ShoonyaSifar

Maybe track the news and you will know we had an India A tour of Australia last year, an A tour of England after IPL,will have Aus A touring us in September. In 2023-24, India A toured South Africa, before that Ind A and NZ A played a series as well. That's roughly 12-13 unofficial tests in a 2 year time frame. Good enough no. of matches. If you really enjoyed those A tours earlier as you say, you would know about them! Sai Sudharshan jumped others in the queue because he performed in both Eng and Aus A tours, as did Prasidh or even Kamboj, who everyone was gushing about after the Eng A tests. Jurel is another who has enhanced his status through A team performances

So we have scheduling issues as well. Asia Cup finishes on Sept 28, Tests vs WI start on Oct 2nd. No need to pick any home test regulars Jaiswal, Gill, Jurel, Axar, Kuldeep for the tournament. Let the T20I regularsbe picked - Abhishek, Sanju, Tilak, SKY, Iyer, Hardik, Rinku, Dube, Bishnoi, Varun, Arshdeep, Harshit, Riyan, Jitesh, Krunal, Khaleel Best option, which I think will happen closer to start date of Asia Cup, is to kill the tournament once and for all.

The young T20 team has won nearly everything since the T20 WC win. Best to stick to a similar combo Abhishek, Sanju, Tilak, Surya, Hardik, Rinku, Dube, Axar, Kuldeep, Varun, Arshdeep, Bumrah (only for T20 WC), NKR (when fit), Prasidh, Iyer Jaiswal, Gill, Iyer all being one dimensional in the format, only one should be picked. Given his flexibility to move around the batting order, Iyer should be the reserve batsman including as the backup opener. Reserve keeper slot is a toss up between Jitesh and Prabhsimran As good as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have been as the best Indian lower order hitters in IPL, Ramandeep Singh when fit will find a place ahead of them

Why is ICF autocorrecting 'Pak*s' to Pakistani. Since when has the word Pak* become a taboo on a primarily Indian forum

I hope GOI/BCCI are working to a plan. Cancel the tournament very close to the start date to inflict maximum damage and not giving Pakistani any scope to organize other bilateral series.

So a plant by the PR of the players to preempt any such likely request by BCCI. Way the fake fanbases particularly of Kohli responded to the news does make it look like an orchestrated campaign.

Primarily triggered by fanbases of Rohit and Kohli with their fear mounting, for all right reasons, that their ODI retirement is imminent. Gambhir and Agarkar will be emboldened by the Eng series performance and will soon start sending signals. As the lunatic fanbase cannot attack Gambhir or Gill right now, these idiots have found an easy target in Bumrah

Why would a team that is aiming to win a ODI WC cut down from the list of a handful of ODIs that are there before the 2027 ODI WC? As for 4 tests in next 12 months, add another few last weeks, and that same number becomes 9, that's a good enough number of tests in a 13 month period. In current WTC cycle (June '25 to June 27), we will end up playing 19 tests (We played 17, 19 and 20 tests in last three WTC cycles) respectively. 5 vs Eng (A) 2 vs WI (H) 2 vs SA (A) 2 vs NZ (A) 1 vs Afg (H) 2 vs SL (A) 5 vs Aus (H) Unlike the earlier cycles, this time we would play every team (Pak doesn't count). With the WTC, there is absolutely no chance we will pick only young pacers vs WI. Will be two/ three out of Siraj, Akashdeep, Prasidh and Arshdeep. I do however agree on the part about sporting wickets. The dustbowls work against us and make ordinary opposition spinners look better than they are. Better to play only on fair wickets that can go 4-5 days, not aim for 200 vs 200 kind of shootouts. Doesn't help our team one bit.

Why would they schedule a test vs Ireland after a grueling 5 test series vs England? Players like Jaiswal, Rahul, Gill, Jadeja have been playing non stop since November last year - Aus series, Champions Trophy, IPL, and this series. A month long break (hopefully longer with no Asia Cup) is not just reasonable but much needed as well. With BCCI asking players to play domestic cricket, I would much rather have our test regulars (except Bumrah, Siraj, Pant and Jadeja) play upcoming Duleep trophy than a test vs Ireland. I don't know what SA gained by thrashing Zim, that series seemed more to address political scenarios than for any other reason.

There will not be too many takers in the general public. The current euphoria driven by sections of social media, will die down soon. Look at newspapers, they have already moved on. A section of fans has moved to discussing Hundred despite no Indian players, primarily because IPL franchises own some teams. The die hard test cricket fans of course will always remain interested for more rests but that's a minority. In any case, scheduling constraints will not allow any additional tests. We have a white ball series in Australia 6 days after 2nd WI test. A full series with SA starts a week after the white ball series in Australia. Also, SA series end a few days before Christmas. Doubt SA team will want to be in India during Christmas, New year time. You can't cut down white ball cricket because that's where the revenue is plus those are prep for 2026 T20 WC and the next ODI WC.

Sunny G is abd will forever be an Indian legend but, after a nearly 38 year long broadcasting career, aged 76, he should really call it a day. His stories are stale, there are no new insights plus many a times his ideas are out of sync with the modern game. Most other commentators from the current times are at least 15 years junior to him, that's where the generational gap reflects even if not so obviously.

Someone remind Mr. Gavaskar that our soldiers pay with their lives and limbs to guard our borders in those harsh conditions. Does he really want to see people dying on a cricket pitch now? Also, that only those of our bravehearts who are in their peak fitness physically and mentally get chosen to be in those areas and even they are rotated after small stints and get an extended period of rest and recuperation before their next posting (mostly at non-border areas)

CT win without Bumrah Eng series 2-2, 35% without Bumrah Success with a young T29 team (though only in bilaterals) Despite his shortcomings he isn't going anywhere. Bringing onboard Sitanshu Kotak for Abhishek Nayar has brought a lot of stability in the dressing room. He comes across as a calm, balanced yin-yang kind of presence, exactly the counterweight to Gambhir’s intensity. A good mix for the coaching group to have. One area they need to have a change is the fielding coach. A young team like this should have 3-4 outstanding fielders, not be content with being a mediocre fielding unit. The current crop of youngsters is safe at best, need someone better to push them to step up.

Follow the Delhi Premier League, Then there is The Hundred as well No tests during peak English summer is a bit of a travesty. Wish WI and SL had some test cricket going on

Jurel is a very likeable cricketer, ticks most boxes and will get backed by lots of coaches and captains due to his adaptability. Is a solid backup to Pant. However, for someone with just 1 FC 100 despite his strong FC record) to be seen as a specialist batsman is pushing it a bit too far, despite his Emg series heroics last year. For that to happen, he needs to produce a 700-800 run FC season with 3-4 FC 100s. BTW he will compete vs Aryan Juyal for a UP Ranji team slot. Juyal has a better FC record, from little I have seen videos him , looks to be a better keeper and could very well jump the queue soon.

So glad to see Siraj get all the limelight he's always deserved. When he was taking wickets by bucket loads in those A tours in 2016-19 period ( @Sooda will remember he picked up some 75-80 wickets in 12-13 A tests or something) it was clear he was made for test cricket. In fact, he could have started playing tests from 2018-19, his debut was delayed. May he go onto to have a long rest career for next 5-6 years, and end up with 275-300 test wickets if not more. Now hope BCCI/ Gujarat Titans/ sponsors book him (and Bumrah) for a long 5-6 week long beach vacation to the Carribbean or somewhere similar to put their feet up till the next test series.

Absolutely. No one missed them. Except for their fan clubs, who kept downplaying this team from day 1, and are still at it giving excuses of flat wicket, poor England side etc. Dare I say this performance also will put them under pressure for ODIs. Gill, Jaiswal, Sai, Iyer, Rahul, Hardik, Parag, Axar, Washi/ NKR, Kuldeep, Arshdeep, Harshit, Prasidh, Varun with Bumrah and Siraj mostly resting is a good enough combo. The generational transition has kicked off after the drawn series. How motivated will Rohit and Kohli be for say bilateral ODIs vs WI, SL, Afg, or even vs Aus, SA, Eng, NZ when most sides don't pick their best 11s for ODIs. Can't see them going beyond a home ODI series or two.

Lord. Uni days over now or still a student These old emojis look weird now!

Being critical before the series (you are critical, have known you before my ICF sabbatical), but this guy @Ultimate_Game posts some really nasty stuff about players he doesn't like. Crosses boundaries, calls players names and then defends all that despite him being wrong. What's the harm in saying I was wrong after a player has given kind of performance Prasidh gave? An Indian pacer having the strength to bowl 140 kmph on a late in the day spell after having bowled 16-18 overs already is a rare commodity and glad to see the Indian team backing Prasidh for those abilities.

Dude are you for real? A guy bowls to have figures of 8/188 in a literal two pacer attack to win his team a historical test and you post this about him? If you actually watched the game and have even an iota of understanding of the game, Prasidh triggered England's collapse in both the innings. Go watch some of the highlights in loop to improve your cricketing sense. I know you must be hurting to now grudgingly accept Gill as a test captain, after mocking even his place in the side, but don't be a sore loser on a day like this

Weird to see some Indian fans still having a go at Indian players despite the drawn series and the immense fight shown by the young team. But then I quickly checked the garbage written by so many people before the series about this young team. Same set of blokes can't accept that they were wrong. Shed that ego folks. To show the level of fight back Prasidh did to support Siraj raising his game at the right time is truly admirable. He will be a key bowler for us in series vs SA later in the year and a middle over ODI specialist. Haters can back off.

Thank you. Hope you have been well. I swear I thought about the fast bowling support brigade of ICF and the hilarious reactions when I saw Kamboj bowling his millitary medium pies Had lost interest in cricket. Reached that stage where 24 hours feel too short with work and other priorities taking over. But this young batting team’s superb performance has pulled me back in. Let's see how long this stint lasts.

Just because it’s the groundsman’s workplace doesn’t give the clown a free pass to piss on the Indian coaching staff and players as he pleases. Imagine the level of stupidity. As per our batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, the groundsman and his team accused the visiting team of trying to push grass from the center practice wickets to the main square!! That’s how clueless and petty this racist clown is. And let’s not pretend this is a one-off. Going by the reports of his similar behaviour with Indian women's team earlier, the guy clearly has a pattern of bullying and racist behaviour and should be properly investigated for it.

Well done Gautam Gambhir for calling out what clearly looks like a racist bully and giving him exactly what he deserved. As for the Indian media nowp reporting that this same guy similarly harassed the Indian women’s team at The Oval without a single word from the team management or the BCCI, that’s just pathetic. Makes Gambhir's immediate unapologetic reaction, irrespective of the language used, even more important and necessary. We can’t keep sitting silent while a racist groundsman dishes out disrespect like it’s his right. To the usual suspects here on ICF still nitpicking Gambhir’s reaction (mostly because you're panicking that this might actually boost his case as a coach despite his poor Test record so far), drop the bias for once and try backing an Indian who stood his ground and called out a racist clown for what he is.