AUS vs IND: Cricket Australia not giving hopes just yet on hosting 3rd Test in Sydney

Cricket Australia is holding its nerves as the news of new clusters of Coronavirus cases are emerging from Sydney, where the third test between Australia and India is scheduled to be played from January 7 to 11. Earlier, the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) had got the permission to host a full house crowd, but with the development of a new cluster in the city, the Test match may well be cancelled or relocated altogether.

But, Cricket Australia (CA) is not giving up hopes on hosting the match at the SCG and although it had held rounds of crisis meetings, as per few reports, the board is reluctant as of now to move the match to other cities which are deemed a bit safer with respect to coronavirus crisis in the country. In case CA decides to relocate the Test, the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is reportedly next in line to host the New Year Test, after hosting the Boxing Day Test starting December 26.

On Sunday afternoon, CA announced its intentions and said that the plan to hold the match in Sydney has not been scrapped as of yet.

The third Vodafone Test is more than two-and-a-half weeks away, which provides us with time to assess the evolving public health situation on the northern beaches of Sydney. We have made no changes to our schedule and our preference remains to play the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground,” CA CEO Nick Hockley said.

Hockley further said that the board is in consultation with stakeholders along with other partners and officials at venues to finalise ways out in case of any issues with the scheduling due to COVID-19 cases. He also said that the board was aware of the challenges of hosting an international series and that it was preemptive with possible border closure and other effective measures to contain coronavirus and protect team members from contracting it.

“Cricket Australia has developed a solid track record of delivery throughout this most challenging of summers and will continue to make appropriate and proportionate decisions in consultation with our biosecurity team, governments, state & territory associations, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, our partners and venues. CA has prepared for the possibility of COVID-19 hotspots and state border closures over the course of the summer and the protocols that we have put in place have been effective in ensuring the safety and success of the men’s and women’s domestic and international programs to date,” Hockley added.

Hockley was enthusiastic about holding spectators at the MCG after a ‘difficult last year’ for the state due to COVID-19 outbreak, after the completion of a ‘brilliant’ Test match at the Adelaide Oval.

Although Cricket Australia is not giving up on hosting the third Test in Sydney, the level of concerns it has on the situation of Sydney can be estimated by the fact that the duo of David Warner and Sean Abbot who were in Sydney and were ruled out of the first Test were flown into Melbourne on a private jet by the board in order to preempt the border closure move by the New South Wales state officials.

Australia are leading the Border-Gavaskar series 1-0 after earning a dominating win over the Indians in Adelaide.

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Virat's 'lack of intent' explanation for batting collapse is bizarre

Virat Kohli must be having a tough time dealing with the inexplicable events on day 3 of the first Test against Australia at Adelaide. After the horror day that saw his team get the unwanted distinction of getting bowled out for the lowest-ever Test total by an Indian team, he put the blame on 'lack of intent.' Kohli asserted that the reason for this shocking collapse was the fact that his team's batsmen weren't looking to score. Now, just look at the Indian batting card. Prithvi Shaw played just four deliveries before being dismissed. Cheteshwar Pujara and he himself were out on the eighth deliveries of their innings. Ajinkya Rahane's innings consisted of only four balls. Ravichandran Ashwin was out on his first ball. Wriddhiman Saha and Hanuma Vihari faced 15 and 22 deliveries. But do you expect them to show 'intent' when their team is in danger of getting bundled out for their lowest-ever score. On top of this, Mayank Agarwal was out on the very first ball he faced from Josh Hazlewood. Rahane was dismissed in the same over four balls later. So, what does Kohli expect his batsmen to do, start going for expansive drives and flamboyant pulls from ball one of their innings? That too, when the ball is still new and the bowlers are making it talk? Is that what he and other Indian batsmen did in the first innings. Kohli's 74 earlier in the match was characterised by immense patience and great restraint outside the off stump. He played many more leaves than one expects from him. It took him 180 balls to score that many runs. Pujara took 20 less for his 43. Was that also 'batting without intent?' If yes, then why did it succeed. On a day when Hazlewood and Pat Cummins exposed Indian batsmen's vulnerability thanks to just a bit of movement off the pitch, to blame the collapse on 'lack of intent' seems absurd. If Kohli feels Pujara shouldn't have gone eight deliveries without scoring a run, he should be reminded that the same Pujara, batting the same way, proved to be the difference between the two teams last time. Why not look at his own performance. Kohli hadn't scored a run in his first six deliveries. Then, he hit a boundary to get off the mark. But on the very next ball, he tried to play a big drive, full of 'intent' and gave a catch to gully. The fact that Indian team was all out for its lowest ever score is disappointing enough. But, the fact that the team's captain has made a mis-diagnosis is even more worrying. One wonders if that's what the coach Ravi Shastri thinks also. If so, worse times could be ahead for the side.

Did Virat's poor captaincy on day 2 cause Australia's turnaround?

India looked all set to seal the game when Umesh Yadav picked up the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins in the same over on day 2 of the first Test at Adelaide. The Aussies were still a long way away from India's score and in danger of conceding a big first-innings lead. Then, a familiar story played out. Tim Paine, the Aussie skipper, decided used the now very popular method of protecting the tail - playing majority of the over himself and then looking for a single on the last two balls of the over to farm the strike. To some extent, Paine succeeded in doing that and brought India's lead, which at one stage seemed set to be over 100, down to 53. In this situation, India's captain Virat Kohli did what many captains in the past have been guilty of - focussing on the lower order batsman and trying only to get him out while letting the senior batter to get runs easily. This is a strategy that has backfired on numerous occassions for captains around the world. Remember MS Dhoni at MCG in 2011 or Mohammad Yousuf at SCG in 2010? There are various examples of this phenomenon. The point is - a captain should never allow easy runs to a batsman and only focus on getting the weaker batsman out. Kohli was guilty of that on day 2 of this Test. The fact that he shifted to this tactic as soon as Paine showed aggressive intent pours cold water on all the talk of him representing a 'new India' with aggressive intent. The ease with which Paine got singles and managed to even steal a second run on certain occassions was a clinching evidence of how poor this tactic was. It eventually allowed Australia to whittle down India's lead to a much less daunting 53. This late surge may have had far-reaching consequences. It's possible that a despondent Australia felt morally revived on seeing their captain's fight and became more eager to fightback. Their bowlers certainly seemed upbeat. This may not have been the case if the home side had a bigger deficit to contend with. The 'lack of intent' which Kohli complained about in his team's batting may be a more appropriate criticism when applied to his captaincy. Being confident and aggressive isn't about swearing at opponents or scowling on getting a wicket. It's about being brave with the fields. That's what made Brendon McCullum so successful. Kohli's has been found wanting here.

Fawad Alam stakes claim for place in Test team with hundred against New Zealand A

After conceding a first-innings lead to New Zealand A, Pakistan Shaheens (Pakistan A) fought back vigorously in the ongoing one-off unofficial Test at Whangerei on day 3. The visitors were powered by centuries from Fawad Alam and Rohail Nazir to reach 318/9, a lead of 286, at Stumps. This leaves the game nicely poised and with possibility of all three results on final day. At the start of day 3, Shaheens were 15/1 and trailing by 17 runs. Overnight batsmen and Pakistan Test team regulars, Shan Masood and Azhar Ali didn't get far. Masood got out for 14 while Ali, former Pakistan Test captain, scored 29. Imran Butt also got out cheaply for 10. But then, Fawad and Rohail stitched together a 215-run partnership which took Pakistan to a much stronger position. Alam scored 139 and Nazir an exact 100. Unfortunately for the Pakistan team, the lower order crumbled away, leaving the possibility of New Zealand A winning alive. For the hosts, Matt Henry, a regular member of the ODI team, picked up five wickets. His figures of 5/52 look very impressive. Medium pacer Michael Rae picked up three wickets as well but he conceded 75 runs for them at an economy rate of 4.41. Rachin Ravindra, who has been in the news with his all-round performances recently, couldn't make an impact with the ball. The final day promises to be very exciting though, Pakistan Shaheens may well be the favourites at the moment.

AUS vs IND: Tim Paine 'rapt' with Australian bowling performance on day 3

At the end of the second day’s play, Australia were behind in the game, not only by conceding a lead of 53 runs but also in the momentum as the Virat Kohli-led Indian side was surging ahead of them on the day two. Barring for the period when Tim Paine was guiding his bowlers who were functioning as his batting partner in the late part of the day’s play, both Virat Kohli, the captain and his bowlers kept on asking uncomfortable questions to the home batsmen. No one batsman other than Tim Paine looked fluent enough to counter-attack the consistently attacking Indian bowling line up. When Australian were walking off the field after the end of day’s play, Paine would have had a bit of worry that his restless about facing defeats at the hands of India in the last series could last longer than he would have accepted and expected before the start of ongoing series and test match. All were riding on the shoulders of bowlers to bring the hosts back in the game like their Indian counterparts had done on that day and avenge the loss of reputation they faced in the last series when they were deflated by a never-tired Chesteshwar Pujara. It’s an old argument that when bowlers try too hard to make things happen, they can’t commit to line and lengths to trouble batsmen over an extended period of time. But, Tim Paine was aware of the competence of his bowling attack which almost handed him the honour of winning an away Ashes series only last series. He expected bowlers to bring them back at the front in the game situation and his bowlers vindicated his feeling by blowing the Indian batting order as soon as the play began on the third day. "I know we were behind by after the first innings, but there was a calmness amongst us. I can probably speak for the bowling group in saying that we thrive on those situations when we're a little bit behind and it's up to us to change the momentum of the game, and that's what we did today," Paine said in the post-match press conference. Tim Paine has rated the Indian bowling attack very highly and hence had expected a ‘dogfight’ that would drag the game towards day four and day five, but at the same time, he had immense faith in the quality of his bowling line up as well. Pat Cummins was up to the task as the Aussies eliminated a threat that could have irritated them in the form of nightwatchman Jasprit Bumrah and followed it up with a peach of a delivery to eliminate Pujara who was the biggest thorn in their flesh last time around. With Pujara one on duck, the pressure was right back on the Indian team and they could not quite come back from the position as Josh Hazlewood produced unplayable deliveries, one after another to leave the tourists in tatters. Virat Kohli tried to combat those deliveries by showing ‘intent’ as he tried to transfer a bit of pressure but his chief nemesis in the Australian side-- Pat Cummins got him edging to gully, and with him faded every hope of their resurgence. "To hang in to give our bowlers a chance to have a little crack under lights last night, then to have Pat start the day like he did and Josh Hazlewood from his very first ball was just on. When you are as tall and quick as our boys and they get it right, it can be an absolute nightmare. Full credit to our bowling attack again. I said this morning that I thought both these attacks have the ability to take really quick wickets - I didn't think they'd be coming that quick. We were expecting a real dogfight right to the end -late day four and maybe day five - but it shows the talent we've got with the ball when our boys execute. If there's anything in the wicket that's what can happen," Paine said of the bowling performance in the morning session of the third day. Not only did the Australians snatched victory when the match was seemingly going away from them, but they would also be delighted with Joe Burns coming near to his best albeit against a bowling line up that clearly looked jaded and deflated after a debacle with the bat from their teammates. Burns was personally backed by both Paine and the coach Justin Langer to come good in Adelaide, and while he failed to capitalise on the trust in the first innings, a distraught bowling attack was the best thing he could have hoped for while battling for form. Burns hit a fifty he needed badly to reclaim a bit of confidence and also to safeguard his batting position going ahead in the series "Burnsey is a really important part of our team, all cricketers know how hard it is when going through a run like that. To come out in Test cricket and try and find your way out of it, it's a very difficult place to be so we are thrilled for Burnsey. Fifty not out will do his confidence a world of good," Paine sounded relieved after Burns’ revival to form or at least a glimpse of it. Australia have taken a much-needed lead in the Border Gavaskar trophy and with Virat Kohli returning to India for his paternity leave, the well-oiled bowling attack would be relishing the prospect of facing an inexperienced Indian batting line up with only Chesteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane being the experienced foes remaining in the Indian batting order for the second test starting December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).