General Cricket Thread

[String]

As it stands, the 150 run lead Oz have will be a winning one tomorrow. It is probably for the better for this WTC cycle to be Rohit and Virat's last. Maybe they'll do the improbable and hit a rich vein of form in the coming matches but Virats been a passenger for long and Rohit is a walking wicket now, you feel their spots could be used for other youngsters. Even if they also fail atleast there's still potential upside there. 

 

Jaiswal and Gill need to turn up more often. Harry Brook scores daddy hundreds along with consistently good scores otherwise. Jaiswal needs to do the second part more often, while Gill regularly puts up pretty looking 20s and 30s but not much more usually. Of course its easy to say as an audience member, but feel these two are the key wickets for India this series and they need to turn up

[Jay]

Jaiswal is the real deal. Gill I put in the same bucket as Rohit - which means I'll sh*t on him no matter how successful he is until the day he retires.

 

Unfortunately Brook is also the real deal, I really want to not like that guy.

[String]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Jaiswal is the real deal. Gill I put in the same bucket as Rohit - which means I'll sh*t on him no matter how successful he is until the day he retires.

I have high hopes for Jaiswal, I think he has another big hundred in store for this BGT but he's yet to score in the first innings this series which has hurt us both times and cost us one match, lol. Seems like he has that run machine mentality imo, so time to churn out those runs and get off the mark in the first innings, come the Gabba. 

 

Gill needs more in the 50s and 100s column though, so far he always seems good for a big score but usually never goes on to make one. I rate him so hope he converts his potential to performance. 

 

Rohit is my favorite Indian batter of the current crop, but man his test batting has looked painful in the 5-6 odd tests he's played this year against Ban, NZ and Aus. Hopefully he can turn it around this BGT but I wouldn't count on it. 

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Unfortunately Brook is also the real deal, I really want to not like that guy.

The new world number one, too. He seems to have all the gears against all kinds of bowling. In hindsight it makes you wonder how big a miss he was during Englands 1-4 defeat to India 

 

Scott Boland could be the main pacer for a few test teams but has to sit out when Josh arrives after looking unplayable at times at Adelaide. Tough on him. 

 

We really need to get that man Head out early on. The ease at which he handles our bowlers once he's set is ridiculous. He's the only batsman in the Australian side who doesn't look troubled by Bumrah imo. 

 

Harsh*t will probably be dropped for Akash Deep. Wonder if they will go Prasidh for Siraj but I doubt it. Who'll be our spinner? 

[Jay]

32 minutes ago, String said:

I have high hopes for Jaiswal, I think he has another big hundred in store for this BGT but he's yet to score in the first innings this series which has hurt us both times and cost us one match, lol. Seems like he has that run machine mentality imo, so time to churn out those runs and get off the mark in the first innings, come the Gabba. 

 

Gill needs more in the 50s and 100s column though, so far he always seems good for a big score but usually never goes on to make one. I rate him so hope he converts his potential to performance.

 

Jaiswal will fill his boots at least once. Gill maybe not. Gill reminds me of Shane Watson based on his 'classy almost-50' tendencies. Doesn't have Watto's huge left pad (good) but also doesn't have Watto's bowling (not good).

 

32 minutes ago, String said:

Who'll be our spinner?

 

This has always been a bizarre question to me. Ashwin eats Australian wickets for breakfast and always has. Him missing the WTC final was a big own goal from the selectors.

 

Once the current Fab Four start retiring, I'm adamant that Jaiswal and Brook will form the beginning of the next phenomenal crop. The Fab Two so far.

[String]

34 minutes ago, Jay said:

This has always been a bizarre question to me. Ashwin eats Australian wickets for breakfast and always has. Him missing the WTC final was a big own goal from the selectors.

In my opinion Ashwin seems to be a fading force. He's been a key reason why we have been so good in tests for the last few years but he was the worst of the three spinners during India's recent home series, and I understand why they selected Washi ahead of him at first. I wasnt too impressed with Ashwins performance at Adelaide either. Tbf it was just one innings, and he has credit in the bank. Still, Jadeja is a terrific all rounder and I'm a bit partial to Washington lol, and so I'm not convinced Ash is our best spinner atm.

The WTC final was an own goal though, ya. That Ashwin was great, hope he returns at the Gabba.

 

39 minutes ago, Jay said:

Once the current Fab Four start retiring, I'm adamant that Jaiswal and Brook will form the beginning of the next phenomenal crop. The Fab Two so far.

Yeah for me they are the most dominant bats of the future, perhaps already lol. Also Kamindu Mendis of Sri Lanka and Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand are good shouts.

[Jay]

Jaiswal ton today, I feel it in my bones.

[String]

13 hours ago, Jay said:

Jaiswal ton today, I feel it in my bones.

That must be something else in your bones man

Lost one full day to the rain, but you suspect 4 days are more than enough for a result still.

 

Tim Southee's last match! Up the Camel

[Jay]

Jaiswal ton tomorrow, I feel it in my bones.

 

[String]

 he is manhandling us again

 

 

Rohit needs to trust Nitish more imo

 

[Jay]

Rohit needs to step down from captaincy tbh.

 

Jaiswal ton today, I feel it in my bones.

[String]

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

Rohit needs to step down from captaincy tbh.

This WTC cycle will probably be his last, and should we not make the final this BGT will probably be his last series. It's been sad to see as a Rohit fan, not only has the team looked flat and out of ideas ever since he came back, but it followed a very inspired performance under Bumrah so makes him look worse. Plus he'll probably end with a batting average under 40 at this rate lol. 

 

Atleast he brought us our first ICC title in a decade. Hopefully we can salvage this BGT but we'll see

 

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

Jaiswal ton today, I feel it in my bones

Third times the charm? 

Edited December 15, 2024 by String

[Jay]

Bumrah did make Rohit look very ordinary tactically and creatively.

 

I'd love to see Jaiswal ton up sometime soon, just waiting for this mob to declare. Wasting precious time now, ridiculous.

[Jay]

I'll take the blame for this.

 

There's a turn of phrase on the Cricketweb.net forums called Gambhiring and I can assure you that is not what I'm trying to do to Jaiswal.

[String]

Ffs, Jaiswal's scored just 4 runs in our 3 first innings and we've been on the backfoot every single time as a result. Disappointing. 

 

Which is also the apt word to describe Gill these days

 

Not even disappointed with Virat, it's a surprise if he crosses 30 these days

[Jay]

On 12/15/2024 at 10:21 AM, Jay said:

Jaiswal ton tomorrow, I feel it in my bones.

 

 

Looks like they'll be chasing a bundle of runs in the 4th, maybe he'll ton up then?

 

Right?

[String]

You'll get a Nitish Kumar Reddy century and you'll like it! 

[String]

On 12/28/2024 at 3:25 AM, Jay said:

Looks like they'll be chasing a bundle of runs in the 4th, maybe he'll ton up then?

He came close lol. Not so much India though, a 184 run defeat. Here's to a Sydney miracle

[XNOR]

first post of 2025!

 

 

Indian CT squad out.

 

Bumrah is in the squad, but not fit enough to be VC. Bad news for Jaiswal, though, now he has to make way for Gill the vice-captain. The playing-XI mostly selects by itself, with the only toss-up being whom to exclude from the Axar-Jadeja-Washinton trio. And Pant vs. KL too I suppose, but I hope they go with the leftie.

 

Also, really good to see the seniors (except you-know-who) back playing domestic again. Looks like the BCCI is serious about their new 10-point plan.

 

 

[String]

10 hours ago, XNOR said:

Also, really good to see the seniors (except you-know-who) back playing domestic again. Looks like the BCCI is serious about their new 10-point plan.

 

I feel like the BCCI wanted to crack the whip on the superstars for a while. And the recent results were the perfect excuse to go all guns blazing  

 

10 hours ago, XNOR said:

The playing-XI mostly selects by itself, with the only toss-up being whom to exclude from the Axar-Jadeja-Washinton trio

I would select Asar and Washi but i suspect it'll be Jaddu and Axar which is fair, they're arguably the two best spin bowling all rounders we have

 

10 hours ago, XNOR said:

And Pant vs. KL too I suppose, but I hope they go with the leftie.

Hope so too but i suspect itll be KL

[XNOR]

On 1/19/2025 at 8:09 AM, String said:

I feel like the BCCI wanted to crack the whip on the superstars for a while. And the recent results were the perfect excuse to go all guns blazing 

 

The new rules inconvenience the cameraman more than the superstars tbh. But hey, let's hope their plan works.

 

On 1/19/2025 at 8:09 AM, String said:

I would select Asar and Washi but i suspect it'll be Jaddu and Axar which is fair, they're arguably the two best spin bowling all rounders we have

Yeah, Axar-Jadeja seems to be the likeliest combination. Jaddu being a great fielder also helps.

 

What'd be your pace picks? Do you think they'll forgo one of the finger spinners in favour of a fast bowler? Or is it too much?

 

I understand workload management and all that, but I really want Bumrah to play lol.

 

On 1/19/2025 at 8:09 AM, String said:

Hope so too but i suspect itll be KL

Me too, but I don't mind it too much. Much more disappointed in not seeing Jaiswal play, though.

Edited January 21 by XNOR

[String]

30 minutes ago, XNOR said:

What'd be your pace picks? Do you think they'll forgo one of the finger spinners in favour of a fast bowler? Or is it too much?

 

I understand workload management and all that, but I really want Bumrah to play lol.

For the Champions Trophy my pace duo would be Arshdeep and Shami with Hardik as the 3rd pacer. Three spinners: Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep

 

I'd trust Hardik as the third seamer. I don't mind whether Bumrah plays or not even though he greatly increases our chances of winning. If he does play he should probably play in place of one of the spinners imo rather than replace one of the pacers. 

 

30 minutes ago, XNOR said:

Me too, but I don't mind it too much. Much more disappointed in not seeing Jaiswal play, though.

Yeah, he'll get his time but it should have been yesterday. I feel some players like Samson, Parag, Ruturaj, Tilak should have received more caps but the seniors have overstayed. More than the seniors though, I blames the fans that feed into their superstardom and make them undroppable. 

 

Some sections of the media are going after Gautam Gambhir, some posters on cricket subreddits have had a hate boner for him from the start because of his fights with Virat and his political disposition. The recent test result abyss hasn't done him favours too, but I feel his run will come good eventually. The t20 results under him have been good at least, let's see how India fares against England, who we generally do well against in bilaterals. 

Edited January 21 by String

[XNOR]

On 1/21/2025 at 10:39 PM, String said:

For the Champions Trophy my pace duo would be Arshdeep and Shami with Hardik as the 3rd pacer. Three spinners: Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep

 

I'd trust Hardik as the third seamer. I don't mind whether Bumrah plays or not even though he greatly increases our chances of winning. If he does play he should probably play in place of one of the spinners imo rather than replace one of the pacers. 

Solid.

 

Hoping Hardik can carry as the third seamer. He was expensive at the Kolkata game, and iirc didn't have a great IPL in Dubai with the ball too (also jadeja, please don't run him out). An aside, I know he left GT and all, but kinda bummed that he isn't VC for this T20 squad.

 

On 1/21/2025 at 10:39 PM, String said:

Yeah, he'll get his time but it should have been yesterday. I feel some players like Samson, Parag, Ruturaj, Tilak should have received more caps but the seniors have overstayed. More than the seniors though, I blames the fans that feed into their superstardom and make them undroppable. 

 

Yeah, man, I hope this "too big to fall" doesn't bring about the downfall of Indian cricket.

 

On 1/21/2025 at 10:39 PM, String said:

Some sections of the media are going after Gautam Gambhir, some posters on cricket subreddits have had a hate boner for him from the start because of his fights with Virat and his political disposition. The recent test result abyss hasn't done him favours too, but I feel his run will come good eventually. The t20 results under him have been good at least, let's see how India fares against England, who we generally do well against in bilaterals. 

 

Me too. I hope BCCI gives him a long run. He over-promised yeah, but to be fair to him, he's dealing with a pretty turbulent transition. I'm happy that NKR got a debut under him.

 

----

 

Lot of upsets recently - J&K beat Mumbai and WI beat Pakistan at home.

 

the spin battle at Dubai is going to be fun.

 

[String]

8 minutes ago, XNOR said:

Lot of upsets recently - J&K beat Mumbai

That too a Mumbai side stacked with national team players. Well done. Dube getting a duck in both innings made me laugh for some dumb reason. 

 

9 minutes ago, XNOR said:

WI beat Pakistan at home.

The problem with dustbowl pitches is the toss and batting first becomes a major advantage for whoever wins it. As India have also experienced, any advantage your spinners have over the opposition spinners are negated by the pitch and on such pitches you gotta hope you win the toss. 

 

That being said I enjoy these shootout by spin games, shame Ashwin won't be part of those any longer. West Indies were apparently 38/7 batting first so to win it from there was kickass on their apart, batted well in the second innings too plus their tail has really showed up with the bat. 

 

I hope to see the kind of pitches we had versus England in our 2024 home season for our next home series'. In a sense our home record being broken could free up our team to play without resorting to dustbowls even when we go 0-1 down, like we did against England last year. Though like I said they can also be fun, we'll probably see more of that in Australia's tour of SL 

17 minutes ago, XNOR said:

the spin battle at Dubai is going to be fun

The hype for the Champions Trophy is slowly building as the date nears

[XNOR]

On 1/27/2025 at 10:08 PM, String said:

Well done. Dube getting a duck in both innings made me laugh for some dumb reason. 

 

lol.

 

But he came good today (except for the last over, where he got bullied by Overton).

 

On 1/27/2025 at 10:08 PM, String said:

The problem with dustbowl pitches is the toss and batting first becomes a major advantage for whoever wins it. As India have also experienced, any advantage your spinners have over the opposition spinners are negated by the pitch and on such pitches you gotta hope you win the toss. 

 

That being said I enjoy these shootout by spin games, shame Ashwin won't be part of those any longer. West Indies were apparently 38/7 batting first so to win it from there was kickass on their apart, batted well in the second innings too plus their tail has really showed up with the bat. 

 

Agreed.

 

On 1/27/2025 at 10:08 PM, String said:

I hope to see the kind of pitches we had versus England in our 2024 home season for our next home series'. In a sense our home record being broken could free up our team to play without resorting to dustbowls even when we go 0-1 down, like we did against England last year.

 

Would be great to see. At least the next time we lose a home series, we wouldn't bear the insult of digging our own graves lol.

 

On 1/27/2025 at 10:08 PM, String said:

Though like I said they can also be fun, we'll probably see more of that in Australia's tour of SL 

 

 

Nice for SLC to provide a complimentary net session for Khawaja and Smith.

 

Who do you want to win this WTC? (And tell me why it's South Africa. /s)

 

On 1/27/2025 at 10:08 PM, String said:

The hype for the Champions Trophy is slowly building as the date nears

 

LFG!

 

No warm-up games for us?

[String]

8 hours ago, XNOR said:

Who do you want to win this WTC? (And tell me why it's South Africa. /s)

South Africa is one of my favorite teams in general and the recent BGT just solidified it for me. Though after my experiences lurking in cricket subreddits, I don't tend to support any team apart from India. 

 

8 hours ago, XNOR said:

No warm-up games for us?

I think thats basically the England series lol. Don't know if any country will travel to UAE for warm ups. Think Australia is using the SL ODI series for this purpose too

[XNOR]

Shami deserved that MOTM tbh.

[XNOR]

Brendon McCullum: We let Jos Buttler down by prioritising Tests

[String]

Sadly the article is paywalled. The England ODI batting lineup seems power packed but they never click. The one time they did and posted 350+, Australia chased it down

[XNOR]

Here's the archived link: https://archive.is/uO50b

 

In short, BMac says that the ECB prioritising tests meant that Buttler could not have great access to his first-choice players, and once the scheduling eases, the successor skipper could have a better pool of players to pick from. The interesting part is the author making a case for Root to succeed Buttler instead of Brook, and justifies this by pointing out the examples of Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith leading their sides this CT.

 

Quote

In the short term, the result would be three captains of the three different national sides. This model did not particularly work when Sir Andrew Strauss, Sir Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad led in the different formats in 2011-12, but as Australia and India show, the unrelenting schedule is forcing countries to embrace curious models; their success is determined less by the structure than the personnel involved. The characters of Stokes, Root and Brook, and their personal closeness to each other, might just make a split model work.

 

19 hours ago, String said:

The England ODI batting lineup seems power packed but they never click. The one time they did and posted 350+, Australia chased it down

Funnily, Root's cautious approach is what's been holding everything together this CT. So much for Bazball.

 

Getting bundled for 179 on a Karachi motorway, and leaving the tournament without winning a single-group stage game must be a new low.

[String]

Same semifinalists in the Champions Trophy as that of the 2023 World Cup. India facing Australia in the semifinals this time. Wonder if India will go with 4 spinners for the semi too