South Africa away tests - India lose to Ngidi

Lungi Ngidi was a debutant against the team ranked No.1 in the world, replacing a legend (Dale Steyn) in the second test of the series.But, he showed no nervousness versus the No.1 test side in the world. The Indians made some shocking team selections in the second test by dropping Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bring in Ishant Sharma. It is not sure what the impact will be on the players morale. Rahane has been sidelined so far in a similar manner, in favor of Rohit Sharma.

This move back-fired and the Indians lost the series with one test to go. Ishant was not a complete failure though - he did trouble the competition and picked wickets when it mattered, on a helpful pitch. Rohit just couldnt get going and clamors for Rahane got bigger from the fans.
While the Proteas were making the right changes and all the positive vibes were with them, the Indian ship seemed to be sinking! Virat Kohli made a majestic 150+ but when required, failed with the bat. Though the pitch was more like a sub-continent type, the Indians were skittled out by Ngidi fairly easily!

Image Courtesy: ESPN Cricinfo website

The match was made famous by the number of run-outs from both teams (Pujara dismissed twice run out was an ultimate disaster!). Ashwin picked up useful wickets that helped his bowling but more was expected in the second innings!While Pandya was great in effecting the runout of his bowling, his own runout was school-boy cricket, as Sunil Gavaskar said on air.

Australia home tests - India beat Oz at home again...

It may not have been the whitewash everyone expected. The young team gave a fright to the Indians, even winning one test at Chennai, before going down to the hosts 0-2.

Dharamsala was a good place to finish the long domestic season and take India to the No.1 position under Kohli and Kumble.

Bangla Home Tests - India beat Bangladesh as expected

India defeated Bangladesh in the first and only test of the series, as expected. The Indian spinners picked wickets but what was more pleasing was the pacers picking a handful.

The Aussies are next and India is on course for a great home season!

England Home Tests - Massive win for India to go ahead 1-0

India won the 2nd test match versus England by 246 runs!Virat Kohli contributed 248 runs in both innings of the match, but it was a team effort.

1. Chet Pujara scored a century in the first innings to shore up the Indian total
2. Ashwin's eight-wicket haul and impressive batting continued!
3. Jayant Yadav was a revelation with his all-round stints.
4. Shami took crucial wickets in both innings to complete the formalities.

Forget the stats, it was an impressive win by the Indian team. Onto Mohali, where the English will have one change in the batting and I expect India to go with three pacers!

Image Courtesy: Cricinfo website

NZ Home Series - expected whitewash

Image Courtesy:Cricinfo website

NZ Home Series - India win 500th test match easily...

India won their 500th test match easily against Black Caps, by 197 runs, thanks to a well-rounded team performance. Though the first innings score was below-par, the batsmen led by Murali Vijay and Chet Pujara put up a target for NZ that was way beyond their reach. The bowlers with the pitch helping Ashwin and Jadeja, produced unplayable deliveries to skittle out the NZ batsmen.

What  more did Kohli and Kumble want? Not a hamstring niggle to rule out KL Rahul or injury scare to Ashwin from next test at Kolkata !

NZ Home Series - Indian team selected

Image Courtesy: espncricinfo.com Website

After easily winning the overseas tour in West Indies, India come back home to host the Black Caps later this month. The Indian team was announced by the selection committee.The last day of the Duleep Trophy is still to be played as the squad was announced. Also, the India A team has to come back from Down Under - the selection could have been timed slightly better is the view. From the Duleep Trophy, what did we learn?

1. Cheteshwara Pujara has no rival in domestic cricket. But why is he given the second-hand treatment?Check what the coach thinks of him.
2. There is a big chasm of difference between Ashwin and his near competitor ( Pervez Rasool).
3. Similarly, Amit Mishra is not being pushed hard enough by Karn Sharma or Shreyas Gopal
4. Though there are options like Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, the selectors wished to retain Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma based on potential and performances.
5. Anil Kumble will continue with Virat Kohli the same plan that MSD had successfully pursued at home soil earlier - look at the squad for an indication of the pitches we can see.But, how will Kohli as captain fare versus the master tactician MSD?Tough question and challenge!
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2016 West Indies Tour - India go up 2-0

India went up 2-0 in the mismatched series againt West Indies, even after baffling team selections (Dhawan and Rohit included at the expense of Pujara). Bhuvi was one exception to the rule who took five wickets to ensure the quick demise of Windies in the first innings. Ashwin scored yet another century while Saha decided to make one of his own. All in all, the Indians won another match and look set to wrap up 3-0 by next test.

Image Courtesy: espncricinfo.com

Australian Tour 2014 Final Test - When draw was more enjoyable

The Indians lost 0-4 during their previous tour Down Under. This time it was 0-2 - a reflection of the progress that the team made over four years. The team transitioned on many counts during this tour. The old order moved into retirement while the new generation batsmen came after losing (if not disastrous) campaigns from New Zealand, South Africa and England. The team had come close to winning matches in the first two tours but on the last tour to England, they did win at Lords.

On this tour, there would be no wins but the two draws could be considered as morale boosters for a team that has now moved to a new captain as well during the series. The test team will no longer have a certain Mr. Dhoni. Virat Kohli seems to enjoy his captaincy considering that he has scored three centuries and a forty in his two tests as captain. Let us see how this run continues in the next series overseas.

The positives have been limited on the batting front from the Indian side - Vijay, Rahane and Kohli have been standout performers in all tests. Rahul did well in the Sydney test, showing signs of long-term promise. Shikhar Dhawan and Chet Pujara will be still in the scheme of the Indian cricket - part of a good set of batsmen for the next generation.

It is the bowling that will give the Indian management a big headache. Discipline was missing in all matches and it was very clear that the slow wickets would not help any of them. The fact that the opposition bowlers also struggled meant that the Indian bowlers were not far behind - if that was a consolation factor. Ishant Sharma did well to apply his learnings of many years but it shudders when you think that the others are in the same situation he was few years ago. Umesh Yadav looked full of promise during the last tour Down Under but he has not progressed much. Bhuvi could not do much in the last test due to injury but he needs support from the pitch and conditions to be effective. Can Aaron become more consistent is the question on everyone's lips?

Overall, the Indians lost the series but not disappointed their fans. A win would have been good but I think the next overseas series will be the one where India will start their winning streak.

SAF Tour - performances by the team

India finished the South African tour with a depressing loss in the final test - though the series loss was expected, the manner in which the team went down was not. The two test matches were alive till the last day - something that was beyond any fan's delight!

How did the players perform in the test and ODI series? Who were the heroes and who did not perform? Firstly, the batsmen who lagged behind

1. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan - both played six innings in both the series included and could not get going at all. Never did they look comfortable (though Dhawan could blame Faf Du Plessis catch for his dismissal in the second test)
2. Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli (ODIs) did not do justice to their talent and reputation during the travel. Yuvraj can claim that he played only one innings but the manner he was dismissed showed that he was not comfortable against pace
3. MS Dhoni (tests) did not do well in test matches, despite being the senior-most batsman in the team. Though his captaincy was at its best, the captain's performance with the bat could have been better in the last innings of the series at least.

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	Format
Ajinkya Rahane	2	4	1	209	96	69.66	442	47.28	0	2	0	29	2	Tests
Ajinkya Rahane	1	1	0	8	8	8.00	17	47.05	0	0	0	1	0	ODIs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	1	0	0	0	0.00	4	0.00	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
Cheteshwara Pujara	2	4	0	280	153	70.00	600	46.66	1	1	0	36	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	4	0	9	4	2.25	31	29.03	0	0	1	1	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	1	1	0	0*	-	2	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Murali Vijay	2	4	0	148	97	37.00	375	39.46	0	1	0	25	0	Tests
Mohit Sharma	1	1	1	0	0*	-	5	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Mohammed Shami	2	4	1	6	4	2.00	15	40.00	0	0	1	1	0	Tests
Mohammed Shami	3	2	0	8	8	4.00	18	44.44	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
MS Dhoni	2	4	0	87	29	21.75	185	47.02	0	0	0	11	0	Tests
MS Dhoni	3	2	0	84	65	42.00	102	82.35	0	1	0	8	1	ODIs
R Ashwin	1	2	1	18	11*	18.00	25	72.00	0	0	0	2	0	Tests
R Ashwin	3	2	0	34	19	17.00	45	75.55	0	0	0	5	0	ODIs
Ravindra Jadeja	1	2	0	8	8	4.00	8	100.00	0	0	1	0	1	Tests
Ravindra Jadeja	3	2	0	55	29	27.50	64	85.93	0	0	0	7	1	ODIs
Rohit Sharma	2	4	0	45	25	11.25	102	44.11	0	0	1	4	1	Tests
Rohit Sharma	3	2	0	37	19	18.50	69	53.62	0	0	0	4	0	ODIs
Shikhar Dhawan	2	4	0	76	29	19.00	184	41.30	0	0	0	9	0	Tests
Shikhar Dhawan	3	2	0	12	12	6.00	15	80.00	0	0	1	3	0	ODIs
Suresh Raina	3	2	0	50	36	25.00	70	71.42	0	0	0	5	0	ODIs
Umesh Yadav	2	1	0	1	1	1.00	5	20.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Virat Kohli	2	4	0	272	119	68.00	488	55.73	1	1	0	33	0	Tests
Virat Kohli	3	2	0	31	31	15.50	40	77.50	0	0	1	5	0	ODIs
Yuvraj Singh	2	1	0	0	0	0.00	2	0.00	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
Zaheer Khan	2	4	1	32	29*	10.66	75	42.66	0	0	2	3	2	Tests

The batsmen who did well were no doubt Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay in the test series while MSD was the sole contributor in the shorter version.

How did the bowlers fare? Who did well and who did not?

1. Ravindra Jadeja did well in the opportunities he received during the ODIs and tests, making it an interesting headache for Dhoni in future tests. How he will be fitted into the playing eleven is going to be the biggest challenge for the team management, especially with the friendly rivalry of Ashwin.
2. Ishant Sharma's bowling in the two ODIs were the reason he played in the test series. But, his performance in the tests were again back to his usual standard. The team management might be thinking of having him as the head of the bowling pack when Zaheer retires but he is nowhere in the same zone.
3. Shami captured 9 (ODIs) and 6 (tests) during the tour, making him the most valuable bowler from the Indian team. He has improved quite well from his debut and has the ingredients to be one of the forces for Indian cricket.
4. Zaheer did well in the first test but lacked energy in the second when the going got tough. When the pitches do not do well, Zak has a lesser role to play. But, he will be required to guide his younger compatriots for the rest of the year given that the team will be on major tours.

Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wickets	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10	Format
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	1	9	0	68	0	-		-	7.55	-	0	0		ODIs
Ishant Sharma	2	4	90	17	313	5	4/79	5/170	62.60	3.47	108		0	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	2	17	1	78	4	4/40		19.50	4.58	25.50	1	0		ODIs
Mohit Sharma	1	1	10	0	82	0	-		-	8.20	-	0	0		ODIs
Mohammed Shami	2	4	75	11	263	6	3/107	5/155	43.83	3.50	75		0	0	Tests
Mohammed Shami	3	3	28	1	185	9	3/48		20.55	6.60	18.60	0	0		ODIs
R Ashwin	1	2	42	5	108	0	-	-	-	2.57	-		0	0	Tests
R Ashwin	3	3	28	0	169	1	1/48		169.00	6.03	168.00	0	0		ODIs
Ravindra Jadeja	1	2	62.2	15	154	6	6/138	6/154	25.66	2.47	62.3		1	0	Tests
Ravindra Jadeja	3	3	24	0	139	1	1/49		139.00	5.79	144.00	0	0		ODIs
Rohit Sharma	2	2	11.4	1	39	0	-	-	-	3.34	-		0	0	Tests
Suresh Raina	3	3	10	0	55	0	-		-	5.50	-	0	0		ODIs
Umesh Yadav	2	2	15	0	102	1	1/57		102.00	6.80	90.00	0	0		ODIs
Virat Kohli	2	1	6	0	18	0	-	-	-	3.00	-		0	0	Tests
Virat Kohli	3	3	8	0	54	1	1/15		54.00	6.75	48.00	0	0		ODIs
Zaheer Khan	2	3	88.3	11	320	7	4/88	5/223	45.71	3.61	75.8		0	0	Tests
Murali Vijay	2	1	1	0	3	0	-	-	-	3.00	-		0	0	Tests
MS Dhoni	2	1	2	0	4	0	-	-	-	2.00	-		0	0	Tests

Bhuvi, Mohit and sadly for India, Ashwin did not do well during their outings. Mohit has already paid for it by losing his place for the NZ tour while Ashwin still gets picked for both versions. Dhoni has found an able bowler during the latter stages - Suresh Raina on recent evidence has done well in this new role. Virat Kohli was another bowler tried out by Dhoni to complete the middle stages. Hopefully, the team will learn from their errors and grow further. The bowling pack needs to fire and provide support to the batsmen for India to win anything outside their backyard.