Silly Point of View

ICC World Test Championship Similar script with a few pieces here and there resulted in a similar result with West Indies losing the second Test comfortably by 133 runs conceding the series to Australia with a game to go. It was again a case of West Indies letting the match slip away after they had their opponents in a tricky situation with both bat and ball. Australia opted to bat first again and it was a similar story with their top order not adding much once again as West Indies had them 110-5. The familiar foes  Beau Webster  and Alex Carey joined hands yet again on a tough pitch as the West Indies' pacers extracted abundant swing and bounce to trouble their opponents.  Both Carey and Webster applied themselves strongly to conjure up a 112-run partnership which pushed the total to 286 at the end of Day 1 with all the pacers amongst the wickets for the Windies. The young bowling line-up again proved themselves but the batting faltered yet again. Brandon King playin...

ICC World Test Championship Coming into this match without  Jasprit Bumrah  on another flat deck after a morale shattering defeat at Headingley, this Indian team was riddled with questions. Many criticized the decision to not play Bumrah at Edgbaston given there was a break of 7 days in between both Tests. But it was always expected that India will save Bumrah for a better bowling friendly surface at Lord's given that he is only advised to play three Tests on this tour. However, even after all that unfolded at the toss, the Indian bowling still looked better to me compared to their English counterparts. India's strength lied in their bowling as predicted before the start of the series. And England has played it in their hands by providing the easiest pitches for the batters in the country ever. Except for that horrible last day at Headingley, India has dominated the series so far and they came back roaring in this series to level it 1-1 going into the third Test. If there wa...

ICC World Test Championship It if wasn't for West Indies' poor catching form in both the innings and some absolutely pathetic umpiring, the match could have swung the other way last week. It was more of the same from  Pat Cummins '  men as the top order once again struggled on a spicy pitch where the fast bowlers made merry. Rescued by their middle and lower order otherwise, we would have been going into the second Test with a different score line.   West Indies' young fast bowlers bowled with great heart with the ball exploiting the conditions on offer after losing the toss. Australia handed a recall to the exciting young opener  Sam Konstas  as  Josh Inglis  replaced the injured  Steve Smith , who is confirmed to be back for the second Test.  Shamar Joseph  beautifully exploited Konstas ' weakness to the inswinging delivery getting him out lbw in the first and bowled in the second innings. Smith will be back at his preferred No 4...

ICC World Test Championship The Day 5 of Headingley Test could have been labelled as a miracle if this any other team would have done what this English Team did. However, for this Bazball driven team, it was just another day at the office. We had enough days to reflect on the result of the first Test and it still feels like an anomaly. Maybe for England. But for India it was just one thing: a catastrophe .  This has happened before in exactly the same manner. In 2022 , at Birmingham. It was deja-vu.  Jasprit Bumrah  was the captain then,  Shubman Gill  it was this time. Gill couldn't have had a tougher introduction to Test captaincy and the challenges it brings. It might be harsh to judge him from what we saw on the field in the first Test but one thing is certain what everyone feared, he looks out of place as a captain. This is also because rather than grooming a proper Test captain, his appointment to the post was abrupt. The selection committee is the sole b...