1st Test: India v Australia @ Nagpur Feb 9-13, 2023

[Fangs]

Wadey is second in line for mine. And first in chirp.

And lord knows we will need the latter. Team India are big on their talk these days. Nothing MS Wade can't handle.

 

[simmo1]

Happy with Handscomb as a batter, but his keeping is pretty bad. I wouldn't want to rely on it for more than a session. Maybe should have taken Peirson or Inglis as well, at the expense of the feather ruffler who I can't see being close to getting a game over there.

I think its going to be pretty tough going. If India dish up some rank turners (and they will), I hope we are flexible with selections. You could swap Head & Khawaja in the batting order to take advantage of strengths v pace & spin. If its a two day dustbowl pitch, may as well just pick an extra batter and open with Cummins + Green, with 2 spinners bowling the majority of overs.

 

[Bazal]

If we need a keeper for the rest of the tour they'll probably fly one over.

If it's mid test or we lose Carey the day before it'll be Handscomb. I think the point is more that it's better to have a reserve bat who's good against spin, in the runs and also has another string to his bow.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Yep

Remember Cummins went over last time.mid series when starc got injured in Bangalore.

Are we allowed to fly over a keeper if Carey gets injured?



Sheffield Shield games will be on , surely someone in mind , if allowed to fly someone out , whilst getting red ball games beforehand. edit: as AG mentioned fly over Inglis if he is next in line



Would assume Handscomb can be the concussion keeper on tour .

 

[bazza]

Selectors have confirmed that Inglis is back up keeper and will fly over if Carey is unavailable. Handscombe is only a short-term back up

You’re still my number two: Inglis snub explained

Australian selectors have guaranteed Josh Inglis he is still the country’s second best wicketkeeper and will fly him to India if Alex Carey is injured, despite leaving him out of their 18-man squad.

thewest.com.au

 

[bazza]

If its a two day dustbowl pitch, may as well just pick an extra batter and open with Cummins + Green, with 2 spinners bowling the majority of overs.

I like this - between Green and Cummins, Lyon + other spinner then Head/Lab/Smith there would be enough bowling options and Carey coming in at number 8

 

[Valheru]

Our record in tests in India since winning the series in 2004 is 1-10-3

This team probably has the best chance as any in that time of winning a test. If we can win and draw one then that is a decent result IMO.

 

[TheParraboy]

Our record in tests in India since winning the series in 2004 is 1-10-3

This team probably has the best chance as any in that time of winning a test. If we can win and draw one then that is a decent result IMO.

We did that last time we were there. Like to think we are a bit better, especially in the batting

 

[Fangs]

Absolutely we have improved our batting. Always hard on Indian wickets but its a better team than last time and we came very close to getting the win.

I'll back us to get beat team India. 2-1 our way.

 

[Twizzle]

I'd like to see our selectors make some brave decisions here, although going off what Clarkey said when he was skipper, the skipper determines the batting order.

Davey shouldn't be opening against India who will probably go with spin from one end. He doesn't have the soft hand and goes too hard off the front foot.

Renshaw at 1 and Davey at 6 might be more successful until he eventually gets omitted, as I just cant see Warner lasting the whole series at opener. Either that or he gets dropped for Handscomb by the end of the series. He struggled in Oz till his double ton.

Hope I'm wrong but India just does not suit his game.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Batting at 6 is harder then opening in India I reckon.

 

[bazza]

Batting at 6 is harder then opening in India I reckon.

Still remember 2000/01 series when the top order made decent starts then 6,7,8 tended to get knocked over in a couple of overs

Ricky Ponting batting 6 averaged 3.5 and Adam Gilchrist had 124 runs for the series with a highest score of 122

Australia tour of India | 2001 Australia tour of India | Live Score, Schedule, News

Check Australia tour of India live score 2001, squads, match schedules, Australia tour of India points table, fixtures, updates, photos, and videos on ESPNcricinfo.

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[King-Gutho94]

If DRS was around back then in 2001 Harbhajan wouldn't have got a hat-trick.



Talk about trigger happy that Indian umpire had his finger raised the moment the ball hit the pads.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Key bats are Labuschagne and Head. We know what we are getting with Warner (struggles Abroad) Khawaja (issues with spin) and Smith (consistently excellent).

Labs does well in India he can be seen as more than a nutcase with a lot of luck who cashes in in Australia.

Head the same, his ability to score quickly will be very useful and potentially game changing. he should be given licence to play that way if game condition are suitable.

 

[Twizzle]

 

[King-Gutho94]

D-Day has arrived for Travis head.

Time to deliver abroad.

It's all well and good playing well in Australia but time for him to pull his finger out in India and England.

Then he can truly been seen as elite.

Key bats are Labuschagne and Head. We know what we are getting with Warner (struggles Abroad) Khawaja (issues with spin) and Smith (consistently excellent).



Labs does well in India he can be seen as more than a nutcase with a lot of luck who cashes in in Australia.



Head the same, his ability to score quickly will be very useful and potentially game changing. he should be given licence to play that way if game condition are suitable.

 

[Fangs]

D-Day has arrived for Travis head.

Time to deliver abroad.

It's all well and good playing well in Australia but time for him to pull his finger out in India and England.

Then he can truly been seen as elite.

I agree but I don't see him as elite. Just a good test batsman in the modern era.

We just mentioned Ponting before. Head ain't ponting but how many tests has Travis had in India? I expect him to struggle and maybe get dropped but not permanently. I'd hope he starts in the first Ashes test.

I think the weighting should be on his Ashes series in England. It's never easy overseas but easier than India at least.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Yeah true but Travis has played a decent amount of Test cricket O/S already and done SFA.

He needs to step up he will be our ODI opener in India for the WC later this year so I would have reservations if he doesn't at least offer something in the tests.

It may be harsh but he needs to do something in either test series in England or India otherwise he really shouldn't be playing outside of Australia.

I agree but I don't see him as elite. Just a good test batsman in the modern era.



We just mentioned Ponting before. Head ain't ponting but how many tests has Travis had in India? I expect him to struggle and maybe get dropped but not permanently. I'd hope he starts in the first Ashes test.



I think the weighting should be on his Ashes series in England. It's never easy overseas but easier than India at least.

 

[Fangs]

Yeah true but Travis has played a decent amount of Test cricket O/S already and done SFA.

He needs to step up he will be our ODI opener in India for the WC later this year so I would have reservations if he doesn't at least offer something in the tests.

It may be harsh but he needs to do something in either test series in England or India otherwise he really shouldn't be playing outside of Australia.

Either/or absolutely. I don't expect much on the sub-continent but yes he must fire in England.

No excuses with ODIs. He should churn it out.

 

[Twizzle]

I think it's going to be difficult for Head as he is naturally aggressive and those low slow turners won't let him play that way

be interesting to see how he adjusts