I am writing this piece just as India have worked themselves into a winning position in this first Test match at Adelaide. However anything can happen tomorrow, and if Australia go on to a highly unlikely win, there will be some serious introspection about how Rishabh Pant and the tail batted on day four. The likely scenario is that India will win because of their brilliant bowling unit, and the grit of Cheteshwar Pujara. They will win in spite of some dreadful batting in the first two sessions on day one, and the second session on day four.
Whatever the result of the match, some things caught my eye as I watched parts of the telecast.
- Isa Tara Guha is a wonderful addition to the commentary team. She has a lovely soft voice, an infectious laugh, and provides the occasional good insight. I look forward to Guha and Warnie doing commentary together - they work well together.
- Another great addition is Mark Butcher - he has a great sense of humor, is quite forthright, and as the host of Extra Innings he gets the other panelists involved.
- Talking of commentators, I hope the network guys get rid of Murali Kartik as soon as possible. He seems like a nice guy, but is all at sea when asked a searching question. His favourite line is "I completely agree with Clarkey...". Kartik has no insights, and although he speaks good English, has nothing interesting or original to contribute to the proceedings. He is not as bad as Rajit Fernando, Rameez Raja or Ravi Shastri, but I am grateful for the mute button on my TV remote whenever Murali Kartik opens his mouth. Get rid of Kartik, and if you need an additional Indian voice, get Sanjay Manjarekar.
- Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul have outlived their usefulness as Test Match batsmen on overseas tours. I hope they are given instructions to demonstrate their ability to play long innings in Ranji trophy and released from the Indian team.
- We need a real coach, so the sooner we get rid of Ravi Shastri, the better off we will be. Let us get in someone like Rahul Dravid - a guy with substance and pedigree. Meanwhile someone needs to do some plain speaking with a few of our players.
- Someone needs to tell Mohammed Shami that the next time he goes out to bat, we don't want to see him play any attacking shots at all! Show us that you value your wicket! If you hack at a ball and get out, we will drop you.
- Rishabh Pant should be given a target to play an innings where he must play at least 100 balls, else let us bring in Dinesh Kartik.
- Ajinkya Rahane's tendency to play the occasional loose shot is letting him and the team down. Once we have a real coach, he should probably tell Rahane to get a hundred to prove that he can play a long innings. Just saying that long innings are good in pre-match interviews is not good enough.
Over to day five at Adelaide.