See- sawing throughout. Massive support for both teams and a record crowd. Some saying India v Oz will now eclipse The Ashes. Certainly ip there commercially.
The five-day attendance is now the largest for any Test in Australia. It eclipsed the 350,534 which watched the six-day Test between Australia and England at the MCG in 1937.
What a match and now so many questions pre Sydney…
1. Does Rohit Sharma play instead of Shubman Gill? Has he played his last test?
2. Is Virat about to play his last test?
3. Has Mitchell March played his last test or is he about to? Who comes in?
4. Will Sydney be Usman K’s last test?
5. Does Starc play in Sydney; who comes in?
The answers: I think India will probably be unchanged and Australia will roll the dice one last time with Marsh hoping that he is still more likely than anyone else to score runs at 6. One option is that move Carey to six, play Sean Abbot at 7 and play a second spinner. But nobody really screaming to be selected and someone has to replace Starc since I am sure he is injured. So Abbot comes in unless they opt for a smokey left armer – they have a few of those.
One post-Sydney question: Will England manage to win a test next summer in Australia for the first time since 2011.
No chance that Kohli won’t continue. He is still top dog in the team, even despite relinquishing the captaincy. The sort of player his team mates love but opponents hate; stroppy, combative, arrogant, and capable of starting fights in empty rooms, he has been the ultimate mega-star of Indian cricket for years, and names his own fees for the many advertising endorsements he is asked to do. Whilst he is still in reasonable form, why would he even consider calling time on his test career? And I suspect the selectors are a little scared of the reaction if he was to be dropped from the team. It’s not going to happen.
He might call time because he is a shadow of the player he was and he doesn’t need the money.
Certainly he doesn’t need the appearance money anymore, but that is true of all Test players these days, especially Indians. If you are an above average player, there will be all the various franchise T20 competitions, foremost of which is the IPL, throwing money at you, far more than can ever be earned playing in Tests. The only real benefit modern players garner from playing Tests is the simple honour of representing their country in the the oldest and most difficult form of the game. Another reason I don’t believe Kohli will jack it in just yet, he loves the adulation he gets even if his form is not what it was.
Why wouldn’t Starc play? Is he injured?
He is/was an injury doubt.
Ok thanks
Big test Sydney.
Hope it doesn’t rain.
Should be scheduled earlier.
Always wet in Jan
I was lucky enough to be able to watch every ball. A good enough game that my American wife left work early to be able to get home to see the final session and get wrapped up in it.
As many questions as answers for both teams. My bet is that they go largely unchanged. If Marsh fails again, that’s it. Sharma loses the captaincy after the series – a move they should have made earlier. Kohli will get another lifeline.
Bumrah, though. Won’t see his like again in a hurry. Up there with any of the greats in any sport that I’ve seen.
But that…that was Test cricket.
Perhaps Bumrah’s biggest contribution to Indian cricket is to convince a generation of young Indians that they could grow up to become good fast bowlers, and that spin is not the only suitable option for Indian conditions. He has changed India’s mindset about its own bowling.
Purely anecdotal, but last time I was in India ( Covid brought regular visits to a swift halt) I saw lots of kids playing football and hardly any playing cricket.
Twas indeed @Slug
First time in 14 years for Australia to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy so both teams may be more inclined to be ruthless.
Reminds me of a joke by local sports comedian Titus O’Reilly. … lying on the couch watching a dead rubber Sri Lanka v Bangladesh. Wife comes in and says “ you aren’t going to lie there all day are you?” “.No” says Titus, “five days”.
Beau Webster to come in for Mitch Marsh who has looked totally out of form. Webster did very well for Gloucestershire last season and can perform in red ball and white ball games.
@exilepj you got that right.
@Junior Wells hope he shows what he is capable of, i was very impressed in the games i saw him play for the Shire last year
He’s a class act from what I’ve seen on the highlights. It was indeed a helluva test.
Fun fact. His folks live in the delightfully named Snug, in Tasmania.
First Taswegian to take a Test wicket in over a decade
Doing what I can to get the Aussies over the line. Though it hasn’t helped Steve Smith. Stranded on 9,999 runs. Will get the milestone overseas. Damn.
Maybe he should retire at 9999
Congratulations. Unfortunate lack of Bumrah meant this was a relatively simple task
From a distance yes but the pitch was erratic so no gimme.