Positives and negatives in this T20 series

[Gollum]

Keeping in mind T20 WC next year....ODIs not the focus now. 

 

Positives:

 

- Natarajan has cemented himself in our first XI. One of the most impressive debut series in this format. Left arm option, great!!!!

- Pandya's hitting and finishing in 2nd T20.

- Jaddu's hitting.
- Iyer, Pandey may be dropped...hopefully we get to see SKY, Kishan against Eng.

 

Negatives:

 

- 3rd class fielding, catching.....a joke really.

- Making mediocre spinners on pattas look like Warne, Murali on 5th day Chepauk. I mean wtf!!!!

- Art of chasing big totals is a sham, leave it too late. Same stale approach in the beginning and middle overs instead of the MI approach of dynamic batting throughout.

- Samson, Chahar failing....especially the latter who could have been Bhuvi's backup.

- No Mayank despite his high tempo batting in IPL. 

- Dhawan has done just enough to play the next series, Rahul's inability to impose himself against these pathetic bowlers didn't help. 

- Rahul as keeper isn't long term solution, also his inputs for referrals suck. This dumb TM may continue to make him keep. 

- Extremely mediocre spinners, getting outbowled again and again by their Aussie counterparts is getting irritating now. 

- Pathetic reviewing, keeper/captain/bowler look confused all the time. Could have killed the game today by reviewing Wade's plumb LBW.  

- Saini sidelined?

 

 

Not fussed about KL's batting, just a bad series which was due tbh. Hadn't got a sub-10 score in this format since mid-2018. Thakur, well I never had expectations, cool to see him strike a few blows at the end, bang average bowler, won't come close to being in the WC T20 squad. Kohli did as is expected from him, no comments, just hope he is relieved of captaincy duty and peaks in the T20 WC.

 

In Indian conditions next year this bunch of personnel and style of play will be brutally exposed by Eng and fully firing WI. NZ and Aus too will fancy their chances against us...if Swepson can wreck us Santner/Sodhi will eat us alive. Just not good enough in this format, after 12 seasons of IPL we still haven't cracked the code to master this format. Forget W/L, anyway most teams play 2nd or 3rd string sides in T20Is. Our approach to the game, the players we back......far behind Eng, WI and refuse to learn. 

 

Trump card is Varun C, must play him selectively and unleash only during the T20 WC. He is one guy who can make this above average side a great side. Sure KLR, SKY, Kishan/Pant, Natarajan will be worthy additions compared to our 2016 WT20 side but Varun C with novelty factor will be a serial match-winner in his initial few months. I personally don't expect much change in the next 10 months especially with this TM and outdated approach of selection panel, need a freak bowler like Varun to gain the edge.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Gollum

[OpeningBatsman]

Positive - Natarajan. 

 

Negative - it's confirmed that we can't play spinners of any kind.. Be it offspin legspin or left arm spin. In any format. 

 

No change in batting approach. Winning the second match is actually gonna hurt us long term. 

[Serpico]

Maybe I'm too disillusioned but all the positives are just looking like negatives in disguise.. okay natarajan one is genuine positive but

 

Pandya's brilliant chase in second innings means more excuses for top order to take their sweet time. 

 

Jaddu's hitting means he will remain our second spinner in all our LOI games in next 3 yrs even though he is a bad loi spinner.. and we can only play one other spinner

 

Iyer getting dropped means they might even send KL back into middle to accommodate Dhawan

[Ankit_sharma03]

Negative - one more series wasted on dhawan

 

Its foolish to keep repeating same mistake again n again

[Lone Wolf]

Negatives- Dhawan will continue to torture & 3 opener spot is wasted 

Samson- Man you got decent enough chances..  Today was his chance but again threw it away.  

No Saini yet again & Chahal will continue to be in team despite getting butchered repeatedly.  Never seen a Pathetic leggie with no variation.  Hoping Varun C plays vs Eng. 

Positives - Hardik,  Kohli( Today's knock is his limit) Nattu

Iyer will not get selected probably for England T20s..  Pandey will play though

Kishan & SKY have genuine chance

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

My biggest fear is when rohit comes Kohli will push KL down for dhawan, also dhawan batting in PP again showed why he n rohit have sucked together as pair in t20 they waste PP completely 

[jalebi_bhai]

5 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

My biggest fear is when rohit comes Kohli will push KL down for dhawan, also dhawan batting in PP again showed why he n rohit have sucked together as pair in t20 they waste PP completely 

 

This Dhawan is such a scamster in T20s. Will make a score just when he is about to be dropped. 

[jalebi_bhai]

Positives:

1. Jadeja emerging as a genuine lower order hitter

2. Natarajan

 

Negatives:

1. Candidates at number 4 & 5 didn't do anything to cement their spot. Sanju screwed up big time. 3rd T20I was the perfect chance for him.

2. Indian spinners getting outbowled by Oz spinners

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Jaddu is only a positive if his pattern is understood that he needs to be given time, if he is send again with 4-5 overs left at 7 ...the result will be same old. 

If he is promoted thats is using that positive

[Ankit_sharma03]

selection process for them for next series by our selectors n TM wud be Akkad bakkad 

 

 

 

 

 

[jalebi_bhai]

5 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Jaddu is only a positive if his pattern is understood that he needs to be given time, if he is send again with 4-5 overs left at 7 ...the result will be same old. 

If he is promoted thats is using that positive

 

He has been in good hitting form since IPL tbf. Been hitting quality quicks at the death with high S/R. He's a strange fellow.

[SK_IH]

Negative : Virat and his run of the mill captaincy/thought process will remain. Top 3 batsmen in T20 cricket cannot get out & leave a chase at more than 10 RRR, especially after wasting powerplay overs. Batsman will not chase 110 in 10 every match even in T20 cricket. I would love to see the stats boosters of top 3 came in that situation & try chasing scores successfully. You just cannot fall behind the RRR in a big chase these days & the worst part was today's target was not even 200.

I would not blame Samson & co for tonight's failure, yes they could have won India the game but they had limited options left when they came onto bat & one mishit was the end of story, as happened with Hardik. I dearly hope Samson is not dumped after this tour. SKY, Kishan, Pant & Samson all should be part of the set up, along with Iyer who is not at all a bad back up & better than Pandey. 

But herein the negative i.e. Kohli the captain will come in, no fundamental changes will be made, status quo will remain.

Edited December 8, 2020 by SK_IH

[Ankit_sharma03]

Just now, jalebi_bhai said:

 

He has been in good hitting form since IPL tbf. Been hitting quality quicks at the death with high S/R. He's a strange fellow.

 

CSK was promoting him, he is someone who needs time ...technique isnt an issue for him its when he tries to hard he looses it all thats why no.7 has never suited him

[Bhoot]

Positive - Kohli is still good enough to be the top scorer.. 

 

Negative : Kohli is still the top scorer. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Bhoot

[jalebi_bhai]

34 minutes ago, SK_IH said:

Negative : Virat and his run of the mill captaincy/thought process will remain. Top 3 batsmen in T20 cricket cannot get out & leave a chase at more than 10 RRR, especially after wasting powerplay overs. Batsman will not chase 110 in 10 every match even in T20 cricket. I would love to see the stats boosters of top 3 came in that situation & try chasing scores successfully. You just cannot fall behind the RRR in a big chase these days & the worst part was today's target was not even 200.

I would not blame Samson & co for tonight's failure, yes they could have won India the game but they had limited options left when they came onto bat & one mishit was the end of story. I dearly hope Samson is not dumped after this tour. SKY, Kishan, Pant & Samson all should be part of the set up, along with Iyer who is not at all a bad back up & better than Pandey. 

But herein the negative i.e. will come in, no fundamental changes will be made, status quo will remain.

 

Chasing 100 off the last 10 with wickets in hand is standard in T20 cricket on English and Oz highways. The key is you need to have high S/R batsmen in the middle order. We only have Pandya. 

 

For all the accusations of tuk tuk made against our top 3, their strike rates are comparable to their Oz, Eng and NZ counterparts. S/Rs of Warner, Rohit, Bairstow, Kohli, Butler are in the 138-140 range. "Aggressive" Guptil strikes at less than 135 but Munro makes up for it with a S/R above 145. For Oz, Finch. For India, Rahul. So top 3 is not the main issue. 

 

Where the other teams edge us is in the middle order. They have high S/R batsmen in the middle order, we don't except Pandya. Samson, Manish and Iyer are more suited to the top order but as it stands, are not better than those in the current top 3.

 

Look at today's game, all Kohli needed was one of the middle order bats to play an innings like Pandya did in the 2nd T20I. It didn't happen and we lost. Samson and Iyer collectively scored 10(10). Had one of them played a knock with S/R in excess of 180, we most likely would've won today. Even Iyer's 12(5) in the 2nd game was crucial in the context.  

 

None of this absolves Kohli and TM of anything, it's their job to back the right players but let's not go overboard with our criticism. We won a T20 series in Oz without Rohit and Bumrah with more or less a B-C string bowling line up. There will always be room for improvement.

 

*All strike rates being mentioned are for T20I

[coffee_rules]

Iyer got all opportunities in ODIs and two LOIs. He is running out of rope. Manish got one chance and failed. It looks like Manish is better suited for ODIs. Don’t know how long to pursue with Iyer.  SKY and Ishan are better choices based on IPL, but WT20 is too close to try a new team. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Just now, coffee_rules said:

Iyer got all opportunities in ODIs and two LOIs. He is running out of rope. Manish got one chance and failed. It looks like Manish is better suited for ODIs. Don’t know how long to pursue with Iyer.  SKY and Ishan are better choices based on IPL, but WT20 is too close to try a new team. 

 

the answer is both of their game is better for ODI but still nothing special to invest in long run. They are good player but not X factor which is what make champion sides. They will be top players in sides like Pak or SL but thats what makes them avg
 

Now manish vs iyer

 

• Manish plays pace n bounce better then iyer so he ll look better overseas
• iyer plays spin better then manish so he ll look better in subcontinent 

 

Now decide , everyone has some pros n cons at the end it depends what we want 

[BacktoCricaddict]

1 hour ago, Serpico said:

Maybe I'm too disillusioned but all the positives are just looking like negatives in disguise.. okay natarajan one is genuine positive but

 

Pandya's brilliant chase in second innings means more excuses for top order to take their sweet time. 

 

Jaddu's hitting means he will remain our second spinner in all our LOI games in next 3 yrs even though he is a bad loi spinner.. and we can only play one other spinner

 

Iyer getting dropped means they might even send KL back into middle to accommodate Dhawan

Dude, I thought I was a glass half empty type of guy.  You've taken it to a diff level :-)!

[SK_IH]

14 minutes ago, jalebi_bhai said:

 

Chasing 100 off the last 10 with wickets in hand is standard in T20 cricket on English and Oz highways. The key is you need to have high S/R batsmen in the middle order. We only have Pandya. 

 

For all the accusations of tuk tuk made against our top 3, their strike rates are comparable to their Oz, Eng and NZ counterparts. S/Rs of Warner, Rohit, Bairstow, Kohli, Butler are in the 138-140 range. "Aggressive" Guptil strikes at less than 135 but Munro makes up for it with a S/R above 145. For Oz, Finch. For India, Rahul. So top 3 is not the main issue. 

 

Where the other teams edge us is in the middle order. They have high S/R batsmen in the middle order, we don't except Pandya. Samson, Manish and Iyer are more suited to the top order but as it stands, are not better than those in the current top 3.

 

Look at today's game, all Kohli needed was one of the middle order bats to play an innings like Pandya did in the 2nd T20I. It didn't happen and we lost. Samson and Iyer collectively scored 10(10). Had one of them played a knock with S/R in excess of 180, we most likely would've won today. Even Iyer's 12(5) in the 2nd game was crucial in the context.  

 

None of this absolves Kohli and TM of anything, it's their job to back the right players but let's not go overboard with our criticism. We won a T20 series in Oz without Rohit and Bumrah with more or less a B-C string bowling line up. There will always be room for improvement.

 

*All strike rates being mentioned are for T20I

It's hard to argue with someone who thinks India's top 3 is not an issue. All of the top 3 cannot bat in same tempo & expect miracles.

Targeting power plays is essential.

We can lament as much as we want about middle order being the issue but T20 is only about strikers, you push them up to play most balls. All six batsman have to be six hitters who play the situation instead of consolidation/anchoring, may be one anchor but others have to strike proactively.

 

[Gollum]

If target is 180 Ind prefers to be 70/1 in first 10 and score 110 in last 10. Problem is 1-2 good overs can push the RRR to 14-15 with opponent team holding back a few overs of its spearheads. Too much work for middle order without PP advantage, older ball, slower conditions, more pressure.....

 

Eng prefers to be 100/3 or 110/4 in first 10 and manage 70-80 in last 10. Last T20I against RSA they chased 192 with 15 balls remaining, no last over or taking deep BS. That is ruthlessness, that is the hallmark of a champion side. Ind too can be 192/1 in that position but will take the match to final over because of our consolidation nonsense in PP and lethargy in middle overs. 

 

Eng is the gold standard of modern white ball batting, India's importance lies in the fact that we show the world how not to construct a T20 innings. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Gollum