India Test Series

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Warner is leading from the front....he has got the runs, but not the type we need, so Watson is opening. Obviously not channelling Deano's Chennai heroics.


Lyon got spooked by Dhoni and just ended up darting them in. He looked best when he was tossing them up and getting some dip/drift. Was also bowling to a pretty unhelpful field, with every one back Dhoni could basically read him off the pitch. Mi****s or poor shots fell safely in the very vacant infield.
 
Well done to Henriques, his application has impressed me in this innings. Maybe too much to dream that Lyon can hang around for another 25 runs for him, but he deserves the 3 figures.
 
Agree on that front Henriques has been very good this match, chipped in with a wicket and batted well.

Surely he will give the selectors enough confidence to drop a pace bowler for a spinner.

Wade looks all over the place keeping on this pitch as well, on the first test we should have played Haddin who goes pretty good against spin
 
Well that knock from Dhoni proved to be the difference. India were already 2 down at 50 and there were 2 more drops by Wade off Lyon albeit 1 was very hard to catch and hit him on the box. Had we rolled them for under 450 it would have been game on i think.

Even the Indian spinners looked tired this morning and they had 3 to rotate, we played just one and expect him not to tire bowling 50+ overs? Selectors certainly are not on performance enhancing drugs, made the same mistake England did only a couple of months back.

With 4 openers in the side Cowan cannot have much longer to go before he gets dropped. Has 1 century on 24 innings/14 tests and in his last 10 innings he has starts of 20 or more in 7 but could only manage a high score of 56 @ avg of 28.

My guess is they fancy him against swing and are holding on hoping he will come good for England but he would want to have a ripper there given he is almost 31 now.
 
Watson can't open to spin as he does not play it well early in his innings. Moises to bat above Wade. Clarke to four. Warner should bowl in every innings even if its just to have a look n see. Starc or SIDS out for a spinner. Otherwise they should all be better for the experience.
 
Lyon & Starc out. Doherty & Maxwell in. I am surprised Lyon is out. Clarke appeared to be happy with Lyons performance in the 1st test. Happy that Doherty is given a chance. I'm not a fan of Lyon. Side has better balance with extra spinner in Maxwell & we bat a bit further down.
 
Another spinner consigned to the scrapheap it seems. Who sings the song now if we win ???

I'm not convinced about Doherty as a test spinner. He is OK at containment in T20 and ODI, but Test matches are about taking wickets, not sure he has the variation. Maybe they feel India are more susceptible to the ball leaving the righthanders (Left arm ortho).

Maxwell I don't think is Test match standard and will probably get targeted here.
 
Exactly C & C. Was very surprised when Huss passed the baton to Lyon. Someone who hadn't yet cemented their spot in the team. That said not to many of the eleven have.


I hope I don't put the mockers on him C & C, but Watson easily looks the far more comfortable than any of the top four. That said, great shot that Hughsie.


Agree that the Indians will naturally target Maxwell, given it's his debut. Will be interesting to see how Maxwell responds.


Man. Watson unlucky IMO. He was out but it cut back a mile & kept low. Alot of seam movement in the deck.
 
That's the risk on Indian pitches, the pull/cut is always going to be a chancey shot if the ball stays low.

I can see why the Indians hate the DRS, Cowan's would have got overturned on review.

Warner looks bloody ordinary when his dead eye let's him down, no footwork to back him up.
 
That is a ridiculous amount of reverse swing that Sharma is getting already after just 23 overs. Shame we don't have an exponent of reverse like that. Someone like a Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis would be handy. ;-)
 
Waqar lives here in Australia now and I believe he applied for the Australian bowling coach role but missed out.
 
Selectors do appear to be on drugs, drop Lyon why? When for his first 20 overs in both innings looked dangerous and took 5 wickets. Dropped for a bloke whos first class average is well below average at best.

Lyon has showed before he only has 20 - 30 good overs in him he needed a second option last game.

I can only think Doherty has been brought in as another batsman because a better test spinner he is not.

If Watson was to bowl (and Johnson/Pattinson) we could have 4 seam and 4 spin options with batting down to 10
 
I don't think Doherty or Maxwell are better spin options than Lyon. I would have accepted Doherty to be picked as another option with Lyon (left/ right combination).

I can only assume that the selectors feel we need to bat down to 8 hence Maxwell's selection. Given the failure of the top 4 here they might be right. I don't think Maxwell will be the Big Show as a test batsman though so it's a flawed theory. I really hope that Maxwell and Doherty do something in this game with the ball otherwise we are back to square one and have also destroyed Lyon's confidence in the interim.

Clint - Aussie bowling coach is Ali de Winter.....yes that''s right, who ?


Wade just threw away his wicket there.

Let's hope Henriques builds on his last test success and helps Clarke get another big one here. Another 200 runs in the first innings and we are in a pretty safe position ....pretty safe


Well the all rounders didn't do half the job they were selected for. Can't believe Clarke has declared.
 
It's shades of Dravid and Laxman all over again, with Vijay and Pujara well on top, they've almost put on 300. Maxwell has copped some stick and Doherty hasn't created a lot of chances.

Wonder how Lyon would have gone.

Quicks don't look likely and anything on the pads is just getting worked subcontinental style. Could be a long day tomorrow...........


By the way Tom Hanks will play Pujara when they make the movie of this game.
 
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What a disgrace, embarrassment, anything else???
Absolutely spanked.
 
Late wickets when India were throwing caution to the wind made Maxwell's bowling figures look far more respectable than they deserved to be. The Big Show looked more like a half price Saturday Matinee. His batting was hardly worth the effort either, I think Lyon scored more runs in the first test didn't he ??

Doherty is good at restricting runs but he doesn't have the variation or subtlety of flight required IMO. He might be a good foil for a another spinner, but doesn't strike me as a wicket taking match winner, He's more Tim may then Shane Warne.

Hughes is having a shocking series, so glad we wrapped him in cotton wool and hid him from the big bad South Africans so he could build some confidence. Where's Quiney these days ?

I can't see it getting any better over the next two tests.
 
First team ever to be defeated by an innings after declaring in the first dig.
Now there's a record you want to have.

That said, I don't blame Clarkie for declaring. He had the balls to have a crack. Good on him.
And he has shown enough so far that he is going to be a proactive, not a reactive, captain.

As you have touched on C & C, nothing to suggest that this won't be a 4-0 whitewash.
 
Lyon like Krejza at least created chances, unfortunately unlike the greats they go for too many runs doing so. Doherty creates very little.

That said on Indian pitches like these we should have played 2 genuine spinners and the left right combo would at least allow us to exploit any footmarks to both left and right handed batsman, something the indians do and do well.

Hughes and Cowan are both lucky there isnt much else coming through and Watson isnt far behind.
 

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