“What do the numbers at the bottom of the screen mean?”
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“What is an over?”
“How many runs was that shot?”
When you’re watching the cricket, they’re the questions you normally get asked by some of your mates who walk past and take a brief interest in the sport.
If I had a dollar for every time I get asked those questions, I’d be rich.
For most people, Christmas day is about spending time and socialising with family and friends.
For me, it’s about staring at the clock and restlessly counting down the hours to the Boxing Day Test match.
The Australians have named an unchanged 13-man squad for the third Test between Australia and India which starts at 10:30am on Wednesday, December 26.
The starting lineup should be the same as the previous two Tests if you ask me. Barring injury, the only uncertainty is whether Peter Handscomb retains his spot. However, given his only logical replacement in Mitchell Marsh scored a mere three runs in the Perth Scorchers’ loss to the Melbourne Renegades on Thursday night, December 20 in the Big Bash League, I wouldn’t put him in.
Day three is known as “moving day” in Test matches, but with the series tied at 1-1, the third Test looms to be the moving Test as a victory to India would mean they retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy while a victory to the Aussies would put them in a great position.
There are fears that the MCG pitch will be flat, meaning batters will be advantaged and the contest between bat and ball will be heavily diminished. However, we won’t know for sure until the first team bats.
Call me Captain Obvious, but the key to winning this Test is by getting the Indian captain Virat Kohli out early in both innings.
So how do you do get the man they call “King Kohli” out?
By using Pat Cummins early at one end and Nathan Lyon at the other for mine.
The Aussie quick got Kohli out twice in four balls at one stage. The key during those two wickets was that Kohli was relatively new to the crease when Cummins came into the attack.
I think the Aussies missed a trick so far besides the first innings of the series by using Cummins when Kohli was settled. By the time he came into the attack, Kohli had already faced over 20 balls.
Having said that, you still have to have a plan to get Kohli out. There are many things people can’t resist, but for the Indian captain, it seems to be Cummin’s deliveries just outside off stump. If Cummins comes into the attack early in Kohli’s innings and keeps peppering the line just outside off and just short of a good length, he might get a bit of success, if not the big wicket.
At the other end, you have Nathan Lyon who has been superb so far this series. Kohli looked a bit shaky against the man they call the ‘GOAT’ in the two Tests and has already gotten out to him. Unlike Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane who have used their feet to the spinner, Kohli has been content to stay in his crease and that may be a factor to his shakiness. There would be little risk involved if Kohli uses his feet to Lyon as he doesn’t really have the ball that turns away from the right hander.
Anyway, whether you’re a cricket tragic like I am or just a casual fan, sit back with a cold one and enjoy what is probably, the biggest Test match of the year.