Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2022 - Discussion Thread

[Sandz]

How did Usman Khawaja get to 50 tests 

[Nikola]

Wow smith looks really past his prime. Should retire asap else his average will drop to mid 50s.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Nikola

[Sandz]

How? He got run out

[Vijy]

2 hours ago, Vijy said:

root is better than all 3. he is not as good as smith if the latter was in peak form but he is not. root single handedly bashed the SL spin attack around. I don't think Smith can do that. marnus is likely to be only so-so vs spin if the pitch begins to break up. the big threat is khawaja, but he is a grinder and not an attacker like root.

As I expected, Labu did not do well. Smith also fell and didn't look convincing. khawaja, the real threat, is grinding away

[Vijy]

1 hour ago, Sandz said:

How did Usman Khawaja get to 50 tests 

should have got to >100 tests if not for Ozzies failing to select him because of his S. Asian origins. he is easily one of their top 5 batters and should have been selected ahead of the likes of marcus harris, travis head, and countless others

[Norman]

12 minutes ago, Vijy said:

if not for Ozzies failing to select him because of his S. Asian origin

 

Hain?  This is so not true lol. 

 

He was a sure starter for them for atleast 3 years between 2016 to 2019. But his performance was bang average and rightfully got dropped for Marnus. 

[Jay]

40 minutes ago, Vijy said:

should have got to >100 tests if not for Ozzies failing to select him because of his S. Asian origins. he is easily one of their top 5 batters and should have been selected ahead of the likes of marcus harris, travis head, and countless others

Lol he got dropped because of 2018 when he faced peak bumrah. Bumrah was in terrifying form and he destroyed everyone that year. He scored with an average of 24 in that series. That's why he got dropped. But post that series, he has been quite good. You are right it was unfair. 

He still averages 42 or 43. Doing well vs sena and Pakistan is fine but doing well vs that Indian bowling attack in Australia or the Indian one he will be encountering in the BG series next year is a whole new ball game. 

 

Khawaja is a very good player though. Let's see. I think he is better than all our openers we have had since Sehwag retired. He is even better  than Sehwag in certain conditions. 

[putrevus]

Khawaja has improved a lot against spinners.He has taken his lastest chance by both hands , he was their best batsman in Pakistan.

[Sandz]

1 hour ago, Norman said:

 

Hain?  This is so not true lol. 

 

He was a sure starter for them for atleast 3 years between 2016 to 2019. But his performance was bang average and rightfully got dropped for Marnus. 

 

2 hours ago, Vijy said:

should have got to >100 tests if not for Ozzies failing to select him because of his S. Asian origins. he is easily one of their top 5 batters and should have been selected ahead of the likes of marcus harris, travis head, and countless others

 
Well he was given plenty of opportunities but didn’t perform and eventually got dropped. He made his way back into the team due to lack of decent openers in Aus, they tried a few but none of them succeeded so Khwaja got his chance again and he hasn’t looked back since.

 

I was just surprised to see that he has already played 50 test matches considering he was in and out for so long and almost forgotten at one stage.

[Vijy]

3 hours ago, Sandz said:

 

 
Well he was given plenty of opportunities but didn’t perform and eventually got dropped. He made his way back into the team due to lack of decent openers in Aus, they tried a few but none of them succeeded so Khwaja got his chance again and he hasn’t looked back since.

 

I was just surprised to see that he has already played 50 test matches considering he was in and out for so long and almost forgotten at one stage.

his "failures" were not many, given that likes of travis head and marcus harris got longer ropes. it was unfair in my opinion

[Vijy]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

Lol he got dropped because of 2018 when he faced peak bumrah. Bumrah was in terrifying form and he destroyed everyone that year. He scored with an average of 24 in that series. That's why he got dropped. But post that series, he has been quite good. You are right it was unfair. 

He still averages 42 or 43. Doing well vs sena and Pakistan is fine but doing well vs that Indian bowling attack in Australia or the Indian one he will be encountering in the BG series next year is a whole new ball game. 

 

Khawaja is a very good player though. Let's see. I think he is better than all our openers we have had since Sehwag retired. He is even better  than Sehwag in certain conditions. 

yes, he is a top level player. obviously not as good as smith, but nearly on par with labu and better than warner outside Oz.

[Iconoclast]

5 hours ago, putrevus said:

Khawaja has improved a lot against spinners.He has taken his lastest chance by both hands , he was their best batsman in Pakistan.

 

Yupp he was pretty much impossible to get out but then our spin attack was also poor.

[Jay]

3 hours ago, Vijy said:

his "failures" were not many, given that likes of travis head and marcus harris got longer ropes. it was unfair in my opinion

This^^^. Just like how India pampers rohit, kohli, even Pant when they are clearly not performing in loi. But dor example, a Samson or a lesser known player like umran will.be dropped in an instant for 'seniors', yexperience and favouritism. 

 

Khawaja dint even fail that bad. Unfairly dropped.harris did better in shield than his competitors but they kept giving him plenty of chances. 

[Jay]

Khawaja is a high quality player. Only proper fans who have played cricket would understand how good he actually is. 

[Vijy]

8 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

 

Yupp he was pretty much impossible to get out but then our spin attack was also poor.

the pace attack didn't trouble him either, unlike cummins who did much better against your batters.

[Ankit_sharma03]

9 hours ago, Jay said:

Khawaja is a high quality player. Only proper fans who have played cricket would understand how good he actually is. 

he is their best batsman against spin, he is very important for them in subcontinet ..................subcontinent sides need to plan for him as good as steve smith. Keep Khawaja quite and Aussies chances get bleak in subcontinent 

[Frustrated]

Lankan spinners getting smashed on a spin friendly wicket.  

[Nikhil_cric]

Good to see khawaja get his due here.  He's a superb player of spin bowling. Great footwork that enables to him to either get to the pitch or stay back.  He wasnt always this good and had fitness issues earlier. He's a much improved player and was key to OZ victory in Pakistan. 

[Jay]

I said this before. Cam Green is a top. Class player. When I said this can green is every bit as good as past greats like Damien Martin symmonds etc peepee were laughing. 

 

The Aussie side india beat in 2021 is their second greatest Test team ever. 

Warner prime

Smith prime

Labu prime

Cam Green prime

Paine is easily their second best keeper in terms of stats. 

Hazelwood as good as Gillespie

Cummins better than mcgrath imo. Or as good

Starc Better than Lee

Lyon not far behind Warne

 

It's a stud team. India beat them. Shows you how good india is at thier best. 

Funnily we don't even play our best players to begin with. We don't pick players based on conditions like we are supposed to.

[Jay]

9 hours ago, Vijy said:

the pace attack didn't trouble him either, unlike cummins who did much better against your batters.

Cause their pace attack sucks. They are no match for the goat Asian pace attack of india 2015-2021 and still going. They need to realize it. They are done. 

Only salvage point, gone. Forever. 

 

But our batting now is worse than theirs.