India Draw the Aussies at the Gabba as Ashwin Retires!

[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Edges & Sledges Cricket Podcast. This is a non-traditional timing for us, it's a mid-week episode. I'm your host Ashwin, I'm joined by DJ. DJ, there's a lot going on in my brain right now because we've just wrapped up the third test of the Bordegavisker Trophy. India managed to eke out a draw at the Gabba, which we will talk through at length. And we were thinking we'll do a normal 30-minute episode about India at the Gabba, call it a day 1-1 going into the Gaba.

[00:00:38] The final two tests, Sydney and Melbourne, great. And then this bombshell dropped on us earlier today. And maybe it wasn't a bombshell for some people, but it was for me. It just felt like it came out of nowhere.

[00:00:50] That off-spin all-rounder legend Ravi Ashwin has retired from all forms of international cricket effective immediately. So we're going to have to talk about that. DJ, how are you doing? Are you feeling as emotionally heavy as I am? I don't know if the listeners can hear it in my voice, but I don't really know what to do with myself with this news.

[00:01:08] It was too much for me.

[00:01:09] Yeah, as you said, we thought it would just be a usual, I suppose, episode talking about India's great escape at the Gabba, talking about rain.

[00:01:20] It's obviously a midweek episode because for once the test match has gone the length. It took five full days, right?

[00:01:26] Yeah, normally with a Thursday-Friday start, we expect to do midweek episodes, but we're still recording.

[00:01:31] Sunday we're doing the episodes.

[00:01:33] No, but of course there was kind of, we talk about the jubilation in the Indian dressing room when they saved the follow-on.

[00:01:42] And it was a pretty damp and dark end to the test.

[00:01:47] But it is an end of an era, man.

[00:01:54] Ashwin has been, your namesake has been around and kind of omnipresent in the Indian test lineup, whether he's been playing or not.

[00:02:05] The question's always, should Ashwin have played when he didn't?

[00:02:09] And when he plays, we were inevitably talking about the wickets that he picked up.

[00:02:14] And he's been a giant of Indian cricket, man.

[00:02:18] Like 500 plus test wickets, second only to Anil Kumble.

[00:02:23] I mean the stats and it's still probably too early, but he's won an incredible number of man of the series performances.

[00:02:33] He's kind of that cricketer where he's one of us, but he's superior.

[00:02:40] He's fought against his body.

[00:02:43] He thinks about, he's a great thinker of the game.

[00:02:46] He's contributed to world cricket in a way which lots of people will only realise once he's retired completely from the game.

[00:02:54] He's not completely retired from all cricket.

[00:02:57] So we'll see him in the IPM in his beloved Chennai Super Kings jersey.

[00:03:01] He's a Chennai boy, has an incredible record in Chennai.

[00:03:05] But of course, he's the second Chennai Super King to retire in the middle of an Australia test match.

[00:03:10] So Ashwin, three minutes, five seconds in.

[00:03:12] Can you guess who the first one was?

[00:03:14] There it is.

[00:03:14] In the middle of a test series?

[00:03:15] The test series.

[00:03:16] It happened.

[00:03:17] It didn't take too long for you to bring up the honey.

[00:03:20] All the stats, all the memories are going through my head.

[00:03:22] We will talk through it.

[00:03:23] So if you're waiting for the Ravi Ashwin tribute episode, it'll be in the second half of this show.

[00:03:27] So we're going to talk through it a little bit more.

[00:03:30] But we have to first start by talking about 1-1 draw at the Gabba.

[00:03:35] I think most people had actually predicted 5-0, 4-1 kind of scorelines assuming no draws.

[00:03:41] We will talk through it, but Rain played a huge part in this one.

[00:03:45] But we're going to talk through the Gabba test.

[00:03:47] We're going to talk about how this leaves the series.

[00:03:49] And then we'll come back.

[00:03:50] And in the second half, we will talk a little bit more about the sort of icon of Indian cricket

[00:03:56] who has hung up his boots from international cricket, Ravi Ashwin.

[00:03:59] I'm going to stop.

[00:04:00] But the reason I think it feels so different is because Rohit and Kohli announced single format retirement.

[00:04:05] Jadeja did from T20s.

[00:04:06] Okay, cool.

[00:04:07] We're still going to see them in India colors.

[00:04:09] It just felt like we saw him one match ago.

[00:04:13] Granted, he didn't have the best test match.

[00:04:15] And then now mid-series, he's not going to play in Indian colors in an Indian jersey ever again.

[00:04:22] So, I'll stop now.

[00:04:24] We will talk about the Gabba test.

[00:04:26] And then we'll come back to it.

[00:04:29] TJ, what is your overall take?

[00:04:30] I think the thing we're all saying is, if you step back and said, Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane, done.

[00:04:38] We go to Sydney, won all.

[00:04:41] It's not bad.

[00:04:42] There's a great Australian lineup and an Indian team that's struggling.

[00:04:45] It's not a bad spot to me.

[00:04:48] Yet, somehow, yes, we haven't lost the Border Gavisker Trophy in Australia.

[00:04:52] So, yes, we should have been favorites, but it's still Australia at home.

[00:04:55] Fine.

[00:04:55] Yet, somehow, I felt like this was a really bad test match yet again.

[00:05:00] And it was very painful to live through.

[00:05:02] And, I don't know, everything from the elation of watching everybody ourselves included celebrating avoiding a follow-on.

[00:05:09] I mean, this is a team that thrashed Australia twice in the two prior series in Australia.

[00:05:13] And now we're celebrating avoiding follow-ons and then hoping for rain at points in this set.

[00:05:18] What is your high-level assessment?

[00:05:20] And then we'll get into the details of the match.

[00:05:22] Yeah, I think generally unsatisfactory feeling.

[00:05:26] That's the word.

[00:05:27] That's the right word.

[00:05:28] It's just, look, I mean, the test match starts at 11.50 p.m. for me.

[00:05:35] So, it's like 10 minutes to midnight.

[00:05:37] And that was after the rain delay.

[00:05:39] So, they were making up for lost time.

[00:05:42] So, I think you missed the first, the second day where it started a little bit earlier.

[00:05:45] But otherwise, it started at 12.20 a.m. for me, the test match.

[00:05:49] So, I would watch the first session and then try and catch the tail end of the last session.

[00:05:55] But on the first day, it was great because they got to 28 for no loss.

[00:05:59] And I went to sleep when the rain came and they were still 28 for no loss.

[00:06:03] Didn't miss anything.

[00:06:04] And to your point, the second day, it started early and I didn't get the memos.

[00:06:07] You guys started messaging about Bumrah getting a wicketer.

[00:06:10] I said, wait.

[00:06:12] But what was interesting, Ashwin, on the first day was Rohit winning the toss and choosing to bowl.

[00:06:18] And of course, there's a history of teams winning when they bowl first.

[00:06:23] The last test match that the team batting first won was the West Indies.

[00:06:28] But that was a day and night test match.

[00:06:30] So, I think six out of seven tests, the last seven tests have been won by the team batting second.

[00:06:38] It was weird as well because it used to be the first test match of the tour.

[00:06:41] It's now moved to the third test match of the tour.

[00:06:44] Last time was the last test match of the tour during COVID times and all of that.

[00:06:47] I just think when you look back at it, you'd be happy with the 1-1 scoreline.

[00:06:56] But I don't think there was particularly good cricket played by either side.

[00:07:04] I mean, in patches, there was.

[00:07:06] Head was brilliant.

[00:07:07] Bumrah was, I mean, it's like Travis Head versus Jaspreet Bumrah.

[00:07:11] It's just this entire series right now.

[00:07:15] Yeah.

[00:07:15] Yeah.

[00:07:15] Headspare thought, Steve Smith made a century.

[00:07:18] You had some good, you had a good spell from Stark and Cummins to get the Indies.

[00:07:23] So, yeah, there was decent patches.

[00:07:25] But we'll get into all that.

[00:07:27] To your point.

[00:07:28] First day, the toss was one surprise.

[00:07:30] Talk to me quickly about team selection, right?

[00:07:33] And Ash.

[00:07:34] I'm bringing them up yet again, but I can't help myself.

[00:07:36] But Ash and Harshit miss out for Jadeja coming in and Akashti.

[00:07:42] And then on the Aussie side, Scott Bowler do had a good test match, misses out for Hazel,

[00:07:47] which we'll talk through because Hazel would end up getting injured.

[00:07:49] And I think that played a bigger role than we'd realize.

[00:07:53] But yeah, thoughts on the selection.

[00:07:56] I think my immediate reaction was we have lost a test match off the back of horrendous batting.

[00:08:03] Horrendous batting.

[00:08:04] We could not bat at all.

[00:08:06] And I've said this to you guys and I tweeted it.

[00:08:08] And we're like, all right, what do we need to change?

[00:08:10] Let's go change two of our bowling options.

[00:08:11] Yes, Jadeja is a better bat on paper than Ash.

[00:08:14] So maybe you picked him to strengthen the batting.

[00:08:17] And yes, maybe you picked Akash to strengthen the batting because it worked, I guess.

[00:08:22] But like, we lost a test off of batting.

[00:08:26] You made two changes and they're both bowlers.

[00:08:28] Is this the perennial Team India management problem that we keep rotating bowlers

[00:08:32] even though they're not our weakness?

[00:08:34] I think there's a bit of horses for courses.

[00:08:36] Maybe they felt that Akash would be more skiddy, would use the conditions better than Harshit.

[00:08:40] But then Harshit didn't have a great test match in the second test.

[00:08:43] But there's no horses for courses with batters because our six are our six and we never change them?

[00:08:47] Well, we changed them because our number one went to number six and stayed there, right?

[00:08:51] So I guess we did change that around.

[00:08:54] That worked out great for him and for us.

[00:08:56] And for Rahul.

[00:08:57] But what was interesting was the Jadeja selection, which we actually talked through last week.

[00:09:03] Yep.

[00:09:04] Right?

[00:09:04] After the second test match.

[00:09:07] And I didn't think Jadeja would play because of the left-handedness of Australia's batting.

[00:09:12] You have the biggest thorns in your flesh are Travis Head.

[00:09:16] You've got Osman Khwaja.

[00:09:17] Mitchell Stark, that's left-handed.

[00:09:20] So they do have a kind of number of left-handers which have been annoying for the Indian bowlers.

[00:09:27] So I didn't think Jadeja would play.

[00:09:28] And he was pretty ineffective with the ball, to be honest.

[00:09:30] Yeah, did not.

[00:09:31] I mean, listen, don't take anything away from how brilliant he was with the batting.

[00:09:35] We will come to that.

[00:09:36] Yeah.

[00:09:37] But he wasn't great with the ball.

[00:09:39] But he was ineffective.

[00:09:39] Yeah.

[00:09:39] Like, he wasn't effective.

[00:09:41] And for whatever we might say about Ashwin, he did actually get Travis Head to top edge one.

[00:09:46] And if Siraj had caught that.

[00:09:48] Yeah.

[00:09:49] Yeah.

[00:09:49] I think it was Siraj that dropped him in the second test, right?

[00:09:52] Like, you're going to have had a different story.

[00:09:53] Yeah.

[00:09:54] I think Siraj did drop him before he just, like, he was like 70-odd at that time.

[00:09:58] Yeah.

[00:09:58] So, yes, we say Ashwin didn't have a great test, but he did get that false shot.

[00:10:05] He didn't get that Marsh wicket for whatever it was.

[00:10:08] So it's kind of ironic.

[00:10:08] His last test wicket was a non-wicket.

[00:10:12] Almost fitting in a way.

[00:10:14] It is fitting in a way, actually.

[00:10:15] But the Jadeja selection surprised me.

[00:10:18] And I think that maybe they went for it because they wanted more control with the ball and fewer runs to be leaked.

[00:10:24] And then when they started on day one and it, yeah, sorry, we'll get to day one.

[00:10:29] But on selection, Jadeja and Washi are probably as good batters.

[00:10:35] Washi's probably got more potential.

[00:10:37] Jadeja's got more experience.

[00:10:39] So that's the toss-up there.

[00:10:40] Yeah.

[00:10:40] I think, I guess I continue to struggle with anybody who's listened to this show since its inception has heard me.

[00:10:45] At least I'm consistent on this one thing.

[00:10:47] We have rotated through three number sevens now.

[00:10:51] Seven?

[00:10:52] Eight.

[00:10:52] Excuse me.

[00:10:53] Number.

[00:10:53] Is that right?

[00:10:54] Where am I?

[00:10:55] Jadeja's seven because.

[00:10:56] Seven.

[00:10:56] Sorry.

[00:10:57] I think Nitish.

[00:10:58] Because Nitish played Zed.

[00:10:59] But assume you're playing Nitish.

[00:11:01] We've rotated through three number seven slash eights because we just can't seem to figure it out.

[00:11:08] And our batting is losing us matches.

[00:11:10] And we're saying, okay, let's strengthen number eight.

[00:11:12] And potentially, like, I just, I just think we can't figure out who is our one spinner.

[00:11:16] You know, overseas conditions.

[00:11:18] Jadeja for many years was a shoo-in.

[00:11:20] You know, and I remember the first time he got picked over Ash and it was a big deal.

[00:11:24] Yeah.

[00:11:24] Oval probably 2018, I'd say.

[00:11:27] Yeah.

[00:11:27] It wasn't that long ago, right?

[00:11:28] So.

[00:11:30] All right.

[00:11:30] Let's talk about it.

[00:11:31] Hanumah Vihari's debut test match.

[00:11:32] I was there for it.

[00:11:33] Look at that.

[00:11:34] Look at that.

[00:11:35] Hanumah Vihari's is a key part of what we're going to talk in the second half, which is one of my fondest Ash memories.

[00:11:40] But anyway.

[00:11:41] But there's two questions I have for you on selection before we move to one.

[00:11:45] There was a theory that Nitish Reddy is actually creating a headache for the Indian team because he's not a good enough bowler.

[00:11:54] And he's a bits and pieces batter almost because he's not bowling.

[00:11:59] India don't have four out-and-out bowlers that can hit the Australians.

[00:12:06] And so it's disturbed playing him, they felt, because he wasn't that.

[00:12:10] He was a batting all-rounder rather than a bowling all-rounder has disturbed the balance of the team.

[00:12:16] I don't know what you think of that.

[00:12:18] I mean, I 1000% don't think we have sufficient data to make that claim.

[00:12:23] Yeah.

[00:12:23] And I say that because in his first four innings, he made 38 once and crossed 43 times.

[00:12:30] He looked solid out there with the bat.

[00:12:33] In this one innings, yes, he made 16.

[00:12:37] Yes, he made 16.

[00:12:39] He survived a very important period of play.

[00:12:42] And you can say at 16, he outscored your number one, three, four, five, and six batters.

[00:12:48] So what are we doing?

[00:12:50] Why are we picking on these guys again?

[00:12:52] Reddy also got Labushen out, which was important.

[00:12:55] He didn't end up bowling in the second innings because we didn't end up needing him.

[00:12:59] But we're picking on the right.

[00:13:01] I think he's had a great start to his test.

[00:13:02] Of course.

[00:13:03] And personally, I think he's done really well.

[00:13:05] But I think the argument is that you've lost effectively a bowling option for someone that's not adding that much with the bat.

[00:13:14] You're saying you would pick a pure number eight bowler?

[00:13:17] That's what the argument is.

[00:13:18] That's what the argument is.

[00:13:19] I mean, maybe you're having that discussion in a world where you have Siraj and Shami.

[00:13:23] Like, let's say Shami was back and you want to play Bumra, Shami, Siraj.

[00:13:26] Or you wanted to play Bumra, Ishan, Tumesh of the days gone by.

[00:13:30] Things like that.

[00:13:31] Okay.

[00:13:31] Three out-and-out quicks, one spinner.

[00:13:34] I get it.

[00:13:35] Maybe it makes sense to do that.

[00:13:36] And then trust the Jets all or somebody else.

[00:13:39] But it's actually four out-and-out quicks and one spinner then.

[00:13:42] Right?

[00:13:42] Yeah.

[00:13:43] If you're going four out, I don't think we have the four quicks that we want.

[00:13:47] We have had that.

[00:13:48] But there was a point, I guess, when Bumra, Shami, Siraj and Ishan all played.

[00:13:55] And then I get it.

[00:13:56] Then you've got four guys who got all effective wicket-taking opportunities.

[00:14:00] I mean, would I play an Akash and a Harshit together with Siraj and Bumra?

[00:14:03] No, I don't think so.

[00:14:04] I don't think they're...

[00:14:05] So, anyway.

[00:14:06] Maybe I'm...

[00:14:07] And then the second question for you is, what happens to this ball after 30 overs?

[00:14:15] Because...

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:18] I mean...

[00:14:19] It's just incredible.

[00:14:19] Yeah.

[00:14:20] Which is why we're stacking the batting, right?

[00:14:22] Like, we're stacking the batting all the way down.

[00:14:24] Instead of teaching our batters to do what the Aussies are doing, which is play out the tough period,

[00:14:30] stop fishing at 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th stump line, whatever it is.

[00:14:35] We're saying, let's just strengthen the lower order?

[00:14:38] Like, that makes sense?

[00:14:39] And we'll again...

[00:14:40] Again, we're jumping ahead because it's...

[00:14:42] Yeah.

[00:14:43] Okay.

[00:14:43] Let's get into it.

[00:14:44] It will all over the place.

[00:14:45] But...

[00:14:45] Let's get into it.

[00:14:46] The best batter is K.L. Rahul on this tour.

[00:14:50] All right.

[00:14:50] Let's talk through Australia's questions very quick, though.

[00:14:52] So, Steve Smith and Triv Travis had got sentries.

[00:14:55] Nobody looked effective with the ball other than Bumra yet again.

[00:14:58] I mean, 6 for 76.

[00:15:00] I think his average before the series started at 11.5, and he's taken 20-plus wickets,

[00:15:05] and it's still like 12-something.

[00:15:06] He's just...

[00:15:07] It's just unbelievable.

[00:15:08] I can't...

[00:15:08] I don't have enough hyperbole to gush about Bumra.

[00:15:11] It's ridiculous, right?

[00:15:13] Like, I mean, this man...

[00:15:15] The length...

[00:15:16] Yeah.

[00:15:16] Even by the way, in the second innings, which we'll come to, Pat Cummins was smashing

[00:15:21] it everywhere.

[00:15:21] Bumra came on.

[00:15:22] First ball, balls is slower.

[00:15:24] Yeah.

[00:15:25] Like, just a smart cricketer.

[00:15:27] Got him out first ball.

[00:15:29] And...

[00:15:29] It just seems like that level between him and everybody else.

[00:15:32] But Pat Cummins 3D-chested him and declared so that Bumra couldn't get a 10-wicket match

[00:15:37] all, which he's never got.

[00:15:38] Can you imagine?

[00:15:38] Bumra's never picked up 10 wickets in a match.

[00:15:41] That's a good stat.

[00:15:42] I mean, it's...

[00:15:42] He has plenty of those in his future.

[00:15:44] Yeah, of course.

[00:15:45] But yeah.

[00:15:45] So, Travis Head, of course, a century almost had a runner ball.

[00:15:48] Steve Smith bats himself back into form.

[00:15:51] I mean, what do you say about that?

[00:15:52] First things, Australia, just to your point, the openers, Khwaja and McSweeney did perish.

[00:15:57] And then Labushen came in.

[00:15:59] He only made 12 runs.

[00:16:00] That's fine.

[00:16:01] But he batted the shine off of that new ball and set it up for Travis Head.

[00:16:05] And Steve Smith, by the way, Khwaja did look decent before he got an absolute ripper from

[00:16:11] Bumra.

[00:16:11] So, who seems to have his number this whole series.

[00:16:14] But yeah, I mean, 445.

[00:16:18] You're thinking at this point, the Aussies ideally don't need to bat again in a rain curtailed

[00:16:22] match.

[00:16:23] Best case scenario for them to get a large score in the first innings and give themselves something

[00:16:27] to bowl at, right?

[00:16:28] Yeah.

[00:16:28] And my silver lining there was they'd have to bowl twice in a row so they'll be tired.

[00:16:34] So, if India has to follow on, they'll have to bowl twice.

[00:16:37] Because after having them 92 for 3 at lunch, which is when the first session ended, the

[00:16:45] second session, the ball was old.

[00:16:47] It was 30 overs old, right?

[00:16:48] They went nuts.

[00:16:48] And there's no magic to this.

[00:16:51] And I was looking back to the other second test match.

[00:16:55] This is what we were talking about, the Rishapun thing and why are we playing like it's a 20

[00:16:59] over match.

[00:17:00] Because they've just gone back to playing old-fashioned test cricket.

[00:17:04] Labushen, ugly.

[00:17:05] I think they had 50 fall shots against both Akash Deep and Bumrah.

[00:17:10] It was just ugly batting.

[00:17:12] It was brilliant bowling.

[00:17:13] At one point, Bumrah was like, can we get them some wider bats so they can nick it?

[00:17:17] And I was like, don't just wait for Head to come in.

[00:17:20] Don't say all of this stuff now.

[00:17:22] And he came in and just smacked it around.

[00:17:25] Like, Travis Head is, I think, the most annoying person for an Indian cricket fan in

[00:17:30] the world right now.

[00:17:31] He would do well not to walk around on the streets of India.

[00:17:34] I saw a rumor that he may have picked up a niggle and might be out for the next test.

[00:17:42] No, no.

[00:17:42] He said he's fine in Melbourne.

[00:17:44] I think he clarified that.

[00:17:46] If he is somehow out, that may be our best shot.

[00:17:49] But this is how desperate Indian fans have become.

[00:17:51] We're so sick of seeing this guy.

[00:17:53] He just turns up.

[00:17:54] He'd got three ducks at the Gabba.

[00:17:56] Every format everywhere in the world.

[00:17:58] Just unbelievable.

[00:17:59] He had three ducks at the Gabba previously in a row.

[00:18:01] Turns up.

[00:18:02] Smacks 150.

[00:18:03] 50.

[00:18:04] What?

[00:18:05] Where is this guy coming?

[00:18:06] It's also ugly to watch.

[00:18:08] Yeah.

[00:18:08] It's not like you're watching, I don't know, someone elegant like a Swarov Ganguly or a David

[00:18:14] Gower or a Mark Waugh.

[00:18:16] And you're like, okay, I kind of enjoy this because it's like watching a Travis Head and

[00:18:22] Steve Smith partnership.

[00:18:23] It's like, is my TV stuck?

[00:18:26] Why is it all jerking around so much?

[00:18:28] What is happening?

[00:18:29] It's like, the aesthetics are completely off.

[00:18:32] It's just, it's not pretty, man.

[00:18:34] And they did it in the World Test Championship Final.

[00:18:37] And they've done it again.

[00:18:39] 240 run partnership.

[00:18:41] Incredibly effective.

[00:18:42] I mean, yeah.

[00:18:43] To your point, 75 for three to 316 for four.

[00:18:46] I mean, just a tremendous partnership.

[00:18:48] Alex Carey then came in and made us feel the pain.

[00:18:51] Cummins supported him ably.

[00:18:54] Mitchell Stark did.

[00:18:56] And then 445, which took six boomerow wickets.

[00:18:59] 28 overs from your strike bowler who, let's face it, is phenomenal, but doesn't have the

[00:19:05] most traditional action.

[00:19:06] I mean, nothing, nowhere close to it.

[00:19:09] But he's not, he's putting his body through a lot.

[00:19:11] It is not sustainable to make him ball that much.

[00:19:15] Well, that much, but when nobody else looks effective, what else do you do?

[00:19:18] I mean, Siraj for one point, similarly, Siraj ended up getting Cummins and Lyon as his

[00:19:22] two wickets, right?

[00:19:22] Like didn't, just not, not picking up any of the top order guys, not looking effective

[00:19:26] at all.

[00:19:27] But, but we'll, we'll come back and talk more about where India's quick go from here,

[00:19:31] but 445 on the board.

[00:19:33] Okay.

[00:19:35] Then first test match, Jaswal makes the century.

[00:19:38] Big century, big century and says, tells Stark it's not coming fast.

[00:19:42] It's coming too slowly and shit like that.

[00:19:44] All kinds of trash talk.

[00:19:45] Second match, first ball.

[00:19:47] He gets a beautiful leg stump line swinging away.

[00:19:50] No, for second test.

[00:19:52] Second test.

[00:19:53] Yeah.

[00:19:54] This third test now, Mitchell Stark again to Jaswal, left arm over the wicket, hits a

[00:20:00] boundary first ball.

[00:20:01] Looks pretty good.

[00:20:02] Okay, great.

[00:20:03] Second ball.

[00:20:04] They have a mid wicket for him.

[00:20:06] Onto his pads.

[00:20:07] He just kind of flicks the ball and it goes straight to Mitchell Marsh's head.

[00:20:10] First.

[00:20:11] Like what a, what, what a ridiculous start.

[00:20:16] And then 11 balls later.

[00:20:18] Is that right?

[00:20:19] Yeah.

[00:20:20] 11 balls later.

[00:20:21] Shipman Gill.

[00:20:23] Another one, an edge.

[00:20:25] Mitch Marsh.

[00:20:25] Yet again, a phenomenal diving catch.

[00:20:28] And suddenly India are like five for two or whatever it was.

[00:20:34] Six for two in 2.1 overs.

[00:20:37] And you're thinking it's happening yet again.

[00:20:38] Rahul is standing on the other side watching.

[00:20:40] These two guys have covered.

[00:20:41] I mean, I don't know.

[00:20:44] DJ, what, what is he doing?

[00:20:45] He's been hitting a flick to mid wicket on the second ball of a test match at the camp.

[00:20:48] I mean, that's a bit of a brain fade, to be honest.

[00:20:50] I think he could have put that anywhere into the leg side field, but I think it was probably

[00:20:53] Or just along the ground to mid wicket.

[00:20:55] Like whatever.

[00:20:56] I think it was probably too.

[00:20:56] I mean, it's 140 clicks.

[00:20:57] I think you're just reacting to what comes at you.

[00:21:00] But it was an unfortunate dismissal, I would say.

[00:21:03] I'll give Jaiswal the benefit of the, I don't know, thousand plus runs his code for the Indian

[00:21:08] cricket team this year.

[00:21:10] So I think that was slightly unlucky to find Mitch Marsh standing there.

[00:21:16] And he literally did not have to move it.

[00:21:18] It's one of those where...

[00:21:19] But also brilliant captaincy, right?

[00:21:21] You don't always have a mid wicket for a lefty bowling over the wicket.

[00:21:25] Like just Cummins has been phenomenal.

[00:21:27] Yeah, he's been very...

[00:21:28] He's had a play for every...

[00:21:30] And by the way, I didn't get into it.

[00:21:32] But we didn't look like we had any idea what to do against Hedden Smith.

[00:21:35] And Cummins has always looked like he knew what to do.

[00:21:37] Even the guys who got runs.

[00:21:38] We should talk about that.

[00:21:39] Like, what do we make of Rohit's captaincy?

[00:21:41] Are we happy with it?

[00:21:42] Because this is the stuff.

[00:21:43] We don't want to talk about just what's gone on on the field, right?

[00:21:46] Because that's what the big questions are.

[00:21:49] Was Rohit good enough?

[00:21:50] Or was he clueless like MS Dhoni had become clueless by the end of his test career as captain?

[00:21:54] And I say that as a Dhoni fan.

[00:21:56] And he was great to start off with.

[00:21:59] And he knew how to bring the spinners on and do...

[00:22:02] He knew how to do well in Indian conditions.

[00:22:03] And he was great in the ODIs.

[00:22:06] But by the time he retired, we were getting thrashed in England.

[00:22:10] We got thrashed in Australia.

[00:22:11] We lost the test matches in Australia as well by the time he retired.

[00:22:16] Yeah, I mean, listen.

[00:22:19] Even if I put aside the fact that I'm not happy...

[00:22:22] None of us are happy with his batting right now.

[00:22:24] And if I put aside that Travis Head is just a different beast.

[00:22:28] Let's say he clearly didn't have a plan against Travis Head.

[00:22:31] Nobody did.

[00:22:32] It still just felt like...

[00:22:35] It just still felt like Rohit was overall ineffective.

[00:22:38] And I'll give you the example.

[00:22:39] Akash Deep came in.

[00:22:41] And in the first innings, 28 on the first day, new ball swinging, balls...

[00:22:47] You know, you just brought in this new guy.

[00:22:50] And instead of moving...

[00:22:52] And they moved Siraj to basically open the bowling with Bumrah.

[00:22:55] And Akash bowled first change.

[00:22:57] And I don't remember if you were...

[00:22:59] I think Varun and I were side texting because it was too late in your time.

[00:23:02] We're like, what is he doing?

[00:23:03] You've brought in Akash who can swing the ball.

[00:23:07] Give him a shot in the few overs you're going to get on day one.

[00:23:10] And his first two overs were fantastic.

[00:23:12] I was actually up then.

[00:23:13] Because I was...

[00:23:14] There was...

[00:23:15] Life actually, other than the Bumrah, Siraj was ineffective.

[00:23:19] And his two first overs were...

[00:23:21] But it was also weird stuff like having a point out for Steve Smith to start his innings.

[00:23:26] The guy's got like five runs in the last one year.

[00:23:29] Like, what are you doing?

[00:23:30] And he's...

[00:23:31] And the exaggerated...

[00:23:33] Falling for that exaggerated trigger.

[00:23:34] Putting in a leg.

[00:23:35] Yeah.

[00:23:35] Just bowl outside of Stump.

[00:23:37] Just get a bowlers to do that.

[00:23:38] It felt like Rohit followed the game around.

[00:23:42] Yes, he's not captain in Australia before.

[00:23:43] Yes, it's a hard place to captain when the goings against you, right?

[00:23:47] Yeah.

[00:23:47] Yeah.

[00:23:48] But it just felt like it lacked that, like, control.

[00:23:52] And just the clear plan was missing.

[00:23:55] Yeah.

[00:23:56] It was defensive.

[00:23:57] I don't disagree.

[00:23:58] I put aside the fact that, yes, when you're having a bad run, everything becomes magnified

[00:24:03] for fans like us.

[00:24:04] We don't...

[00:24:04] I couldn't captain D.M.D. at all.

[00:24:06] So I'm not claiming any of us could do it better.

[00:24:08] But I...

[00:24:09] But it just felt like there was a lack of...

[00:24:12] A lack of creative thinking.

[00:24:14] A lack of strategy and planning.

[00:24:16] Pat Cummins, to me, felt like he had a playbook.

[00:24:19] And you've seen the Amazon series where you got to go behind the scenes with the Aussies

[00:24:23] and stuff.

[00:24:24] It felt like Pat Cummins had some statisticians and had a playbook for every single Indian

[00:24:28] player.

[00:24:28] And Rohit was kind of flying by the seat of his pants and deciding what to do and reacting

[00:24:33] to your point versus...

[00:24:34] And I know that's not true.

[00:24:35] I'm sure they had a plan.

[00:24:37] I just...

[00:24:38] It just felt like there wasn't one.

[00:24:39] And that's never a good sign with your skipper.

[00:24:40] Yeah.

[00:24:41] And it was...

[00:24:43] It felt defensive.

[00:24:44] It felt...

[00:24:45] It always feels a little bit like India was chasing the game for no reason.

[00:24:49] Yes, they had Bumrah.

[00:24:50] And until Bumrah came on, nothing really happened.

[00:24:53] But I don't know.

[00:24:55] It was...

[00:24:56] I didn't get a great...

[00:24:57] But the question is, how long before people in the team start asking that same question?

[00:25:00] Bumrah's captain won test.

[00:25:02] Magnificent victory in test.

[00:25:04] In Perth.

[00:25:05] In the first test.

[00:25:07] We don't seem to remember the Indian team drifting as much under Kohli.

[00:25:11] But maybe that's just my bias.

[00:25:13] Maybe that's a different style of captaincy.

[00:25:15] I don't know.

[00:25:15] Maybe he had a fully fit Shami.

[00:25:18] A fully fit Omesh and other...

[00:25:19] Aishant and others that he could call on.

[00:25:21] But that was a team that he had built from scratch.

[00:25:24] He said, I want four fast bowlers.

[00:25:25] I can bowl 140 clicks.

[00:25:27] And I want to go to Australia and win.

[00:25:28] Because that's what my goal is.

[00:25:31] And he did it in 2018.

[00:25:33] And I mean, he wasn't there for 2021, right?

[00:25:36] But yeah, I don't know.

[00:25:39] Anyway, we will do a post-mortem in more detail.

[00:25:42] Like some of it just depends on how the series goes, right?

[00:25:45] I sit here now saying, even if we somehow win the series 2-1 or 3-1,

[00:25:49] it has been unsatisfactory so far at least.

[00:25:52] And so there's a lot of questions.

[00:25:54] The last one I want to ask you before we take a quick break and come back and talk about some positives.

[00:25:59] So Rishabh Pant edges a ball to the keeper.

[00:26:03] Rohit Sharma edges a ball.

[00:26:04] He shouldn't have played.

[00:26:05] It goes to the keeper.

[00:26:06] But right before that was, of course, King Coley, who has made a century in this series.

[00:26:11] But it feels like it's been about 10 years now that he's had the technical error where he just reaches for the balls outside of stump.

[00:26:19] This was not 6th, 7th, 8th.

[00:26:21] This was really like an 11th or 12th stump line ball in this case off of Hazelwood,

[00:26:25] who just seems to know exactly how to ball that line that Coley wants to play at and he gets the edge.

[00:26:31] I mean, Hazelwood only bowled 6 overs in this match and he got Coley out edge to the keeper.

[00:26:38] Is Coley going to change anything?

[00:26:39] You know there's that dread when he edges out to the keeper yet again off a ball.

[00:26:43] He should have left.

[00:26:44] What is your take?

[00:26:45] What do we say?

[00:26:46] Is there anything left to say?

[00:26:48] I mean, what the prince does is the king only does better, right?

[00:26:52] Like, I mean, Gil did a horrendous shot.

[00:26:55] Yeah.

[00:26:55] It's not a shot worthy of number 3, right?

[00:26:58] Not a shot worthy of someone who should be controlling the innings.

[00:27:05] And then the Coley shot, man.

[00:27:07] Like, yes, we've heard everybody talk about how he should deny himself.

[00:27:11] Like, what Sachin did at Sydney.

[00:27:13] He scored 241, not out, didn't play a cover drive.

[00:27:16] Is Coley going to do that?

[00:27:18] I don't think so.

[00:27:19] I don't think...

[00:27:20] Yes, he's shown the ability to put away his ego, right?

[00:27:23] He did that at Edgbaston, got the 149 against Jimmy when he averaged 13.5 in England in the previous series.

[00:27:30] And he got 149 in the next series and got 593 runs in that test.

[00:27:35] He's done it all, man.

[00:27:36] He's done it.

[00:27:37] And he has the ability to do it.

[00:27:38] But the question is, is he willing to put away that scoring option on these pitches?

[00:27:45] Which I don't know whether he is.

[00:27:48] Because I believe he thinks he can score runs.

[00:27:50] Because he was 3 off 15 balls when that happened.

[00:27:52] He saw it thrown up wide.

[00:27:54] It's an obvious plan, but he backs himself to hit it.

[00:27:57] So I don't think he's going to stop.

[00:27:59] But it is a disturbing trend that he falls for the trap.

[00:28:05] It's where most of the fielders are in a test match.

[00:28:08] When you've got 444 on the board.

[00:28:11] They're behind you, yeah.

[00:28:12] Even the Edgbaston innings.

[00:28:14] He was dropped, I think, by David Milan in the slips.

[00:28:17] But he didn't play a cover drive until he got to like 25, 30.

[00:28:22] Yeah.

[00:28:23] He did not.

[00:28:24] He played within himself.

[00:28:27] Yeah.

[00:28:28] And that's where we've seen KL Rahul excel, actually.

[00:28:30] Just being tight, playing within yourself.

[00:28:34] Leaving the ball well.

[00:28:35] Not going fishing, looking for it.

[00:28:38] But, and, yeah, I mean, I don't know what to say about the Kohli thing.

[00:28:42] Before we get to Rahul, 74 for 5.

[00:28:45] Rohit's out, Kohli's out, Punt's out.

[00:28:47] Let's take a very quick break.

[00:28:48] We'll come back, talk a little bit more about the positives.

[00:28:51] Which, right?

[00:28:51] Kael Rahul is one of them.

[00:28:52] And then we'll wrap up by talking a little bit about Ashwin.

[00:28:56] Don't go anywhere.

[00:28:57] We'll be right back.

[00:29:06] Welcome back to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast.

[00:29:09] If you are watching this on YouTube, hit the like button.

[00:29:11] Hit that subscribe button.

[00:29:13] All right, DJ, now let's talk about a little bit of the positives.

[00:29:16] Right?

[00:29:16] 74 for 5.

[00:29:17] And you're thinking, okay, 445 to take a lead.

[00:29:21] 245 at this point to avoid a follow-on in a rain-curtailed game.

[00:29:25] Josh Hazelwood is out with a strain.

[00:29:27] Calf strain, I think it was.

[00:29:29] Not going to ball again.

[00:29:30] So you're saying, okay, they're going to rely on Travis Head and Mitchell Marshall a little bit more.

[00:29:34] Or they're going to overwork Mitchell Stark and Pat Covins.

[00:29:37] And then Jareja walks out.

[00:29:40] Jareja puts up with Rahul a phenomenal partnership.

[00:29:43] I mean, Jareja made 77.

[00:29:46] Rahul made 84.

[00:29:47] And before we get to the ninth-wicket partnership, I mean, ultimately Jareja played tremendous cricket.

[00:29:53] I mean, 77 from your number seven.

[00:29:55] We know he's capable of it.

[00:29:56] But in a scenario where Jaswal, Rahul, or excuse me, Jaswal, Gil, Kohli, Pantro, Ahitav all failed.

[00:30:03] And Jareja just looked measured.

[00:30:05] Rahul did too.

[00:30:06] But Rahul has done it once before.

[00:30:07] And he showed his ability to be patient more than anything else.

[00:30:11] And by the way, he scored it like six.

[00:30:13] He was running at 65-70 strike rate at one point.

[00:30:16] So he wasn't not getting runs.

[00:30:18] But anyway, thoughts on that partnership overall?

[00:30:20] And then we'll talk about the 10th-wicket partnership, which was the highlight.

[00:30:24] Yeah, KL definitely the positive.

[00:30:27] Jareja getting together and stemming the rot.

[00:30:30] Again, a positive.

[00:30:31] Let's not forget the Steve Smith catch that was dropped on the first ball of day four.

[00:30:38] Would have changed the game.

[00:30:39] A dolly.

[00:30:40] Like Steve Smith took a blinder.

[00:30:42] I mean, really.

[00:30:43] It was eventually to get Rahul out.

[00:30:45] But it was just one of those first ball of the day.

[00:30:48] You're not totally warm yet.

[00:30:49] You're not totally ready.

[00:30:50] He wasn't expecting it.

[00:30:51] It was like catching practice was carrying on.

[00:30:54] Rahul makes it.

[00:30:55] Steve Smith drops it.

[00:30:56] But look, he goes on to add another 50 runs to his score.

[00:30:59] And takes time out of the game.

[00:31:02] And it was batting time.

[00:31:03] We talked about this on our last episode as well.

[00:31:07] For India batted time.

[00:31:09] And the ball got older.

[00:31:11] It got easier to bat.

[00:31:13] Yeah.

[00:31:14] The bowlers got tired.

[00:31:16] You put overs in their legs.

[00:31:17] Hazelwood went off with that string.

[00:31:19] Yeah.

[00:31:20] Line fairly ineffective.

[00:31:22] Yeah.

[00:31:24] It gives you a glimpse on what can happen if you have, I don't know, you get to 30 overs,

[00:31:31] 70 for two.

[00:31:33] Right?

[00:31:34] Go two and a half, two and a quarter runs and over.

[00:31:37] Yeah.

[00:31:37] You can see the acceleration come.

[00:31:40] I think it took 40 plus overs for Australia to get to 100 runs.

[00:31:45] Yeah.

[00:31:46] There's no need to rush there.

[00:31:47] By the end of it, they were going at four runs and over by the time Travis had gone.

[00:31:51] Travis had gone.

[00:31:51] Yeah.

[00:31:52] Yeah.

[00:31:52] But that's a Rishabh Pant can do that.

[00:31:56] Jadeja can do that.

[00:31:56] All of that.

[00:31:57] So the positives were Rahul showed us the way forward at the top of the order, how you can succeed.

[00:32:06] And then there was the absolutely ridiculous last wicket start, which I mean, I don't even know where to start with that.

[00:32:14] Yeah.

[00:32:14] 213 for nine.

[00:32:15] They needed, so 42 runs still to avoid the follow-on.

[00:32:19] Bumbaa and Akash Deep, full credit for what they did, but two number 11s really on paper.

[00:32:26] And I mean, if you're listening to this, you know what happened, but heroics at night, right?

[00:32:31] They survived.

[00:32:32] They, like, they were not, there was not really an obvious reprieve, but like Akash was swiping it and it was going three feet over the slip fielder or the gully's head.

[00:32:43] And like closer than you want to be.

[00:32:45] And eventually it's a boundary to get to the, uh, to get past the follow-on, which Coley's then celebrating.

[00:32:56] Ben Stokes is coming out of his mouth as he's watching.

[00:32:58] Then it's a phenomenal six, which of course Pat Cummins repaid the favor, but it's a huge six off of the next ball.

[00:33:06] And eventually it gets India to 15 runs past the lead going into day five or at the morning of day five, which you're thinking at this point with rain in the forecast as it ends up playing our draws most likely.

[00:33:20] Um, I mean, the memes and stuff have come out that have basically said, nobody's going to build.

[00:33:25] So boom rest up.

[00:33:26] Nobody's going to bat.

[00:33:27] So boom rest up.

[00:33:28] I mean, I mean, I got a number of levels to do this, but also how great was it?

[00:33:31] It was a great moment.

[00:33:32] It was ridiculous.

[00:33:33] It was reminded me of that Lord's partnership, Shami and boom.

[00:33:36] But yeah, this one was like 40 odd runs to, to save the follow on.

[00:33:41] And that's a lot.

[00:33:43] It's a lot.

[00:33:44] When your top order is 74 for five, right?

[00:33:47] To make your number.

[00:33:48] Yeah.

[00:33:48] And this is a new ball wicket.

[00:33:49] Remember India had Australia at 24, five or whatever in their second inning.

[00:33:54] So this could have unraveled pretty quickly for the Indian team if India was made to follow on.

[00:34:00] And I think KL Raul was saying, I was getting ready to put my pads on and all of that.

[00:34:04] But to watch the Indian dressing room celebrate after that, even Gautam Gambhir was like high-fiving Kohli and stuff.

[00:34:13] I don't know.

[00:34:14] It gave me satisfaction, but it also disturbed me a little bit.

[00:34:17] Because the other memories I have of a dressing room celebrating are from the 2005 Ashes in the fourth test match.

[00:34:24] When Australia actually celebrated when they saved the test match.

[00:34:27] Ricky Ponting, I think, was batting.

[00:34:28] Yeah.

[00:34:29] With number 11, Brett Lee probably.

[00:34:31] And they celebrated and they lost that series 2-1 eventually.

[00:34:35] So it's quite funny when Aussie fans are like, why are you celebrating a draw?

[00:34:38] I mean, you guys have done it before.

[00:34:39] Listen, we've all done it in that moment.

[00:34:41] It's fine.

[00:34:42] It's fine because you are, it's all about small goals, small steps.

[00:34:47] And at that point, the goal was not to win the game or to get a lead.

[00:34:50] It was to avoid a follow-on.

[00:34:51] And we did it and they celebrated.

[00:34:52] It's just a bad look.

[00:34:53] Equally, what I don't like is the celebration because when Dhoni, again, I'm going back to Dhoni.

[00:34:59] In 2008, in the VB series, Dhoni, there was a best of three final.

[00:35:03] They won the first final.

[00:35:05] And Dhoni actually told people like Gambhir that we're not going to celebrate.

[00:35:09] Yeah.

[00:35:10] We're just going to shake their hands and we're going to walk away from here because we're the bosses of this place.

[00:35:16] Yeah.

[00:35:17] We're not celebrating.

[00:35:18] Yeah.

[00:35:18] We're seeing a follow-on.

[00:35:19] We should be doing it.

[00:35:20] So I was conflicted in my feeling there because, yeah, I don't know.

[00:35:27] Yeah.

[00:35:27] I was happy, obviously, that we didn't have to follow on because that could have meant that we lost the test match.

[00:35:33] And that would have made the boxing day in Sydney very difficult.

[00:35:35] Yeah.

[00:35:36] I mean, listen, at that point, you think you're not going to lose.

[00:35:38] It's still possible.

[00:35:39] And then somehow for that one session on the day five morning, new ball, cloudy conditions, it felt like for a hot second, all three results were still possible.

[00:35:49] It felt like, I mean, when they were 16 for three, 33 for five, before Pat Cummins and Alex Carey started swinging at it, it felt like if they'd leave us 230 and it doesn't rain, you never know.

[00:36:01] With Jaswal and Pat, if they go after it, you never, I think it is, I don't know what WinViz or whatever it's called, would have predicted, but I would have probably said like 15% chance.

[00:36:11] Maybe India could have gone for it.

[00:36:13] They ended up getting 89.

[00:36:14] I mean, not like they've not done anything special at the Gabba before, right?

[00:36:17] That's what I mean, right?

[00:36:19] But somehow at the same time, you had no faith in this top order.

[00:36:24] You saw, you know, what they've been doing.

[00:36:26] Ended up in a draw.

[00:36:27] Jaswal and Rahal came out, rain, played spoilsport.

[00:36:30] But just, I think I come back to wrap up with saying unsatisfactory a little bit.

[00:36:35] Travis Head was absolutely brilliant.

[00:36:37] I don't know if it's a good thing for us, by the way, that with Hazelwood now out, Scott Boland comes back in because he was also horrendous for the Indian batters.

[00:36:45] He also has a great record at the MCG.

[00:36:47] I think he's taken six or seven there.

[00:36:49] Yeah.

[00:36:49] And the line goes, build the man a statue.

[00:36:51] Yeah.

[00:36:52] And that was on his debut, wasn't it?

[00:36:53] Yep.

[00:36:54] Against England.

[00:36:54] Unbelievable.

[00:36:57] So anyway, a net good outcome.

[00:36:59] I come back to, I would have taken 1-1 going to Melbourne.

[00:37:03] I just still feel like it was unsatisfactory.

[00:37:07] It's not good to be 1-1 of celebrating, avoiding a follow-on.

[00:37:10] But it's such a weird series.

[00:37:12] It's like 295 run win, 110 wicket loss.

[00:37:16] And then a draw where it's kind of, India would call this probably a losing draw because they were behind the game.

[00:37:21] But then 275 to get in 50 overs, 10 wickets.

[00:37:25] Yeah.

[00:37:26] It's possible.

[00:37:28] It has been a weird series.

[00:37:30] Yeah.

[00:37:30] Because to your point, I'm frustrated at how India has played.

[00:37:34] But it does feel like Australia hasn't had a great series either beyond, say, Travis Head and a couple of good spells for the bowlers.

[00:37:42] Indian bowlers need to fix their lengths though.

[00:37:44] I mean, that first day was not good.

[00:37:47] You need to bowl fuller.

[00:37:48] You need to be okay to be driven.

[00:37:50] I'm not disputing that.

[00:37:51] I think, yes, I think the captain should be pushing them to do that more.

[00:37:54] But I still come back to we're not doing, we're not in this position in the series because of our bowlers.

[00:37:58] We're here because of our batters.

[00:38:00] And we're only here because of our bowlers because they bowled.

[00:38:03] That's what I'm saying.

[00:38:04] We're not in a negative spot because of our bowlers.

[00:38:06] Yeah.

[00:38:07] So, all right.

[00:38:09] DJ, then of course, as we wrap this segment, this show, let's spend a few minutes.

[00:38:14] The big news came.

[00:38:16] What was your, did you expect it?

[00:38:17] Let me start by saying.

[00:38:18] So Ravi Ashwin announced his retirement.

[00:38:20] Press conference happened with Rohit Sharma.

[00:38:22] In full fairness, it happened early morning and I've had a full work day and now we're recording.

[00:38:25] So I haven't seen all the clips.

[00:38:26] I've been reading, but I haven't seen all the clips.

[00:38:28] Sounds like he came out.

[00:38:29] And the headline is, it seems like the decision was made at the first test, basically, when he didn't get selected, when Sundar got selected.

[00:38:37] And then Rohit and the management convinced him to stay on for one more test.

[00:38:41] He stayed on for the pink ball in Adelaide, played that, got dropped here and said, this is it.

[00:38:46] Was it a surprise to you?

[00:38:49] Did you see it coming?

[00:38:50] I know Ash has been frustrated at his lack of selection in the 11 overseas.

[00:38:55] And I know it seemed like he took 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home very, very hard.

[00:39:01] And do you think that was actually more of the trigger than anything?

[00:39:04] I think there's a few things here.

[00:39:05] One, he's got a young family, which is, I don't think they were with him at the Gabba.

[00:39:10] They were there last time at COVID.

[00:39:12] And of course, his wife was famously tweeting, see the Gabba mate to Tim Payne.

[00:39:18] So, it's difficult being away from home.

[00:39:20] It's difficult for a competitor like him to carry drinks, right, for extended periods of time.

[00:39:26] There's no upcoming home series.

[00:39:29] The World Test Championship finalists likely, if India make it to be the last test match in this cycle for this bunch of players.

[00:39:36] And even if they did make it there somehow, screaming and kicking, there's no guarantee he'll play it loads, right?

[00:39:44] So, it's a slightly odd decision in that you've got Melbourne and Sydney, both of which might actually, at least Sydney might actually need two spinners.

[00:39:55] But maybe he's just saying, listen, I'm just going to take myself out of this equation because he played Sundar in the first test match.

[00:40:01] And then Jadeja made 77.

[00:40:03] I'm guessing I'm not going to play any further.

[00:40:06] So, look, it's been, I think it's, he's not a guy that would take something like this so lightly or in a fit of anger or any of that.

[00:40:15] I think he thought about it.

[00:40:18] He's rationalized it in his mind.

[00:40:19] And he said, listen, I'm going to go and spend Christmas and New Year with my family.

[00:40:23] I'll enjoy the test match from a distance, get myself fit for the IPL.

[00:40:29] And it's fine.

[00:40:30] I mean, yeah, you'd almost, again, we're sitting here saying why, right?

[00:40:37] If it was at the end of the World Test Championship final cycle, we would have probably been saying why not.

[00:40:42] So, it's better for him to have done it now.

[00:40:45] And he's a smart guy.

[00:40:46] He would have taken all of this into account.

[00:40:48] And he's not, I mean, if you think about the series we have coming up and stuff, England next year, he's not, he's not a shoe in anymore for overseas tests in the 11.

[00:40:58] Maybe you could argue he should be.

[00:40:59] And so, then you start thinking, okay, could we have done a send-off game for him at Cheapok or something?

[00:41:07] And it just doesn't seem like his style.

[00:41:08] No, that doesn't seem.

[00:41:09] It's not his thing.

[00:41:11] No, it's just not.

[00:41:12] So, it was time.

[00:41:13] So, he called it.

[00:41:13] But he's such a thinker of the game, man.

[00:41:15] Like, it's such a loss because that insight that you would get from someone like an Ashwin.

[00:41:22] Yeah.

[00:41:22] At the end of day's play is just, that's a loss for being cricket fans.

[00:41:27] And world cricket fans.

[00:41:28] Yeah.

[00:41:28] And hopefully he stays close to the setup, to the team, to the management and gets and stays involved.

[00:41:33] He loves cricket.

[00:41:34] He thinks cricket all the time.

[00:41:35] I know he's still going to play a lot.

[00:41:37] So, don't get me wrong.

[00:41:37] He's playing IPL.

[00:41:38] He'll probably play TNPL.

[00:41:39] He'll get more involved in Ranji.

[00:41:41] But when the time comes that he stops playing, hopefully he'll stay involved with the Indian cricket team.

[00:41:44] He's going to definitely be a head coach of this Indian cricket team at some point.

[00:41:48] I mean, Kumbley was the other one, right?

[00:41:49] Like, Kumbley was his sole predecessor.

[00:41:53] Yeah.

[00:41:53] So, yeah.

[00:41:55] Thinkers of the gentlemen.

[00:41:57] And then before we get to kind of spending a little time revering him, I'll share some of his stats.

[00:42:05] And then I want to hear your memory, your favorite memory.

[00:42:07] It seemed like there was a little bit of confusion going on around the ground when this happened.

[00:42:12] I don't know whether the media and fans want to read more into this.

[00:42:16] But everything you sort of said, which is he's not playing well enough overseas.

[00:42:22] He's getting to that point.

[00:42:23] You could argue some of those apply to a couple of other players in the team who haven't been dropped.

[00:42:29] But they're probably not far from being dropped at the current performance rate.

[00:42:33] So, is this a sign of things to come?

[00:42:36] I mean, often in a sport when one, I mean, I think we lost Ricky and McGraw and Warren and all these guys within a relatively short span of time versus one another.

[00:42:49] Is this what the future holds for Kohli and Rohit and maybe even Jadeja?

[00:42:59] It's coming.

[00:43:01] Yeah.

[00:43:03] It's all coming.

[00:43:03] I mean, all good things must come to an end.

[00:43:07] And that was the, it was a era of greatness, right?

[00:43:11] Where, and I think after the New Zealand series, probably there was, someone wrote about this.

[00:43:17] We've seen the golden era of domination at home with Ashwin Jadeja, Kohli, Rohit, Pujara, Rahani, etc.

[00:43:26] That era will come to an end.

[00:43:28] And Ashwin was a linchpin of that era.

[00:43:30] Yeah.

[00:43:31] I mean, we'll come to the memories, but there's so many of them, whether it's white ball or red ball.

[00:43:37] And it's, it's hard.

[00:43:39] It'll take a bit of time to process to think that like, if you're playing a test match at home, if you just threw the ball to him, it'd guarantee you a fiver pretty much.

[00:43:46] Yeah.

[00:43:47] And on that note, I'll share some of his stats, right?

[00:43:50] Because he has the second most fifers in his test career.

[00:43:55] Ever.

[00:43:56] And for what it's worth, he played 106 matches to get 37 fifers.

[00:44:02] Murali Theron would have the number, highest number.

[00:44:04] But he had 67, like nobody was even close.

[00:44:07] Yeah.

[00:44:07] He had the same number of fifers as Shane Warne with almost 13,000 fewer balls, 2,200 less overs he bowled than Shane Warne.

[00:44:17] And he, you know, he paid 39 less matches.

[00:44:20] And so then you run down some of his other records, right?

[00:44:25] One of very few guys to get 105 wickets in the same inning.

[00:44:28] Twice.

[00:44:29] Yeah.

[00:44:30] Multiple times.

[00:44:33] He is, was the fastest to 300 and 350 test wickets.

[00:44:37] The event ended at 533.

[00:44:39] But again, as I look at the amount he played because he didn't always play overseas, he was, excuse me, 537.

[00:44:47] He was seventh on that list.

[00:44:49] And he only played 106 matches.

[00:44:52] Everybody above him played 124, 132, 167, 188.

[00:44:56] I mean, he played a lot fewer matches.

[00:44:57] The only one who comes close in terms of strike rate, if you will, and is better, is Dale Steyn, who had a shorter career just given that he was quick.

[00:45:06] But Dale Steyn had 439, right?

[00:45:09] In 93 matches.

[00:45:10] But, I mean, you're comparing to Mourley, to Warren, to Jimmy Anderson, Anil Kumblis, Stuart Prod, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Lyons getting pretty close.

[00:45:19] I mean, it's just phenomenal numbers.

[00:45:21] And then the last number I'll just share is 11, 11 player of the series awards and tests.

[00:45:28] I mean, tied again with Mourley Theron, who played a lot more series than that.

[00:45:32] But 11.

[00:45:33] 11.

[00:45:34] I mean, just phenomenal.

[00:45:35] DJ, we could probably have done a full episode about him.

[00:45:38] We wanted to talk it now while it was hot off the presses.

[00:45:40] We'll probably find time to pay more tribute to him later and hear of Arun's as well.

[00:45:44] But let's wrap our show today by hearing your favorite, at least one of your favorite Ash memories.

[00:45:50] Because I know I have a lot, but I have one that comes to mind as I was thinking about important moments.

[00:45:54] I have a lot.

[00:45:55] And while you were reeling off all his bowling stats, I was like, that's not bad for a guy who started life as an opening batter.

[00:46:02] Yeah.

[00:46:02] I mean, six test hundreds, of course.

[00:46:05] But he played junior cricket as a batter, not as a bowler.

[00:46:09] And he wanted to be a fast forwarder.

[00:46:10] And I didn't even mention the 600s.

[00:46:12] Yeah.

[00:46:13] So, look.

[00:46:14] And he didn't debut until 25-ish, right?

[00:46:17] Like, he didn't start his career in 21.

[00:46:19] Yeah, he started in 2011.

[00:46:19] And he started, my first memory of Ashwin is actually in wearing Chennai yellow.

[00:46:27] IPL is my first memory of Ashwin, which is ironic.

[00:46:30] Because now when you think of Ashwin, you think of him in like tests.

[00:46:35] And you forget that he had an incredible ODI career.

[00:46:39] He played the 2011 World Cup.

[00:46:41] In fact, the Australia game, he took the first wicket in that game.

[00:46:45] I think he got Shane Watson bowled.

[00:46:47] And he didn't play the final, which I think he should have played.

[00:46:49] But that was probably the start of Shadash Pran play.

[00:46:55] But Shri-san played instead of him.

[00:46:57] So, he's a World Cup winner.

[00:47:00] He's a T20 World Cup.

[00:47:02] He hit that.

[00:47:03] My favorite T20 memory of him is probably him hitting that four against Nawaz, against Pakistan.

[00:47:12] On the last ball, where he left the ball and then hit the four.

[00:47:16] Yeah, so that was my memory.

[00:47:18] My memory is not so much.

[00:47:19] It was not the four.

[00:47:21] The memory was not the four.

[00:47:23] The memory was Nawaz's bowling.

[00:47:25] Everybody only talks about 82 or 53 from Berat and that phenomenal, phenomenal innings.

[00:47:30] But there was two runs needed off the last ball.

[00:47:33] And it came in just outside the leg step.

[00:47:37] And he left it.

[00:47:37] He like shouldered the arms and left the ball.

[00:47:40] And you're thinking, man, anybody would just be thinking, get bad on ball and get to the other side.

[00:47:46] At least draw the game.

[00:47:47] That clarity of thought was something else.

[00:47:49] The clarity of thought, presence of mind to just leave it and let it go.

[00:47:52] And so, for me, I'm going to answer because amongst...

[00:47:55] I was going to say the Monk Cuts because I love what he did for ballers, non-strikers and run out, whatever we're going to call them.

[00:48:01] I was going to say when he started bowling, leg spin that one day, randomly changed his action.

[00:48:06] Again, yeah.

[00:48:07] Incredible.

[00:48:08] And all of the brilliant things he did in his thinking.

[00:48:10] But mine was really the way he left the ball.

[00:48:12] Two needed it off of one.

[00:48:14] Got the wind.

[00:48:15] And one man hit the wind.

[00:48:16] That was why Ashwin was such an elite cricketer because he was basically a street cricketer playing international level cricket.

[00:48:23] He was like, if this is not working, I have the gumption and the guts to try something new at the international level.

[00:48:29] Yeah.

[00:48:30] Did it repeatedly.

[00:48:30] He had the skill.

[00:48:32] He had the courage to do that.

[00:48:34] And, I mean, in white ball cricket, I can't forget the ball he bowled to Hashim Amla.

[00:48:41] Like, the ball that pitched outside leg stump and took his off stump.

[00:48:46] It was a carom ball.

[00:48:47] It was an unbelievable piece of skill.

[00:48:50] And to bowl something like that with a clean action like his...

[00:48:54] I mean, he did all sorts of stuff.

[00:48:55] He wore long sleeves once because he saw all these guys trying to get the elbow extension.

[00:48:59] But this is what you will probably never see a guy who combines brain and skill as much in...

[00:49:10] Maybe Warren had it.

[00:49:12] Yeah.

[00:49:13] But Ashwin was just...

[00:49:14] I'm not even actually sure Warren did, to be honest.

[00:49:17] Like, he did to an extent.

[00:49:18] But I don't know.

[00:49:19] Ashwin is just a thinker at a different level.

[00:49:22] Yeah.

[00:49:22] It was just absolutely incredible.

[00:49:24] And, I mean, who can ever forget Sydney, right?

[00:49:28] Like, them Hanuma, Vihari and...

[00:49:31] Yeah, the body...

[00:49:32] That partnership, the body blows he took.

[00:49:34] Yeah.

[00:49:35] I said I was going to ask for one each.

[00:49:37] With the chest man being shared and walked across from one end to the other.

[00:49:41] Oh, so many phenomenal memories.

[00:49:43] Unbelievable.

[00:49:44] So many phenomenal.

[00:49:45] Unbelievable guy.

[00:49:46] On behalf of the Edison's Ledger's Cricket Podcast, just a huge salute to Ashwin for the incredible 14 years he served Indian cricket.

[00:49:55] Sad to see him go.

[00:49:56] Sad to see him go mid-series.

[00:49:58] We will see him and his 9.75-crow contract back in the IPL.

[00:50:03] But, yeah, tough loss.

[00:50:05] Big loss.

[00:50:05] I think probably wasn't going to play a huge part in the remainder of the series anyway.

[00:50:08] So it's for the best.

[00:50:09] But, tough to see him go.

[00:50:12] All right, DJ, I think I've kept you awake much longer than I had intended.

[00:50:16] So I'm going to let you go get some sleep.

[00:50:18] To all our listeners, thank you for tuning in.

[00:50:20] Thanks for reliving the tough but not a bad outcome GABA test.

[00:50:24] And onwards from here, it starts the 26th, the Boxing Day test, which is the 25th nighttime for listeners in North America like me.

[00:50:34] We'll be back after that test match with another episode to see hopefully India up to one.

[00:50:39] But you never know how it's going to go with this side.

[00:50:42] DJ, thank you for joining me.

[00:50:44] We will talk to you in a couple of weeks.

[00:50:47] We'll see everybody next time.