I’ve always been an ardent defender of Indian pitches. I’m of the belief that if teams want to play well in India they get better at bowling spin and playing spin. But this one looks bad. Really bad.

That is lightning for Sunny. Also, I think you mean Mumbai for Sunny and Sachin.

Even after your stats tinkering – inflating Viv’s average and SR because of when he played and removing runs against “minnows” – they are both still pretty close statistically, so you can hardly definitively separate them based just on this. I’ll add a few points:
– Lanka and Windies are hardly modern day minnows. And Bangladesh usually put up a good fight in Asia, where Kohli would usually play against them. Prob a bit unfair to exclude these runs for Kohli.
– Viv (average 47, SR 90) was ahead of his peers, especially on SR. When Viv was doing his thing, there were a few others with stellar records (min 50 matches). D Jones (average 50, SR 76), Abbas (average 47, SR 85) and Greenidge (average 45, SR 65).
– Kohli (average 59, SR 94) is also peerless. The next few closest modern players (min 100 matches) are Azam (average 57, SR 89) and de Villiers (average 54, SR 101).
– But the one I like the most is Kohli’s record in successful run chases. He has scored almost 6000 runs at an average of 90 at nearly a 100 SR when chasing and getting India the win. That is nuts. It proves how important and impactful his contributions are.
Wherever you sit om this debate, you’d have to have both as locks for an all time ODI XI.

Curious to know why the animosity between India and Reiffel and if it has impacted his decision making…?

I think Pak. When we play them there is so much pressure, which means we are usually on point and focused.

Agree Sedz. The Poms have been hilariously bad, but will bounce back. Their cliff seems to have coincided perfectly with the WC. But for me the most disappointing team in world cricket is Bangladesh. They continue to underperform despite getting their test badge 23 years ago.

On India, I reckon we are more likely to crash hard in the semis and unfortunately for us, we are probably going to face our WC bogey team – the Kiwis.

Rashid is very good. But Mujeeb and Nabi rankings (and stats) are inflated by playing a lot of their ODI cricket against Ireland, Scotland, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and the like.

ODIs in general were played few and far between in the early 80s, which makes Dev’s knock even more spectacular. From ’78 – ’83, Dev played about 20 ODIs.

Great list. Hard to separate. But Dev for me. When he came in India were in a deeper hole and his strike rate in that game would be the equivalent of scoring like 3 runs / ball these days. Also playing in England, bigger ground, toothpick for a bat. I’d say both his and Maxi’s opponents were equally as weak. Let’s face it, Afghanistan bowled and fielded appallingly. What adds to the drama of Maxi’s knock though was the low win % chasing and his one leg hobble.

You mean like the rank turner for our earlier game where our fast bowlers managed to take 4/10 Aussie wickets and your spin bowlers went wicketless at over 5 runs per over?

You are right about India choking though… this will be the only reason you beat us. India are the most complete and in form team, but if we get tested and our game plan is stretched (i.e. Bumrah and Shami get carted or we have a top order collapse) , we are ripe for the picking.

On current form, you’d think our best line up includes Pandya (when fit) in place for Siraj. Almost on par with bowling but Pandya obv offers a lot more in the field and with the bat.

Was a big fan of SKY’s relatively circumspect knock. It was the perfect scenario to curb his instincts and grind out some valuable runs and push our total past 200.

Hopefully Kohli and Rahul got those horrendous shots out of the way and won’t try something like that again for the rest of the tournament!

Don’t want to kick a team when they are down, ebs and flows for all teams and stuff. But I have to say, everything went right for England at the last world cup. They had a clutch of players at the peak of their powers that were able to execute an exciting strategy in conditions that suited them perfectly. And they won it in the most controversial of circumstances. Aside from this, in the past 8 iterations of the tournament, they have not even made it to the semis. Compare this to my (frustrating) team, India. Consistently going deep then falling apart when it matters most. Australia on the other hand seem to know how to time their run perfectly in these tournaments and might be doing so again in this one.

Spot on. India in the SF is different beast to India in the qualifying stages. We generally go deep in world cups but seem to always implode at the last few hurdles. If I were Australia, I’d give myself a bloody good chance of knocking off India in the SF.

India needs more pressure games like the NZ one, and our middle order needs to be tested more. I wonder if the Indian management / coaching unit is doing anything differently this time around to get us mentally ready for the SF… or just ignoring it and hoping for the best. If we get our heads right, we should remain favourites.

First time India has been tested for a prolonged period and we did ok. Some dropped catches, sloppy ground fielding, but did well to claw back in the death overs. Batting was composed after the blitz by the openers. Important to play with so much tension in the lead up to the semis, which is where India do their implosion in ICC events!

Last week there was on op ed on The Roar about Kohli and Rahul not rotating the strike so Kohli could score his century against Bangladesh in the dying stages of the game. For many reason, such as the context of that game and the fact there are countless precedents in cricket (Australian cricket included) and other sports where teammates help others reach personal milestones when the result in beyond doubt, I was fully supportive of what Kohli and Rahul did. But I think Kohli did it again last night. India needed 5 to win from 16 balls, Jadeja at the non-strikers end with Shami in next. Against a very good NZ team. For me, this was not the situation to turn down a single. Next ball, Kohli tries to smash a 6 (thankfully he didn’t waste any more deliveries) and gets caught. This was not the time / situation to think about getting to 100 and play a big shot. Should have taken the singles and got the W safely.

Australia’s body language and intensity has completely changed. They look like a different team and from the perspective of this Indian supporter, they are a legit contender now for the cup, along with NZ. The tournament is coming to life, some potentially good games coming up and we should see a few close results.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Might just have to disagree on this one but a few Roarers here have cited examples of team mates helping team mates reach personal milestones in different sports (where results are beyond doubt).
I’ve also watched the replay and overlaid it with Cricinfo commentary.
From what I can tell, over 39.3 was the first time a single was not taken. And nothing in the Foxtel or Cricinfo commentary suggests this was Kohli’s idea. (note KL Rahul did say after the match it was his call not to take the single, but your choice if you want to believe him). At this point, India needed like 15 runs to win.
So the precedent to not take singles was set – by KL Rahul. Then there were two more balls where singles weren’t taken – 40.1 and 40.5. Then couple of balls later Kohli smashes a 6 and game over.
So all this outrage – enough to write a pretty scathing opinion piece – because three (maybe four, if I missed one somewhere) singles weren’t taken across two overs. In an innings where Kohli faced almost 100 balls.
I won’t be able to find evidence, but I have been to plenty of matches – test and ODI – where I have seen Australian players slow down to help team mates score more runs, or declarations get slightly delayed to help someone get a milestone. None of which had any impact on the outcome, like this game. And we all leave the stadium and think nothing of it.
You are a good writer Tim and I much prefer to read your well researched, nuanced and critical thinking pieces.

100%. I obtained a copy of the leaked memo from the BCCI to the umpires, and it read something like this: If India is chasing and if the game result is beyond doubt and if Kohli is nearing his century and if the opposition bowler bowls a tight wide then you must NOT call a wide.

Or perhaps the simpler, and more reasonable explanation is that RK, being the seasoned campaigner that he is, wasn’t having a bar of the questionable sportsmanship being displayed by Bangladeshi bowler and in the context of the game / situation decided on his own accord not to call a wide.

I’ll also add that team mates helping team mates reach personal milestones is pretty common in all sports. Ind v Pak a long time ago, Kumble was on 9 wickets and I think once of the pace bowlers bowled an over wide of off stump to ensure he didn’t pick up a scalp. Sri Lanka maybe something similar against India when Murali was closing in on 800 wickets (or some other record). In AFL, midfielders search for the FF as he reaches the 100 goal milestone. In NBA, assists flying to a particular player nearing a scoring record.

Context is important – you’d never want to see this if there is any risk of it impacting the outcome of a game. Which wasn’t the case here.

Tim – Get a grip. I know you and the other editors on The Roar love taking a jab at Kohli at any miniscule opportunity. You’d think somehow the game was on the line and India lost (or nearly lost). In any case, Rahul himself said after the game that he denied the singles despite Kohli’s objections.

Kohli has bled for India, and I don’t need to caveat that by saying he isn’t perfect. Nobody is. But he has taken our discipline, confidence, fight and fitness to another level. He celebrates his team mates successes – catches, centuries, wickets – more passionately than his own.

Incredible that we are yet to have a close finish despite curators producing excellent wickets. Seeing lots of 200 – 300 scores and pace and spin bowlers doing well. Pace bowlers have taken about 150 of the 250 wickets that have fallen so far in the tournament at a slightly better overall average and economy.
Tonight’s game should be a ripper, IF Pakistan play to their full potential. Australia won’t implode but Pakistan are every chance.
The game will also be India’s first proper game-long test and I can see the lower order having to finally pad up score some runs in that game.

I don’t understand the complaint here. If Warner is out on an umps call, then it isn’t controversial. It’s just tight. The whole, and only, point of DRS is to eliminate controversial calls (or howlers). Not tight calls.

Bumrah in full flight is one of the most joyous spectacles in cricket.

I love these types of 250 par wickets. Much better than 400 run slog fests. Gives the bowlers a chance rather than turn up like bowling machines.

For me, the worst shot was Maxwell. I know he had to get the run rate up, but playing off the back foot and leaving your stumps exposed against a a left arm leggie on a pitch with variable bounce was too risky. A couple of India’s younger players also played rash shots leaving us in a huge hole. Kohli and KL Rahul’s partnership was superb in the circumstances. But if they have to keep marshalling rescue missions, India wont be going far in this world cup.

Paul, it’s simplistic and misguided to draw a correlation between a country’s population and sporting success. Sports success is a multifaceted outcome influenced by numerous factors, and a deeper understanding of these complexities will contribute to a more nuanced perspective on the subject.

I’ve lived in both in India and Australia and have seen firsthand the differences in sports infrastructure. Once a couple of friends and I rode an autorickshaw 4000km across India to raise funds for charity. Throughout our journey, I didn’t see a single lush public cricket oval. Here there are about 10 within a stones throw of my house in Melbourne. In Australia, you can step outside your house and go for a 20km jog on safe footpaths and beautiful running tracks. No chance of doing that in India.

Despite India generating 80% of global cricket revenue, it receives only about 40% of it. While this is still a lot, it needs to spread across a much larger population, leading to inefficiencies in the cricket infrastructure. In Australia the system is set up to ensure that the best talents rise to the top. But there would be so much talent that falls through the cracks in India that never makes it to the elite level.

In Australia, we’re passionate about all sports, and children are encouraged to participate from an early age. This emphasis on sports is not as prominent in India, where the educational pursuit often takes precedence.

So despite all the real challenges, India isn’t doing that badly. We are easily the most successful test side in the past decade by any measure – W/L ratio overall, at home and away. We play most of our away games in SENA countries and have had more success in these countries than all other Asian teams combined. Sure we lost two WTC finals, but the fact that we made it there is an achievement. We always go deep at the 50 over WC. And T20 is so fickle. Seriously so what if you with a T20 WC, it means SFA.

More ICC silverware would be nice, but don’t underestimate India’s achievements. I reckon Australia would trade their most recent 50 over WC trophy and ICC test championship mace for 2 test series wins in India.

Bloody Indian fans turning out in huge numbers to LO and test matches around the world always adding colour and cheer to the atmosphere in great spirit.

If only we were more like Aussie and English fans who vote with their feet and make sure stadiums are empty for BBL, Hundred and T20 Blast.

Someone on The Roar commented that nothing works in India and Bazball will also fail. Australia did well recently in India playing 3 specialist spinners in one match. But England don’t have that. So maybe Bazball is their solution to the India puzzle. Root is excellent against spin. And the other batsmen seem comfortable to use their feet. Who knows, some fast scoring may get Ashwin and Jadeja to change their lengths and Rohit may spread the field prematurely.