Nuwan Ranasinghe's Roar Profile

Nope, I was definitely watching the 1st Test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval like you mate. It wasn’t just one player that stood out Paul, have you checked the scorecard? Pujara was the clear stand out yes, but don’t forget Rahane’s contribution too. Even Ravi Ashwin hung around to support Pujara for nearly 80 balls in the first innings. It was a collective team effort by India, that’s quite obvious. Both teams struggled to bowl out each other, not just one.

‘hyperinflated’ averages? Have you checked Rohit Sharma’s or Ajinkya Rahane’s Test batting averages mate? Sharma averages 38 and Rahane averages 41. I really wonder what game you were watching Paul.

India can’t improve? Are you kidding me? Barring the last 4 wickets, did you see the way their rectified their first innings batting mistakes? India can improve just as well as and as quickly as Australia. There are reports that left-arm all arounder Ravindra Jadeja may replace Rohit Sharma for the second Test, meaning India will have a second specialist spin option, which is going to cause further headaches for Australia. Jadeja is also a useful lower order batsman as well. Teenage prodigy Prithvi Shaw might open the batting for India in the second test as well, which is going to strengthen the visitors run scoring stocks immensely. If I was Kohli, I would be extremely confident knowing I have the psychological advantage going into the second test as well as heaps of able players keen to put their best foot forward for the visitors.

Lastly Paul, this Indian team are not ‘my guys’ because I am not Indian!

Dakish yes you are right I have noticed Pujara can be a bit slow in the field compared to his team mates but he has the qualities of being a solid Test match batsman like dravid. I brought up those three examples of his past performances to highlight this, that he is no stranger to playing defensively when the need arises.

Is Cheteshwar Pujara the new Rahul Dravid?

Which game are you watching?

This Adelaide Test hangs on a knife-edge

Yeah definitely Kopa! I think he is getting there slowly given those past performances, but yeah dravid would certainly be proud of where he is at currently. Only upwards from here.

Interesting rebuttal there Paul! Yeah he has a while to go, but I think what I am trying to get at here is he has a lot of inner qualities and characteristics that make him ideal for Test match cricket, much like Rahul Dravid himself and we saw that in India’s first innings. I just found those statistical comparisons quite fascinating as well.

South Africa was a struggle for Pujara that is true, but he still has a good few years ahead of him to improve on that record. Perhaps after his gritty hundred on day one in Adelaide it will give him the motivation and belief to realise he can prosper in away series.

Kohli certainly seems to have a lot of faith in Pujara it seems – the bloke bats above Kohli at first drop and he is a behemoth in Indian domestic cricket – averages over 50 and has over 55 first-class hundreds to his name, so he is definitely no slouch.

Its a shame more readers aren’t commenting on this article because I reckon it would create quite a good discussion. More Aussie cricket fans should try to become invested in other nations’ cricketing affairs to gain a more broader and open-minded view on what is happening in this sport around the world.

Definitely one of the more potent Indian teams to arrive on Aussie shores in recent years. Will be interesting to see how they fare though. They may appear strong on paper but I think Australia’s bowling attack is just a touch better and will obviously be more acquainted with home conditions. Having said that, India’s batting is just supreme at the moment. Kohli is unstoppable. Indian batting vs Aussie bowling will be the main contest this summer.

India will field four-man pace attack in Australia Tests

In all honesty I reckon Sri Lanka will have a tougher campaign in this Asia Cup. The Afghans definitely have the talent and skill to cause an upset, especially with experienced campaigners like Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan who have made successful appearances in the Big Bash and other major T20 competitions around the world. Also don’t rule out their wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad; he has a strike rate of over 130 in international T20s and there’s no doubt he’ll go hard in this comp. Of course ODIs require more longevity at the crease and this will most likely be where the Afghans’ could falter in this comp. Regardless, they’ve got enough ability to cause at least a scare.

Bangladesh are not the Bangladesh of old. In recent times they’ve shown they can step it up to the Sri Lankans and they even won a Test match against them in Sri Lanka – something that even the Australians find hard to do. So for me I feel as though Sri Lanka definitely have the difficult road ahead going into this Asia Cup campaign.

Despite India and Pakistan facing each other off, the inclusion of Hong Kong in Group A means that should these powerhouses suffer a loss to each other in the group stages their path into the semis is almost guaranteed as it would be assumed they will defeat them quite comfortably.

Sri Lanka in search of riches in Dubai

Great feedback as always thanks Paul! yes I’ve always wondered why finger spinners fare so poorly in Australia, is it due to the pitch or weather conditions, or is it a mental thing? Murali was definitely quite poor in Australia you are spot on there.

Yes I’ve been watching Moeen Ali become more potent with his offies. Despite his recent success in the 4th Test against India I would not put him in the same league as the other specialist finger spinners. His current record overall doesn’t make for great reading. He is somewhere between a second specialist spinner and a part-timer. He can definitely bowl, but he can also be expensive when the pitch isn’t doing favours for him.

Haha extending this article on the role of finger spinners in ODIs and T20s would have stretched this out into a thesis. I decided to just focus on the basics and fundamentals for now. Thanks again.

What makes a great offie?

Thanks for the feedback Anindya! I see your point however I will have to respectfully disagree with you there too. The left arm orthodox spinner is basically the mirror image of the right arm offspinner. The coaching tips I have outlined in this article are applicable to both. Even if Vettori was a right arm offspinner I would still say the same about his bowling action, because to me it is one of the best and most repeatable bowling actions for a finger spinner.

Of course, where the left arm orthodox spinner and the right arm offspinner differ is in their approach to taking wickets. The former will obviously turn it away from the right handed batsman while the latter will turn it in. To write another piece on the tactics and field settings required for these two bowling styles would make for heavy reading, which is why I decided to focus only on basic fundamentals of finger spin in this article. Thanks again.

Looked clean to me!

Adam Zampa's absolute blinder in the deep sparks controversy

Phenomenal Test series! I’ve never seen an Indian fast bowling attack this potent. Both teams are playing very aggressive and entertaining cricket. Kohli is definitely the lynch-pin

You wouldn't know it, but there's a riveting Test series happening in England

Brilliant feedback Paul thanks again! Interesting you mention that about Tony Greig, he definitely was a little opinionated at times wasn’t he? I guess from a Sri Lankan perspective I thoroughly enjoyed his commentary as he would always back them in any game. He was unashamedly biased towards Sri Lanka and the island nation commemorated his passing away with a nationwide service. He was quite a controversial character even during his playing days for England, saying he wanted to make the West Indies ‘grovel’ in their 1976 Test tour.

Definitely a fan of Tony Cozier! Some of those names you mention there are a bit before my time I think, but we definitely have been blessed with some great voices over the years. David Gower is another favourite English commentator of mine who should have received a mention too.

Yeah we’ll see how Fox and Channel 7 go this summer. Of the more contemporary commentators Ricky Ponting is one of my favourites. He doesn’t say much, but when he does it’s always straight to the point.

Kings of the commentary box

Thanks Rafiqul! Graceful strokeplay is always so lovely to watch isn’t it? You have picked some great names there. I really enjoyed watching Roy Dias and VVS Laxman too. Zaheer Abbas was a brilliant stroke maker as well.

What type of batsman are you?

Thank you so much for your feedback there Paul, I’ll definitely take it on board! I guess many batsmen fit into a lot of the categories I tried to describe, and there is of course a subjective evaluation here too. Batsmen will often ‘change gears’ in their run scoring depending on the match situation. So yes, you’re right – you can play gracefully, aggressively and still dominate all in the same innings. Aravinda De Silva often comes to mind here.

I am well aware Chanderpaul arrives into a great position to play the ball, however even that position is one that cannot be found in most coaching books. Chanderpaul played most of his shots in a front-on position, where as traditionally we’re always taught to play the ball side-on.

It’s interesting you say Miandad was of the free-flowing type, because many commentators and experts suggest otherwise. He was Pakistan’s first real master blaster, and even on his Cricinfo profile it clearly states that ‘Miandad was not of the classical school of batting.’ You only need to watch a few highlight reels of Dean Jones’ batting and it’s quite evident that he likes to hit them big. The man himself says so too.

An aggressive and dangerous fast bowler, one of my favourite spells of his was the damage he did at Perth when South Africa came in 2008

Mitchell Johnson retires from all cricket

I think it’s a bit too strong to say Sri Lanka are a force in cricket ‘once more’. Sri Lanka have always been a competitive side and like with any team that is in transition following the retirements of legends like Sangakkara and Jayawardene, there will obviously be a period where they will lose matches for a while as they take the time to find the right combination of players to form a successful unit. Even after Sangakkara and Jayawardene retired Sri Lanka were still highly competitive. Their recent ODI record in Australia is quite impressive to say the least. However it is experienced guys like Mathews, Chandimal and spin king Rangana Herath who are the ones that need to show the way to the youngsters. Great to see Sri Lanka return to winning ways but lets see how they go once they’re not playing in home conditions. That narrative often tends to be a vastly different story altogether.

Wounded Lions defy the odds to take Test series

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