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Freezin wrote: Great effort by Handscombe and Marsh.....both gutsed it out to ensure a draw....one which may help swing some momentum and self belief Australia's way going into the final test.....good to see Handscombe finally turn a start into a decent score on this Indian tour.....as for Marsh....yep true PN.....good to see him finally earn his match fee for a change...really thought he was in the team on one of those centrelink father n son scholarships......touch wood he continues to produce knocks of similar effort and magnitude.....might be the beginning of a long and beautiful test career for the fella .....but then again...... what does this Kiwi living sheep loving EF fan know eh?

If you look a Shaun's past ten tests he's been very consistent I think people look over that fact because he hasn't been able to put himself out on the park because of injury.

Good to see the other Marshmellow has made more runs than Virat after playing one less test.

Fantastic performance by Marsh and Handscomb. Marsh vindicated his selection today and I will humbly say that I was wrong. Overall he has actually batted well in this series and he would have made a few more had he reviewed that awful LBW in Bengalaru. The big question mark now is how are the bowlers going to back up in four days time. It will help that they all got to put their feet up today and it will help even more if Smith wins the toss again at Dharmasala and this time the Aussies make 550 not 450. This is the first ever test at Dharmasala which must be one of the most beautiful grounds in the world surrounded by Himalayan mountains. Maybe this scenery will inspire the Aussies to victory. It certainly will be cool compared with other parts of India as well which I think will help the players recovery.

I think they need to revamp the whole bowling group for the 4th test. Lyon and O'Keefe have been good so far but are losing their effect, id swap both out and bring Agar and swepson in, Gives you leggie, left arm orthodox and offie in Maxwell, that's variety.

I think they need to look at Jackson Bird also, Cummings bowled a shed load of overs and so did Hazelwood.........do they need to make a swap there?

Will be interesting to see what both teams do, India bowled a lot of overs also, and whisper is Ashwin was suffering from 'Sports hernia" on day 5 which is why he didn't bowl until late on day five

I am with you PH.....Hazlewood definitely needs the rest....played 3 tests so far and Bird is a like for like for him....Cummins pace did seem to worry the Indians and he should be pretty fresh considering his recent workload....Agar would definitely strengthen the batting....not too sure the bowling though..but hey many didn't think OKeefe could take a wicket before the series started..saying that both O'Keefe and Lyon looked tired in that 3rd test....playing Swepson would be a gutsy move but hey definitely a left field an exciting one....

Do they play Stoinis instead of a spinner and bowl Maxwell's spin more, having Stoinis on board would lessen the over load for both Hazlewood and Cummins and strengthen the batting...even could replace Bird with Hazlewood...

Warner, Renshaw Smith Marsh Handscombe Stoinis Maxwell Wade Cummins OKeefe Bird.....Aust bats down to number 10....use Bird and Cummins with the new ball....Stoinis as the donkey with O'Keefe, Maxwell and Smith for spin.....always pitch dependent I guess.

Bird is a like for like for Hazelwood ?
is that cos they both bowl with their right arm ?

MarkOlsen wrote: Bird is a like for like for Hazelwood ?
is that cos they both bowl with their right arm ?

Or both originally from NSW?

Yep spot on there MO....fast medium...pitch it up and swing the red cherry .and yes as you rightly say...with their right arm....but then who am I telling you RCQ anything about cricket mate,especially after your stellar career in the baggy blue in the nineties ....

I thwankyou for your witty banter MO...but your thwank buddy BH got in before me .......love ya NSW mantra too BH....pretty sure the baggy blue didn't do RCQ any favours from memory tho....

The problem is that Bird, Agar and Swepson have not played any competitive cricket for more than a month and to thrust any of them now in the cauldron of a deciding test would be a huge risk IMO. I think they will have to go with what they had in the 3rd test relying on their ability to recover and hope that Smith wins the toss.

Stoinis has at least played some shield cricket so he would be the one I would bring in if the pitch was conducive to medium pace. Makes me wonder if in this day and age where people can be transported very quickly whether it might have been better for Bird and Co to come back to Australia to play shield cricket for match practice and return to India if required, rather than sitting on their backsides for 6 weeks. Do we take too many players on tour these days? A 16 man squad does seem a bit over the top. Maybe 14 with standbys who are playing in the Shield.

Our test VC has hopefully had a long hard look at how Handscome and Smarsh batted out most of the last day, really put their heads down and showed that the Indian spinners are not magicians. He is the original flat track bully who performs when everything is in his favor, but when it's not he regularly fails dismally. The selectors should show some balls and drop him for the last test but being a NSW favorite son he's pretty assured a permanent position.

I remember Warner carrying his bat 100 odd not out on the last day on a difficult Bellerive Oval pitch that fecken Doug Bracewell made the rest of our batsmen look silly a few years back not to mention plenty of runs in SA against the best attack in world cricket. Hardly only a flat track bully I would have thought SS.