The Surrender at the SCG

An all to play for test match on a green mamba at the SCG that culminated with Australia regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the strength of a pair of sustained bowling performances.

Even before the test it was becoming increasingly clear that the team was struggling to get their act together. We had the head coach being combative in the pre-game press conference, and then a lot of speculation as to whether the designated captain would be playing. The uncertainty continued all the way to the toss before it was confirmed that Rohit was not playing - dropped or opted or stood down - nobody will ever know. And then came the rather surprising selection of two spinners in playing XI for a match that was to be played on a green top.

Then came the now familiar routine of our main batter struggling as we got bowled out for 185 in the first go around. It looked all lost when Bumrah left the ground for scans, but our other two seamers fought back and managed to get India a 4 run lead. After a riotous start to the second innings, our batters returned to their tried and test modes of failing as we had another batting collapse at the hands of Scotty Bowland who finished with ten wickets in the match. This meant Australia had a smallish 4th innings target and that became miniscule when Bumrah did not take the field for the fourth innings. And even the blind faithful were forced to concede after about 6 overs of terrible bowling from the other quicks, as the game became a cake-walk for Australia.

Questions

1. What is wrong with the Indian team management ? Should the house be cleaned ?
2. Is it the end of the road for Rohit and Virat in red ball cricket ?
3. Will England 2025 look like the tours of 2011, 2014 and 2018 ?

In this episode we talk largely about what happened at the SCG and in particular look at the causes for the struggles in this test and for that matter in the series.

Take a listen and let us know what you think.

#INDvsAUS #BGTSeries #CricketTalk #WTC25 #AllOutForNoLoss #BCCI #Bumrah #PatCummins #MCG #Bowland #Webster #SCG #Gambhir

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/the-surrender-at-the-scg

An outstanding test match that saw some then 370,000 people throng the MCG. And a match that was essentially decided due to more mistakes committed by one of the teams.

Team India was kept afloat largely by the performance of one individual - Jasprit Bumrah. Best exemplified by one exchange between comms where one said "Rohit must be trying to figure out whether he can bowl from both ends" and the response from the other was "Cummins would also like to have him bowl for his team. Perhaps one of the greatest bowling performances by an Indian bowler in an away series in SENA.

What we have though is two senior batters who are woefully out of form, other batters who are either inconsistent or simply careless, a toothless bowling attack save one individual. Once the senior Aussie batters started scoring, it was always going to be a tough climb.

Questions ?

1. Is the team management thinking right with regards to personnel and balance ?
2. Can you win with a one man bowling unit ?
3. Can we stop Smith and Cummins ?

What are we talking about in this episode ?

In this episode while we talk about what happened at the MCG dwelling more on what were the causes and what can be done to turn around the ship. A fightback in Sydney will still suffice with regards to retaining the BGT although perhaps a place in the WTC final might be a bridge too far.

Take a listen and let us know what you think.

#INDvsAUS #BGTSeries #CricketTalk #WTC25 #AllOutForNoLoss #BCCI #Bumrah #PatCummins #MCG #Virat #Rohit #Konstas #Nitish

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/the-mcg-meltdown

Boxing Day - Here We Come

The 2024 BGT series is tantalizing poised at 1-1 with 2 to play and the teams are making their way to the MCG for the Boxing Day Test. Reports are that the tickets for the first couple of days have been sold out - so we might see a raucous 100,000+ people throng the G to watch the teams resume their series. Team India will surely be happy with the current state of affairs with the series tied at 1 apiece with somewhat friendlier venues to negotiate.

The curator has promised a green top that will settle down a bit and allow the spinners to come into play. More importantly has joined the Aussies media in trying to get under the skin of the Indian team and media personnel.

1. Will Team India get inspired by their past record at the G ?
2. How will the draw at Brisbane play a role in the strategies of both the team ?
3. Is there a possibility that some tactical decisions be impacted by the WTC ?
4. Has Australia made an inspired change by blooding a teenager - the last one they coopted is now the captain of the national team.

In this episode while we talk about the prospects of the upcoming Boxing Day test, we will be walking you through the last 50 years of India v Australia test matches at the MCG. From the inimitable B.S.Chandrasekhar's twin 6/52 to Ajinkya Rahane's sublime 100 and a lot of action in the middle. This includes Kapil Dev da Jawab nahin, the wicket that changed the trajectory of the series, that Katich full-toss, the anointing of the great Jasprit Bumrah and not to forget the pitch tampering during the game by the MCG curators.

Take a listen and let us know what you think.

#INDvsAUS #BGTSeries #CricketTalk #WTC25 #AllOutForNoLoss #BCCI #Bumrah #TravisHead #PatCummins #MCG #Virat #KapilDev #Rahane #BSChandrasekhar

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran