order pinch hitter who is useful for scoring some quick runs.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

In fact, this is an entirely dangerous line of thinking where the person in the limelight/most ‘powerful’ man in the room isn’t supposed to be criticised because it would reflect badly on the entire organisation, akin to how criticism of certain political leaders should be shunned as it would apparently be equal to criticism of the entire country itself.

There is no problem with a logical criticism but with illogical criticism there definitely is a problem. You can criticize Narendra Modi for demonization but can't criticize him for unemployment of the ones who doesn't want to work and for relative poverty in the country. Similarly you can criticize Kohli for his poor decisions but can't be critical towards him for batting collapses because of the players not valuing their wickets.[DOUBLEPOST=1567316595][/DOUBLEPOST]Also time and again people bringing up the criticism towards him to discredit the team then it doesn't do any justice to the rest of the team.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Compare that to now, where players who would have easily walked into the older sides aren’t even playing and yet we seem miles away from matching the feats of the great 2000s Aussie side despite having the potential to do so.

We also had the team to beat Australia in the 2003 WC Final. Not just potential wise but even ability wise and skill wise. Even during that time the decision making costed the team.

As for the lack of interest in this series, it is clear that 90s fans would obviously not be as interested as they once were due to time, age and good old life. In addition, they were fans during the darkest days of Indian cricket, where fixing tainted it along with the lack of skilled players.

Doesn't that prove to be insulting to the West Indies players who are actually doing well ? Jason Holder bowled a beautiful spell in the Indian innings, how many stood up and applauded him ? But when Bumrah did the extra-ordinary people praised him. Doesn't it prove to be one dimensional where we aren't trying to look at the competition between the 2 sides and rather trying to only look how India is doing ?

Also I would like to add to it. The fans of 2010s era are the most frustrated fans where the team doesn't get enough credit for doing well and when they don't do well there is a barrage of criticism loaded against them. And honestly the fans of this era would get to see a platinum age of Indian Cricket where India would win Overseas series and dominate the world along with major tournament wins. If you actually take a look at the progress we are heading in the right direction despite the poor decisions of team management.

 

[CerealKiller]

Boom Boom Bumrah

Surely someone as incredibly good as him needs his own nickname, and not one copied from Afridi

 

[Aalay]

Just a point on concussion substitute. If you bring in a substitute for a player who was batting in the middle like Bravo and that player has walked off mid inning, his runs should be scrapped off. I mean WI are now playing with 12 players in this inning.

 

[Willoughby63]

Just a point on concussion substitute. If you bring in a substitute for a player who was batting in the middle like Bravo and that player has walked off mid inning, his runs should be scrapped off. I mean WI are now playing with 12 players in this inning.

Your not allowed to bat in the innings if you are a sub are you?

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Just a point on concussion substitute. If you bring in a substitute for a player who was batting in the middle like Bravo and that player has walked off mid inning, his runs should be scrapped off. I mean WI are now playing with 12 players in this inning.

Don't worry there won't be any substitution of him. The rule clearly states that if you have already batted in the innings you can't get a substitution.

 

[Aalay]

Your not allowed to bat in the innings if you are a sub are you?

Don't worry there won't be any substitution of him. The rule clearly states that if you have already batted in the innings you can't get a substitution.

The thing is Bravo was not out when he went off the field and then the news came in that he has been concussed and therefore he is ruled out of the match. So they allowed Blackwood to come in as a substitute and he is currently batting out there in the middle. So now the runs that Bravo has scored in this inning (23) will count plus the runs that Blackwood score will also count. So technically WI are playing with 12 players in this inning and all their runs will count. My suggestion is that if they are allowing a substitute then they should take off the runs that the original batsman has scored to make it even. Otherwise it's just advantage to the team getting the substitute (in this case WI) because they will have one extra player batting for them.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Just a point on concussion substitute. If you bring in a substitute for a player who was batting in the middle like Bravo and that player has walked off mid inning, his runs should be scrapped off. I mean WI are now playing with 12 players in this inning.

They still have ten wickets.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Don't quite understand the point of a concussion sub. What is the logic behind allowing a sub for concussion but not for other injuries?

If a bowler breaks down or someone fractures their digits while playing, why is that not worth a sub? In the end, they are all injuries copped on the field

 

[PEACE MAKER]

Don't quite understand the point of a concussion sub. What is the logic behind allowing a sub for concussion but not for other injuries?

If a bowler breaks down or someone fractures their digits while playing, why is that not worth a sub? In the end, they are all injuries copped on the field

Any Reason for allowing 12 members for Batting

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

The Conclusion
​

So as the tour comes to an end, I thought of sharing my views regarding it. It wasn't a great series as far as the competition between the sides was concerned. I expected West Indies to put up a great fight and make us fight for a win in the Tests as well as the T20I series because of their exploits against England. And in T20Is because of them being the World Champions in this format with some big hitters in their team. Along with that, they've always troubled India in this format. Also the fact that India's batting in this format is not top-notch also they did not have their best team as far as their bowling was concerned. In ODIs the performance was as expected but they definitely showed sparks of brilliance in the 3rd ODI where Gayle and Evin Lewis went beserk.

Coming on to T20I series what impressed me is the fact that India played their best Cricket right from the first match in the T20I series. Navdeep Saini bowled a beautiful spell comprising of pace and bounce and also change in variations. While India looked a bit scrappy with their batting. In the second T20I some fabulous range of strokes and flawless batting from Rohit Sharma and a late finish from Krunal Pandya were worth having a watch at. Later in the 3rd T20I, the bowling started of well and despite being taken for some lusty blows the Indian bowlers kept their calm. In batting despite the failure of top order they kept their cool and build a beautiful partnership when Pant and Kohli were at the crease to see them through to whitewash West Indies. For West Indies perspective, it was an utterly disappointing performance. Thought Oshane Thomas and Sheldon Cottrell made things tough for the Indian batsman. Also Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell batted brilliantly so as Nicholas Pooran in the 2nd T20I. But rest of them, the less said it is better!

The ODIs, West Indies again started poorly but still managed to score 54/1 in 13 overs but later the rain resulted in abandonment of the match. In the 2nd ODI, India lost Shikhar Dhawan early. Rohit looked completely out of touch but it was magnificent knock of Kohli and a stable knock of Shreyas Iyer brought India back in the game. Both Kohli and Iyer also got together to get things going in the last match where India chased down 255 in just 34 overs which was again some sign of dominance. For West Indies, Sheldon Cottrell was economical in the 2nd ODI while Roston Chase kept things tight from the other end as well. Brathwaite also made his contribution by taking some crucial wickets at regular intervals. Evin Lewis did play wonderfully well after a real struggle in the T20I series. Pooran was the man who impressed me the most. I don't quite understand why Cottrell was kept out in the last match of the series despite being economical in the 2nd ODI. Chris Gayle's and Lewis's cameo at start laid platform for the batsmen in the lower order but they made a mess of it. Again it was Pooran who played well in the middle order. Hetmyer disappointed me the most in the ODI series. Kohli was rightfully adjudged man of the series.

In the Test series, India looked a bit under pressure at start of their innings in the first Test but they recovered well. Kohli's shot in the first innings of the first Test playing upper cut straight into the hands of the third man. Finally Rahane once again brought his Mr. Dependable form at the right time for India. Jadeja did well and Ishant Sharma's contribution with the bat at the end was priceless despite not scoring the runs. And again he came out at bowled at full throttle in the West Indies innings and grabbed 5 wickets. In the 2nd innings Vihari cemented his spot in my view for the no.6 which India were looking for a long time. Rahane's century is going to be a huge confidence booster for him and his team. In the 2nd Innings of the West Indies, Bumrah bowled a spell which has to be India's best spell of bowling in Test Cricket.

In the 2nd Test Kohli got some important runs under his belt and Agarwal supported him well. Bumrah didn't just stop after the 2nd innings of the first Test. This time he grabbed six wickets. Wonderful century from Vihari again, his first in Test Cricket. A lot more wonderful years to come for him. For West Indies I would just say one thing, just stick with Sharmarh Brooks, Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood if they are to resolve their batting issues in Test.

I think it's time for India to move on from Rohit and find a player who would play for them for years to come. And that player is meant to be Vihari's back up. And for West Indies they shouldn't play Hetmyer in Tests at Present as he just doesn't look cut for this format as of yet. I day don't force him in this format as his one-day and T20I form would struggle because of lack of confidence.[DOUBLEPOST=1567522231][/DOUBLEPOST]And finally would like to add one more thing. KL Rahul clearly needs to be more confident and more responsible now. India badly needs the old KL Rahul back. Or would just advice to give his place to Shaw who is rearing to go big time !