Kohli’s consistency improved markedly in one days in the last few years. He seems to be replicating this in tests too. Will be very interesting to see how this rivalry goes when Smith is back.

In limited overs he is already undisputed king. In tests atm he is miles ahead of the rest of the players. If smith carries on from where he left this will be a pretty interesting rivalry.

Still think Smith is king in test cricket but only just. It may sound harsh but Kohli doesnt seem to get them big daddy centuries. It's usually 120 then out.

He should/needs to IMO start getting them scores upto 170+

Boss have you seen Kohli’s runs in the last 2 years? Has like 5 double hundred and quite a few scores between 150 and 200.

On another note how bad are India against spin? And this is not just batting, time and again opposition spinners have outbowled Ashwin and Jadeja

India made a huge blunder playing 4 quicks. All 4 are number 11 batsman too. Should have played Jadeja.

Poor decision not to play a frontline spinner. Ashwin's injury has come back to haunt us badly. Aussies have been far the better side in this test. Also, it comes back to the openers in the first innings. An extra 40-50 runs would have been so vital and may have meant we were par. Instead we conceded a lead and they have never looked back since.

Rahul is a big liability, should be sent home. Vijay is also finished...India desperately need good openers.

I think it will 1-1, hope India bounce back and win next 2 matches.

This is the game done. Think after this series we really need to think about captaincy and the team management. Have made too many blunders even before ball 1. Clearly this management are incompetent at making wise decisions and improving players ability. Selection has been a problem since SA, and players like Vijay, Rahul and few others have struggled since SA with the same mistakes. How I wish Kumble was still the head coach. Kohli as good as he is in batting, he clearly can’t out think the opposition.

Atleast dhoni lost to a much stronger Aus, SA and Eng team. This year every single series we have gone into by saying this is India’s best chance to win for one reason or another. But none have come to fruition.

Management yes - clueless, Virat not sure...not defending Virat but Dhoni had great decent openers and middle order batsmen at his disposal compared to current crop...It's amazing most of the Indian fans are expecting 18 yr old Shaw to get back fit and save us but just heard he is returning home....shame.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Something magical about the MCG on Boxing day. India win the toss and bat first. Looks quite flat to me. Thank the lord they have seen sense and dropped Vijay. Vihari moves up to open with Aggarwal.

Love Boxing Day tests down under. Would love to stay up and watch but the alcohol is likely to get the better of me soonish.

Likewise Neo, although I didn’t have too much tonight. Remember as a kid listening to Boxing day Test on TMS at midnight when it was absolutely hammering down outside yet feeling like I was actually down under in the sunshine.

This is the perfect pitch for the Indian batsmen. Not much bounce or carry and the ball doesn’t go through as much. Aggarwal looking good so far.

Good start for Agarwal, much needed runs from an Indian opener, 450+ defo needed here

Good first day for India but quite a slow run rate.

India will definitely need 450+ to force a result in this match, and probably take out a loss out of the equation. This 2 need to score big, can’t leave it to the others to take us to 450+ if you ask me.

Also the longer aus bowlers bowl on this pitch the better it will be for India going into the last test- there is literally 2 days between this and the last test. Pretty poor scheduling if you ask me

Where is the outcry over how poor this Melbourne wicket is? 100 overs from Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazelwood and they’ve got a combined 2 wickets between them. They have done well to restrict us to such a slow run rate.

There seems to be a false idea that Indian pitches are flat but this one takes the biscuit. Hopefully it starts to break up when Australia bat.

Also, listening to Kerry O’Keefe yesterday on commentary was an embarassment. Calling Indian first class cricket akin to playing with canteen players and milkmen. Bloke looks like a paedophile and talks like one as well. Thought Aussie cricket’s embarassing commentary was only on Channel 9 but apparently not. They’ll never change

comment by Kav H (U19426)
posted 9 hours, 8 minutes ago
Where is the outcry over how poor this Melbourne wicket is? 100 overs from Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazelwood and they’ve got a combined 2 wickets between them. They have done well to restrict us to such a slow run rate.

There seems to be a false idea that Indian pitches are flat but this one takes the biscuit. Hopefully it starts to break up when Australia bat.
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MCG has always been flat. These drop in wickets policy in Australia is hurting them. Jadeja is key player now in this test.

Australia have always had flat decks. I am more suprised that the first 2 tests had something for the bowlers.

Also how poor are Smith and Bancroft. Don’t think I will ever have the same respect for Smith again. Putting warner under the bus. Hard to see how Warner can come back in this team. They are both playing the victim card here and putting all the blame on warner.

I read Bancroft's transcript of his interview with Gilchrist and found it to be total nonsense. He never actually asked him if the whole team was aware of the whole incident and whether or not they had done it before. Even the Sydney Herald ran a story last night saying their interviews failed to pass the BS tests. All three are massive idiots - trying to gain an advantage with the ball has always been well documented in Cricket but to actually use an external object as a collective effort shows the height of their stupidity. Smiths record will forever have an asterisk next to it whether he likes it or not.

I reckon they got together including Warner and agreed to make him the scapegoat. No one likes Warner so these revelations won’t change much.

The one thing that doesn’t make sense is why do these interviews now after doing the punishment you have been given. They should have done these interviews when they were banned and by now it would have all settled down. Doing it now just months before they play again is doing more harm to their reputation than it’s gaining them any sympathy.

It's hilarious seeing this from the guys involved. When it first came out, it was the management group or committee or whatever they called themselves. Now it was Warner telling Bancroft to do it, Smith overheard and just let it be.

These new stories as have been said are to try and gain some sympathy but even if we did believe these versions of events, it just makes Smith and Bancroft look like cowards.