Pujara, what a performance!

[rkt.india]

2 minutes ago, putrevus said:

While Pujara was excellent this series, he did nothing in SA or till later stages on England tour. Somehow people are making him better than Kohli is ridiculous.

Nothing in SA? he played an important knock in the 3rd test first innings on a dubious pitch.  also he was ran out by Kohli in both innings at Centurian.

[Chandan]

4 minutes ago, putrevus said:

While Pujara was excellent this series, he did nothing in SA or till later stages on England tour. Somehow people are making him better than Kohli is ridiculous.

If one is forced to changed his style and is constantly pressured to play other way, how to expect him excel in such circumstances?

[putrevus]

9 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

Nothing in SA? he played an important knock in the 3rd test first innings on a dubious pitch.  also he was ran out by Kohli in both innings at Centurian.

One knock of 50 in three test series is  great achievement????  He could have said no to run, it is not always fault of other batsman to get run out. He could not score double digit scores in whole country season. So he was benched for first test, don't make that omission as a blunder.

 

Only after this series Pujara has become main stay, otherwise there was only batsman in the team.Rest of them had no business of complaining if they got dropped.

Edited January 8, 2019 by putrevus

[putrevus]

6 minutes ago, Chandan said:

If one is forced to changed his style and is constantly pressured to play other way, how to expect him excel in such circumstances?

He was forced to change his style becuase he kept getting out after getting starts, You are assuming his method will work everywhere, it will not work in England becuase Duke ball will keep doing something even after 20 overs.Blunting attack will work against 4 man attack and on flat pitches. England had six bowlers.SA pitches were too spicy.

Edited January 8, 2019 by putrevus

[Chandan]

3 minutes ago, putrevus said:

He was forced to change his style becuase he kept getting out after getting starts, You are assuming his method will work everywhere, it will not work in England becuase Duke ball will keep doing something even after 20 overs.Blunting attack will work against 4 man attack and on flat pitches. England had six bowlers.SA pitches were too spicy.

So why not let him work his own style and see? Why keep pressurising him accelerate? And it was not just before SA but going on since last 4 year. Only the year Kumble was coach, had this nonsense stopped. Started again the moment Shastri came. 

 

Turning point was the series in Australia when they let Pujara bat the way he does. Result is in front of everyone. Australian tracks were not flat. Those who say that Adelaide, MCG and Perth were flat need to go and see the definition of flat track. 

[putrevus]

16 minutes ago, Chandan said:

So why not let him work his own style and see? Why keep pressurising him accelerate? And it was not just before SA but going on since last 4 year. Only the year Kumble was coach, had this nonsense stopped. Started again the moment Shastri came. 

 

Turning point was the series in Australia when they let Pujara bat the way he does. Result is in front of everyone. Australian tracks were not flat. Those who say that Adelaide, MCG and Perth were flat need to go and see the definition of flat track. 

They did let him play in his own style since 2013 and he was a constant flop everywhere.Don't put the blame on coaches. Shastri was right Pujara had to get some momentum in his innings.Cricket in not a solo game, by just blocking one end and getting out, Pujara was putting other batsmen at risk.

 

They were playing with 5 batsmen and Pujara's inability to rotate strike was major hinderance to other batsmen.Just because he succeeded on this tour , it does not mean it is a blue print going forward. Nobody asked Pujara to hit boundaries then also, all they wanted him to do was rotate strike and that is not big thing to ask from your senior batsmen.

Edited January 8, 2019 by putrevus

[putrevus]

Kumble this kumble that has to stop what heck has Kumble done to be mentioned as some great coach.He was throwing 1000 balls in nets big deal, I did not see any great tactical changes under Kumble.These two Shastri and Kolhi started this slogan of getting 20 wickets as a must to win matches, they put more responsibility on batsmen but other than Kohli none of the batsmen showed up in both tours.

 

They had revise their options.They faced a very weak batting lineup here thats why they could get away with four main bowlers.Moving forward India will need five bowlers and batsmen better get ready to take more responsbility.

 

Pujara's tactics of blunting an attack will not work everywhere, deep down he also knows it.

Edited January 8, 2019 by putrevus

[mishra]

41 minutes ago, Chandan said:

6+1+4 has been the conservative formula, especially on bowlers friendly tracks. In that way the combination was right in 3 tests. At Perth having no spinner was a huge mistake because of which they had to pay for. Then going to attritional batting rather than fearless strokeplay etc was another tactical shift which succeeded in grinding the opposition bowlers down.

Still plenty of room for improvement, eg, getting good openers, a consistent #5 and #6 who can shepherd the tail too. We also need to look after our seamers and encourage them to improve their batting like English or Australians.

Conservative approach overseas works. Its home team which is under pressure to win or so well and has doctored the pitch.

 

Away games must be played with intent to bat as long as possible and then let our bowlers do the rest.

 

There is long way to travel before this very basic approach needs change. In past Aussies and Windies were the only one who Use to put home team on backfoot. This indian team is still not there

[chewy]

9 hours ago, mishra said:

Have they got it right?

Yep not really, injuries forced their hand

 

[rkt.india]

15 hours ago, putrevus said:

One knock of 50 in three test series is  great achievement????  He could have said no to run, it is not always fault of other batsman to get run out. He could not score double digit scores in whole country season. So he was benched for first test, don't make that omission as a blunder.

 

Only after this series Pujara has become main stay, otherwise there was only batsman in the team.Rest of them had no business of complaining if they got dropped.

Capetown everyone failed including Kohli. 2nd test was the flattest pitch of the series, he got run in both innings.  Kohli made merry. Third test, he scored a match winning 50 on a dubious pitch.

[Chandan]

Australia v India Fourth Test: Kohli’s India conquer final frontierGIDEON HAIGH

 

 

• 12:00AM JANUARY 7, 2019

Not much in sport is unprecedented, but today, regardless of whether a ball is bowled at Sydney Cricket Ground, history will be made, with India consummating a series victory in Australia for the first time in its life as an independent nation.

Twenty years or so ago, Steve Waugh popularised the idea of success in India as being Australian cricket’s “final frontier”. Success in Australia, still more elusive, has been India’s. They beat England in England as far back as 1971, Pakistan in Pakistan in 2004; they have won World Cups at home and away.

But for India, Australia has been a place of individual rather than collective accomplishments, cherished for their rarity.

When Vijay Hazare scored twin centuries at Adelaide Oval in 1948, he was gifted a gold cigarette case by India’s High Commissioner, which he carried the rest of his life — empty, he being a non-smoker.

Indian cricketers have been great favourites in these climes: Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar et al.

Indian teams have been recurrently underpowered, outmatched, sometimes fissiparous. The Nawab of Pataudi’s 1967-68 touring party contained representatives of five religions; Bishan Bedi’s a decade later featured five strong-willed past or future captains.

This team has one leader, almost one mind, that of Virat Kohli. Whatever Tendulkar’s greatness, he was always first among equals — the equals being the like of Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Ganguly. Kohli commands undiluted attention, amplified by proliferating media platforms, so that he can seem everywhere at once, and perfectly comfortable being so.

As outsized a personality as he is, however, Kohli was capable of committing this team to a goal larger than himself — what he called the “obsession” of away victory, which he has been inculcating in Indian ranks since assuming India’s captaincy in the corresponding Test here four years ago.

Kohli’s predecessor MS Dhoni was notable for his equanimity, taciturnity and high ignition temperature. Kohli distinguished himself at first by his greater combativeness and volatility.

On this tour, Kohli has shown other sides to his personality, in Melbourne speaking of his squad with an unexpectedly paternal air: “You see guys growing in their confidence levels and that is a beautiful sight to see.”

Asked to describe how his attack prepared for bowling under Australian skies, Kohli paid them a disarming tribute: “In bowlers’ meeting, I usually just sit and listen.”

Make no mistake, simply surmounting the challenge of the conditions in Australia is immense. Historically it has been like prising open a crocodile’s jaws: we still have the best win-loss ratio of any country in the 21st century.

Then there have been Australian cricketers to contend with, traditionally so robust and resourceful — albeit this summer not so much ...

But while a lot of attention has focused on Australia’s absentees in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India’s, some voluntary, some compulsory, are worth noting.

Some firm resolutions were taken at the selection table a couple of months ago, when India opted against bringing Shikhar Dhawan and Karun Nair, accomplished batsmen with prior experience against Australia.

Likewise were there injuries to absorb. Coming into the Adelaide Test, India lacked their premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya, first-choice keeper Wriddhiman Saha, pace prospect Shardul Thakur and, after a mishap in the tour match, hotshot opener Prithvi Shaw.

Indisposition stopped Ravi Ashwin after the first Test; serial failure ruled out Shaw’s replacement Murali Vijay after the second. A share in the plaudits belongs to India’s physiotherapist these past 3½ years, Paddy Farhart of Sydney via Kings XI Punjab, whose ministrations have eased and comforted a four-man attack through 20 days of cricket in 33.

Jasprit Bumrah (25), Kuldeep Yadav (24) and Rishabh Pant (21) have confirmed themselves as a generation no longer in waiting, while Mayank Agarwal (27) has offered a glimpse of strength in depth at home, where the likes of Shreyas Iyer (24), Shubman Gill (19), Yuzvendra Chahal (28) and Abhi Easwaran (24) also await opportunities.

Not every hunch has paid off: KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma finish the series as enigmatically as they began. Whether Kohli’s partialities amount to prejudices remains an open question.

But one reinvestment has. Cheteshwar Pujara has sometimes seemed to have more admirers abroad than in India, which is ironic considering his extraordinary home record (average 62, 10 Test centuries).

But with last year’s retirement of Alastair Cook, he has become arguably the sole keeper of traditional crafts of Test match batting, like a fine furniture maker in a world of IKEA.

In all four Tests, Pujara has been called upon to act as an ersatz opener; in all four, his wicket has been the decisive one, Australia able to make inroads at Perth when for once he failed.

By rights Pujara should today be named man of the series. Certainly he has made some history which Indian batsmen on future tours of Australia will be exhorted to emulate.

https://goo.gl/Miaija

 

------------------------

Had read many such praises for Pujara in English media too. English commentators too had been such big fans of his skills. But not Indians. Why? 

[putrevus]

Capetown everyone failed including Kohli. 2nd test was the flattest pitch of the series, he got run in both innings.  Kohli made merry. Third test, he scored a match winning 50 on a dubious pitch.

You are talking as if run out was someone else’s fault. Ultimately he flopped in three tests , if he had scored some runs who knows result of series could have been different.

[mishra]

54 minutes ago, putrevus said:

You are talking as if run out was someone else’s fault. Ultimately he flopped in three tests , if he had scored some runs who knows result of series could have been different.

Bhai, There are 4  other batsmen in the lineup. Dont compare everyone with Kohli. Allthough, i dont know about other Pundits and fans what they think, but the way Aussie series went, Getting Kohli perform the way he did in England is going to be a thing of past, unless Kohli wasnt fully fit.

 

Kohli was expeosed to 5th stump, he was exposed on leg stump and he was exposed against spin. His whole batting reminded me of Rahane at his peak. He is lot better than that "Technically and ability wise".

Edited January 9, 2019 by mishra

[putrevus]

9 minutes ago, mishra said:

Bhai, There are 4  other batsmen in the lineup. Dont compare everyone with Kohli. Allthough, i dont know about other Pundits and fans what they think, but the way Aussie series went, Getting Kohli perform the way he did in England is going to be a thing of past, unless Kohli wasnt fully fit.

 

Kohli was expeosed to 5th stump, he was exposed on leg stump and he was exposed against spin. His whole batting reminded me of Rahane at his peak. He is lot better than that "Technically and ability wise".

You are completely wrong, Kohli and Rahane don't belong in the same sentence. What the heck is Rahane's peak.There is no peak of Rahane, Rahane even when in form had never any ability to sustain form for a series.

 

That is where is Pujara and Kohli differ, Pujara used to do it at home when in form Pujara has ability to carry the team and he proved that he can do it overseas also. Big kudos to him, he deserves it.

 

What we need batsmen who when in form have ability to carry the team for a series  and not just give one odd performance here and there. We need reliable batsmen who can deliver overseas .Pujara's needs to adapt too depending on different conditions but that is two years away.He will make merry at home for now.

Edited January 9, 2019 by putrevus

[mishra]

1 minute ago, putrevus said:

You are completely wrong, Kohli and Rahane don't belong in the same sentence. What the heck is Rahane's peak.There is no peak of Rahane, Rahane even when in form had never any ability to sustain form for a series.

 

That is where is Pujara and Kohli differ, Pujara used to do it at home when in form Pujara has ability to carry the team and he proved that he can do it overseas also. Big kudos to him, he deserves it.

 

What we need batsmen who when in form have ability to carry the team for a series  and not just give one odd performance here and there. We need reliable batsmen who can deliver overseas .Pujara's needs to adapt too depending on different condition but that is two years away.He will make merry at home for now.

No, I am telling my assesment of Kohli's batting this series. A accomplished player like Kohli dont get beat so often. Frequency was far too high. I do not rely on total number of runs scored before a bat gets out. I rely on batsmans approach and to make that assessment I watch live the batting of a batsman. Not highlights

[putrevus]

2 minutes ago, mishra said:

No, I am telling my assesment of Kohli's batting this series. A accomplished player like Kohli dont get beat so often. Frequency was far too high. I do not rely on total number of runs scored before a bat gets out. I rely on batsmans approach and to make that assessment I watch live the batting of a batsman. Not highlights

Kohli is fine, I saw live too.You are underestimating the pressure he was carrying, openers were non existent and he flopped in first test.Kohli is at his best when he can rotate strike that was missing this series.Kohli will always be suspect outside offstump like any other batsman but to exploit it you need skilled bowlers.

 

 I don't think he has complete control over playing spin, he plays with hard hands. He does not use crease and also unlike Pujara he is relucant to leave the crease.

 

[zen]

Appears as if fans of other batsmen are sad that Pujara performed so well

 

I see that some folks are always blowing Kohli’s horn and writing against other players whether it is Pujara, Shami, etc

[mishra]

^ @putrevus

You would have noticed how many shots were in air and how bowlers were making his life difficult. He wasnt just leaving the ball, occasionally he was missing them too.

Dont get me wrong, As i said, I am ga ga over Kohli as batsman. I sincerely hope that I am prooven wrong, But there was definitely something not Kohliesque this series.

Fingers crossed

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by mishra

[zen]

1 minute ago, mishra said:

^

You would have noticed how many shots were in air and how bowlers were making his life difficult. He wasnt just leaving the ball, occasionally he was missing them too.

Dont get me wrong, As i said, I am ga ga over Kohli as batsman. I sincerely hope that I am prooven wrong, But there was definitely something not Kohliesque this series.

Fingers crossed

 

I like Kohli too but I have noticed that some guys are always attacking other players even on match threads 

 

Pujara was miles ahead in this series. Agarwal was 2nd 

[mishra]

6 minutes ago, zen said:

I like Kohli too but I have noticed that some guys are always attacking other players even on match threads 

 

Pujara was miles ahead in this series. Agarwal was 2nd 

 All it takes is one ball to get you out. I agree Agarwals approach and inning was ahead of Kohli. He looked in control of his shots apart from situations when he lofted Lyon for sixes where i felt he played in the hands of Aussies but then again , i will give him benefit of doubt in trying to place Lyon and Aussies in their place , i.e. dont put spinner against Indians.

Rahane was cleless from word go. Vihari looked good too. Other bats were LOL