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I have waited a long time for this day ! 4 Indian fast bowlers, terrorizing the opposition batters with pace, bounce, accuracy and movement ... and winning a test away from home. 20 wickets were taken for the test, 60 wickets for the series ... opposition batters were hit on the head, body and fingers. Bumrah ... pace, bounce, accuracy and seam movement Shami ... pace, bounce, swing and seam movement Bhuvi ... accuracy, swing and astuteness Ishant ... tall and economical workhorse with decent pace Lots of new fast bowlers coming up ... Saini the best prospect for tests. Good days ahead for Indian fast bowling fans ! Cheers ! A lot of credit goes to Kohli too ... Kohli ko pace pasand hai !

Say what you want but its very commendable the way Inzy & co (Pak selectors) giving chances to young players regularly. Their U19 world cup squad was atrocious with only 1 good player Shaheen Shah Afridi. They realized his potential and straight away drafted him into national side. They make no bones of it. And here we are with our ignoramus selectors. In the same world cup, the likes of Shubhman Gill and Prithvi Shaw flared better than Afridi. But we choose to give more chances to Raina rather. The star of previous U19 world cup Rishabh Pant is still on the awaiting list. I am a huge Dhoni fan but what is he still doing in T20 team with no WC in sight? What happened to likes of Mavi, Nagarkotti etc? Lokesh Rahul forced his way back onto the team...else we would still have Rahane playing at no.4 for us in LOIs. Indian selectors

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In light of the recent FIFA World Cup, thought of comparing the cricket teams with football teams based upon history/ability/achievements/mindset/resources yada yada. 1. West Indies: Brazil Calypso/Samba...free spirited Greatest teams of all time once upon a time but not so successful in the last 20 odd years Greatest players....all time XIs will have max players from their countries Loved by all Immense natural talent which drives them to success without a strong domestic set up Swag/Flair 2. Australia: Germany Overall very successful Competitive in every era Very consistent in World Cups Many ATGs (2nd highest) Very organized, disciplined with high precision and scientific approach to the game Ruthless Excellent domestic structure and youth programmes which was/is able to consistently churn out high quality players 3. India: Italy Probably in terms of big success behind only Australia (Germany) and WI (Brazil) Punched above its weight and knocked out fancier teams in the past to win big trophies Mediocre for large parts but still a great history with a few top tier ATGs Both are very defensive teams (bowling=attack, batting=defence ) with max ATGs in defensive department (India=batsmen, Italy=defenders and GK) For most parts in big tourneys both are mentally tough units, very dogged India often stopped mighty WI('83)/Australia(ATG test streak) just like how Italy stopped many pre tournament favorites like Brazil, France, Germany in the past. Good domestic structure.....Ranji=slightly below par, IPL=best in the world, average it out 4. Pakistan: Argentina Chaotic, mercurial, unpredictable Have won the big trophies but not yet as successful as 1-3 Individual brilliance, X factor Lack of cohesion, full of controversies and soap operas Achieved success under strong dictatorial leaders Propensity to cheat with innovations like ball tampering, chucking, Hand of God, fixing... Unapologetic about cheating incidents in the past, they wear it like a badge of honour Domestic Structure LOL 5. England: England Invented the sport but watched other teams excel more Rich history but most greats from bygone era English media Historically the best domestic structure with great prestige, finest of the game have polished their skills in England.....finishing school for many ATGs Boring sides Nostalgia tards Ugly yet effective style of play, tenacious spirit which helped them perform beyond their capabilities 6. Sri Lanka: France Won all their trophies post 90s, since then possibly most consistent teams in big events Produced many freakish talents Very successful in a short span At their best as good as any of the other ATG units Tactically top notch Nice fakers, often resort to underhand means 7. South Africa: Netherlands Never won a WC in spite of being favorites many times, greatest nations to not win the ultimate prize in their disciplines Exceptional talent, very skilled Cryuff=Kallis...objectively greatest but not rated as GOATs by pundits 8. New Zealand: Belgium Punch above weight No standout ATG but many excellent players who gel well Never came close to winning a WC Honest triers Universally liked 9. Bangladesh: Some African country (Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria????) Lots of funds pumped in by governing body 1-2 high quality players surrounded by a bunch of mediocre players Occasionally upset higher ranked teams Too many false dawns Very passionate fanbase Perpetual victim mentality Feel free to add your choices...I don't follow football like I used to as a kid. I may have made some wrong assumptions and got a few observations wrong. But honestly quite difficult to find equivalents which everyone will agree upon . Pretty sure many ICFers are more knowledgeable in this regard !!!!

He seems to do it quite often in the commentary. In today's match .. "That's a big one. A west indian one." ... when the windies opener hit a big six. "Small man with a big one." ... when Rayudu hit a six.

Not as world class as Amir's at Lord's.

I'd like to review this decision please. I love my trundlers!!!!!!

Manish Pandey has played some classic test knocks, albeit in T20s. He could be the next one. Perhaps he will play some classic T20 knocks in tests ... like 8 off 5 balls.

100-3, Rayudu and Dhoni in the middle , perfect time to kill yourself

I remember the year 1989 very well. Gavaskar had retired a couple of years earlier and Kapil had lost pace. We were losing to Pakistan more often than not in ODIs. The 1983 World Cup and 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup twin wins were things of the past. Crickets fans were feeling directionless. Then came the tour to Pakistan , where a baby-faced 16 year old stole the hearts of the entire nation with his brave batting against the Pakistani quicks. Watching cricket was a pleasure once again for Indians ... and this euphoria lasted for more than fifteen years. In the 1990s, when Tendulkar batted, the whole nation " batted " through him. In 1991, a tall, thin guy, with flailing arms while bowling , burst onto the scene and bowled really quick ... and India had its first genuine fast bowler, Srinath. The year 1996 saw an elegant left-hander score a century on test debut at Lords. This was followed by another century in the next test match. While this was happening, another young man with impeccable technique missed his centuries by a few runs in both those tests. Indian cricket fans were brimming with excitement once again at the emergence of these twin gems. Be it a wristy Hyderabadi scoring 3 centuries in his first three tests in 1984-85, a bespectacled Kumble taking a 4-fer in in Sharjah in 1991, Zaheer and Yuvraj sparkling in Nairobi in 2000, a dashing Sehwag scoring 105 in South Africa on test debut in 2001 ... these memories will stay with us for ever. More than these moments and memories, every time a special talent emerged, it gave us reasons to watch cricket for the next few years. No one will forget the dabaang innings of 148, that a long-haired keeper-batsman played in 2005 against Pakistan ... and a new star was born. No matter what one feels today, every Indian cricket fan felt a connection with that young man, which would stay with us till the time he won us the 2011 World Cup as captain. Then came Kohli, who would go on to become one of the biggest superstars. entertaining us in all three formats with his spectacular batsmanship. Rohit, Rahane, Pujara, Dhawan, Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Bhuvi etc. ... all of them inspired interest among certain sections of fans. Seeing a young Shami debut, combining genuine pace with reverse swing to floor the West Indians in 2013, was very exciting. Fast bowling fans just loved it when young Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron bowled at 150 kph. Sports survive and grow in stature and popularity because of superstars and stars. Thirty-one years have passed but people still talk about and remember Maradona winning the football world cup. Fans need to find a connection with individual players. They are happy when that person does well and sad when he fails. They realize their own sporting dreams through him or her. Cricket is facing competition from other sports in India like never before and needs star players more than ever. In Indian cricket, we are recently seeing a trend of trying to introduce thirty-plus players as a matter of priority, especially the batters and keepers . Youngsters are getting chances but only when an " elderly " is not good enough or is injured or fails the yo-yo test or rotation policy demands more players. If the current ODI batting line-up makes it to the 2019 World Cup then we will have six batters who are 30+. Dhoni 38, Karthick 34, Jadhav 34, Dhawan 33, Rohit 32, Kohli 30. I am not suggesting that thirty plus players should all be be dropped or not given fresh chances. But, there should be a mix of experience and youth. Too many youngsters mean lack of experience and too many older players mean lack of new direction and dwindling fan interest. Moreover, there is no point in promoting mediocrity when it comes to selecting fresh players. We have seen young spinners and all-rounders being introduced and backed though ... and the result is there for all to see. Be it the wrist-spin twins, Kuldeep and Chahal, or the charismatic all-rounder Hardik Pandya, they have given new direction and new energy to our team. I hope that some talented youngsters are allowed to flourish in the batting, keeping and fast-bowling departments too. If they receive the same backing as the young spinners and all-rounders are getting, they will also do well . KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Vijay Shankar, Karun Nair, Md. Siraj, Basil Thampi, Avesh Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti etc. etc. are waiting. It never was and and never is about choosing the top performers in domestic cricket or the well known names. It is always about spotting and backing the players who have the potential to achieve something extra at international level from now on.

lol Don't change what works for you

This post inspired me to make this

Maybe Bravo was suppose to Credit Dhoni once again. HE must have refused.

Can we turn the commentators' mics down when Manju is commentating, please?

He may have been a dissappointment in recent time becuase it felt like he underachieves. He may never fulfill his true potential. He will fail again. But when was the last time an Indian Pacer picked up a 10-fer when India played 3 front line spinners. Who was the last pacer to pick up even 5 wickets with this combination? Heck other pacer only bowled 10 balls in the entire match. This thread is not to say Umesh will fulfill his potential but to simply highlight his wonderful performance in this match.

Don't grill shastri in the morning, he won't be able to recall India's defeat

Yes, probably. Sreesanth's biceps may have changed, but Bhajji's IQ is the same.

this is worse than "target mushkil to nahi hai, haaan Lekin difficult jaroor hai" by kapil

Note: This thread is inspired from Rohit vs Kohli Thread. I seriously feel Kohli is on other level right now but Bhuvi has all abilities to match kohli's odi records. Kohli vs Top sides in ODI's Bhuvi vs Top sides in ODI's Bhuvi in Top Cricketing Countries (Better than Bradman!) & No to all those haters who say bhuvi is home track bully he is better in overseas compared to home stats. Obviously Bhuvi has performed better against top sides compared to kohli but bhuvi is way way underrated. Bhuvi Infact avg more consistent against top sides in all big stages compared to kohli. I hope kohli fans are not angry on me for creating this thread. So guys post below who is better clutch player.

Pacers who can bowl quick or are quickish and tall in India now a) In Team India 1. Bumrah - skilled ( bouncy ) 2. Shami - skilled 3. Umesh - swing and reverse swing 4. Khaleel - skilled ( tall ) 5. Siraj - skilled for his experience level ( tallish ) 6. Ishant - accurate in tests ( tall ) 7. Pandya ( tallish ) b) Playing for India-A 8. Saini - skilled ( tallish ) 9. Rajpoot - skilled ( tall ) 10. Prasidh - skilled for his experience level ( tall ) c) Other prominent pacers 11. Mavi - skilled for his experience level ( bouncy ) 12. Nagarkoti - skilled for his experience level 13. Avesh - Bowls a heavy ball ( tall ) 14. Aaron ( bouncy ) 15. Khejroliya - bowls a heavy ball ( tall ) 16. Thampi - 17. Asif 18. Warrier - skilled for his experience level ( tallish ) 19. Nathu - skilled for his experience level 20. Aniket C - skilled ( tall ) 21. Sangwan Prominent medium pacers or short seamers without extra pace a) In Team India 1. Bhuvi - skilled 2. Kaul - not sufficient skills for his low pace and short height 3. Chahar - just a swing bowler 4. Thakur - not sufficient skills for his standard pace and short height b) Playing for India-A 5. Gurbani - just a swing bowler c) Other prominent pacers 6. Unadkat - not sufficient skills for his low pace ( tall ) played for India 6 months back 7. Dhawal - not sufficient skills for his low pace So ... we are seeing that most prominent trundlers are getting chances and quite a few skilled quicks are sitting out.

This is essentially the difference between talent and tailunt. Yeah, some might be naturally more gifted at things than others, but at the top level when we speak of Tendulkar’s talent, it mostly refers to the immense hard work and hours in practice that he put in to achieve what he did. There is simply no substitute to practice. There was an interview of Tendulkar by Hussain I happened to watch a couple of days back, where he spoke about playing on uncovered pitches with dew before his first tour to England. His career is replete with such well known examples like his practice before facing Warne and playing on concrete surfaces before Australian tours asking bowlers to bowl from 18 yards. That’s why all this talk about Anderson being unplayable in these conditions is rubbish. Sure, the odds are heavily in his favor, but if you’ve replicated those scenarios as many times as you could, your chances of success increase. Would Tendulkar or Dravid be knocking off centuries every innings here? Probably not, but with the amount of practice and preparation they did, they would not be folding up like this either. Test cricket is replete with great knocks being played in immensely challenging situations, more difficult conditions for batting than India encountered at Lord’s. Those knocks came about because of intense training and practice, where like all great batsmen have said, the muscle memory takes over because you’ve done those things so many times before in preparation.

Why doesn't your blood boil when dhoni is batting?

Shastri the PR Bot... Will say whatever has been programmed into it!

He may look like an Alien, but he's an Indian