Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Some innovative thinking saw India go with four spinners on a raging Eden Gardens turner in the first Test of the ongoing series against South Africa. Axar Patel was the additional spin-bowling all-rounder and his inclusion prompted the omission of Sai Sudharsan from the playing XI. Washington Sundar was asked to bat at No. 3 and he played 82 balls in the first innings followed by another 92 in the second. It required skill and top-class temperament to bat for 122 minutes in the second dig on that lottery deck. The team management decided to…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Question: Did the ACA Stadium pitch here in Guwahati change drastically on the third day for the Indian batting to implode? Answer: No. On this surface, Kuldeep Yadav, batting at No. 9, played 134 deliveries and added 72 runs for the ninth wicket with Washington Sundar. That was India’s only rearguard in an otherwise forgettable batting display. Only one batsman, Yashasvi Jaiswal, went past the 50-run mark. Washington’s 48 was the second highest in a sorry scorecard. In the first Test at Eden Gardens, on a Bunsen, Washington was the only Indian batsman to play more…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Kuldeep Yadav at the press conference after the second day’s play: “… yahan pe pura road tha (we have a road here).” It didn’t age well. On a sluggish pitch that looked placid until yesterday, Indian batsmen were bounced out by Marco Jansen on the third day of the second Test here in Guwahati. At Eden Gardens, they couldn’t play spin on a turner. On an ACA Stadium surface, still pretty good, they failed to handle the lift. Take the case of Dhruv Jurel, the team’s makeshift No. 4 in Shubman Gill’s absence. Less than…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Shubman Gill is steadily improving and is on his way to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bangalore for neck rehabilitation, it is learnt. After missing the ongoing Guwahati Test, Gill has also been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against South Africa starting on November 30. Whether he can feature in the five-match T20I series against the Proteas that follows will be based on his progress. The T20I series commences on December 9. On Sunday, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced a 15-member squad for the ODIs against South Africa and, in the…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Kuldeep Yadav gave the punchline: “Kolkata ka pitch alag tha, yahan pe pura road tha (the Kolkata pitch was different, we have a highway here).” Maybe, it summed up the collective mood of the Indian team after a day when South Africa made them toil hard and all but slammed the door shut. Kuldeep, however, added: “So it’s challenging, and this is why it’s called Test cricket.” Pitch-wise, are India moving from one extreme to the other? The question has to be asked, because if batting was a pain in the neck on the Eden…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati For a moment, let’s rewind to Sitanshu Kotak’s press conference two days before the match. “See, the last match wicket, Gautam (Gambhir) took all the blame on himself,” India’s batting coach had said. Honestly, I will talk all the honest things, what I know and what I feel. He took the blame because he felt that he should not take the blame to the curators.” In Kolkata, it was a case of whose pitch was it anyway. In Guwahati, on a proper Test match surface, albeit sluggish, South Africa posted 489 in their first innings. The…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati The first three overs that Jasprit Bumrah bowled on the second morning of the second Test here in Guwahati were maidens. Mohammed Siraj, too, chipped in with a maiden, but stand-in captain Rishabh Pant wanted to introduce spin early and brought Kuldeep Yadav into the attack. The left-arm wrist-spinner took a long time to start the over and his skipper was frustrated. More importantly, the stop clock crossed the 60-second mark and India were given a warning. The International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the stop-clock rule in Tests earlier this year and according to it, the…

Ruturaj Gaikwad (PC:X) Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Two vacancies, three contenders. With Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer out injured, India’s ODI squad needs a couple of replacements. The side is likely to be picked today and Rishabh Pant is expected to return to the 50-over fold after missing the series in Australia. For the other spot, it’s a two-way race between Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad, RevSportz understands. RevSportz already reported that Gill, the ODI skipper, will miss the three-match series against South Africa, starting on November 30, as he is recovering from a neck injury, that ruled…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati Whose day was it anyway? At stumps, South Africa were 247/6 after winning the toss and batting first on a pitch that at times looked “lifeless”, according to India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate. Taking that into account, India would be happier of the two sides after Day 1 of the second Test here in Guwahati. The visitors probably missed a trick by giving Mohammed Siraj an over in fading light with the second new ball. Tony de Zorzi could have resorted to a bit of gamesmanship a la Zak Crawley at Lord’s. Of course, India…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati On a good Test match pitch, the pure skills of the Indian bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav in particular, came to the fore. It was a joy to behold. Exhibit 1: Kuldeep tossed one up to Wiaan Mulder – slower in the air and outside off. Mulder’s eyes lit up, he fancied an inside-out drive over extra-cover. The ball dipped and the batsman didn’t get the required elevation. Yashasvi Jaiswal at mid-off, a little deepish, took a simple catch. On the face of it, Mulder was done in by poor shot selection. In reality, he was fooled by…