Ashwin-Jadeja horror awaiting Australia

India-Australia series preview: India, unbeaten in last 19 test matches. 6 consecutive series wins (their best in cricket history), captain has scored a double hundred in last 4 series he has played, their main bowling weapon just became fastest human being to reach 250 test scalps.
Australia: Last 9 test matches in Asian conditions: LLLLLLLLL. (Remember no draws and 3 of these losses were against comparatively weak Sri-Lankan side), one series win in last 48 years in India, Young team (half of whom have never even played a test in India).

Does the gap between sides before any series get any wider than this?

Hardly.

So, does that mean we should stop bothering to watch coming four test matches being played against Australia? Does that mean that Aussies have not got a cat in a hell's chance to win here? Should we start to watch something else other than cricket  in next 6 weeks when we already know what is going to happen?

No. No and No. Admittedly, Australia start as massive underdogs in this series. But, after all they are Australia. They don't stop fighting. They are bloody hard to beat. Any day. Any time. You just can't cross your way with them without getting a good, real fight. If they go down, they will do that while fighting their way. They are a guarantee of entertainment. So, Yes. We must watch these four coming test matches.

Coming back to their strengths, they have rejuvenated themselves in last couple of months after the fiasco in Sri-Lanka and home series defeat by Proteas and they have energized the whole squad by changing the selection policies etc. It has worked. Peter Handscomb, Matt Renshaw both were brought in as replacements and have clicked. Both got massive hundreds against Pakistan and they have looked good. Steve Smith averages over 60 after playing 50 test matches. He is currently number 1 test batsman. David Warner remains as dangerous as ever. Along with Smithy, Peter Handscomb is excellent player of spin. Khawaja is another danger-man. Australia will take encouragement from Mitchell Starc's form in Sri-Lankan series, where he was one of few bright spots. Hazlewood's ability to gain conventional swing as well as reverse swing makes him a potent weapon in any conditions. Australia have got two quality spinners in O'keefe and Lyon. It is not completely dark after all. There is a huge potential in this side and they can definitely give a real challenge to India.

Sadly, on the other hand, they are up against arguably the best home team ever in the history of test cricket. When it comes down to Beating India in India, you have more chance of landing a truck on Mount Everest than accomplishing this feat. Very few teams have done this in past and worse, very few teams have even looked competitive against India in India. Most of them are white-washed, those who avoid it: they avoid it barely. Australia's last test tour of India was a complete disaster with Homework-gate incident and leading to suspension of a lot of players which ultimately lead to sack of their coach Mickey Arthur. Needless to say, the scoreline was 4-0. It was a forgettable tour for them.

If these facts were not scary enough, India are in sublime touch. They are crushing opposition after opposition. The ease with which they beat England will send some message to other teams. England, with all due respect have always been a good visitor to India. They were able to draw the series a couple of times before winning it on their last tour in 2012-13. This time, they were blown away 4-0. Virat Kohli is in the form of his life, along with Ashwin and Jadeja who will be licking their lips to go berserk on Australian batsman. Cricket in Indian condition will look like almost a different sport to Smith and Co. Only a miraculous performance can save them. Forget about the series win, even avoiding a whitewash will be a nice accomplishment.

All of Indian batters seem to be in good nick apart from KL Rahul, who has been very inconsistent on the top. With Ashwin's and Jadeja's ability to bat, it provides an amazing balance to the side. Indian pacers have often not been given credit for sneaking in with crucial wickets when needed. Shami, Umesh and Ishant have troubled the batsmen a lot in last couple of series. The focus on spinners is just so much that they often don't get noticed, but I have always felt that they have done their job beautifully in silence. Coping them won't be as easy as it seems for Australia.

So, all set for an extremely exciting series. I can't wait for TEST 1, DAY 1, SESSION 1. What about you?

Thanks Skip!

Change is the only constant in the world. Cooky steps down as captain of England test team. As much as I am hurt by this, I am equally excited to see England rejuvenating itself under a new captain (most likely to be Joe Root).

Alastair Cook: I have liked him since I first saw him in Nagpur test in 2006 making debut against India. He got a ton on debut. I grew fonder and fonder of him. He was everything I lacked in me. Patience, resilience, belief in your abilities, never-give-up attitude. I was in standard VIII when he made his debut. He inspired me in ways none ever did. He has been an epitome of hard-work and determination to me. Surely, there are other batsmen who have better natural flair and look more aesthetic while batting. We have AB who can destroy within minutes, we have Kohli who can bat in any circumstances, we have Gayle who can hit sixes which land in car-parking area and so on.

But, none of them will know as much about overcoming failures, adversity and and none will possess the grit Captain Cook has. He is neither a born batsman nor a born leader. Instead, he worked his way to it. He worked his way to the summit.

In beginning, when he came into England's test team, everyone just saw him as a pretty young lad from Essex county who "isn't so bad". He soon got dropped from the team and came back strongly. Once he is in "zone", it seems impossible that he will ever get out. None of the bowlers can cause a glint of trouble to him. There has been times, when everyone believed that "You miss one run-out chance of Cook, you will be punished with 100 extra runs". Such was the reputation he made for himself.

He took over the captaincy from Andrew Strauss in 2012. His first assignment was one of the toughest one anyone ever finds. Leading against India in India. Cook set up an extraordinary standards by making 3 centuries in 4 games resulting in a rare series win against India in India. Here we go.

Among highs of his captaincy careers, there have been some notable victories. He led England in 59 test matches, an England record. 24 wins as captain reflect how good a captain he was. He took the leadership in troubled times. England came close to number 1 ranking on a number of occasions during his tenure. In my judgment, The best moment of captain cook's career was his first assignment itself: Series win against India in India. He made 3 mammoth centuries and led from the front. 562 in four matches tell you how much impact he made in the series result. They came back from one match behind and won the next two in Kolkata and Mumbai. Cook also won his both home Ashes assignments as captain. First in 2013 by 3-0, then repeating the feat in 2015 by 3-2. Other highs of captaincy include beating a strong South African side 2-1 in South Africa. It was unbelievably hard. But, he led his troops superbly well and he backed some of England's future superstars like Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Johnny Bairstow. It was pleasant to watch.

As they say, the curse of captaincy is its longevity. Along with the highs, the lows will also appear everywhere. It is unavoidable. In Cook's case, there were a few lows like getting drubbed 5-0 against Australia in Australia, losing a home series on penultimate ball of the series against Sri Lanka, losing against Bangladesh, getting thrashed by India in India 4-0.

In my opinion, Cook has got the timing of "stepping down" absolutely spot on. There are 10 months before the next Tough Ashes assignment in Australia. Stepping down means the new captain will get accustomed to the job and England have a huge chance to retain the urn in Australia. Cooky is one of the most important asset to the team as an opening batsman and he has got a lot of cricket left in him. He would certainly want to enjoy the last phase of his cricket career without being burdened by captaincy. He may still improve to replicate his Ashes heroics of 2011-12 in Australia where he scored more than 766 runs in five matches. Probably the best series of his career so far along with against India in India in 2012-13.

I have followed Cooky's career for almost over 10 years now. Out of his extraordinary 11,000 test runs, more than 8,000 runs have been scored when I was reading commentary ball-by-ball or watching the game on my television. I have a huge amount of respect for him. He has extraordinary grit, resilience, patience and humbleness. He is an amazing human being and he is one of the most honest captains I have ever seen.

Cook doesn't sledge. Cook can bat for hours and hours without breaking a sweat. Cook is one of the greatest cricketers ever. Cook always remains so calm and composed throughout. That is captain "Cook" for you.

When Cook bats, the world watches.

Thanks skip. For everything.

Please don't go England

India vs England T20 series finished tonight. I was watching it with a cup of tea in hostel canteen.

India were cruising to a strong total. But, I was worried about something else entirely. I was just thinking, but they will be gone tonight. Oh no. This is the last game for them on this tour. I was just saying, "England! Can you please play at least one more game before catching that flight to London?" Please. It has been such a joy to watch them play against us. Can you stay for more? Please. Don't desert us.

I have always loved both these teams for as long as I can remember. Now, watching them come to India has always been moments of tranquility to me. Results are mostly irrelevant when both of them play against each other. I just sit back and enjoy the show, enjoy the phenomenon of cricket, of life. It gives me joy and it is closest thing to peace which I find. An absolute zen-like experience. This is serene. Free from madness of life into the exuberance and ecstasy. Nothing compares to that.

Now, they will be gone. I will be left to feel the ache of void left by them. I will just wander across my college campus and my room, my hostel and miss their presence. I will miss watching them play against us again (which won't happen at least until Champions Trophy later this year). I don't know what will I do without watching them play India. India and England, they make cricket complete to me. They should play more often than this. Both teams are just so brilliant, cricket of highest level, strategies and tactics of sky-high quality. They are equally and evenly matched. It doesn't get better than that (few combinations which come close are England-Australia, Australia-South Africa and India-Pakistan). Both teams have a lot of quality players and it makes spicy contests. I absolutely cherish and adore it.

Again, they are gone. Tonight. Just like that. They came here, won our hearts, (we won the series though) and now they are away. I am left to rue here. Next match India play is against Bangladesh. (Can you believe that? That is so ridiculous).

I just want to say, "England, please don't go." Stay for another week. Play against us. One more time.

Tears aside, All the three series were blockbusters. Players gave their everything and something special came out of it. Regardless of the result, they were one of the best series. India outplayed England in all the three formats. Though, ODIs and T20s were very close, India were clearly the better side. This series was also important for a lot of other reasons like watching Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni put on a mammoth partnership, evolution of Kedar Jadhav from "can-play-only-Zimbabwe" to some serious batter, Chahal magic, Bumrah and Nehra combo and so on.

Fun fact: England won the toss on total of 8 occasions out of 11 international games they played. This was their best chance to make an impact. Next time onward, they may not be so lucky and they will find it even harder to negotiate conditions against the toss. They just let it happen, let it slip. They should have won Kanpur T20, they could have stopped India to less than 381 after having them at 25-3 at Cuttack, they should have at least got a draw at Chennai after being asked to bat for 100 odd overs. There were just too many "should have, could have". At the end of the day, India were better side. Period.

Coming back again to the title of the blog, I feel sad. I want cricket between India and England to go on a little more. It shouldn't be this much short. Why and how did time fly by so fast? I wish I could soak it a little longer. I wish I could persuade them to stay a little longer (It can't happen though. Life doesn't work like that). I don't want to say bye. Not yet. Someone please stop them. Can someone please cancel all the flights departing from India just for a few days so as to hold them longer? I am still not ready to watch them go. Please. Can someone really do it?

Gone. Gone. Gone. Please don't go, England. Not yet.

From
A Fan.