Border-Gavaskar lessons: what is the cricket future for India and Australia?

[@s2r2420]

Thanks a ton for a nice coverage. Very balanced and sensible set of cricketing opinions. Really enjoyed it from India. Looking forward to your commentary for India England Series. I think if we remove Gambir from the equation, things will become more professional in Indian Cricket. Currently it is political.

[@kirathekillernote2173]

But these guys are also political. They never leave any opportunity to paddle their social politics into the game commentary. Sorry, but now doors are open and it's impossible to go back. Both in Australia & India, at least for a considerable future, the administration & the media will try to insert their politics into the game & cheer for the "right" type of attitude. It could be nationalistic triumphalism for Indians, while DEI fueled political correctness from Aussies. They are here to stay & you can choose your poison

[@jimmy_the_sound]

Is it fair to say that Kholi didn't start copping it from the crowds until he intentionally bumped a 19 year old kid on boxing day and the ICC gave him a free pass? From my perspective, I felt that Kholi let himself down badly in that incident, but it was the lack of consequences that really put Aussie crowds off side.

[@FinalWordCricket]

It is fair to say that, yes.

[@jetpark3743]

There was racist chanting at the ground. Drunk Cronulla riot types...good on ya Kohli!

[@danielm173]

@@jetpark3743would that have happened if Kohli didn’t shoulder charge a teenager ?

[@jetpark3743]

@@danielm173 don't know if you are dumb or just stupid.. probably both

[@the_englishtenor]

Thanks for a great series, boys. It’s been great following you throughout.

[@trl768]

Under Dravid, Indian players were professional and played within the spirit of cricket. Gambhir is an utter embarrassment. He is openly promoting thuggery and nothing else to show for when it comes to results.

[@Ashutosh-lw3cn]

Thanks a lot for bringing Dravid, as majority of people were bashing same Dravid before June 2024 for making the team shit. Point is we have seen 3 coaches changed since 2017 (span of 3 years), can we say the same about the players esp the underperforming seniors? 😑

[@roshanariyaratnam8225]

Gambhir is a shambles in general

[@Sadabahar62]

India played the series with just one bowler who was cooked by the end . Batting collapses getting too frequent and they batted for less than 50 overs in some innings , that makes it even harder for bowlers not getting much rest between innings . Rohit sharma ‘s captaincy and batting was a big drag for India as well . All these ‘superstar ‘ batters need to be dropped and more professionalism injected in this Indian team . Aussies were clearly the better team. They applied themselves better and their bowling , as a unit, was relentless . Deserving winners ! As an Indian fan I loved the quality of cricket but disappointed with how India performed . Thx for the excellent shows guys !

[@ashishshel]

The GOATS!!! thanks for the lovely coverage and providing more than any highlight package can ever!!

[@nikunjdixit3225]

I think from an Aus perspective, Ind exposed enough weaknesses that the Eng team can believe they can really put up a fight. The Aus batting is dodgy. Konstas to me is a bit of a slogger and idk how that will work out in long term. Labuschagne had one good test. Smith hit two important hundreds but still ended the tour with an average in the mid 30's. So it was up and down. As a batsman, Head probably had the most impact. Aus won because of their bowling. Boland and Cummins in particular. Cummins is a superstar, but doesn't quite get the applause he deserves, but he shrugged off a rusty performance at Perth to deliver great performances, particularly at the MCG. Boland made sure Hazelwood wasn't missed. Starc fell off a bit by the end but he still did well overall. First time I can recall Lyon having such negligible impact. For Ind, it wasn't as bad as I had feared going into the series, but that was only because of superhuman work from Bumrah. Jaiswal and NKR are the only batters who come of the series with their reputations enhanced or intact. It was fairly humiliating to watch Kohli get out again and again in the same manner, and to watch Rohit look so at sea. Pant was largely disappointing until Sydney. Gill squandered his opportunities and KL again fell off after looking good in the first few tests. In bowling, Siraj blew hot and cold, exemplified by his 1st and 2nd inns bowling perf at Sydney. Got wickets, just not consistently enough to be good backup. Prasidh, Akashdeep, and Harshit impressed at times. No spinner made any impact. Ind went in with spinning allrounders instead of pacers due to their batting fragility and paid the price in Sydney. Lot of work required in both bowling and batting for the team to be competitive in Eng.

[@TomMarvan]

Before England visit for The Ashes, they have 5 Tests at home v India, and Australia have 2 v SL and then the final v South Africa, so there is a lot of cricket to be played. I agree that England will believe they can put up a fight, unless they do not perform against an Indian team whose weaknesses have been exposed against NZ and Australia. India has won 1 of its last 8 Tests, and lost 6 of them. I think they are a better team with Rohit in, but the brainstrust will likely continue with Gill, but overall the got the team selections wrong on this tour. 2 spinners at the SCG is a thing of the past, and I a, not certain Bumrah can play all tests v England. Kohli is a legend, but he is out of form. For the Aussies, Konstas will be given an opportunity to solidify his position on the Sri Lanka tour. I can see Uzzie playing his final Test at the SCG in 2026, with a potential replacement coming from the SL tour squad. I am not certain Marsh will return. Green will be eased back during the next Aussie summer.

[@andyc565]

I don't agree Australia's batting is dodgy. It's just a hard place to bat these days, hardly any State players average 40+. England will find it tough to bat there too.

[@iamhugeandsquare]

Konstas isnt usually a slogger, he was told to bat this way to combat Bumrah, he hasnt batted like this at all in shield cricket. His innings at the MCG was his second highest strike rate in his first class career

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

Everything you said has resulted due to the nature of the pitches. England has built their game on flat pitches and struggled with bowling pitches.

[@louquay]

Konstas is not a slogger. His first class strike rate is 52. He'd never played a ramp shot in a first class game before mid-December 2024. He had a strategy and he tried to execute it. It came off 2 out or 4 times. A decent return in a series where openers generally struggled.

[@gbrowser5867]

Mitch Marsh has been good value over the past few years. His problem is that both he and Travis Head are shaky starters, and when they both fail it creates serious problems. I think the selectors realised that you really could only afford to have one of the two in the team. Beau Webster looked technically correct and, when Green returns, I could see the possibility of playing Webster at No 3 or even as an opener.

[@FinalWordCricket]

Good point about being shakey starters

[@LuJia84]

I also thought Webster looked like a possible opener in Sydney.

[@chemistryset1]

Subscribed. Watched you both a couple of times now - pretty bearable! Yeah nah, good stuff, prefer it to other stuff like the grade cricketer or whatever they're called. Just when I think the dude on the left is bringing the insight, the dude on the right unexpectedly steps it up another level. I loike it!

[@sumbdi]

If the pitches for ashes are similar to BGT series then don't see england even competing against Australia bcz they don't have quality fast bowler like bumrah who can consistently put pressure on Australia and apart from root and brook dont see any quality in england batting

[@chemistryset1]

@@sumbdi - no one has a bowler like Bumrah. England's point of difference is their batting firepower. They can put serious pressure on Australia's bowlers, particularly Duckett, Root and especially Harry Brook.

[@sumbdi]

@@chemistryset1 only root and brook apart from them none of them have a proper technique or defense t survive against hostile Australian bowling attack but it ll also depend on the pitches as well.

[@stewartpratt62]

Ah boys I forgot how polite and non-abusive the Indian fans are to the Aussie lads, noting they don't antagonize the locals over there and you're remiss to not note that.

[@FinalWordCricket]

Whattaboutery doesn't make it right

[@kinghenry666]

​@@FinalWordCricket "whataboutism" is a made up expression when people don't like hypocrisy being pointed out

[@rodsimpson3963]

Both you guys do a great job..best cricket podcast there is.....cheers fellas

[@ANOOPBAL]

Seriously, if IND lost 3 tests in a row against NZ at home, then why do do people expect them to beat AUS in Australia? The results are very fair and IND even lucky to win at Perth. 🙏

[@thiru_asc1]

Yes ,Partly true ,but some individuals stood up at certain times especially Bumrah,Jaiswal and Nitish Reddy,for Australia all their bowlers were very good ,though Bumrah missing out bowling in the 5th test did help Australia big time ,but Australia overall were better side and deserved to win the series.Gambhir the coach was absolutely clueless and deserve to be sacked immediately along with Rohit for sure,Virat unless he Plays in domestic cricket and comes back to form can be selected for ENG,else curtains for him

[@Krish-2206]

India needs to look past limited over specialists disguised as test batsmen, barring Pant/Jaiswal who have the temperament for test cricket.

[@adeadgirl13]

As an Indian, I'm not looking forward to the Gambhir era. I don't know what happened when they were clearly setting up a system for coaches and VVS Laxman was slated to take over from Dravid. India's going to have some serious times ahead (pun will be understood by hindi speakers only.)

[@apurbadas6539]

Thanx for the coverage

[@rohananish]

Loved your reports. Thank you

[@FinalWordCricket]

Cheers Rohan

[@maxwatkins7032]

Konstas is father of India v Bumrah is father of Australia comment section will be missed 😂😂😂😂😂

[@michaelrapson]

If it means winning a series, then Australia should be "soft' every time.

[@Dyl_RK]

Man what ever happened to jye Richardson … is he still a talent on the fringe ? And when do we see lance the lightning bolt come into the side ? Is Mcsweeney basically waiting for Steve smith retirement ?

[@297fihsy]

Love Jye but he keeps getting injured. He was in the squad though and would’ve been first picked after Boland. Jye and Lance will probably be mainstays after Starc, Boland and Hazlewood retire

[@nicholasperry1816]

Thanks Lads. Heading over to Sri Lanka for the second test, are you fellas planning any events over there?

[@FinalWordCricket]

Yes we are!

[@producermind9030]

Good point about marsh.

[@pravirsingh2235]

You guys were fantastic. Bumrah was missed on the final day.

[@apurbadas6539]

I want to see Konstas in India in 2027 will be fun

[@JasmineRGBLights]

It's an awkward time for Australia - Konstas is far from a settled choice at the top of the order, but on the other hand keeping Khawaja for the Ashes next summer seems a very poor choice regardless of how he goes in Sri Lanka (might come down to how he goes against SA in the WTC final, but I think he's cooked against genuine pace, even when it's not delivered by a magician like Bumrah). Do you go back to Harris or Bancroft or Renshaw as a stopgap when the Ashes are on the line? Seems unlikely, but selecting a completely fresh face in that context would also be pretty wild. The rest I think go round again, with Labuschagne I think the only one who could play himself out of the side before next summer (Green to 3 and Webster at 6, especially if the former isn't bowling, seems eminently possible).

[@thomasglover7937]

I hear ya, but in Khawaja’s defence, he’s been having to face, arguably, one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, with a brand new cherry. It’s an horrendous gig. IMO he’s done enough since his recall to go out on his own terms v England @ Sydney next year

[@COVIDPLAYSOFTHEWEEK12345]

I disagree with your marsh analysis. Was the wrong call picking him for Perth. A guy in Webster was clocking historical domestic numbers as an all rounder. You have also overblown his impact in that NZ series dramatically. The larger issue here is that we are carrying so many players over 30, we needed to drop at least one or two of the usual aging bunch before this series and blood some new talent. When 6 or 7 guys retire in a 12 month period (which will happen in the next couple years) we will look back at this series as a massive missed opportunity. Marsh was the only obvious suspect to drop and perhaps bring in a new batting option?

[@gwinyaizhandire7535]

The best time to think about your retirement, is before your fans and your bosses do.- Me, 2025.

[@Lupi33z]

when Australia wins its always more tetchy... its almost as if one side are poor losers 🙂

[@mandarfadnavis337]

To be honest, as Gavaskar said if this shit tip made in india which obviously a spin friendly then it will be discussion more about a pitch and not a win...just saying

[@PapaLazarou19]

Only cause it's seen that the Indian pitches are more unique/spinny than other places. Is that fair to say? And it's not like this was a shit tip - it wasn't totally one sided, maybe 60/40, and the pitch wasn't too unpredictable - was the Indian team more unhappy with this pitch than the Aussies? I didn't hear that. Bumrah might've won it if he was fit anyway.

[@PaulBunchofnumbers]

How was a seven-session shitheap in the interests of the side who only needed a draw to win the series?

[@iamhugeandsquare]

@@PapaLazarou19 what are you talking about mate? it was a shit tip, day 1 had loads of variable bounce and was hard to predict, it only got worse on day 2 and 3. Aussie Fan

[@PapaLazarou19]

@@iamhugeandsquare I was just arguing some of the original points. I wouldn't say it's that extreme, and I don't think we would've complained much about it if Bumrah beat us.

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

India has a massive victim mentality. Pathetic

[@hershpuri]

I had heard that Australian and Indian cricket cultures/ecosystems are most bullshit producing cultures in cricket. its crazy!! the good thing is aussie cricket media is nerdy!! (i love it) Indian team will go trough a major overhaul. India was just too dependent on Jaiswal and Bumrah!!(also Reddy)

[@Lupi33z]

the so called petulance of cricketers is small bananas compared to the petulance of tennis players... we'll see that play out in the next few weeks

[@LovelyForest-lv4wc]

Gambhir is positioned under the right political sacs!

[@laggers54]

It’ll be tough but England have a real chance to be competitive this year, probably for the first time in 2/3 tours.

[@DoFi12]

Their bowling attack is unbelievably mid or unproven. They don’t have a star man, nor a complete attack.

[@ethancoster1324]

Carse and Atkinson both did very well in New Zealand last year.​@@DoFi12

[@andyc565]

Australia looks such a tough place to bat these days, big question mark as to whether Bazball will work in those conditions.

[@laggers54]

Both teams have weakness’s, Englands batting right now is better, Australia’s bowling is better. It’s whether England can cobble enough runs together so the bowlers have something. The bowling attack is not mid but it is unproven, Atkinson just took 52 wickets in 11 tests nothing mid about that.

[@jetpark3743]

Better than whining and whinging TGC

[@sodea13]

australia won not because they were better than india....they won because they were less worse than india....to struggle to beat this indian team that had 1 player...i reckon an in form south africa will cream them in the wtc final....

[@robynmitchell9563]

Thanks Professor.

[@russellbach5615]

Lol

[@jetpark3743]

There was racist chanting at the ground. Drunk Cronulla riot types...good on ya Kohli!

[@vishalkulkarni6046]

If India had Shami fit for this series .. India would have won it , that's how close it was.

[@brettroberts1452]

I don't often make comments on your vlogs..Yet l do often watch your stuff and enjoy it as a cricket lover..but don't agree with your love for Kholi..obviously your interests come from wanting to keep the lndia viewers happy..which l understand as we all want to survive the easiest and happiest way..yours is in the cricket media ..Kholi has deserved everything he's copped from Aussie crowds..just because you played very good cricket doesn't mean you can carry on like your bigger then the game..maybe he is after seeing the tiny fine he got for deliberately shouldering a 19 yrs old kid making hes debut..he should of been suspended for the remainder of this Tour..he's a grub..Look at the way Pant plays he's cricket , a wonderful player and even better person..don't have my glasses sorry if you can't understand my text..love your work. Guys and NRL is the winter game guys not that poofy AFL shit

[@travisscott6519]

Whatever said and done, he is a legend of the game. Ricky pointing was nasty with Harbajan Singh. Doesn’t make him less of a legend. Both legends with nasty attitude on field

[@Dhruv-Malik]

Didn't ponting charged 18 year old harbhajan 😂 kohli has 28000 international runs and 81 centuries, he's far bigger player than any aussie

[@user-wg9lb9px5v]

No one can ever compare to Ponting the bully of world cricket. And yet Aussies love him but hate Kohli. Hypocrisy at its finest.

[@FinalWordCricket]

You're able to make a point without resorting to homophobia Don't do it again

[@kinghenry666]

Indian fans have ruined any type rational cricket discussion online

[@seshhh]

one eyed much?

[@kinghenry666]

@seshhh you are all hated

[@Slackboy72]

Lemon makes this unwatchable.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

aye, I got 6-7 minutes in & had to stop watching. Insufferably smug personality.

[@jamesalexander1647]

Wokeness even here? Argh I'm out

[@prakhar2098]

Just one clarification, The West newspaper also indulged into this lame "father stuff". To me, this series will always be "X if the Father of Y" series. Unreal shithousery

[@iamhugeandsquare]

the west Australian is garbage, it was just click bait rubbish to generate engagement from indian fans, dont read too much into them

[@FinalWordCricket]

It got very lame, very quickly

[@dibyamayank]

Honestly Australia playing at home, Pitches favouring their pace bowling group, pink ball test etc yet Melbourne test was india’s loss with dropped catches and brain fade moments and Sydney without bumrah with 1.5innings. U would think saying Australia nailed it and are awesome is too far fetched. Just like last time india didn’t give up and eventually won, same with Australia this time. But no way they played heaps better. This wasn’t a dominant win and if anything England next year have a fair chance to win if Australia plays the way they played vs india. India lost few just 2/3 key moments in 5 test series else it could easily have been a drawn series if not in favour of india

[@FinalWordCricket]

Did anyone say that Australia nailed it and are awesome?

[@dibyamayank]

@ @ Not in exact words but the over glorification of Australia’s performance gives it all. If anything india should take a lot of heart from this performance. Australia on the other hand can be happy, they have the results in their favour. India dominated in Perth and Australia in Gabba( they should have won that if not rain and pink ball day night test is not the same as normal test). Rest everything was even stevens.