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AUS vs IND: Virat Kohli's 'new India' ready for every challenge in Australia


Indian captain Virat Kohli has asked his team to shed any sense of complacency on the back of stellar performances on the last tour of Australia as the Men in Blue gear up to face the hosts Australia, from tomorrow at the Adelaide Oval. He reminded his players about the difference in challenges they are likely to encounter in the upcoming series compared to what they faced in the last series in 2018-19. 

‘Stay in the present’

Kohli reiterated the ‘staying in the present’ axiom that vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane mentioned yesterday and said that the team has winning the Adelaide Test as its main priority before heading for the other Tests.

"I like to keep things simple. I do not quite carry forward anything from the past. It is very important to stay in the present and understand the process you are going through. Last time around, our challenge was different. Starting in Adelaide, we had a goal, which we wanted to achieve - we wanted to win, so it was important to start well. The goal remains similar this time as well," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference conducted virtually on Wednesday.

Pink ball challenge

Of all the different challenges waiting for the Indian team, the fact that this series will start with a day-night Test will be the most unique one for the tourists who had won the first Test of the last series they won in Australia and Virat Kohli is not shrugging it off. He pointed out that the pink ball will move more than the red ball and that playing, especially batting, becomes very tricky under lights. However, he put his faith on his team and backed them to come up with strong tactics to counter whatever challenges will be thrown at him and his team.

"Pink-ball Test is probably going to be a bit more challenging in terms of conditions and how the ball moves around in the evening and stuff like that. For us as a team, it is about adaptability. Probably, the focus will be to understand the situations we are presented with and counter that as best as possible with our abilities. Every challenge is new and different and you have to understand the difficulties and requirements to fulfill that particular challenge and hopefully, make sure you come out on top," Kohli added.

Reliance on young players

Bucking the usual trend in Indian cricket of not disclosing the playing XI before the toss of a Test match, the Indian team released their playing XI for the Adelaide Test, showing signs of a team that is assured about the tactics and role of players going into a big game.

Prithvi Shaw has been picked to partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order while Wriddhiman Saha has been preferred over Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper's slot, and Umesh Yadav has been selected to fill in the void left by the injury to Ishant Sharma.

Kohli had dropped hints about retaining Shaw at the top of the order who has not been in great touch and does not have the statistics in his favour for a strong case to trump Gill, who looked great in warm-up games. However, the class of Gill has not gone unnoticed and Kohli said that he will get opportunities at some point in time, sooner rather than later. He also praised Agarwal for showing character on the last tour when he was called up in the middle of the series to open the batting.

"They are obviously very talented and that's why they are here. Shubman (Gill) hasn't got opportunities in Test cricket yet. So, as and when he gets opportunities, it needs to be seen how he goes about things. He is a confident young man. Prithvi has performed well at Test level, but he will be playing in Australia for the first time, so it's very exciting to see his progress as well. Mayank came around in the last tour and batted brilliantly without any baggage. That's what you expect from the younger guys - just go out there, express themselves, and play fearless cricket," Kohli said of the Indian top-order which is heavily reliant on young players.

‘Representation of New India’

Virat Kohli has an outstanding record as a batsman in Australia and has batted with supreme attitude and flair and whenever he has got the opportunity to take the attack to the opposition, he has not backed away from getting under their skins. 

A few days back, former Australian captain and former coach of the Indian team Greg Chappell had described Kohli as the “most Australian non-Australian” cricketer of all time. Virat did not shy away from responding to such words from Chappell and talked about the brand of cricket both he and the Indian team, under his leadership, want to play. He said that the Indian team of now has started to stand up to the challenges posed by the Australians and it does not matter to him if his mindset is comparable to an Australian or not.

"I have always been myself. The way my personality and character is... it is the representation of a new India. For me, that's how I look at it.  It's not a comparison of me being similar to an Australian mindset or anything like that. It's how we have started to stand up as a team and my personality has always been like this from day one," Kohli reacted thus to the comment by Chappell.

Playing in Australia

Kohli has had an interesting time while captaining or playing with the Indian team in Australia. He was rebuked for reacting in an obscene manner against Australian spectators whom he had called hostile in his first series down under in 2011-12. However, his stature grew with the number of runs he kept on piling in the country, after hitting his maiden century at the Adelaide Oval in his very first series in the country, in 2011/12. The crowds in Australia since then have started to respect his style, flair of batting, and aggressive intent on the field and Kohli too accepted that fact.

"It's a wonderful place to play cricket. When you play well here, you earn the respect of the public and there is anticipation and chat around, wanting to see you play. Similarly with Jasprit as well. Last time, he performed really well, so there is going to be anticipation and excitement to watch him bowl," Kohli added.

Leadership and Ajinkya Rahane

Virat Kohli will return home after the first Test for the birth of his child and many experts and fans believe that the real test for the Men in Blue will begin after his departure. Kohli has been the mainstay of the Indian batting line-up, more so since the time he was promoted to lead the side in the very country, in 2014/15 series, after MS Dhoni had decided to hang his boots in Test cricket in during the course of that series.

Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead the country to a Test series win in Australia and hence, it is understood that the level of analysis that is happening on the aftereffects of his early departure. But Kohli believes that his deputy, Ajinkya Rahane is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team and that he will do a great job once he leaves for India. He said that the strategies the team has been making since he took the leadership position has been a collective effort and not just him taking all the crucial decisions. The 32-year old also added that familiarity with the decision-making process will help Rahane take important decisions on and off the field.

"We have had a lot of mutual understanding over the years. We have had some great partnerships batting together, which is based on trust. Jinks (Rahane) has done a tremendous job in the two practice games. He seems to be very composed and he knows the strengths of our teams and how we need to go about it. The way we have played the game has been a collective effort. It's a cultural effort and not just me strategizing things and putting things in front of people. It's the whole team that's involved. We already know the template we play with and how we are to go ahead. We are absolutely on the same page and I am sure he (Rahane) will do a tremendous job in my absence. The focus remains, till the time I am here, to be able to provide captaincy and leadership and performances to the best of my abilities," Kohli said of Rahane.

Rahane has the experience of leading the side in two test matches - once when Kohli had injured his shoulder against Australia in the 2017 Border-Gavaskar series and on another instance when Kohli was rested for a one-off Test against Afghanistan, both played in India. India had won both the Tests Rahane had captained in but challenging a full-strength Australia in their own backyard will be a completely different ball game altogether. Rahane also does not have the luxury of captaining an Indian team that has Kohli as its premier batsman like Virat, the captain has.

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AUS vs IND | 1st Test Preview: Hosts seeking redemption as India chase early momentum in Adelaide

In an age when arguments such as ‘Test cricket is dying’ have been prevalent, the fact that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy has garnered more interest and more intense build-up than the limited-overs series between Australia and India speaks of the level of competition between the two sides in white jerseys. The Future Tours Programme has not left the Test series between two of the best teams across the world to remain a rare occasion with them seeing each other for the third time in a span of three years. A lot of matches and fresh memories may well kill the surprise element, and ultimately the interest of the audience, but both India and Australia have been outstanding in keeping the level of competition up and have challenged each other in their fortresses. The touring Australians were better than Virat Kohli’s team in the first Test in Pune in 2017, on the back of arguably one of Steve Smith’s finest centuries, keeping in mind the level of help spinners were getting from ball one of the game. Cheteshwar Puajara returned the favour to Australia when they were hosts in 2018-19 and produced a masterclass, fighting the bowlers all alone, and taking the Indian team towards a total they could challenge the hosts with. Before those two series, Virat Kohi had set the tone for the future Tests between the two sides with twin centuries at Adelaide Oval in the 2014-15 series. The same venue will see another round of battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begin tomorrow. Of late, in duels between the two sides, India have turned out to be the better side and it was evident on the last tour to Australia when they won a Test series for the first time in the history of Indian cricket. It’s very difficult to not take heart from that series win but Kohli and team management are pragmatic enough to understand the difference between the two Australian sides - the one whom they beat two years back and the one they are raring to face now. They don’t need to look beyond a single name in Steve Smith to estimate the difference between the two challenges. More than that, the series will be full of contests within a contest and there are players on either side of the fence who are desperate to make a mark and they will certainly decide the fate of the series. Australia vs India series has a history of bringing about the emergence of great players such as Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, David Warner, Steve Smith, among others, who established themselves on the world stage purely on the basis of their performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. For the tourists, there are challenges to encounter in the series and they would be looking forward to going into the first Test with a dominating note and will rely on the tried and tested skills before the problem deepens as the series progresses. Virat Kohli will miss the series after the first Test while Ishant Sharma will be missing all four matches. The Indian team will be itching to start off the series on a winning note and take the momentum from here on and rely on other players who are talented and are in reckoning to become a permanent member of the batting line up to come through the ranks in Kohli’s absence. On the bowling front, the tourists will back their pacers to come good in the day-night test where they can reap the advantage of a pink ball under the lights. For the hosts, there are too many concerns with many of the first-choice players missing due to injuries. There was an intense build-up to the series about how the opening bowling pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will fare against David Warner who looks a completely different batsman on Australian soil but that prospect has been dampened with the left-hander being ruled out of, at least, the first Test. Another hot contender for the opening role, Will Pucovski suffered a concussion to get ruled out of the first game while the incumbent Joe Burns who had partenered Warner in the last summer is battling to get bat on ball for runs. Emerging all-rounder Cameron Green who has earned the right to be in the playing XI, according to coach Justin Langer, too has suffered a concussion and may well be out of the first Test. However, if he passes the concussion protocol, he will make his debut in Adelaide. Australian captain Tim Paine disclosed months before the tour that it was hard for him and his side to swallow the defeat they got at the hands of Indians in the last series and he will try his best to thwart India and that he has the arsenal up his sleeves to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy this time. What would have hurt Paine in the last series was that his star trio of pacers - Pat Cummins, Mitchel Starc, and Josh Hazlewood - were out bowled by their Indian counterparts and the fact was not lost on the outcome of the series. Tim Paine will be reminding his batsmen to be wary of Indian pacers while the absence of Ishant Sharma will also hand them a breather as Ishant was used as a workhorse who kept on charging in even with little help from pitches. A lot will change with every match in the series as it has been evident in the last few series between the sides. But both teams will go all out to start well and win the all-important Adelaide Test but the match means a lot more for the touring Indians who will be without their best batsman and captain after this game and they would love to be 1-0 up in the series while saying goodbye to their captain. Australia vs India: Match Details Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Date and Time: December 17-21, 09:30 AM IST, 04:30 GMT Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV Pitch report As per reports in the Australian media, the pitch curator is considering leaving grass of length 6-8 mm on the pitch to have fair pace and bounce across the five days of the game. The pink ball will also make life tough, especially for the batsmen batting in the ‘twilight period’, as has been pointed out by many batsmen from both sides. Australian captain will have five bowling options if Cameron Green is deemed fit to play while the Indians too can consider having a four-pronged pace attack, leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin based on the record of other visiting spinners at the Adelaide Oval in previous day-night Tests. Team News Australia Justin Langer confirmed that the team management had not come to terms with Joe Burns’ lack of runs with the bat and the coach was very busy with Burns in the nets. Burns was the centre of attention in the Australian team nets and the words of Langer about Burns were indicative that the team was not giving up on him just yet and may back him to partner Marcus Harris or Matthew Wade, who Langer backed saying he has the technique to counter the new ball and also has the game to counter-attack in the way of David Warner. There is uncertainty over Cameron Green who got hit on the head in the second tour game but Langer confirmed that he will make his debut in case he recovers and passes the concussion protocols. The bowling attack picks itself with Nathan Lyon a certainty regardless of how the pitch at the Adelaide Oval will be. Lyon has been an outlier in the day-night Tests, picking up more wickets than any of his contemporaries. Mitchell Starc joined the squad just three days prior to the game but is all set to feature in the playing XI. Strongest XI Matthew Wade, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c & wk), Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon India With Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma not being in Australia, Indians had to figure out which players will fill not only those voids but Rishabh Pant’s lack of form with the bat in the months leading up to the series also left them pondering over who will be the wicketkeeper. Just when the debate on Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant was going in favour of Saha, Pant came into his own and scored a demolishing century against Australia A side to stake a claim on the wicketkeeper slot, based on his better batting credentials. However, Saha is likely to get the nod ahead of Pant based on his wicket-keeping credentials. There was a toss-up between Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill for the opener's slot, in place of Rohit Sharma, and the fact that they were not made to bat in the top of the order indicated that KL Rahul was not in reckoning to open in the Adelaide Test. Shaw wasted those opportunities with some strong and belligerent starts while Gill went on to do better than Shaw but could not notch up big scores to completely solidify his claims. For the role of the third seamer, Indians let the trio of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Navdeep Saini unleash their best and prove their worth to be the third seamer to partner Shami and Bumrah in Adelaide. By the looks of the performances in the tour games, Navdeep Saini looked all over the place but the uncapped Siraj looked sharp and impressive. However, Umesh Yadav got the wickets and bowled well in rhythm and it’s most likely that he will get the nod ahead of Siraj to start in Adelaide. Strongest XI Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami Australia vs India: Dream 11 team and suggestion Mayank Agarwal, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami Captain: Steve Smith Vice-captain: Virat Kohli

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Wriddhiman Saha vs Rishabh Pant: Picking Pant would be gross injustice to Saha

Last time India toured Australia, Rishabh Pant made quite an impression. His verbal antics were captured by the stump mic and broadcasted to the world by an adventurous host broadcaster while his explosive batting in the final Test showed why he was rated so highly by Indian cricket watchers. Pant seemed to have reached superstardom at the time. But since then, he has fallen on slightly hard times. His performance in both limited-overs cricket and Test cricket tapered off and this brought Wriddhiman Saha back into the Test team. Now, as India approach the first Test against Australia at Adelaide, they are once again faced with the choice of whether to pick Pant or Saha. Pant blazed away to an exciting hundred in the second practice game against Australia A. This solidified his claim to the wicketkeeper's spot. But that's not the only advantage he has. Saha has been a brilliant wicketkeeper and a very useful batsman for India in Test cricket over the years. But his dogged style of batting is not as glamorous in cricket as Pant's free-flowing strokeplay. Sadly, in Indian cricket circles these days, looks often seem to matter more than substance. The whole fanfare surrounding Pant completely obscured the great service rendered by Saha in the most difficult of circumstances. In 2016, when India were in serious danger of collapsing to a low first-innings score in a Test against West Indies at Barbados, it was the unassuming but gritty Saha who bailed India out of trouble, along with Ravichandran Ashwin. He did that in conditions where the bowlers had plenty on offer. Similarly, later that year, in a home Test against New Zealand, Saha came up with, in his own view, his best performance with the bat. He scored fifties in each innings of a game where bowler-friendly conditions had put India in trouble again. Such efforts are easily forgotten while the eye-catching big hits of Pant are drooled over constantly by fans and experts alike. The same thing is happening again. People are raving about the fireworks Pant produced in the second practice match. But nobody is talking about the invaluable half-century Saha scored in the first practice match. In that game, India were in trouble in their second innings and were reduced, at one stage, to 143/9. Australia A had a first innings lead of 59, meaning they were tantalisingly close to getting a great chance of winning. Here, it was the understated and non-flamboyant Saha who, by scoring an unbeaten half-century, got India to safety. But nobody is talking about this brilliant performance of Saha. Instead, the century by Pant, against a bowling attack that seemed to have lost all interest and was merely going through their motions, may well earn the left-hander a spot in the Indian team. Pant does have a good record in Test cricket and has scored hundreds in England and Australia. But one must remember the circumstances and conditions in which those tons came. The pitches were flat and the opposition, at least during the latter hundred, was flat and deflated. Saha, in contrast, has produced his best performances when his team was in choppy waters. Unfortunately, the obsession with 'positive' batting, something that once led India to drop Cheteshwar Pujara in favour of Rohit Sharma, has been a trait of Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli's leadership. This may tilt the scales in favour of Pant for the first Test. If that happens, it would be unfair on Saha, and a bad example for budding cricketers also. Substance is always more important than style. But in times of IPL-centered analysis, people don't always recognise that.

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Ravichandran Ashwin faces Australian litmus test fourth time, will he succeed finally?

History tells us one thing very clearly about Australian pitches - they are the most difficult in the world for finger-spinners, especially off-spinners. This is why the pantheon of great Aussie spinners consists entirely of leg-spinners - Clarie Grimmett, Bill O'Reilly, Richie Benaud, Shane Warne, etc. Off-spinners have been produced by Australia. But before the arrival of Nathan Lyon, they enjoyed only modest success for their team, at least in terms of numbers. The greatest among them was, probably, Ashley Mallett. Bruce Yardley and Tim May also did a good job for their team, but not for as long and as successfully as the leggies. How difficult the land Down Under is for offies can be gauged by looking at the performances of great spinners of this variety from around the world in this country. During the 1960s - arguably the golden era of off-spin bowling, the likes of Erapalli Prasanna, Lance Gibbs, and South Africa's lesser-known Hugh Tayfield had success over there. These bowlers are the greatest of this category of bowlers in the history of the game. But in the last few decades, be it Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh, or many other off-break bowlers, they have been completely ineffective on tours of that country. In case of Murali, the controversy regarding his action and the hostility of the cricket establishment over there can be cited as an excuse. But others have struggled also. Saqlain Mushtaq and Graeme Swann got a five-wicket haul in Australia. But apart from that, they also had ordinary figures. So, in 2011, when Ravichandran Ashwin was chosen to be India's lead spinner on the tour of Australia, in only his second international Test series - he made his debut against West Indies at home that year - not much was expected of him. He had a promising start to the series, getting four wickets in the first match. But then, endured two miserable matches where Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, along with Michael Hussey, ground Indian bowling into dust. Ashwin, like many before him, returned from Australia, battered and bruised. His second opportunity to prove himself in the 'final frontier' came three years later. On the 2014/15 tour, the Indian team sprung a surprise in the first Test, played at Adelaide, by dropping Ashwin and selecting the leg-spinner Karn Sharma. Not only did the latter fail to make a mark, the Australian counterpart of Ashwin, ended up picking 12 wickets. He did get an opportunity in the next three Tests, but failed to make an impression, mainly due to the imperious batting by Steve Smith. Not only did he not get a five-for, the equivalent of a century for a batsman, but went for a lot of runs. Ashwin's third opportunity to prove himself in this country arrived on the historic tour of 2018/19. This time, he not only had much more experience but had a very feeble looking Aussie batting line-up against him. In the first Test at Adelaide, Ashwin picked up three wickets in the first innings. With the pitch providing generous turn, he had a gold-plated opportunity to finish off the match and finally bury the ghost of not having won a match outside Asia. But on the final day, Ashwin had to go through over 40 overs without a wicket while the pacers kept chipping away. He did pick up the last wicket but it was merely a consolation. Then, he got injured and missed the rest of the series. Now, Ashwin is in Australia for the fourth time. This country remains unconquered by his wiles. For a man who holds the record for getting 300 wickets in less number of Tests than anyone in history, his overseas record, or to be more precise, his record outside Asia, remains disappointing. Even if the numbers don't look so bad, the lack of a match-winning, or match-changing, or even eye-grabbing performance, is very odd. This then, is the fourth and, who knows, the last opportunity for the Tamil Nadu spinner to prove himself. He is in a similar position to Virat Kohli before the tour of England in 2018. Getting wickets in Australia is the most difficult proposition for any off-spinner. No bowler of this variety has managed a match-winning performance in Australia this century, except Graeme Swann in the Adelaide Test of 2010. Can Ashwin finally pass the litmus test, on his fourth try? Only time will tell. He can't claim to be an all-time great without doing so.

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BBL | Hobart vs Adelaide: Siddle's first five-for marred by bizzare tactics in team's win

The Adelaide Strikers dominated the reverse fixture against Hobart Hurricanes sealing the victory by five wickets on Tuesday 15 December in the 8th encounter of the Big Bash League. After bowling out Hobart for just 146 runs, courtesy some stunning pace bowling by Peter Siddle, Wes Agar and Daniel Worral, Alex Carey and Jake Weatherald made sure that Strikers complete their victory with sweating too much over it. The match was highlighted by Siddle’s stunning 5-wicket haul, first X-Factor substitution in world cricket, the amount of purchase pacers got on the wicket and some bizarre tactical choices made in the field. Hobart Batting - As messy as it gets Sent to bat first, most teams in the world do not recover after losing their entire top order inside four overs in a T20 game. Hobart didn’t either, but their story was slightly odd. After losing three early wickets against some quality pace bowling by the Strikers, Hobart recovered extremely well, managing to put 89 runs in the first 11 overs, courtesy the counter-attack from Colin Ingram and Ben McDermott. Both batsmen worked very hard to negotiate the early movement and then piling the pressure on spinners to squeeze a comeback out of Hobart. And then Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Three tactical choices took the game away from Hobart – Subbing off the experienced Johan Botha for rookie Mac Wright, pushing in form Tim David down the order and then, the most important of all, not taking the power surge when their batsmen, Mc Dermott and Ingram looked in great touch. This resulted in an absolute mess, killing the entire momentum of their batting order. While substitute Wright failed to provide momentum, the decisions were especially hard on David, who looked in good nick in the first two matches. Coming into bat in the 16th over, David had nothing but to go after every delivery and managed to score 24 off 16 deliveries, before chopping on a short delivery from Peter Siddle, who registered his best figures in the T20s picking up five wickets for just 16 runs. Hobart lost their last 5 wickets in the final three overs out o which two were of Power Surge. Once that was done, it was just a waiting game, and a miced up Colin Ingram agreed that the bowlers can do very little with so few runs on board. In the end, the Strikers won the game with eight balls to spare, knocking the ball around the ground. Aurora Stadium, Launceston Any wicket that does a bit in the opening overs in a T20 game, is a great leveller. Choosing to bowl first after winning the toss, Strikers ran circles around the Hurricanes batsmen. All three of their fast bowlers, Daniel Worral, Peter Siddle and Wes Agar struck in their opening respective opening overs. The wicket offered pace, bounce and a fair bit of carry, which both teams used to their benefit, but it was the Siddle-led Strikers pace attack that pooled in all their experience to dismiss eight out of possible 10 wickets. The pitch was so pace friendly that Strikers decided to sub off last match hero Danny Briggs to bring in an extra batter, just in case they needed it. In sharp contrast, the spin department failed miserably with both Matt Renshaw and Danny Briggs going for 15 an over giving away 45 runs between them. James Faulkner too earned decent purchase in the second innings coming into bowl the first over. He shaped the ball in with his tweaked action and got two early wickets but failed to capitalise courtesy some good batting by Alex Carey and Jake Weatherald. The Aurora Stadium, if it manages to hold this wicket, will be a big talking point, because the ball will move, and it will put batsmen and the think tanks in trouble. The odd day it does not, the viewers might just be seeing another set off substitutions as well. How not to use a Power Surge Both teams, Strikers and Hurricanes made awful use of the Power Surge. While Hobart did not take theirs when their best batsmen on the day, McDermott and Ingram were batting in full flow, Strikers for some odd reason, kept it on hold with barely any runs to chase. In case of Hobart, not taking the Surge meant that they lost every bit of momentum throughout the second part of the innings, the Strikers, on the other hand, missed a sure shot chance to increase their NRR after conceding the bonus point to the opposition team. Despite an underwhelming encounter, there is a lot to learn from this game. Take for instance the X-Factors, both of them failed, and it only fuels the fire to the opinion that this will be the least popular amongst the innovations brought in by the BBL this season. It has been mentioned above a couple of times now that, it is foolish to save the Power Surge overs waiting for the correct time. A total of four overs were pushed back today and barely any runs came from them. It will be interesting to see in the next couple of games in the ongoing season, especially in this ground, as to how the teams actually go about things, and hopefully, it would take away the spotlight so that spectators can actually enjoy performances like Siddle's every night.