Gopal and Arjun take a technical look at the ongoing first test match between India and England in Chennai. They dissect the selections, the pitch, the performances of specific players, and where both teams can go from here. Is it really a stalemate or can someone eke out a win? Did their pre-series predictions come true?

Also, Rishabh Pant is at it again!

Shownotes

01:15 - State of play across three ongoing test matches (Ind-Eng, Pak-SA, Ban-WI)

02:30 - Cricket’s return to free-to-air in UK, and Channel 4’s commentary (Mr Cook) vs Sky

04:00 - Quick predictions for Pak-SA and Ban-WI

Team selections

04:44 - Indian XI for this game; why was Shahbaz Nadeem picked ahead of Kuldeep?

09:00 - England XI; why did England pick only four bowlers on a flat wicket?

The pitch

12:20 - The flat Chennai dosa pitch, different types of pitches (cracked, green, dusty), why did the new curator prepare such a pitch?

21:12 - COVID impact on teams winning the match after winning the toss

23:00 - Bumrah’s press conference about the impact of the new SG ball

Player performances in this test

25:15 : Joe Root, and a new way of looking at his conversion rate vs other great batsmen

31:10 : Stokes’ aggressive innings vs Sibley’s cautious approach

34:08 : India’s decision to stick to a leg side fielding setup

35:51 : Washington’s unthreatening bowling combined with desperately poor luck

38:45 : Losing all three reviews, and why Laxman Sivaramakrishnan needs DRS training and fashion tips from Warne

42:36 : Was Buttler the poorest performer of the match so far?

45:30 : Rishabh Pant’s chatter behind the stumps, where he wants Washington to go, his multi-lingual motivational skills, Arjun’s Bengali skills, and a shoutout to Saurav dada

51:08 : Ishant Sharma...what a star he is

54:45 : Shubman Gill’s close-in fielding technique

Predictions for this test

57:50 : Should England try to bat as much or should they have declared already?

60:05 : Whom do the bookies favour, and how can England win this match?

64:25 : Our club’s first XI captain - Jack - shares an opinion on the WTC’s impact on this game, as we drift into references from North Bombay and South London