SMAT 2021 Round up | Jan 19: Bihar qualifies for knockouts

India announce squad for England series, Kohli, Pandya return

The Indian selectors have announced the squad for the England Test series at home. The team will be led by Virat Kohli while Prithvi Shaw who had a rough patch in Australia has been snubbed. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been called up for the series. In the spin department, Axar Patel has been called up alongside R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. KL Rahul’s position in the side is subject to fitness after the first Test. India had faced a lot of injury concerns during the Australian tour. Ishant Sharma , Bhuvneshwar Kumar had missed the flight after nt being fully fit while Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hanuma Vihari returned home after sustaining individual injuries. Sundar, SIraj and Thakur had unleashed some brilliant performance on the Australian soil. While Sundar scored his maiden fifty in Test cricket on debut, Thakur too notched up a half-century playing just his second game. Siraj who also made a debut in this series bagged a fifer in the fourth Test. Surprisingly, T. Natarajan who also made his Test debut during the Australia series didn’t find a place for himself despite some impressive performance. Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul (subject to fitnsess after first Test), Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Standbyes: KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Abhimanya Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, K Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar

India eye WTC finals berth after dethroning Aussies from number one position

With a historic 2-1 series win over Australia by winning the last Test in what was called the fortress of the Australian team in Gabba, Brisbane, the Ajinkya Rahane led side has now firmly set its eyes on the World Test Championship finals to be held in June this year. India almost certain of reaching WTC Finals The Indian team after the three-wicket win, which they achieved by chasing the third-highest total in their Test history so far (328 runs), has pushed their tally of points in the WTC to 430 out of a possible 600. Before the start of the Australian series, the Indian team was at 360 points. With 430 points in their kitty, their Percentage of Points (POP) total has now reached 71.7% and has pushed it to go above New Zealand to occupy the first spot in the WTC Points table. With its last series scheduled to be played at home against New Zealand and on pitches that offer a great amount of turn, there seems to be no problem for the Indian team winning just two more tests. With at least two wins and two draws, the Indian team would move on to 510 points out of a maximum of 720 and thus ahead of second-placed New Zealand. Australia suffer big, have a daunting task ahead On the other hand, this series has turned out to be a disaster for the Aussies as from 82.2% POP at the start of it, they have now moved to a dismal 69.2 with just a solitary win and a draw to take from the series. They have slipped from the top spot now to the third spot and with the only series left to be played against South Africa and in South Africa, their position in the finals of the WTC looks in jeopardy. Now to make sure they qualify for the finals, they have to win the three-match series against the South African team 2-0 at the least if not 3-0. If they win two-Test and draw the last one, they will have 433.3 points which will be more than the New Zealand team and can hence qualify, but if they lose even one game, their dream of playing the WTC finals won’t see daylight if Indian team plays as expected from it. To know where were the teams placed before the start of the Aus-Ind Test series and what were their chances then, read this. Where are the Kiwis headed? New Zealand, the number one ranked Test team are stable and will remain so at 70.% as they don’t have any more games left to play. However, they would wish that South Africa wins at least one game against the Aussies or draw two and between India and England, any team which wins the series, wins it big. Only wins can take England home England won the first Test of teh Sri Lanka series, albeit in a fashion in which they would have not liked to. But with Joe Root hitting a double century, the ‘poms’ as they are called would count on their skipper to perform and to make sure that they reach the finals, which is to be played at the Mecca of Cricket- Lord’s. But for that to happen, England, which are at 352 points currently, have to win all their five games or at least four games including the last of the series against Sri Lanka. If not that they have to win at least three and get a draw in the fourth game. With five wins they would reach 532 points and with four wins and a draw they would reach to 512, but with just four wins and a loss in the India series, they would have 502 points, which would not be enough. So simply put, they would need to win the Sri Lanka Test most definitely and then try and win three against Australia and get a draw in teh last game, if they can’t win the fourth one.

3 most memorable Australian defeats

India captain Virat Kohli in one tweet summed up the team’s performance in the series against Australia in Brisbane. “WHAT A WIN!!! Yessssss. To everyone who doubted us after Adelaide, stand up and take notice. Exemplary performance but the grit and determination was the standout for us the whole way. Well done to all the boys and the management. Enjoy this historic feat lads. Cheers,” he wrote. Well as an Indian fan, you can’t deny the fact that this team has actually showed courage and determination to defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy. While an Indian supporter is delighted, the Aussie fans would be pissed with the kind of display their team had shown. From bundling out a team at 36, they suffered a 2-1 defeat in the four-match Test series and especially at home. What actually went wrong? To start with, skipper Tim Paine’s captaincy has been one questionable aspect. From forcing the pacers to go for an extra bit to putting defensive fields whenever a batsman was on song, Paine certainly got everything wrong. The excessive workload on the seamers resulted in Indian batsmen getting the room for settling in and getting their eye in. Cheteshwar Pujara who was being criticised for “slow batting” literally sat at the crease and didn’t get out easily on the couple of occasions when it was most needed. While Pujara frustrated the Australian bowlers with his defence, Rishabh Pant was ready for the uphill task. He let himself to settle down and then took on the bowling attack in both the third and fourth Test respectively. While he scored 97 in the second innings of the third Test while remained unbeaten at 89 in the second innings of the last match. Pant and Pujara’s contrasting traits supported each other well. Apart from this partnership, another couple of stands made the headlines. R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari’s courageous display of batting despite being injured in the third Test while Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur’s strong-headed approach when the side was in trouble. While you can’t take away the credits from the kind of batting they unveiled, it was a lot to do with Paine’s captaincy. The captain persisted at bowling the seamers that eventually led them to burn out and resulted in building partnerships for India. The Aussie bowling bowling line up was eventually frustrated, irritated and their shoulder dropped in disarray. India eventually clinched a win by 2-1 and are now sitting at the helm in WTC points table. Instances when Australia choked Ashes 2005 The Australian team was touring England in 2005 for the Ashes series. They started off the series in a great manner after winning the first match by a comprehensive margin of 239 runs. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne had gained some form. McGrath scalped 9 wickets in the match while Warne bagged six. But then came the turnaround in the match that could have gone either way and probably changed the complexion of the series too. Riding on Marcus Trescothick’s 90, England posted 407 in the first innings and then took the first innings lead after bowling out Australia for 308. The visitors then had fightback and Brett Lee and Warne rattled the English batting line up. England had been bundled out for 182 in the second innings handing them a target of 282. The Ricky-Ponting led Australian side was 220/9 when the real drama began. Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz stitched a partnership of 59 runs for the last wicket and needed just three more to win when Stephen Harrison removed Kasprowicz for 20. England had fought hard for this win but eventually levelled the series and got the momentum back in their favour. The third Test ended in a draw after the batsmen had some good day at the office. Michael Vaughan struck a hundred for England in the first innings taking their score to 302 while Andrew Strauss and Ricky Ponting notched up individual tons in the second innings. The fourth Test in Nottingham unfolded the reason why Test cricket is the still the best form. England had posted 477 in the first innings and then en-forced a follow on after bowling them out for 218. Australia responded well in the second innings scored 387 to hand the home an easy target of 129. But England were in a spot of bother when they reduced to 57/4. But Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff steadied the ship and scored 46 runs for the fifth wicket. The hosts then lost a couple of more wickets but eventually won the game to take 2-1 lead in the series. The fifth and final Test in London also ended in a draw. Australia tour of India 2001 How many of you have received some beating from your mother for watching a cricket match while your final term exams were on? I have. I was probably 8 or 9 when this series took place in India. Belonging to an orthodox family where “studies come first” was the mantra for life, the biggest trouble I had to face was to watch a cricket match especially when the examinations are on. Well I was someone who could take the beating but can’t miss the match and if I would have missed that mammoth stand between Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, I would have regretted for life. But I don’t have to because I didn’t miss it. India were coming in this match with a defeat in their kitty against Australia in Mumbai. Chasing a paltry 47, the Australian team went over the line by 10 wickets. Adding to the misery in the first innings of the second Test, Steve Waugh scored a ton while Matthew Hayden missed out on a hundred by just three runs. But there was something for the Indian fans as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh scalped a seven-wicket haul including a hat trick. But the Australian pace attack rattled Indian batting and en-forced a follow on as the home side was all out for 171 in the first innings. Then came the big day for Indian cricket. Dravid and Laxman were together out in the middle as India’s scoresheet read 232/4. The two put on a huge partnership of 376 with Laxman scoring 281 and Dravid getting out for 180 as India finished the second innings at 657/7 (D). Chasing 384, Australia didn’t really find any momentum and were bowled out for 212, losing the match by 171 runs. Harbhajan Singh once again showed his class and bagged six wickets. India had gained confidence from the win in the second Test as the two sides locked horns in Chennai for the decider. India posted 501 in reply to Australia’s 391 in the first innings and were eventually handed a target of 155 in the second innings. Australian bowlers did fight well and reduced India to 135/6 with the likes of Laxman, Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar back in the hut. But Sameer Dighe held the innings from one end and remained unbeaten at 22 to anchor the team to a series win. There have been instances where Australia have started off the series well but a defeat has pushed them on the backfoot and eventually resulting in series loss.

Historic Gabba defeat: What all Paine, Australia think tank need to rejig

Pat Cummins, the number one Test bowler, Josh Hazlewood, the dark horse and Mitchell Starc, probably one of the finest left-arm pacers that the world cricket has ever seen. The trio has the ability to rip apart any batting line up in the world. BUT they were frustrated, hapless and irritated as the series against India reached the its final moments. They had bowled against resilient Cheteshwar Pujara who would probably settle down on that batting crease if the team needs. And if Pujara’s stubbornness wasn’t enough to exasperate the Australian bowling, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s belligerence with the bat added to their misery. But was it just the Indian batsmen who had forced the Australian pacers to work like bonded labor or was there anything more to it? And the answer is, there was definitely something more and it was Tim Paine's dependence on the pace attack rather than banking on his part-timers to get through some overs and ask the front line seamers to rest. Cummins and Hazlewood have specifically bowled with a certain plan and were dominant but had also burned out after going all guns blazing. Pacers workload With no major changes in the XI and no tweaks at all in the bowling department, the fast bowling trio was loaded with extra bit of work. In the first match against India, Starc bowled a total of 26 overs, Hazlewood, 25 and Cummins almost 31. This was because India were bundled out for 31 in the second innings giving away the match after steady start. The second encounter saw an increase in this workload. Starc and Hazlewood had bowled around 30 overs each while Cummins had 28 overs to his name. India won this match by 8 wickets. The third clash that was one of the most frustrating ones for the Australian side saw Starc bowling 41 overs, Hazlewood, 47 and Cummins around 47. This ended in a draw, courtesy a fine partnership between R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari on the final day. The series was now levelled at 1-1 with the decider slated to take place in Brisbane. India had been running short of players before going into the game after some mainstays had sustained injuries, they had been racially abused but the determination that the Indian team showed that exemplary courage and grabbed the series. Well talking about the work load in this match too, Starc was made to bowl 32 overs, Hazlewood 42 and Cummins 48. It’s shear negligence from Paine that the fast bowlers had literally dropped the shoulder at the end. The Australian team management needs to rejig and tweak a number of things and probably give a second thought to Paine’s continuing as skipper. What options did Paine have? We all know Marnus Labuschagne as the next big thing especially in Test cricket. But very few would know that he had been a handy bowler too for Australia in the matches or innings that he had been handed the ball. Let’s go back to Ashes 2019 where Labuschagne came in as a concussion substitute for Steve Smith and soon became an integral part of the Australian setup. Well, his batting abilities are well-versed now, let’s have a look at his bowling. The leggier as his bowling style suggests bowled 18 overs in three matches and gave 56 runs and also picked up a wicket. Cut down to 2021, the Test series vs India. The leg-spinner has bowled in almost every match but hasn't bowled for a very long time. He bowled one over in the first innings of the first Test, one over in the second innings of the second Test, three and four overs in either innings of the third Test respectively while bowled an over in each innings in the fourth Test. The totally of his overs against India came down to 11 overs, well short of the number he bowled against England. What India takes away? EVERYTHING. India would take away a lot of positives from the series. Winning and losing, as they say is a part of the game but in this manner shows the calibre and determination of a team. They were bundled out for 36 in the first match, they had been lost mainstays due to injuries, their captain had left after the first match and they had a young, inexperienced bowling attack that lived up to the expectation. KUDOS to Indian team for such a performance.