More than that. I’m especially impressed with Vihari and Ashwin buckling down, And Vihari with a hamstring injury that effectively stopped him from running singles even. Buckling down, not being able to rotate the strike even…And still soaking up the pressure.
The pitch was a bit flat , well it is SCG which is to be expected.
India’s lineup for the last test would be even more injury wrecked. It’s now 3 front line batsmen (Kohli, Vihari & KL Rahul) out and 4 bowlers( Jadeja,Umesh,Shami,Ishant)
This is effectively a India B side + Bumrah, Pujara & Rahane… (Keeping in mind that Jadeja is India’s best spinner)
Let’s see if India manage to make a match out of it in Brisbane , I doubt they’ll get a win though considering the absences. Ideally Kohli should have been there as a batsman though. But if not for that disastrous 36 all out imadness in one innings, This should have been where the series should have been won.
NZ do have a strong side on Paper. Just that they go to pieces when they play against Australia (either home or away). Also don’t think they’ll be good touring. Not even as good as India perhaps.
The state of the teams right now is that the best side overall is the side which atleast gives a challenge to a home team during their away series. The only teams that probably do that now are India and England.
Disappointed to see that Steve Smith took to underhand tactics yesterday - he scuffed away Pant’s batting guard during a drinks break. Given his history, the ban, the interview in tears, you’d think he’d have learnt. One of the best cricketers of his day pissing on his own reputation at every chance.
All in all, Paine has come across as a bit of a shithead too. Sledging has always been part of the sport, but its all a bit cras with apparently mocking Ashwins accent along with the rest. Swearing at the umpire on Day 3 has cost him a percentage of his match earnings. His dropped catches cost Australia the test. Should probably have focused on the cricket, and not so much at giving it the old frankie lampard.
It’s lined up to be a cracking fourth test. I hope the focus is on cricket, and not the players or crowd being cockends.
Sri Lanka 135 all out, a comedy of errors. Hopefully England can get well past that total but you can easily see us telling Sri Lanka to hold our beer.
