We review the the third Test between Australia and India at Brisbane. Australia piled on 445 but rain helped India keep the series at 1-1.
Apple Podcasts
SpotifyTalking Points:
- India’s decision to persist with four bowlers an an allrounder
- The need for insurance in the lower order against Australia’s attack
- Akash Deep’s incisive spells with little reward
- India’s multipronged. issues with their transition
- Rohit and Kohli: poor form or slowing reflexes. Or mostly bad luck?
- Pat Cummins: the master of seam and length
- Jasprit Bumrah’s ability to create jeopardy at will
- R Ashwin’s decision to retire midway through the series
- Ashwin’s astonishing strike rate and the legacy he leaves behind
Participants:
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)
Ashoka
Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) | Substack| ESPNcricinfo
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Related
- Ashwin :the great problem-solver who played cricket for cricket’s sake – Sidharth Monga – ESPNcricinfo
- Ashwin retires – Kartikeya Date – Cricketingview Substack
- The Encyclopedist – Gideon Haigh – Cricket et al. (subscription)
- How Ashwin remained a committed cricketer and a team man till his sudden and surprising exit – Sriram Veera – Indian Express
Lead image from here.
I would definitely love a standalone podcast on Ashwin especially reminiscing the 2017 spell.
This management is making negative decisions by playing NKR. They need another pacer. Because without it, this felt like the 2011 era test when Zaheer used to get Cowan, Marsh or someone else early but then Clarke plundered. I am a little confused by the arguments in this episode about Indian batting though, while I understand that batting era is tough and most of the criticism does not have any cricketing sense, it can’t be only luck that Rahul has scored and others have not. If age has no effect then with the right luck even Sachin would still make runs. Then there is no point in anyone ever retiring. Rahul at his age and form feels like a player who could make more of the luck than Virat and Rohit at this point of their respective careers. Virat unfortunately has made 20 only twice in the last seven tests and Rohit has crossed 20 only once. I am not saying they are worse than Jadeja etc who are batting lower order but a natural decline is visible and that is how great careers often end.
Also on a funny sidenote, Bumrah is having an all-timer series, but you guys have ended up dedicating more time to Cummins even while talking about Bumrah, conversation usually has gone about praising Cummins. No problem with Cummins but would love to hear more about Bumrah.
Thanks Tarun. We did talk a lot about Bumrah after the Perth Test. But yes, we need to do more. And maybe a separate episode on him! The argument regarding Rohit and Kohli is that – yes they are getting old but they are also facing tough conditions and really good bowling. Had these been flat pitches – and if these two were still not scoring – it would make sense to try Sarfaraz or Jurel, or both. But given Kohli scored a hundred in the first Test and Rohit has got 3 near-unplayable balls – it’s difficult to gauge. As you heard – there was a bit of a disagreement on why Rahul is scoring runs in the last two Tests. So we will expand on that thread more in the subsequent pods.