Month: November 2019

Five talking points & Analysis- India vs Bangladesh Second Test Kolkata November 2019

India completed yet another innings victory- their fourth successive in tests at home this season, as they comfortably beat Bangladesh in Kolkata on Sunday.

Here are our talking points from the country’s first day & night test.

1. Team India create history

As mentioned above, this victory over Bangladesh was India’s fourth consecutive tests win by an innings, making them the first ever team to do so. South Africa were humbled in Pune & Ranchi and Bangladesh suffered the same fate in the first test at Indore.

This maiden pink ball game was also the shortest in terms of deliveries bowled in a test in India (968), beating the previous record of 1028 against Afghanistan last year.

2. Two concussion substitutes used in the same innings

Bangladesh’s troubles with the bat were further exacerbated when Liton Das & Nayeem Hasan were forced off the field after being struck on the helmet.

Since the introduction of the concussion substitute rule, four of the five players who were replaced had been facing India’s bowlers at the time of the blow- another indication of how threatening the Men in Blue’s pacers have become over the last couple of years.

LD Continue reading “Five talking points & Analysis- India vs Bangladesh Second Test Kolkata November 2019”

India Squad for West Indies ODI & T20 Series Announced- ODI call up for Dube, Samson axed

The Indian selectors on Thursday officially announced the ODI and T20I squads for their upcoming series against the West Indies at home next month.

Shivam Dube’s fine performance in the T20 decider against Bangladesh has earned him a maiden ODI call up, but Sanju Samson has bizarrely been axed despite not featuring in even a single game against the Tigers. Samson and Dube were the only two new call ups to the squad when India squared off against their neighbours last month.

How different are India’s ODI and T20 squads?

Interestingly, India’s ODI and T20 squads for the West Indies series are virtually identical. Fourteen of the fifteen players named feature in both squads- the only difference comes in the form of Kedar Jadhav (ODI’s) and Washington Sundar (T20’s). This is almost a full strength T20 squad for the Men in Blue- perhaps an indication of how highly regarded the Windies are regarded in that format.

India Squad for West Indies ODI T20 Series 2019 Continue reading “India Squad for West Indies ODI & T20 Series Announced- ODI call up for Dube, Samson axed”

Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh First Test Indore November 16 2019

India’s pace battery again came to the party as the hosts annihilated Bangladesh by an innings and 130 runs in the first Test at Indore. With this win- achieved within less than three days, Indian skipper Virat Kohli overtook Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the captain with most innings victories in the country’s history.

Here are our talking points from the first test.

1.Mayank Agarwal’s rich vein of form with the bat continues

Mayank Agarwal’s dream run with the bat continued as he notched up yet another test double hundred. His 243 was more than what the entire Bangladesh team achieved in their two innings (150 and 213)

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell cheaply, but Agarwal ground Bangladesh’s bowlers into the dust with his double century. He was particularly severe on both Mehidy Hassan and Taijul Islam, and reached his 200 in Sehwag-esque fashion by smashing Mehidy into the stands.

In each of their four home tests this season, India have managed at least one double centurion- a key factor in their success.

2. Three consecutive wins by an innings for the Men in Blue

India continued from they had left off against South Africa by completing yet another innings victory here against Bangladesh. This Indore win means they have now won three successive tests by an innings for the first time since 1993/94. They are not just beating their opponents but mercilessly trampling all over them.

3. Bangladesh batsmen no match for India’s bowlers

Bangladesh batsmen came a cropper against India’s fiery pace attack. The trio of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami wreaked havoc in both the innings as the visitors crumbled in the face of some accurate bowling.

Apart from Mushfiqur Rahim and to an extent Liton Das, all the other Bangladesh batsmen struggled to get going. Despite skipper Mominul Haque winning the toss, (something Faf Du Plessis was unable to do for South Africa on their entire tour) the Tigers slumped to a heavy defeat.

Continue reading “Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh First Test Indore November 16 2019”

Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh 3rd T20 Nagpur November 10 2019

Deepak Chahar registered the best ever figures by a bowler in T20 internationals as India beat Bangladesh by 30 runs to clinch the three match series 2-1 at Nagpur on Sunday. Chahar also took a hat trick, which means Indian bowlers have achieved that feat in all three formats of the game (Shami against Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup and Bumrah against the West Indies in the 2nd test on India’s tour of the Caribbean) this year- quite a remarkable achievement.

The Tigers lost wickets in clusters (12/1 and 12/2, 110/3 and 110/4, 126/5 and 126/6, 144/9 and 144/10) and couldn’t quite capitalize on the platform given to them by opener Mohammad Naim’s splendid 48 ball 81. Continue reading “Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh 3rd T20 Nagpur November 10 2019”

The return of Dale Steyn, a near century for Janneman Malan & more- Talking Points from Jozi Stars vs Cape Town Blitz MSL 2019

The 2019 edition of the Mzansi Super League kicked off on Friday evening in Johannesburg with a high scoring clash between the Jozi Stars and the Cape Town Blitz. The North-South derby went the way of the Cape side, who beat the defending champions by 15 runs at the Bullring.

Here are our talking points from MSL 2019’s opening game.

Dale Steyn’s still got it: If not for Dale Steyn, the Blitz would’ve probably not won this game. In a match that produced over 400 runs across 40 overs, the veteran pacer finished with stunning figures of 3/25 from his four. His two over spell at the death, taking out the well-set pair of Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen, was key to halting the Stars’ run chase just as it seemed they would coast home.

If he keeps up this form, Steyn may just get a chance to atone for the 2015 and 2019 ODI WC disappointments at next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

Janneman Malan misses out on a century: Malan could’ve easily scored the first century for MSL 2019, but finished just one agonizing run short on 99* (59). He had an opportunity to get to his 100 on the final ball of the Blitz innings, but was unable to get bat on ball. Cape Town scored only 13 runs off the final two overs, but fortunately for the visitors, it didn’t hurt them in the final analysis.

Should the Stars have promoted Ryan Rickelton?: Did the Stars miss a trick by not promoting Ryan Rickelton up the order, potentially ahead of van der Dussen or even Dan Christian? The 23 year-old southpaw, fresh from a double century for Gauteng against Free State, only got two deliveries to face. The likes of Rickelton and Marques Ackerman are the type of youngsters Proteas fans are hoping will come good in the MSL, but neither of them really got a chance to showcase their wares here- Rickelton had to swing from the word go, and Ackerman didn’t even make the Blitz playing XI. Continue reading “The return of Dale Steyn, a near century for Janneman Malan & more- Talking Points from Jozi Stars vs Cape Town Blitz MSL 2019”

Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh 2nd T20 Rajkot 2019 November 7

A masterful 85 from Indian skipper Rohit Sharma in his 100th T20 international saw India thrash Bangladesh by 8 wickets and level the three match series in Rajkot on Thursday. There were fears that this game might be washed out by the cyclone near the Gujarat coast, but thankfully for both the fans and the players, the rain stayed away, and we had an uninterrupted evening of play.

Here are our talking points from yesterday’s fixture.

1 Bangladesh’s batsmen fail to kick on

Four of Bangladesh’s top five batsmen scored 29 or more- all at better than a run a ball, but were unable to convert their starts into something big. The pitch was a good one for batting, with 170 being the par score in IPL games at the venue, but the Tigers were only able to make 153 on it.

2 Another eventful day for Rishabh Pant

Pant thought he had Liton Das stumped early in the latter’s innings, but he had collected the balls in front of the stumps, which made the third umpire disallow the stumping. Das was then given another reprieve when Rohit Sharma dropped a skier. He was eventually dismissed in a bizarre manner, going for a non-existent single without noticing that the ball had fallen just in front of him. Continue reading “Five Talking Points from India vs Bangladesh 2nd T20 Rajkot 2019 November 7”