Sensational India!!!

 November 1988, the last time Australia lost a test match at the Gabba. Let that sink in!!

For India to pull of such a famous win at the Gabba with such an injury ravaged team is truly an amazing feat, especially if you take into account that Australia were at full strength.

Australia, boasting 3 bowlers in the world top 10 (Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc) couldn't knock over a batting line up missing the likes of Kohli, Rahul and Vihari. 

Infact, the list of Indian players that have been injured during the series is staggering:  Barring Kohli who returned to India for the birth of his first child, the list is:  Rahul, Vihari, Shami, Yadav, Bumrah, Ashwin, Jadeja and Agarwal. 

So for India to pull of a series win is truly monumental.  It was impressive to see how Ajinkya Rahane stepped up taking over the reigns from Kohli to lead India to this famous win.  What will be even more pleasing from an Indian point of you view is how the youngsters performed during this series:

Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant were superb with the bat and Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were equally brilliant with the ball and deserve all the accolades they get.  

Australia on the other hand have got a bit of soul searching to do. Their batting lacked depth and there was too much pressure on Labuschagne and Smith to perform in each game (the pair scored the lion's share of Australia's runs).  Even their much vaunted bowling attack battled at times in their own conditions.  Throw in a couple of chirps from captain Tim Payne, some questionable "gardening" by Steve Smith and a first loss at the Gabba in over 30 years, it will be a series the Aussies will want to forget rather quickly.

On the flip side, Cameron Green and Will Pucovski have showed that barring injuries they are destined to have long careers in the baggy green. 

What this series did show, is that test cricket is alive and well!!

Congratulations and well done to India for a fantastic and well deserved series win!!

SA vs Pakistan

 It's been 14 long years since we last played cricket on Pakistan soil.

Graeme Smith was still captain back then and a team boasting the likes of Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and Mark Boucher beat Pakistan 1 - 0.

I for one am very happy and excited to see us touring Pakistan again.  Like India, Pakistan is a cricket mad country with a very rich cricketing history.  The likes of Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Inzamam - ul - Haq, Shoaib Akhtar (just to name a few) have set the cricketing world alight with their performances through the years.  It has been so sad that the cricketing public has been starved of international cricket for so long.  Thankfully this is changing with more teams set to visit in 2021.

Its something new for the SA players (although Boucher is still there, albeit as coach) and they will have to embrace the new conditions and culture.

The series itself should be a hotly contested one.  Pakistan have just come off a poor showing in New Zealand and have made a number of changes to their squad whilst the Proteas had a comfortable home series win again Sri Lanka.  SA will be full of confidence, but Pakistan in their own back yard will be a totally different proposition than a depleted Sri Lanka at home.  

Even though Pakistan have made a number of changes to their squad, they will be strong at home.  Babar Azam returns to lead a side that boasts players like Azhar Ali, Yasir Shah, Shaheen-Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali.  The youngsters coming in will also have a point to prove.  In my view Yasir Shah could be our biggest problem.  Although his form of late hasn't been great, he is experienced and has a wonderful record at home.  The proteas have had their troubles against quality leg spinners over the years and will have to watch him carefully.

From a South African point of view the likes of Elgar, Markram, du Plessis, van der Dussen, Bavuma and de Kock need to kick on from the Sri Lankan series and post runs on the board.  It will be good to have KG back as he is the leader of the attack.  His experience in sub-continent conditions will also be invaluable to a relatively inexperienced pace attack.  Our bowling is going to be crucial and we will have to hit the right lines and lengths early on to put pressure on Pakistan.

It should be a cracking series.  Lets hope it makes for great viewing and that injuries and  Covid 19 can take a bit of back seat for now!!

CRICKET IN THE COVID WORLD

Elgar pushes one into the covers and scampers through for a single to bring up his 13th test century. He punches the air and raises his bat to acknowledge his team mates and turns to acknowledge the crowd, but wait, there is no crowd....

From playing in front of empty stadiums to training and playing in bio-bubbles!!

What a bizarre 2020 it was and 2021 has started out the same way!!

How the life of the professional cricketer (any professional sportsman and woman for that matter) has changed in the last year. Empty stadiums and automated crowd sounds have started becoming the norm.

The phrase "lonely at the top" has never been more relevant as it is now. Playing and living in bio-bubbles can surely not be sustained for an indefinite period of time.

It has been great for the armchair enthusiasts to finally see some cricket and other sport back on TV, giving us something to pass the time with during this Covid-19 pandemic.

But what effect will this start having on the players?

Quinton de Kock has recently spoken about his excitement in touring Pakistan for the first time in years, but at the same time as expressed his concerns over life in the bio-bubble. And he should know better than most, having spent almost 2 months in his IPL bubble, then coming back home and back into bubbles for the England and Sri Lanka series' and now off to Pakistan. What makes it tougher is that each country has its own lockdown levels and quarantine laws.

We have heard from numerous players from Australia and England expressing concern about prolonged bio-bubbles and the negative psychological effect it may start to have on players. Having limited contact with family and friends and not having the necessary break away from the game for a prolonged period of time is going to take its toll, no matter how mentally tough you are.

We have also seen an unusually high amount of injuries lately (India, Sri Lanka and Australia have been hard hit). Is this due to the lack of domestic cricket being played due to Covid?, Are players not getting the necessary amount of game time under their belt leading up to an international series?

How do we fix this? One answer may be to only have short international tours for the foreseeable future until Covid - 19 starts to calm down.

Whichever way the ICC decide to go, it will not be easy and team management are going to have to come up with new and innovative ways to deal with the mental and physical well being of players. We have heard a number of stories already of players breaking quarantine and bio-bubble rules. This not only puts the team at risk but also jeopardizes the series being played.

One thing we do know, is that all players the world over are in the same boat in these uncertain times and only time will tell what effect Covid 19 will have on our beloved game!!