*Official* Road to India in Australia 2014/15

[Daemon]

On a happier note, no more Binny (Y)

 

[Spikey]

fml.
11.1 Siddle to Raina, no run, short rubbish, left alone
11.2 Siddle to Raina, no run, short rubbish, left alone
11.3 Siddle to Raina, no run, short rubbish, left alone
11.4 Siddle to Raina, no run, full rubbish, left alone
11.5 Siddle to Raina, no run, short rubbish, left alone
11.6 Siddle to Raina, one run, short rubbish, mistimed to midwicket and they take a single

12.1 Johnson to Raina, OUT, Short ball, need I say anymore.
Suresh Raina hit wicket b Johnson 0 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: whatever
India 25/5

..

 

[cnerd123]

Both Saha and Ojha in the Test Squad. Interesting...

Will be interesting to see Kohli as skipper too.

 

[Spikey]

to be perfectly clear, Raina was on strike for the 11th over not because Siddle took a wicket at the end of the 9th over but because Kohli skied a pull shot at the end of MJ's 10th over

 

[OverratedSanity]

Kohli captaining the opening test of a tour of Australia?! Too much awesome.

 

[Swingpanzee]

I'm not so sure if an Australian white-wash will happen - let's not forget that Australia was completely humiliated in the test series in the UAE. I accept that their team is not at all suited for the sub-continent, and will play to their strengths in Australia, but some of their flaws will still remain. The issues they have:
- Clarke's form: Had a terrible tour, is only averaging 29.40 in 2014
- Over-reliance on Mitch. The supporting cast of Siddle, Starc and Marsh are in mediocre form
- Apart from the first hour of the first match, Australia were not even competitive. It's rare to bounce back from a white-wash loss and reverse it to a white-wash victory.

On the other hand, I feel some optimism for India's chances:
- Virat Kohli: Looks to have recovered his form, and let's face it - he probably won't ever have a series as bad as England 2014 ever again
- India's fast bowling options of Bhuvi, Shami, Ishant, Aaron and Yadav should do well in Australia
- I personally feel that England is the toughest destination for India batsmen because of the seam and movement. Anderson completed ripped through our top order match after match with those beautiful swingers outside the off-stump. Australian pitches will have more pace and bounce but in batsmen like Vijay, Rahane and Pujara, I feel there is enough technique to handle this.

I'm going to stick my neck out and call a series draw.

 

[Jono]

OMG FINALLY THE KOHLI (C) DREAM HAS COME TRUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[cnerd123]

X-Post from the Raina thread cause it really belongs here more.

Well the idea behind two spinners isn't to run through Australia, it's to bowl containing overs so we can rotate our fragile quicks and not bowl them into the ground. The problems for India arise when, as we saw in England, the fast bowlers tire out and breakdown over the course of a 5 Test Series. And most of that is down to them having to bowl 20 odd overs every innings and not having the strength and fitness to do so across 5 Tests.

Really, the best solution to avoid this is to play both Ashwin and Jadeja, take the minor hit to the batting strength, and keep the three quicks fresh by bowling them in short spells and giving them fewer overs each innings. You can also rotate Yadav and Aaron if necessary, so they can go all out each time they bowl.

Between Ashwin, Jadeja and Ishant bowling the stock overs, you can have Bhuvi bowl nice long spells with the new ball, and Yadav/Aaron tearing in for short, quick, bursts.

Now...if after the first test Ashwin and Jadeja fail to show the ability to contain, then we have problems...

 

[NUFAN]

I still don't know who we should pick if Clarke doesn't play. The other 10 are locked in for mine (pending injury). Who's everyone expecting to replace Clarke?

 

[Riggins]

Hope Ferg, reckon they'll go with Marsh.

 

[Spikey]

Riggins turning his back on the Wollongong Wonder eh

 

[Justo]

I don't necessarily like it but barring big runs from Ferguson, Burns and maybe (but unlikely) Hughes I'd put money on Shaun Marsh getting the call up. Also assume Watson is the replacement for Maxwell from the last Test.

 

[Riggins]

Oh it'd be great Spikey. Just don't see it happening.

 

[Spikey]

Hey guys......are you ready for a 6 seamer attack?

Drop Lyon for Gabba Test, says Border | The Advertiser

 

[Pratters]

I don't see the point of playing Lyon v India in the first test at least. Indians are like rabbits hopping around looking for the spinner to come on. People are saying these Indian batsmen will play pace just fine. I don't know how they will counter some one like Johnson really. If Hazelwood bowls the way he bowled in the ODI I watched, India are stuffed basically.

 

[Daemon]

Yeah Lyon's been a bit **** of late as well. It's not that bad an idea.

Still wouldn't go for it ftr.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, but 6 seamers...

If you have Johnson, Harris, Hazlewood, Watson and Marsh bowling at you already, do you really need to add Siddle to the mix, or would more be gained from Lyon? Plus over rates.

 

[Tangles]

How much bowling will Watson do really? If it's a batting track he and Marsh may struggle for poles anyway. If it's bowling conditions then Johnson and Harris won't need help. Sok for the extra batting.

 

[Daemon]

Yeah, but 6 seamers...

If you have Johnson, Harris, Hazlewood, Watson and Marsh bowling at you already, do you really need to add Siddle to the mix, or would more be gained from Lyon? Plus over rates.

You don't really need Siddle there but still, I'd back him to do better than Lyon will against us in Australia.

Basically having Marsh do well with the bat and keeping his spot in the side because of that means you can't pick your 4th best pace bowler in the country (whoever it is) because it looks silly having six seamers. Is that the right way to look at selection?

 

[Antihippy]

Does australia really have to worry about playing lyon against a side that got rolled by moeen ali?