***Official*** India in England

[Raghav]

Excellent point...

Pratyush, We will be getting STAR CRICKET from tomorrow. We fought with our cable operator to get the channel for our street.

Very much happy. Would like India to win for all the hard work we did.

 

[Pratters]

Well done Raghav and team.

 

[Turbinator]

To be honest, I'd rather win than draw regardless of what is said about why we won.

Exactly, I totally agree.

 

[pasag]

Pratyush, We will be getting STAR CRICKET from tomorrow. We fought with our cable operator to get the channel for our street.

Very much happy. Would like India to win for all the hard work we did.

 

[Turbinator]

 

[TT Boy]

Weather forcast is pretty bad for this test

It was 27°C this afternoon in London with not a cloud in the sky…

Supposedly it's going to be rather wet on Friday but the weekend is currently looking good and tomorrow should be fine.

 

[Pup Clarke]

I'd expect the two teams to be...

England

Alastair Cook
Andrew Strauss
Michael Vaughan
Kevin Pietersen
Paul Collingwood
Ian Bell
Matt Prior
Stuart Broad
Monty Panesar
Ryan Sidebottom
James Anderson

India

Wasim Jaffer
Dinesh Karthik
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
MS Dhoni
Anil Kumble
Sreesanth
Zaheer Khan
RP Singh

 

[steds]

Feel for Panesar atm. Will have an extremely heavy load.

 

[Pratters]

Predictions for this test and the series?

This test: draw.
Series: 1-1.

 

[silentstriker]

1-0 England. I don't know if we'll see two results in three tests due to A) weather, and B) the bowling. Not only is the bowling bad on both sides, but the batting is decent. Couple that with the weather, and you're just asking for draws.

 

[Turbinator]

1-0 India.

 

[Pratters]

To be honest, I'd rather win than draw regardless of what is said about why we won.

Those two posts of mine were highly on the cynical side... taking the piss. Don't read too much into them.

 

[adharcric]

1-0 England. I don't know if we'll see two results in three tests due to A) weather, and B) the bowling. Not only is the bowling bad on both sides, but the batting is decent. Couple that with the weather, and you're just asking for draws.

Overcast conditions may end up assisting the seamers and tilting the balance slightly back into the bowlers' favor. Overall though, I agree - inclement weather, relatively strong batting lineups and batsmen-friendly pitches will mean that only poor batting displays or a superb performance by someone like Broad or Sreesanth will produce a result.

 

[adharcric]

Monty Panesar is hardly 'their main weapon.' They have excellent batting, especially at home, but their quicks are what got them to the #2 spot. Hoggard & Flintoff had a fantastic tour of India, if you remember.

Disagree. Since that tour of India, Panesar averages 26. Sidebottom averages 20 but that has come in three tests against the West Indies. Next? Hoggard 34, Flintoff 36, Harmison 37, Plunkett 37, Mahmood 38. Panesar is their main weapon. Hoggard and Flintoff will both be big losses for England but Harmison? Give me a break, the guy has been crap for a while now.

 

[adharcric]

1-0 India.

Time for some revenge - hopefully Dhoni isn't around to mess things up this time.

 

[Pratters]

When was the last time Flintoff was effective in tests as a bowler? Versus Sri Lanka in England last year.

 

[Pratters]

Time for some revenge - hopefully Dhoni isn't around to mess things up this time.

You will do any thing to fulfill your secret agenda of getting Karhik in a team ahead of Dhoni.

 

[Jono]

I can't believe people are making the exact same mistake they made last year when England went over to India.

So what if they're missing some players, it a) hardly makes India a guaranteed winner, and b) hardly makes the series less important.

Underestimate England at your own peril. I distinctly remember Anderson running through a few Indian batsman last year.

And what's even worse is this crap regarding "oh if Tendulkar scores now against the likes of Plunkett, Tremlett etc. it won't prove that he's still got it." For Christ's sake, Tendulkar's job in the team is to score runs, not prove to some people on the internet and some Cricinfo columnists that he is still a great batsman. If he scores runs, whether its against Flintoff and Hoggard, or whether its against Plunkett, he's still doing it for India, and if I see responses such as "well it doesn't prove much now does it?" if Tendulkar tons up in this series I'll blow up. Yet I bet if Dravid tons up, it'll be just pure brilliance.

No I'm not taking a shot at Rahul, obviously he's India's best batsman and has nothing to prove, and has scored against the best attacks, but what I'm saying is that this tour isn't about whether Tendulkar can score against the England attack away from home. Its whether team India can win away from home.

 

[Anil]

Oh dear @ Hoggard. Don't know which side has the worse attack now.

we always have the worse attack, how dare you even insinuate otherwise... , on a serious note, kumble is really the only proven commodity and since the pitch is likely to be flat, we have no way of knowing if he will be effective, sreesanth had a great last series, hopefully he can carry over some of that form but he is still an up-and-comer, zaheer and r.p can provide some left-handed variety but i am not sure about the consistency and penetration against a really good batting lineup on an unhelpful track...

 

[Pratters]

You shouldn't forget Ganguly Anil... In English seaming conditions, he can be very useful.