Nope, was one article from a dodgy Indian paper that’s it - I doubt it
If Pant get’s dropped, it’s due to infighting / selection politics imo. Pant, Sharma and Kohli seemed to spend most their time in the slip cordon arguing with each other and Pant and Kohli had huge brain fades at the crease. The interesting thing is that had Jaiswal been able to catch, they could actually lead this series 2-1 atm.
Captain Woke (according to News Corp)…proves it.
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Looks like he’s playing.
Sharma out, Gill in and batting at 3. KL Rahul and Jaiswal to open. Prasidh Krishna to replace Akash Deep who is injured.
Bumrah to captain.
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Does he have a brother called Harry?
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The Aussies have their issues but gee whiz the disunity among the Indian camp is at an all time high
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Disappointing result for Australia. Rohit and Pant have been playing on reputation alone all series. Both fully deserved their axing/opting out/call it what you will.
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Why is Boomerah in the pram though? That’s dumb for mine. He’s put forth a superhuman performance with minimal bowling back up, and has conducted himself with class all along the way. He now gets a decent chance to go 2-0 as Captain tomorrow too. Shiraz should be in there.
Boom has done the bowling equivalent of Smiff’s 2016/2017 performance in India. 3 tons in 4 tests and a 71 average. His teammates? Only Maxwell (39) could manage more than half that average.
Shawarma out is a huge loss for us, not only because he’s a free opening wicket, but he’s tactically inept.
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Overcast and humid with a bit of drizzle around Sydney this mornin, but the drizzle is expected to clear. With the humidity and cloud cover the first session might be tricky for the batters. Could be a case of a good toss to lose. We shall see!
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Australia will be very keen to bat as they like to do, especially after bowling practically all day just a few days to go. You’re right, a good toss to lose though. Surely India would bat first too? You don’t want to bat last on a turning day 4/5 deck!
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Looking back, wasn’t it the norm to bat first if you won the toss in Sydney? And spin them out on a wearing track. But as the wiser cricket heads on here remind me, the SCG has changed a fair bit these days.
Pity that. 'Cause after 4 Tests of seam and bounce I always looked forward to a turner and the spin maestros calling the shots.
Who knows. Maybe Lyon and Webster might get us home in the end 
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Yeah, they will want to bat but it isn’t hard to imagine Bumrah running amok on a morning like this morning.
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Arrived in Sydney and surprise surprise… it’s raining.
Not much but enough to be annoying and might cause a delay.
I’ll be attending the SCG tomorrow and forecast looks much better then thankfully.
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Totally agree. I said as much a few days ago, and the Gambir presser only adds to the sense of foreboding and disquiet among the Indian camp. Their fragile psyche coming strongly to the fore once more. They have always had plenty of talent, what has been in question is their mental application and capacity to absorb pressure and still keep on playing. The cracks are there, and another poor performance will only see them widen like a day 4/5 pitch, no matter how much their coach tries to spin otherwise. A pathetic attempt to save face by saying their captain has done a Myer and decided to rest/drop himself fools no one, and instead opens the team up to much well deserved criticism and laughter. They could hardly have played this lead up any worse.
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Fortunately it doesn’t look like it will rain. As you would know it hasn’t rained for weeks up here. My lawn was almost dead after going away for 10 days over Christmas. I will have her sprinkler out again today.
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It’s ok, they’ve booked a test match. Rain will form out of nowhere and save your lawn.
Found a ten year old article about Smiths first test ton. Interesting to read with hindsight!
Throughout a remarkably up and down series, predictions about Smith’s future couldn’t have been more diverse.
Some see him as Australia’s next Test captain and others as the next dead man walking in the batting order.
Indeed Smith was lucky to survive for the fifth Test at The Oval, after a disastrous performance at Chester-le-Street where he dropped catches and threw his wicket away carelessly.
Usman Khawaja instead copped the bullet.
How long until they toss the coin? What an important one it will be…