On this week’s episode we discuss the second #IndvNZ test at Pune, where New Zealand led by Mitchell Santner’s 13 wickets snapped India’s 12 year test series winning streak at home (India won an unprecedented 18 test series at home since 2012). We discuss the Washington Sundar selection, the Indian batting collapse, Rishabh Pant’s run out and India’s top order issues. We also discuss Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, Virat Kohli’s future and look ahead to the third test and beyond.
[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Edges & Sledges Cricket Podcast. I'm your host Ashwin. I'm joined by DJ as it is the middle of the night in Singapore when we record this. DJ, as you drink your what looked like tea through a fancy looking London, London, was that a London bus coffee mug that I just saw coming to the picture? Great start. Ah, anyway, not great, not great content for our audio listeners, but if you're on YouTube you would have seen that too.
[00:00:33] Ben, what is this life of an Indian cricket fan? What have we lived through? In the last three months you and I have gotten to record the highest of highs, the highest of highs of winning a T20 World Cup.
[00:00:47] And I was, I think we delayed this episode recording by day and then your time zone changed and we pushed it back an hour according to me because I was like I'm not ready mentally, emotionally to talk about losing India's first test series.
[00:01:03] And I was, I think it was 18 consecutive series, 12 years. And you and Varun talked through the 46 All Out episode and I got to listen to that. So maybe you're more mentally prepared than I am because you got to talk through that. I'm now reliving both at the same time. Two tests back to back have been lost by this Indian team against New Zealand. Let me just start with how are you feeling, man? It's a lot. I just feel like it's just so much to process.
[00:01:30] How am I feeling? I was 27 the last time India lost the home test series. I feel a little bit older, a little bit more tired.
[00:01:40] That's a good start. A little bit more white in that beard.
[00:01:43] I didn't have a beard. I was a clean shaven young man of 27 then. The London bus mug is actually an interesting one. Kashan Masood, England lost the test series to Pakistan. Pakistan won two test matches in a row to win it.
[00:02:00] And what he said after that was London buses, they come together. And so I thought I'd pay that a bit of a homage. And India also lost two test matches together.
[00:02:10] So as they say, London buses, they come together, two test matches won by Pakistan together and two test matches lost by India together.
[00:02:17] It's threatened to happen for some time, right? But somehow India has managed to overcome that first test loss.
[00:02:25] I can think of at least three test series in the last, whatever, 12 years where we've lost the first test.
[00:02:31] I can think of the test match against Australia in Pune. Steve O'Keefe, I think, took 12 wickets.
[00:02:38] India went 1-0 down in that series, came back to win magnificently in Bangalore and won that test match series eventually 2-1.
[00:02:47] That was probably 2017. Then we went down against England in the first test in Chennai.
[00:02:52] That was 21 maybe? And came back to win that 3-1 with the Akshar Patel special.
[00:02:58] Then we went down again to England in the first test in, when was this? Early 2024, right?
[00:03:04] That's not that long ago even. And came back magnificently, Jurel, Yashaswi, Jaiswal, Badaf Kuldeep, 4-1 thumping win.
[00:03:14] So it has threatened to happen for a little bit of time now.
[00:03:19] And it feels quite surreal to be sitting here and talking about losing to New Zealand for the first time ever in test history in India.
[00:03:31] Yes, they won a test match for the first time in 34 years, the last time around.
[00:03:35] But 36 years actually, maybe it was 36, not 34. It was 1988.
[00:03:40] 89, right? So 35, 36 depending on.
[00:03:43] 36 years, yeah.
[00:03:46] And they just turned up here without Kane Williamson. Let's remember that.
[00:03:52] We don't know who their full-time test captain was going to be.
[00:03:55] Tom Latham was declared to be the captain.
[00:03:59] And absolutely dominated an Indian team that had decimated Bangladesh a few weeks before.
[00:04:08] Bangladesh, remember, had beaten Pakistan.
[00:04:10] Pakistan had beaten England.
[00:04:12] So it's been a weird week as well because out of the big three, two of the big three have lost their test series.
[00:04:21] And it feels quite weird to be in talking like, I mean, and we're talking about Sri Lanka making the World Test Championship final, which we will come to all of this.
[00:04:31] But it feels really weird to be having this conversation.
[00:04:36] And remember, Ashwin, it's a conversation we've never had on this podcast.
[00:04:39] We've never talked about India losing a home series, a home test match series on this podcast before.
[00:04:45] So this is a first for us as well.
[00:04:47] So I guess we'll find out a bit more.
[00:04:49] Yeah.
[00:04:49] The last time that happened was before the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast had ever been conceptualized even, which is just a wild thought.
[00:04:56] Let me ask you, you articulated quite a bit that India loses the first match of a series, specifically the first match of a series.
[00:05:03] And that's happened both at home and away.
[00:05:06] Do you think the fact that it's happened as much as it did, even with 46 All Out, give us this little bit of inflated self of confidence, hubris, whatever we want to call it, that, yeah, of course we lose.
[00:05:17] We do that.
[00:05:18] We lose first tests.
[00:05:19] We do it often, actually, as Varun articulated last week's show, to lower order batters, the Sam Curran's Tim Now Tim Saudis of the world.
[00:05:27] And we come back.
[00:05:28] That's what we do.
[00:05:29] It's not necessarily the perfect playbook, but it has been our playbook.
[00:05:34] And do you think that gave us a little bit of a false sense of confidence?
[00:05:37] And of course I'm talking about us as fans, but specifically us as a team.
[00:05:41] Did we go in thinking, yeah, it's fine.
[00:05:43] We very publicly declared we're making a wicked that'll spin more because we blamed the cloudy seeming conditions in Bengaluru for the first test.
[00:05:53] Do you just think that that set us up in the wrong way?
[00:05:55] And maybe from here on we approach it a little differently if we go down early in a series?
[00:06:01] Oof.
[00:06:02] So it's difficult to panic after you lose one test match in a series, and you shouldn't as well.
[00:06:08] And India has been very good at doing that because they've worked out pretty quickly that, yes, you'll lose test matches.
[00:06:13] But a three-test match series, a lot of the ones that I mentioned, even the Australia one was a four-test series.
[00:06:19] 2017 was four tests.
[00:06:21] The England test series was four tests.
[00:06:24] The previous test series against England was five test matches.
[00:06:28] So there's more chance for you to make a comeback.
[00:06:30] I think, again, New Zealand played out of their skins, right?
[00:06:37] Because you have to play out of your skin to beat a team like India at home.
[00:06:40] I don't think there was hubris as such.
[00:06:42] I think this is still a good side.
[00:06:44] It's just that they, let's put it this way, they'd made a very bad decision in Bangalore.
[00:06:49] Two bat first.
[00:06:50] 46 all out was partially down to the toss.
[00:06:54] So remember when we talked about 36 for nine, it was all about how the batsmen got out.
[00:07:00] With this, it was just going to happen.
[00:07:03] It was almost nothing that the batters could do.
[00:07:05] It was unplayable stuff.
[00:07:08] And then they tried to do a comeback.
[00:07:11] They had their moment in the second innings, which they kind of fumbled.
[00:07:15] To get 220 in that second as a target in the first test would have been incredible as a comeback.
[00:07:21] But again, it's too much left to do in the second inning.
[00:07:24] And then in this test, remember, they lost the toss.
[00:07:28] That's possibly the more important, more.
[00:07:32] It would have been the toss to win.
[00:07:34] And bat first.
[00:07:35] They did really well.
[00:07:37] Their selection was bang on.
[00:07:39] They took a punt with Washington Sundar.
[00:07:41] And I should, Varun and I, we spoke about it.
[00:07:44] I heard it.
[00:07:45] I heard you guys talk about it.
[00:07:46] Also, there was a lot of social media hate when the decision happened too.
[00:07:51] And then very quickly, he had seven wickets.
[00:07:53] And I said, like, there's the logic to it.
[00:07:55] They've got left-handers.
[00:07:56] He's just got 152 in the Ranji.
[00:07:59] We're going to the Gava soon.
[00:08:00] So, it's time for Washi's dog to come out again.
[00:08:04] But, yeah, maybe there was a lot of focus on what was coming next.
[00:08:11] And maybe not enough of what was happening now.
[00:08:15] If that makes sense.
[00:08:16] There's a World Test Championship final.
[00:08:18] We need five wins to get there.
[00:08:20] What's going to happen in the Border Gava's trophy?
[00:08:23] We're going to prepare seeming wickets.
[00:08:24] Is Shami fate?
[00:08:26] Is Siraj the right third bowler?
[00:08:28] Those are the conversations we're having.
[00:08:29] There was no panic about, like, oh, New Zealand will come back.
[00:08:32] We'll beat New Zealand 2-1.
[00:08:34] It's fine.
[00:08:35] There's no problem.
[00:08:37] Maybe there was hubris to that extent.
[00:08:40] But, yeah, I think that's what I mean.
[00:08:42] As you're drawing up the scenarios, all the scenarios are,
[00:08:45] including as we talk about it as fans,
[00:08:47] what is going to happen in the lead-up to Australia?
[00:08:49] What are we going to do?
[00:08:50] How is our selection going to...
[00:08:52] How is the players we play where it's like,
[00:08:54] should we play Akash Deep?
[00:08:55] Should we play Yash Dayal?
[00:08:57] Should we play these guys in this series to prep them for Australia?
[00:08:59] Not for a second thinking enough about our guaranteed ability to win at home.
[00:09:05] And Siddharth Manga had a nice article on Crick Info where he said,
[00:09:08] listen, instead of ruining that this record is gone,
[00:09:12] let's celebrate how it happened.
[00:09:13] I mean, it is a mind-boggling kind of statistic to win at home.
[00:09:17] Now, you know, even the Englands and Australians of the world.
[00:09:20] Australia, I think, has a longer unbeaten streak in terms of years,
[00:09:23] but not in terms of number of series and things like that.
[00:09:26] And so, anyway, DJ, let's get into the match.
[00:09:29] Let's talk a little bit about the match.
[00:09:31] And then we'll talk about...
[00:09:32] I want to ask you about Rohit, Gambhir,
[00:09:34] all of the big questions surrounding it.
[00:09:36] And maybe the answer to it is, hey, stick the course.
[00:09:39] But, I mean, you have to recognize that Gambhir has not started well as a coach, right?
[00:09:44] What was it?
[00:09:45] Yeah, we lost to Sri Lanka after, what, 37 years or something in an ODIC?
[00:09:50] I mean, all kinds of records.
[00:09:51] And to an extent, some of these records are so insane
[00:09:54] that it's probably a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the captain,
[00:09:57] the coach, et cetera, to have them.
[00:09:59] So, it's better to just let it go and then start from scratch.
[00:10:02] But, because it's a meaningless record in the sense, right?
[00:10:06] On Sri Lanka at home.
[00:10:07] In 27 years, I think.
[00:10:08] They lost in 97, I know.
[00:10:10] So, let me ask you before we get into the match itself.
[00:10:12] Now, three players have been part of this 11
[00:10:15] the last time India lost a series at home.
[00:10:19] Can you name all three?
[00:10:21] Okay, it's going to be Kohli,
[00:10:22] because he scored 100 in the last Nagpur test.
[00:10:25] It's going to be Ashwin, because he definitely played.
[00:10:29] And then the third has to be Jadeja, right?
[00:10:31] Like, who else is it going to be?
[00:10:33] Yeah, I thought that was a slightly trickier question than it was,
[00:10:35] but you nailed it.
[00:10:37] Easy.
[00:10:38] All right, DJ.
[00:10:39] Okay.
[00:10:40] New Zealand comes out to bat, makes 259.
[00:10:45] Talk to me about kind of that first innings,
[00:10:47] especially from the lens of somebody who backed
[00:10:50] and fully logically supported Washington's in their selection.
[00:10:55] The ball was turning, and the ball was keeping very low
[00:10:58] as early as kind of lunchtime day one.
[00:11:01] But, you know, in the context of the match, looking back,
[00:11:04] I'm not going to live through all of it,
[00:11:05] but in the context of the match, looking back, 259,
[00:11:08] including Devin Conway, looked really good.
[00:11:10] Ratchin, of course, continues to be the guy who tortures us.
[00:11:12] And all 10 wickets fell to spin.
[00:11:15] In the context of the match,
[00:11:18] that was a lot more runs than it felt like at the moment, right?
[00:11:21] You'd think at the end of day one, I think it was 259,
[00:11:23] and I think, if I'm not mistaken, India was 9 for 1,
[00:11:26] or 13 for 1, something like that.
[00:11:27] Rohit had got now.
[00:11:28] Yeah, Rohit got bowled to Saudi.
[00:11:29] What a ball.
[00:11:30] Great ball.
[00:11:31] Very good.
[00:11:31] It kept a bit low.
[00:11:33] But in the context of the match, 259 for 1,
[00:11:37] and 259 all out, 9 for 1,
[00:11:39] you think India probably won the day with, you know,
[00:11:44] without having the benefit of hindsight.
[00:11:46] And looking back now, New Zealand won the day.
[00:11:47] 259 was a good score on this pitch, right?
[00:11:52] Yeah, I wasn't too unhappy with the Indian bowling, to be honest.
[00:11:55] Even Devin Conway, who went off to an absolute flyer
[00:11:58] in that first test match, he struggled.
[00:12:00] Like, he had to work hard for his runs.
[00:12:03] Ashwin took the first three, and then Washington took the next seven,
[00:12:06] which was an incredible feat.
[00:12:08] I mean, and Washi was bowling, like, blinders.
[00:12:12] They were, all of them were magic balls turning through the gate.
[00:12:15] Five bolts.
[00:12:17] Unbelievable.
[00:12:18] Like, fantastic.
[00:12:18] Yeah, Bharat and I were texting about that.
[00:12:20] Five guys were bowled.
[00:12:21] I mean, just what a spell.
[00:12:22] And there was a bit of drift, and there was turn, and there was rip.
[00:12:26] It was unbelievable.
[00:12:27] And it was a really good spell.
[00:12:29] So, I was pretty pleased as an Indian fan with 259 in the first innings
[00:12:34] of a test match.
[00:12:36] I think even on a turning track, you need kind of 350 in the first innings
[00:12:42] to put this beyond doubt.
[00:12:43] Like, I'm thinking back to Chennai, the second test against England
[00:12:46] in the 21 series, where we've got 160 odd.
[00:12:49] The one that Ashwin took five wickets and scored 100 in.
[00:12:53] Or 10 wickets and scored 100 in.
[00:12:56] India was 300 plus, and that puts you far ahead of the game.
[00:13:00] Like, 350 plus, if I'm not wrong.
[00:13:04] 259 felt light.
[00:13:05] You'd expect them to get at least 300 after winning the toss and batting first.
[00:13:09] So, and they were, at one point, they were looking pretty good.
[00:13:13] I mean, probably 180 for three or so.
[00:13:16] Before that, kind of pre-T collapse triggered by Washington Sundar.
[00:13:22] So, I was pretty happy.
[00:13:24] 197 for three.
[00:13:25] Yeah, so they were batting well.
[00:13:27] So, from 197 for three to bowl a team out for 259, I mean, that's a good performance.
[00:13:32] And I was pretty comfortable on day one.
[00:13:37] I was like, okay, normal service has been resumed.
[00:13:40] Yasha Swee's at the crease.
[00:13:42] Rohit got a great ball from Saudi, seeming in, swinging away.
[00:13:45] Took the off-stump.
[00:13:48] Fine.
[00:13:50] So, we'll get into it.
[00:13:51] We'll get into India's response.
[00:13:53] But, Akash Deep pulled six overs, didn't look super effective.
[00:13:57] Now, it was not conditions that helped seamers.
[00:13:59] Even Boomerang didn't pick up a wicket, as you said, right?
[00:14:02] A, was there a case to be made to say, listen, if the conditions were quite going to be quite like this,
[00:14:08] and again, in hindsight, you look back, I'm just trying to check.
[00:14:10] Saudi picked up that one-row hit wicket.
[00:14:13] We didn't, none of our seamers took, so that was the only wicket to seam the whole match.
[00:14:18] Right?
[00:14:19] In those types of conditions, was there a case to be made to pick a fourth spinner,
[00:14:23] and, or play it as four spinners, knowing Washi, Ash, and Jadeja can all bat?
[00:14:28] And, or, I guess, why, I'm trying to process why Jadeja was not as effective on this track,
[00:14:36] and you can argue the lefty-righty situation.
[00:14:40] And, what's the point of an Akash Deep in the side,
[00:14:42] if you're only going to give him six overs in the first things, none in the second?
[00:14:46] Was that a selection mistake, you think?
[00:14:49] So, let's put it this way.
[00:14:51] India didn't lose this test match because of selection.
[00:14:53] They lost it because of poor batting in the first inning.
[00:14:56] Actually, or because of bowling.
[00:14:58] In fairness, I think I'm falling prey to the trap that you've complained about before.
[00:15:01] You're absolutely right.
[00:15:02] Yeah.
[00:15:03] So, the questions being asked, did Jadeja and Ashwin not take wickets?
[00:15:07] Washington's taken seven wickets.
[00:15:09] He's got to leave something for someone else to take, right?
[00:15:12] I mean, fine, they were not...
[00:15:13] Yeah, and we would have, you're absolutely right,
[00:15:15] we would have taken 259 all out on day one.
[00:15:17] Period.
[00:15:18] No question about it.
[00:15:19] Yeah, so I don't think this is a selection problem,
[00:15:21] whether you played in a, even if you played another batter,
[00:15:24] I mean, like, if that batter played the shots that the rest of the batters played,
[00:15:28] yeah, that's not going to help anyone.
[00:15:32] Look, say Kuldeep had played, I don't know, maybe the 197 for three wouldn't have been,
[00:15:39] I don't know.
[00:15:41] Hindsight is 20-20, but in this case, you're basically, like, you're reviewing something
[00:15:49] that could or could not have happened.
[00:15:51] Now, it was not an obvious issue with the ball.
[00:15:54] We bowled New Zealand out twice in about 250 runs each time.
[00:16:00] So, that's okay for me.
[00:16:04] So, let's talk about the batting.
[00:16:06] Yeah, but Akash didn't do himself favours for Australia.
[00:16:10] That's part of the issue, right?
[00:16:12] And he replaced Siraj, remember, or Siraj didn't play, I don't know, injury or what,
[00:16:18] but he replaced him in day 11.
[00:16:21] Okay, so let's talk about the batting then, right?
[00:16:23] We mentioned Roy got out, a corker over delivery on a pitch, full credit to Saudi,
[00:16:27] where the seamers did nothing else, literally no other wickets.
[00:16:31] And then Gil and Jaswal looked okay for a little bit.
[00:16:34] Gil gets out to what looked to be the start of Santner's absolutely magnificent,
[00:16:41] most magnificent spell.
[00:16:42] I mean, I don't think he's, I think I read he's never taken more than three wickets in
[00:16:45] an innings or six wickets in a match.
[00:16:48] He had seven for a six, for a total of 13.
[00:16:51] I mean, just obliterated his own best performance in test cricket before.
[00:16:56] But Gil gets out.
[00:16:58] You can argue it stayed low.
[00:17:01] It was a nice ball pushed in quick.
[00:17:03] I need to ask you then, as big fans of Virat, I need to ask you about that shot.
[00:17:09] The shot.
[00:17:10] I mean, I don't even think I would be able to last, as a player, last 10 balls in tennis
[00:17:19] ball cricket played in a backyard.
[00:17:21] But even I can tell that it was a, I'm going to call it a full toss, but basically like
[00:17:26] a, basically a full toss.
[00:17:28] And he went for a sweep.
[00:17:31] Like it was the most premeditated type of shot I think I've ever seen.
[00:17:34] It was the most awful shot.
[00:17:35] And even Coley looked in disbelief.
[00:17:36] Now he always looks in disbelief when he gets out, but I don't think he imagined he would
[00:17:41] go for this wild sweep and just miss the ball and it bounced behind his bat and get
[00:17:46] pulled.
[00:17:46] I mean, what, what do you say about that dismissal?
[00:17:51] It's a misjudgment of length.
[00:17:53] I'd say it happens to the best.
[00:17:56] It looks so ugly because he does it.
[00:17:59] But there's a larger question to be asked about the, I mean, obviously it won't be asked
[00:18:04] before the Bordogavis cut trophy because Coley averages, I don't know, 70 in Australia
[00:18:07] or whatever.
[00:18:10] But the lower order has been bailing India out for a really long time.
[00:18:15] And it feels to me like the top order has almost forgotten to score big runs because
[00:18:20] even in the first test, let's just go back.
[00:18:22] We were 400 for three at one point.
[00:18:26] And then what were we bowled out for in that, that, that second innings?
[00:18:32] It was 467 or 470 or something like that.
[00:18:36] How could it just collapse?
[00:18:37] 462.
[00:18:37] Yeah.
[00:18:38] And we were 400 for three.
[00:18:40] So that, like the, and again, I don't want to go back in time and go back to Cheteshwar
[00:18:46] and Pujara, but like that grinding the opposition into the ground, like just to bat time.
[00:18:52] Yeah.
[00:18:53] We've lost these two test matches within three days each.
[00:18:57] Three days of play.
[00:18:58] It's a different feeling to win a match in three and lose a match in three, isn't it?
[00:19:02] Yeah.
[00:19:02] We've lost these test matches both within three days of play.
[00:19:06] Yeah.
[00:19:07] That is not a good look.
[00:19:09] And, and you can, and I want to talk about it.
[00:19:10] So I'll bring it up.
[00:19:12] I will pause and talk it later.
[00:19:14] We talked about the, this in the Bangladesh test when you had to bat the opposite of
[00:19:21] what you're saying, you have to bat against time and you have to bat in a match where there
[00:19:24] was a limited amount of time left because of rain, et cetera.
[00:19:27] And we were celebrating gambol or whatever we wanted to call it at the end of that.
[00:19:32] Is this a little bit of what England fans have had to live through with Baz Ball and McCollum
[00:19:38] and that you live by the sword, you die by the sword, like the approach, and I'm jumping
[00:19:42] ahead, but the approach in that second innings where just while Sarfraz, everybody was looking
[00:19:46] to bat it greater than a runner ball, seemed to show no ability, no desire at least to bat
[00:19:51] time, to bat yourself back into the game, to adjust to the very, very difficult or very,
[00:19:59] very strong spell from Santner.
[00:20:02] Is this a little bit of, of the risk you take that you get these phenomenal Bangladesh type
[00:20:07] wins and you get these, they're the highs or higher, lows or lower type of cricket.
[00:20:10] Is that what we've pivoted to play?
[00:20:11] Look, in the second innings, I think they were worried about the ball turning too much
[00:20:15] and it spinning too much.
[00:20:16] And there was a bit of like, let's attack them before we get one with our name on it.
[00:20:20] That was not the case in the first innings.
[00:20:23] So Kohli getting out to that shot, I mean, Sarfraz, he's come off 150.
[00:20:28] He's gone out to like, just, he stabbed one to mid on, mid off.
[00:20:32] It was a horrible looking shot.
[00:20:37] So, I mean, plus when you look at the dismissals in the second innings, they're all kind of poking,
[00:20:46] Gill caught poking at slip.
[00:20:48] Yesha Svi Jaiswal after batting really well.
[00:20:50] I mean, he bats well against Spain, even in the second inning.
[00:20:53] He was fantastic.
[00:20:54] Again, he got out to defend.
[00:20:55] Is it fair to say across both innings, he's the only guy who looked like, yeah, fine.
[00:21:01] He didn't make that big score you need from top order batters in India.
[00:21:05] He's the only guy who looked like he was in the second.
[00:21:06] Jadeja looked okay.
[00:21:07] Washington looked okay.
[00:21:08] Washington, I thought about it very nicely.
[00:21:09] Yeah, sorry.
[00:21:09] I was top order specifically.
[00:21:11] Among the top six at least.
[00:21:13] Among the top six.
[00:21:14] See, part of the problem was, which one of the memes I sent you guys, there's no KL in this 11, so you can't blame anyone.
[00:21:20] There's nobody left to blame.
[00:21:22] So now we need to find another match come Ujrim.
[00:21:27] No, see, Yesha Svi Jaiswal has had a fantastic year.
[00:21:31] I think he's gone past 1,000 runs in the year.
[00:21:33] He got 700 odd in the England series.
[00:21:37] He's proved, he's a find and he's here to stay.
[00:21:42] And again, he stamped his authority on that second inning.
[00:21:45] And for a brief flutter, Indian fans would have hoped, right?
[00:21:49] Like, is this miracle win coming?
[00:21:52] They started pulling out the 387 for four from Chennai and all of this stuff where India beat England in the fourth innings chase.
[00:21:59] It was not going to happen because that is an exceptional scenario.
[00:22:05] And even when they were going, I think they were one down with Gil and him smacking it.
[00:22:11] I think I messaged Ashwin on the group, Varun on the group and said, this is definitely, I mean, I know we've got hope that they're going to pull off a miracle, but this is going to be 220 all out.
[00:22:21] Yeah, you said exactly that.
[00:22:23] It was amazing.
[00:22:24] Yeah.
[00:22:24] And they were 245 all out in the end.
[00:22:27] So they exceeded expectations slightly, but they were not far away.
[00:22:31] Yeah, it was just too many runs in the third innings.
[00:22:33] And the issues with like, gamble are, I guess, the same in a way as with basketball, because you're then getting people like, even at the beginning of basketball, Joe Root was in a bit of a, like, quandary.
[00:22:49] One of the best players in the world.
[00:22:50] Like, how do I play to a reverse sweep?
[00:22:52] You can ask bowlers.
[00:22:53] Yeah.
[00:22:54] You can almost argue, you can almost argue, Jesual, Pant, Sarfraz will adjust.
[00:23:00] And then Washi and these guys will learn it.
[00:23:02] And they're, they're young.
[00:23:03] This is, they'll grow with whatever the strategic decision is.
[00:23:06] The question mark, and I'm going to go take us to break and we'll come back and talk.
[00:23:10] The question mark is, Durohit, Kohli, maybe Gil in that camp, but Gil is still young.
[00:23:16] But Durohit and Kohli fit in, in a world where your strategy is so different to what they've been playing.
[00:23:22] So, DJ, with that, we're going to take a very quick break.
[00:23:24] We will be right back to talk more about this painful series loss at home to New Zealand.
[00:23:30] Don't go anywhere.
[00:23:40] Welcome back to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast.
[00:23:42] If you are on YouTube, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, leave us a comment,
[00:23:47] commiserate with us on how painful this has been, how much, I mean, the thumb should be
[00:23:51] up for the video, but you can be unhappy in the comments as we are.
[00:23:57] But, and obviously at One Tip One Hand on all the social medias, et cetera.
[00:24:00] I know we know we've been engaging with a lot of you already.
[00:24:03] It has been, it's been a tough little time.
[00:24:05] But DJ, we came back 104 run deficit and New Zealand yet again piled on the pressure.
[00:24:11] It felt in that first match a little bit like, hey, in the first session where we got very,
[00:24:18] very difficult conditions, then 31 overs, 46 all out.
[00:24:21] The 32nd over just felt like the sun came out and the conditions got really nice.
[00:24:25] Here, it was very visible that the top order from New Zealand had come to bat, to grind,
[00:24:33] to play through those top conditions.
[00:24:35] And you can't help but, and I hate being this kind of an Indian fan, but you can't help but
[00:24:39] think to the Pujara Rahane type of knocks, where obviously they scored faster than Pujara
[00:24:44] typically does.
[00:24:46] But, I mean, Tom Latham in that second inning is very unlucky, by the way, to get out LBW
[00:24:49] on an umpire's call at the end of the day.
[00:24:52] But, it was just a different level of cricket.
[00:24:55] And you expect that from a Kane Williamson.
[00:24:57] We didn't probably expect that from a New Zealand without Kane Williamson.
[00:25:01] So, how good was that to see?
[00:25:02] I mean, they made 259 and 255.
[00:25:04] They were consistent.
[00:25:05] And we couldn't get there.
[00:25:06] How good was that second innings to sort of stamp their seal on this match?
[00:25:10] I mean, they put the game beyond India on, what was it, day two?
[00:25:15] They ended way, way beyond it.
[00:25:18] India was tearing down the barrel.
[00:25:22] Great batting.
[00:25:24] Just needed to do, needed, I mean, did what was needed, right?
[00:25:29] So, again, it wasn't anything special.
[00:25:31] It was just ruthlessly efficient.
[00:25:34] And in some cases, that's all you need because you don't need to be flashy or overachieving.
[00:25:43] You need to, they did their underdog thing and proved that they are the second team.
[00:25:51] Is it maybe the third team this century to have beaten India alongside England and Australia
[00:25:57] in a home test?
[00:25:57] That's a big stat, man.
[00:25:59] Yeah, so Australia beat India in 2006.
[00:26:03] England beat India in 2012 and now New Zealand.
[00:26:07] So, yeah, six years.
[00:26:10] First time, 12 years this time.
[00:26:11] Maybe it's going to be 24 years after which India will lose the next series.
[00:26:15] Let's hope.
[00:26:17] Not 24 months.
[00:26:17] 2048.
[00:26:17] 24 years.
[00:26:19] 2048 is what we're going to be counting.
[00:26:20] We'll be very old, man.
[00:26:21] Thinking back to the time this happened.
[00:26:24] Do you remember when Mitchell Santner, who'd never taken 10 wickets in a first-class match,
[00:26:31] ran through the Indian batting lineup in both occasions?
[00:26:34] Got Koli a lot of times.
[00:26:36] Koli looking shocked each time.
[00:26:38] The question is in 2048 is where Rohit and Koli still going to be there leading the line.
[00:26:44] No, but even someone like Glenn Phillips, right?
[00:26:47] You look at his knock.
[00:26:48] He gets 48 of like 85, 86 balls.
[00:26:52] They've ground it out.
[00:26:54] And, of course, there was a second collapse, again, triggered by our main man, Washi Sundar.
[00:26:59] 4 for 56, he takes.
[00:27:01] Jadeja takes 3 for 72.
[00:27:03] Ashwin takes 2 for 97.
[00:27:06] Bumrah is the fourth point that we used.
[00:27:08] It's an important point because they were 230 for 5.
[00:27:11] Right at that point, you're 334 runs ahead with 5-buckus left.
[00:27:14] And if not for that Washi, perhaps we had no look even back in the year.
[00:27:18] Let's be clear.
[00:27:19] Again, this is not a bowling problem.
[00:27:21] This is a batting problem.
[00:27:22] Yep.
[00:27:22] We should never forget this.
[00:27:24] And the bowlers have done enough.
[00:27:26] They have won test match after test match after test match for us.
[00:27:30] Both with ball and with bat.
[00:27:32] That's the worst part, right?
[00:27:33] Jadeja was looking at averages 44 in test cricket, which is insane.
[00:27:38] Is it really like all-time average?
[00:27:40] I'll have to double-check that.
[00:27:42] But I don't know.
[00:27:43] I thought his test average overall, you're the stats guy, but we're going to have to look this up now.
[00:27:51] Yeah, but I'm trying to be careful because when I type too loudly, it's very audible on the mic.
[00:27:56] That's why I'm not pulling up stats in Ezreal time.
[00:27:59] Maybe it's at home because his overall looks like it's 35.72.
[00:28:03] It's still a lot.
[00:28:04] Yeah.
[00:28:04] It's still incredible, right?
[00:28:06] Yeah.
[00:28:06] So, anyway.
[00:28:08] Yeah, 35.72 overall performances in country.
[00:28:12] Let's look at that, shall we?
[00:28:14] Very quickly.
[00:28:16] Jadeja averages 38.5 in India.
[00:28:19] So maybe it's a more recent thing you're looking at.
[00:28:22] But anyway.
[00:28:23] DJ, so they ended up making 255.
[00:28:25] Good bowling to give us what we thought at the time was a shot.
[00:28:31] But it was a long shot, just to be clear.
[00:28:35] It was.
[00:28:35] Absolutely.
[00:28:35] It was a very long shot.
[00:28:37] And in their case, yeah.
[00:28:39] And in New Zealand's case, they didn't even give the quicks much bowling, right?
[00:28:42] They basically said, this is going to be a spin.
[00:28:44] Mitchell Center bowled 29 out of the 60 overs, almost half.
[00:28:48] And just talk me through this innings.
[00:28:51] And I know it's painful, but Jasval, like you said, it almost felt like let's make runs until the ball with our name on it is coming our way.
[00:28:59] And that feels, I don't want to call it like a losing mindset or a loser's mindset, but it feels like a little go big or go home, high risk, high reward.
[00:29:09] These are all positive sounding expressions.
[00:29:10] But to me in test cricket, when there's three days left and you have to make a score that looks incredibly difficult, and I'm sitting here watching it on TV.
[00:29:17] I don't know what it was like facing Santner out there.
[00:29:20] He was bowling brilliantly.
[00:29:21] So definitely a word for him.
[00:29:23] But it just felt like we thought this is impossible to do, so let's just swing our bets and hope it works.
[00:29:31] And am I reading that wrong?
[00:29:33] What is the strategic intent behind how we went about chasing 350 in a fourth innings with three days or two and a half days left?
[00:29:40] That's interesting because actually the comparison kept going back to that Chennai match, which I think ended on day five.
[00:29:49] So Sehwa got India off to a flyer, as he always did.
[00:29:52] He got like 80 odd of some 60 balls or something.
[00:29:58] And Sehwa and Gil were batting at like a runner ball, and Sehwa was batting at more than a runner ball.
[00:30:04] There were a few chances, a few that fell short of the fielders.
[00:30:07] But you could see the pressure slowly being transferred back onto the bowlers.
[00:30:11] That was the intent at that point, that you needed to push the close-in fielders slightly further back.
[00:30:18] You wanted to have a bit of breathing space.
[00:30:21] And they were getting that because you could see suddenly Ajaz was like he was looking ineffective.
[00:30:27] Santino was the danger man.
[00:30:28] He had a side strain, so he didn't know whether he would be as effective as he would be in the second.
[00:30:34] I think he picked seven in the first.
[00:30:36] And then he...
[00:30:37] Six in the second, right?
[00:30:38] Yeah, and then he took six in the second.
[00:30:40] But it was...
[00:30:42] I think that was the thinking there.
[00:30:44] To try and push some of that pressure back onto New Zealand.
[00:30:49] So that when the ball that did come with your name on it, and you gloved it, or you patted, you went bat-pad,
[00:30:54] there was no fielder there to take it because the fielders had dispersed.
[00:30:57] So that was the thinking there.
[00:30:59] It was executed well by Yashas Vijayeswal particularly.
[00:31:02] I think he hit three sixes, each of which were brilliant.
[00:31:05] I mean, one of the shots that he hit over cover was just...
[00:31:08] I mean, the wrist work you need to do that is outstanding.
[00:31:13] But it was a matter of time.
[00:31:15] And that's what happened in the end.
[00:31:17] Gil went back to one.
[00:31:19] Santner got it to go on.
[00:31:21] And it hit his edge.
[00:31:22] And Daryl Mitchell takes a nice, easy catch at slip.
[00:31:25] And that was kind of the beginning of the end.
[00:31:28] Coley scratched around for a bit.
[00:31:30] What was quite irritating at that point, I have to say, is Ian Smith was in the commentary box.
[00:31:34] And he was being so reasonable.
[00:31:35] It was just like...
[00:31:36] He was excited because you could see when it was going off the pad and people were catching it and stuff.
[00:31:41] And it was like, oh, he's got another one.
[00:31:42] But while Coley was there, he was all like, oh, the great man.
[00:31:45] He's really good at chasing score.
[00:31:47] It's just so annoyingly...
[00:31:50] Annoyingly balanced.
[00:31:52] Annoyingly New Zealand, isn't it?
[00:31:53] Yeah.
[00:31:54] It's just the most New Zealand things about it.
[00:31:56] Yeah, it was Simon Dool and Ian Smith.
[00:31:58] And it was all like, yeah, well, they've done well.
[00:32:00] And like, look at them.
[00:32:02] I mean, it is an incredible achievement.
[00:32:05] It is a phenomenon.
[00:32:05] This is something no New Zealand team has done before.
[00:32:09] Ever.
[00:32:10] And that includes teams that have included the likes of Richard Hadley.
[00:32:14] They've included Martin Crowe.
[00:32:16] They've included, I don't know, Stephen Fleming.
[00:32:18] They've included people like Kane Williamson have come here over and over again and not won a Test Series.
[00:32:24] And this Tom Latham.
[00:32:26] Tom Latham had a fantastic series.
[00:32:27] And I mean, the scrambled minds of the Indians actually Shuri and Rishabh Pan's dismissal.
[00:32:34] So let's talk about that really quickly.
[00:32:36] Who do we blame for that?
[00:32:37] Because I've watched it a few different times.
[00:32:40] I've watched it a few times.
[00:32:41] It's Pan's call.
[00:32:42] He should have said no.
[00:32:43] But remember, yeah, so the wisdom is, ball goes behind you, runner makes the call because he has better vantage point and all that.
[00:32:50] Kohli did set off.
[00:32:53] Yeah, but he said it's gone.
[00:32:55] You just have to say no.
[00:32:56] Who says no to Virat?
[00:32:58] So this is the problem.
[00:32:59] This is the issue, right?
[00:33:00] You don't say no to Virat.
[00:33:02] Virat would have started throwing MCBC bombs at you on the field if you said no to Virat.
[00:33:06] No, you say no to him.
[00:33:08] It's fine.
[00:33:08] I mean, I agree.
[00:33:09] It was absolutely horrendous.
[00:33:11] So the problem was, Pan stuttered for a second and then he went down your who says no to Virat track of thought, right?
[00:33:19] If he hadn't stuttered, he would have probably made it.
[00:33:21] And if he just said no, he would have probably led us to a famous victory and we'd be sitting here talking about how great Rishabh Pant is and how he's going to be the greatest sin after MS Dhoni and like Gilchrist and whatever else.
[00:33:36] But as it turned out, he got run out for a duck chasing 350 plus, which was dumb.
[00:33:42] Would we have been better served for Rishabh to pull off a surf for us, the dancing, sending him back and like...
[00:33:48] Yes, 100%.
[00:33:49] That would have been something.
[00:33:50] Because it's not...
[00:33:51] I mean, the other point was Santana also faked them, by the way.
[00:33:55] Yeah.
[00:33:55] So Santana had a side string, picked it up, swooped it and whacked it over the sticks.
[00:34:00] Yeah.
[00:34:01] Like that's the throw that you want, right?
[00:34:03] Right in the keeper's gloves, right over the...
[00:34:04] I mean, you want to direct it, but he just went like...
[00:34:06] No, but I mean...
[00:34:07] Yeah.
[00:34:08] And Pant is a man with an injured knee.
[00:34:11] He didn't play part of the last game.
[00:34:13] I mean, that was just...
[00:34:16] That just summed up the whole...
[00:34:19] Whole innings, I think.
[00:34:20] Yeah, I mean, listen, Ash and Jadid...
[00:34:22] That one and Akash Deeps dismissal.
[00:34:25] I don't know whether he watched that.
[00:34:27] How did Akash get up?
[00:34:28] But it was hilarious.
[00:34:29] He...
[00:34:30] I don't know.
[00:34:31] He got one run of 29 balls, I think.
[00:34:33] Yeah.
[00:34:33] Yeah.
[00:34:34] And he held himself back.
[00:34:36] 24.
[00:34:37] He swiped.
[00:34:37] Oh, yeah.
[00:34:38] He swiped.
[00:34:39] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:34:39] And then he just hit...
[00:34:40] He got a long hop from Ajaz.
[00:34:43] And he just tapped into long on.
[00:34:46] And it was just like so bad.
[00:34:49] Yeah.
[00:34:50] Because if he just...
[00:34:51] He could have hit it anyway.
[00:34:52] It's probably the worst ball Ajaz would ever get up.
[00:34:55] 167 for five...
[00:34:56] 167 for seven.
[00:34:57] Ash and Jadid did okay.
[00:34:59] Akash...
[00:34:59] Batted out to 24 balls.
[00:35:01] But this match was done.
[00:35:02] But it was competition.
[00:35:03] And this match was not.
[00:35:04] And the worst part is you're still watching it for whatever reason.
[00:35:08] I'm like, maybe Jadeja can pull up Ben Stokes and like do it for the last wicket.
[00:35:12] It's the hope that kills you.
[00:35:13] We've said that so many times on this show.
[00:35:16] Sick.
[00:35:16] DJ, you know, it is interesting that even over the course of analyzing this, despite how
[00:35:20] I came in wanting to talk about it, we still spend a decent amount of time talking about
[00:35:23] the bowlers.
[00:35:24] Which is absolutely unfair and not correct.
[00:35:26] So let me wrap.
[00:35:28] Let's wrap by just chatting a little bit about this top order.
[00:35:31] Because the World Test Championship scenarios are now blown wide open.
[00:35:34] I mean, having lost 2-0, potentially 2-1, potentially 3-0, whatever, or to New Zealand at home, you
[00:35:40] now have to fly to...
[00:35:41] You have to win the third test first and then fly to Australia and probably win 3-2 to have
[00:35:46] a guarantee of getting in...
[00:35:48] Or win 3 to have a guarantee of qualifying.
[00:35:52] And theoretically, if we win 2 and lose the series, but other results go our way, I think
[00:35:55] we can make it and all that.
[00:35:57] What does...
[00:35:58] Where does Team India's batting go from here?
[00:36:00] If you're Gautam Gumpir, the last time...
[00:36:03] By the way, he was playing the last time we lost a series at home.
[00:36:08] If you're Gautam Gumpir, what do you do from here?
[00:36:11] If you're Rohit Sharma...
[00:36:12] You know, Rohit...
[00:36:13] And actually, let me take a sidestep first.
[00:36:15] Rohit at the press conference.
[00:36:18] Right?
[00:36:19] I'm a little biased.
[00:36:20] I'd be the first to accept that.
[00:36:21] But it's a very different feeling to have the last week you guys talked about the Talwar
[00:36:26] Chalao type or like, I'm not going to blame anybody.
[00:36:30] There's bad news and boners.
[00:36:31] I don't like to think about it too much.
[00:36:33] These things happen.
[00:36:35] We've had a fantastic record.
[00:36:36] It was inevitable, which I understand.
[00:36:39] Versus that level of intensity at the Virat press conferences when we lost something.
[00:36:45] It just felt like a different level of accountability.
[00:36:48] I'm using the corporate jargon, corporate buzzwords for our listeners.
[00:36:51] But it's a different level of accountability, different level of ownership, just a different
[00:36:55] level of, we will fight back from this.
[00:36:57] It's not the, eh, let's laugh and joke.
[00:36:59] And I recognize that's personalities.
[00:37:01] And every leader is different.
[00:37:04] But where do we go from here?
[00:37:05] And how do we reconcile that transition we've made?
[00:37:08] Because I don't think Gambhir's style is the Rohit style of laugh and joke with the press.
[00:37:13] And that's how you cope.
[00:37:14] I think Gambhir's style is the, probably the Sir Alex Ferguson hairdryer throwing things
[00:37:18] at people, screaming at your players type of style.
[00:37:21] So anyway, long way of framing a question on like, what is the leadership approach and
[00:37:27] where do we go from here?
[00:37:30] I mean, it's a very interesting question because I guess we're trying to compare the Shastri
[00:37:38] Kohli era with the Gambhir Rohit era, but it's a fundamental question of, I don't think
[00:37:46] Rohit Sharma is not hurting about this.
[00:37:50] He's never played in a series where India have lost.
[00:37:53] Let's remember that.
[00:37:55] Right?
[00:37:55] Yeah, I think it's...
[00:37:57] None of these players, three of them have played in a series where India have lost at
[00:38:02] home.
[00:38:02] So let's...
[00:38:03] And it's not an implication for me, by the way, that he's not hurting.
[00:38:05] It's that he's going to press conferences saying, listen, I'm not going to post more
[00:38:09] than too much, which may just mean we are going to do it privately, which is different
[00:38:13] to the Shastri Kohli era where they did it moreover.
[00:38:16] So, and I think, see, the Kohli way of captaining was one where he led by example.
[00:38:22] He wore his heart on his sleeve.
[00:38:24] It was dramatic.
[00:38:25] It was emotional, right?
[00:38:29] And it goes to your style of leadership.
[00:38:31] And even in the corporate world, you'd have lots of leaders who are in your face, brash,
[00:38:38] aggressive, putting out big statements.
[00:38:41] But that's a personality thing.
[00:38:43] There's lots of...
[00:38:44] There's lots to be said about just putting things into perspective around performance and loss
[00:38:53] as well.
[00:38:53] So, I'm...
[00:38:56] I don't think it's an...
[00:38:58] I don't think...
[00:38:59] When you talk about accountability, again, I think Rohit mentioned this stat and he said
[00:39:03] we've won 80% of the test matches we've played.
[00:39:05] So, I'm not sure why this is such a big issue.
[00:39:09] I'm not going to panic.
[00:39:10] This is still a good team.
[00:39:11] And it's...
[00:39:13] You can cherry pick all the stats that you want.
[00:39:16] But the fact is, this team three weeks ago beat Bangladesh in five days, but with like
[00:39:22] three days of play.
[00:39:23] So, this is not a bad team.
[00:39:25] And I think man management has different...
[00:39:31] I love Kohli as a captain.
[00:39:33] I was very sad when he was removed from captaincy.
[00:39:37] He was like kind of...
[00:39:38] He's like a West Delhi guy in your face, celebrating, all of that.
[00:39:43] You can see the emotion like on his face.
[00:39:48] I kind of have grown to like the Rohit captaincy style as well.
[00:39:57] I've grown to like it in...
[00:39:58] I mean, he's had an awful series as captain and a bad one as a batter as well.
[00:40:01] Let's not get that wrong.
[00:40:03] The 46 all-out, again, the 46 all-out is not just him picking to bat first.
[00:40:07] That's a team decision.
[00:40:08] So, the team takes it.
[00:40:09] But to front up in a press conference and not blame players and say,
[00:40:13] oh, if Panth hadn't got a run out or this had not happened or like
[00:40:17] we need to work on our playing of spin and this...
[00:40:21] It's actually quite nice to see someone do this in a kind of calm...
[00:40:27] I almost want to say MS Dhoni Eskoe, like trust the process.
[00:40:32] He's a lot closer to MS Dhoni in his like demeanor post-loss than he is to Kohli.
[00:40:39] And I think that's where it goes.
[00:40:41] That said, Dhoni was the last captain to have lost a home-death series in 2012, right?
[00:40:48] Yeah, and I guess I'm not implying...
[00:40:49] I don't think it's directly correlated.
[00:40:51] And I'm actually with you.
[00:40:52] I don't like the throwing the players under the bus or like,
[00:40:54] oh, if this guy hadn't got out or...
[00:40:57] I think I'm just dealing as a fan.
[00:41:00] Yeah, yeah.
[00:41:01] And those are the questions you must ask, of course.
[00:41:03] Yeah, I'm just dealing with the transition of style a little bit
[00:41:09] and of the approach to a loss and approach to...
[00:41:12] And everything he said is not wrong.
[00:41:15] We are a fantastic team.
[00:41:16] Our record is phenomenal.
[00:41:18] It is fine.
[00:41:19] This team will bounce back.
[00:41:20] But I don't want to assume we will bounce back because the players are phenomenal.
[00:41:24] I want to be able to pinpoint, oh, these are the changes we made
[00:41:28] that led us to bouncing back, if that makes any sense.
[00:41:31] But I mean, that will all be done behind the scenes, right?
[00:41:34] He's done it previously.
[00:41:36] I think the other thing to remember is that these guys have...
[00:41:39] deal with loss publicly.
[00:41:41] They deal with performance issues publicly.
[00:41:43] I think the biggest thing that's happened in Rohit's career so far
[00:41:46] has been that 2019 World...
[00:41:48] not 2019, 2023 World Cup final loss.
[00:41:51] Yep.
[00:41:52] And he bounced back from that with a win in the D20 World Cup.
[00:41:54] And you saw him at the 24 World Cup.
[00:41:56] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:41:57] You saw it.
[00:41:58] How deeply it affects these guys.
[00:42:00] Yeah.
[00:42:01] And so, it's almost kind of admirable for him to be like,
[00:42:06] listen, you can't blame Jadeja and Ashwin.
[00:42:08] They've done it for us over and over again.
[00:42:10] You can't take it out on these guys.
[00:42:13] It happens.
[00:42:13] We're a good team.
[00:42:14] It's quite a grown-up way of looking at Indian cricket.
[00:42:18] It's quite a mature way of looking at it, which is...
[00:42:21] It's weird because we're so childish when we're Indian cricket fans.
[00:42:24] We're like, must win.
[00:42:25] Everything we have to win.
[00:42:27] Why have we not won?
[00:42:28] We've lost this after so many years.
[00:42:29] This is all wrong.
[00:42:31] We deserve to win.
[00:42:32] We were born to win.
[00:42:33] We are the biggest team in the world.
[00:42:36] The richest board in the world.
[00:42:37] Everybody gets paid money for IPL.
[00:42:39] That's why they don't like test cricket.
[00:42:40] That's crap.
[00:42:42] They like test cricket.
[00:42:43] They think it's the best form of the game.
[00:42:47] Ruud Sharma is still playing this form of the game.
[00:42:49] He doesn't need to.
[00:42:50] He's got enough money.
[00:42:52] Right?
[00:42:53] So, it's quite mature.
[00:42:55] It's refreshingly mature.
[00:42:56] It's in the wrong context.
[00:43:00] It's in the wrong context.
[00:43:00] It's in a loss.
[00:43:01] But I think that's where people see your personality even more.
[00:43:04] And it may irritate people.
[00:43:06] I can get it.
[00:43:07] But like Kohli would have been surly and like gruff.
[00:43:11] And he would have been like shouting back at the journalists or whatever.
[00:43:14] And asking them questions like, are you saying this?
[00:43:16] He's just like, shit happens, man.
[00:43:20] Yeah.
[00:43:20] I mean, I think well said.
[00:43:22] I don't have anything more really to add about the approach.
[00:43:24] I think you summarized it really well.
[00:43:25] It is true.
[00:43:26] It's a change.
[00:43:27] It's different.
[00:43:27] It's his job.
[00:43:28] And things have gone wrong.
[00:43:29] You've had a bad day at your job.
[00:43:31] Except he's had it in front of how many ever billion people are watching the television.
[00:43:36] Right?
[00:43:36] Yeah.
[00:43:37] We all have bad days in the office.
[00:43:40] Very, very well said.
[00:43:42] DJ, I think we will be sitting here.
[00:43:44] I think it's going to be a very interesting third test, of course.
[00:43:47] But then five tests against Australia.
[00:43:49] Because I think at the end of the five tests, we will have a moment of reckoning on the futures of Virat and Rohit both.
[00:43:55] And I don't know if we have a skipper waiting in the wings to come up next and things like that.
[00:43:59] But I can tell you if it's one more test against New Zealand and five against Australia are not very, very good or at least good series for both these guys.
[00:44:08] I think there will be a lot of questions.
[00:44:10] Can I make my call for the next Indian cricket captain?
[00:44:14] Before you do that really quick.
[00:44:15] You look back and in the last three or four tests, Gil, Jaswal, Pant, Ash, Jadeja have all scored centuries in the last three tests.
[00:44:24] Three, four, whatever that is.
[00:44:26] Right?
[00:44:27] So as you look at the batting order and you say the top order hasn't delivered.
[00:44:30] Yes.
[00:44:30] Not consistent enough.
[00:44:31] Sarfraz, of course.
[00:44:32] Did I say that?
[00:44:33] And so you look at that list and you say the people who have underperformed are Rohit and Kohli.
[00:44:40] Now it's a few bad tests.
[00:44:41] I get it.
[00:44:42] But with that said, I think if you have one more against New Zealand and five more against Australia, the number one and number four spot are just too freaking important in test cricket to have legends who are just not delivering.
[00:44:53] So with that, I'm not going to deliberate on it more.
[00:44:57] I think we will after the five test series against Australia.
[00:44:59] But who is your call for the next captain?
[00:45:00] Is it Shubman Gil?
[00:45:02] Sir, I don't know.
[00:45:03] I think I might actually go for Yashaswi Jaswal, who's done the job at under-19 level.
[00:45:08] But he's so good.
[00:45:11] He's just so good.
[00:45:12] What is he, 23?
[00:45:13] Gil is 24.
[00:45:15] He's 22.
[00:45:15] Yeah, but this is going to happen in two years, right?
[00:45:17] Like it's not going to happen now.
[00:45:19] I mean, honestly, maybe.
[00:45:21] I think there's probably a world where Bumrah is the bridge.
[00:45:23] Yeah.
[00:45:23] Bumrah is the next captain for the next four or five years.
[00:45:27] And it's going to be between Gil and Yashaswi.
[00:45:28] It has to be.
[00:45:30] And Yashaswi right now is making himself completely undroppable.
[00:45:33] Catches everything in the slips as well.
[00:45:36] He's captained at the junior level.
[00:45:38] He's just absolutely outstanding.
[00:45:40] He's had a great series as well.
[00:45:42] Washington Sundar had a great test match.
[00:45:44] I mean, it's only sad we haven't talked about Sundar's test match.
[00:45:47] We did.
[00:45:48] We talked about it a little.
[00:45:49] I was going to say, is he going to get a cat called Puna?
[00:45:51] I think he was one of the...
[00:45:54] I mean, he needs to get whatever the opposite of a dog is.
[00:45:56] And I'm not sure that's the cat.
[00:45:57] But man, I think he...
[00:46:00] I remember reading the stat.
[00:46:01] I don't remember right now.
[00:46:01] But he is one of India's best bowling performances in a loss.
[00:46:05] I think Srinath took 13 or 14 in a test.
[00:46:07] We lost one time.
[00:46:08] And then Sundar picked up 11 in loss.
[00:46:11] So very difficult.
[00:46:12] Very, very difficult for him.
[00:46:13] But yeah, he showed that he belongs.
[00:46:15] And now I think India has some tough selection questions ahead in the coming months.
[00:46:20] Right.
[00:46:21] DJ, we've gone over our time.
[00:46:22] We could always talk too much about India team test cricket, etc.
[00:46:25] Very quickly, a thought on Baburazam or a post-Baburazam Pakistan who have just defeated
[00:46:32] England 2-0...
[00:46:33] 2-1.
[00:46:34] This is 2-1, right?
[00:46:35] Am I getting...
[00:46:35] 2-1.
[00:46:36] 2-1, yeah.
[00:46:36] 2-1 after a very difficult first loss.
[00:46:40] How do you feel if you're Baburazam at this point, right?
[00:46:43] It was a very weird kind of series.
[00:46:45] 823 runs by England, won by innings and all that after Pakistan scored 550.
[00:46:51] And then Pakistan win by pretty big margins in the next two.
[00:46:54] That's because they put fans and all in front of the pitch.
[00:46:56] Did you see those pictures?
[00:46:57] They put like giant fans in front of the pitch.
[00:47:00] It's absurd stuff.
[00:47:02] So is this pre and post-Baburazam in test cricket?
[00:47:04] That seems so crazy to think about.
[00:47:06] It is a bit nuts, actually.
[00:47:08] And it's not a good sign for, again, Virat and Rohit.
[00:47:12] Because all of a sudden, Pakistan dropped this guy.
[00:47:15] They bring in No Man Ali.
[00:47:17] That's a great name, though.
[00:47:18] I have to say.
[00:47:19] No Man.
[00:47:19] No Man Ali.
[00:47:21] And yeah, there was that off-spinner guy also.
[00:47:25] Sajid.
[00:47:26] Mushtaq Ali.
[00:47:27] Mushtaq Kaimad action.
[00:47:29] Yeah, but he took seven or something.
[00:47:32] Seven, eight, maybe?
[00:47:33] He took a lot of wickets in the third test.
[00:47:35] Yeah.
[00:47:36] But yeah, England just kept coming to hit the ball and they lost.
[00:47:40] Just kept coming out to whack it.
[00:47:45] Again, you're traveling at this point.
[00:47:47] It's fine.
[00:47:48] It's what you expect.
[00:47:49] You expect to go to South Asia and lose and all that stuff.
[00:47:51] But England won 3-0 last time in Pakistan.
[00:47:54] Yeah, it's true.
[00:47:55] That was the basketball era beginning.
[00:47:58] Yeah.
[00:47:58] And now, I mean, it's going to be very interesting to see.
[00:48:01] I think England have basically, as a result, all but eliminated themselves from the World
[00:48:06] Test Championship final.
[00:48:07] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:48:08] But I have a question for you.
[00:48:09] Are both India and England just obsessed with Australia?
[00:48:12] Because that's all...
[00:48:14] That's all that matters.
[00:48:15] Yeah, but is that why we're doing so badly now?
[00:48:18] Because India is talking BJT already.
[00:48:21] Yeah.
[00:48:21] The third test match, we've not even previewed.
[00:48:23] We've talked about World Test Championship final.
[00:48:26] We've talked about...
[00:48:27] Because we're like, okay, now we are going to Australia.
[00:48:30] That's an important series.
[00:48:31] What if we get...
[00:48:33] Like...
[00:48:34] What if we get clean swept by New Zealand at home?
[00:48:36] I should...
[00:48:37] We've lost the series.
[00:48:38] I don't think we've ever been clean swept at home.
[00:48:42] I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure India have won...
[00:48:47] I believe you, yeah.
[00:48:48] ...at least or drawn a test match.
[00:48:51] Yeah.
[00:48:52] So...
[00:48:54] Sorry, I've come back to the India thing.
[00:48:56] No, it's a fair question.
[00:48:57] What do you think...
[00:48:58] Let me ask you, does India change anything or does India just...
[00:49:01] Where are we playing the third test match?
[00:49:04] Excellent question.
[00:49:05] I know where we're playing the first test of the Board of Gawas control.
[00:49:08] Yeah, no idea where you're playing this next match, do you?
[00:49:10] We...
[00:49:11] After Bengaluru and Pune, we're going to...
[00:49:12] It's Wankhede.
[00:49:13] It starts Saturday morning.
[00:49:15] Wankhede.
[00:49:16] I think.
[00:49:16] Wankhede.
[00:49:18] Or it's Friday, I guess, actually.
[00:49:19] And time zones are confusing.
[00:49:20] But it'll be after...
[00:49:21] You know, they'll take an extra day off because of Diwali.
[00:49:24] It's actually not that much time off because two days didn't get used of this last test.
[00:49:29] But...
[00:49:29] But it's going to be bouncy, spinning.
[00:49:33] Oof.
[00:49:34] It's not...
[00:49:34] It's by no means a guaranteed victory at all.
[00:49:37] Like after being 2-0.
[00:49:38] I think India will want to fight back.
[00:49:39] I think they'll show a little bit more grit.
[00:49:41] I'm hopeful a 2-1 series finish, both from the World Test Championship standpoint and just from a morale standpoint, is very different to 3-0.
[00:49:48] So you're right.
[00:49:49] I'm hoping we show up.
[00:49:51] Let me quickly ask as we wrap.
[00:49:52] Do we think you make it...
[00:49:53] Do you think we make any changes?
[00:49:54] Does Siraj come back and does Akash sit out for a fourth spin?
[00:49:57] I'm probably not at the 1K.
[00:49:59] But what do you think happens?
[00:50:04] And part two of that question, actually, before you answer it.
[00:50:06] I've said this a lot about Ajinkir Ahane over the years.
[00:50:09] His market value shot up the most when he was on the bench.
[00:50:13] And that happens with a lot of players.
[00:50:15] Has KL's market value just skyrocketed because we lost as soon as we dropped?
[00:50:20] Lost big as when we dropped him?
[00:50:23] No.
[00:50:24] See, Sarfraz is his home ground, remember now.
[00:50:26] So it's tough to drop a guy after he's got 150 in the second innings, almost creating a miracle.
[00:50:32] So I think he's going to get another shot.
[00:50:34] I think they'll just play the same 11 other than Akash is going to go out for Siraj.
[00:50:39] So you think Kuldeep sits out still?
[00:50:41] Yeah.
[00:50:42] I mean, Washi's taken 11.
[00:50:43] No, of course Washi plays.
[00:50:45] But I'm like, do we find out where to bring Kuldeep back in some?
[00:50:48] I mean, but yes, you're probably right.
[00:50:49] You don't need, I think you need Seem at that ground.
[00:50:54] So basically, the whole point is Roach Sharma needs to score some runs.
[00:51:00] Virat Kohli needs to score some runs.
[00:51:02] Gil, Yashaswi, Jaiswal.
[00:51:03] And I mean, I would actually quite like to see Dhruv Jurel in this series, but we haven't had the chance to do that.
[00:51:10] And where do you bring him?
[00:51:11] You don't bring him in.
[00:51:12] Like there's no where to bring him.
[00:51:12] You can't now.
[00:51:13] No.
[00:51:14] And Pant made 99.
[00:51:16] Yeah, yeah.
[00:51:17] The Pant has not shown that he needs to be dropped.
[00:51:21] No.
[00:51:23] The Jadeja batted okay, took some wickets.
[00:51:27] Yeah.
[00:51:27] There's no one to change.
[00:51:29] There's a lot of sameness to the team, but they just played badly.
[00:51:33] They're not a bad team.
[00:51:35] So with that thought, I'm going to go with the same 11 except for Siraj swapping in for Akash.
[00:51:40] On that happy note, we will wrap up today saying third test comes about.
[00:51:44] We don't need to change our team.
[00:51:46] We just need to be better.
[00:51:48] Virat needs to play better.
[00:51:50] Rohit needs to play better.
[00:51:51] And we just need to show up and score some runs.
[00:51:52] Everybody scores hundreds.
[00:51:55] That's right.
[00:51:55] DJ, thank you for joining me.
[00:51:57] Weirdly, I feel a little better.
[00:51:58] I said this every time we've had the tough episodes that reliving it, talking it out loud is a little cathartic.
[00:52:03] So although I'm not still happy about how it's got, it feels a little better to relive it.
[00:52:07] Thank you everybody for listening, for joining us.
[00:52:08] If you're watching on YouTube again, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button.
[00:52:12] So you get notified every time we have a new video.
[00:52:14] We are at One Tip, One Hand on all the social medias.
[00:52:17] And we will be back next week to hopefully talk about India fighting back for one test victory in a three match series as we get into the lead up to the Bordogavisker Trophy and see how that all shakes out.
[00:52:29] DJ, thank you for joining me.
[00:52:31] Happy Diwali, of course, to everybody for next week.
[00:52:34] Something a little bit positive to celebrate after the tough two test matches.
[00:52:38] Let's hope the players get some time, celebrate, enjoy and come back ready to go.
[00:52:43] And we see lots of Indian centuries and a couple of nice New Zealand battered ducks going into the final match of the series.
[00:52:50] This has been the Edges and Sludges Cricket Podcast.
[00:52:53] Thank you everybody for joining us.