***Official*** India in England

[Prince EWS]

Kevin Pietersen does...but not many moan at him when he gets out like that.

So does Ponting. And I cringe when I see it. I'm sure better bowlers than the current lot at test level could exploit it as well - it took a batsman past his prime to chime out Cook doing it!

 

[BoyBrumby]

RP Singh.. well he's a bit different. I don't think he bowled particularly poorly - I just don't think he's much chop. He bowled okay, but he doesn't have any pace, he bowls too short, he gets minimal movement and he's prone to spray it everywhere in spells. Unlike the other two, though, he probably bowled as well as he can - he showed the required discipline and application, just not the required skill level. I guess that can be expected from the third best fast bowler from India though.

Hate to nit pick, but I really couldn't see that RPS was any different in pace from Zaheer or Sreesanth today. Not to say that they have any real pace either, just that it seems unfair to pick him out for it.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Indeed, he was bowling 87mph (140kph) + quite often against Bangladesh.

 

[Prince EWS]

Hate to nit pick, but I really couldn't see that RPS was any different in pace from Zaheer or Sreesanth today. Not to say that they have any real pace either, just that it seems unfair to pick him out for it.

Oh, not to say that Zaheer or Sreesanth bowled with pace today - in fact I think RPS was the pick of the seamers today. I've just seen Sreesanth and Zaheer bowl much better, and I personally don't think RPS is capable of much better. I haven't seen much of him though, so he could prove me wrong.

And that list of his shortcomings wasn't really comparing him to the other Indian bowlers - it was comparing him to bowlers across the board. The likes of Zaheer and Sreesanth get a lot more movement generally and bowl a better length - which gives them something to justify their selection. RPS seems a nothing bowler. Again, I've seen little of him, so I could be wrong.

 

[Richard]

I've never thought much if anything of RP either, FWIW.

Not that I've all that often thought much of Zaheer Khan either, but it's still a bit more than I've ever thought of RP.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Changing the topic to spinners it still baffles me as to why Harbhajan was not in the squad. They could have played Zaheer and Sreesanth with Ganguly to back them up and then unleash both the spinners. Harbhajan would be evidently better than any of the other seamers imo.

 

[Richard]

Don't think neccessarily so. Harbhajan can be ridiculously ineffective too. IMO there's no reason other than the natural (and unutterably stupid) four-ineffective-seamers+1-ineffective-spinner-is-better-than-5-ineffective-seamers lark, spouted by near enough everyone when an all-seam attack is ineffective, ignoring the countless times a seam+spin attack is ineffective.

Well reminded, though...

 

[Prince EWS]

Changing the topic to spinners it still baffles me as to why Harbhajan was not in the squad. They could have played Zaheer and Sreesanth with Ganguly to back them up and then unleash both the spinners. Harbhajan would be evidently better than any of the other seamers imo.

In English conditions though, I doubt how effective Harbhajan would be, especially with Kumble bowling at the times you'd want to bowl him. There's little doubt that Harbhajan > RPS, but whether he'd be a better option in a side that already contained Kumble - in English conditions - is a totally different thing.

 

[TT Boy]

Changing the topic to spinners it still baffles me as to why Harbhajan was not in the squad. They could have played Zaheer and Sreesanth with Ganguly to back them up and then unleash both the spinners. Harbhajan would be evidently better than any of the other seamers imo.

Have you see Harbhajan bowl over the past eighteen months?

I was waiting until the Sky team brought up his name, funny how when he last played against England in test cricket they were bemoaning how poor he was looking.

Ian Botham will probably be championing Irfan Pathan's selection tomorrow -
"ITB- Ravi, I don't watch much cricket but I can not believe India have not selected him.
Ravi- I know, he should be here (oblivious to his criticism of Pathan in South Africa...)
ITB- Where’s Nehra, he would have been great in these conditions.
Ravi- I know, he should be here…"

This goes on for 45 minutes until Harbhajan Singh becomes the best spinner in world cricket, Pathan the best all-rounder and Sehwag the finest opener since Sunil.

 

[aussie]

Whats up with Ashish Nehra, still injured i presume?. At this best that bloke would have been a great addition to India's pace attack.

 

[TT Boy]

One should not try to play balls on off-stump through midwicket though. If that was the best choice of shots he could muster, he should have blocked it.

According to Daren Ganga probably not but as I said I can't be too critical of the kid for it's a shot that brings him a lot of runs. My only grievance with Cook is that he got done by Ganguly but you gotta get out to someone I guess.

 

[Richard]

Have you see Harbhajan bowl over the past eighteen months?

I was waiting until the Sky team brought up his name, funny how when he last played against England in test cricket they were bemoaning how poor he was looking.

Ian Botham will probably be championing Irfan Pathan's selection tomorrow -
"ITB- Ravi, I don't watch much cricket but I can not believe India have not selected him.
Ravi- I know, he should be here (oblivious to his criticism of Pathan in South Africa...)
ITB- Where’s Nehra, he would have been great in these conditions.
Ravi- I know, he should be here…"

This goes on for 45 minutes until Harbhajan Singh becomes the best spinner in world cricket, Pathan the best all-rounder and Sehwag the finest opener since Sunil.

People are allowed to change their minds, y'know...

Granted, most people do it too often. (YES, SELF-RELATED IRONY USED!!!!!!!!)

But I don't think anyone who knows anything about anything sees a way back for Ashish Nehra to intl cricket, though with India I suppose you should never say never. Sehwag and Pathan, however, will be back sometime. Whether they're any better, however, is anyone's guess.

Harbhajan, meanwhile, simply needs to get back on some turning wickets - and I mean proper turning wickets. Let's not forget it wasn't that long ago that he played a large part in a victory in West Indies.

 

[TT Boy]

Whats up with Ashish Nehra, still injured i presume?. At this best that bloke would have been a great addition to India's pace attack.

That one game at Durban has lived long in your memory.

Surprised you can't remember Nehra's performances against Australia or any other test play nation (excluding Zimbabwe). And for the life of me I can not see how Nehra’s 75mph half volleys would be better than Zaheer Khan’s 82mph ones.

 

[silentstriker]

This would be an ideal to bring back my Indian wheel of mediocrity avatar back, especially since people blasted me for putting some of the newer members in it.

But, I like my sanity so I am going to change it to someone who actually knew how to bowl.

 

[Richard]

Mikey > DKL anyway.

 

[TT Boy]

Don’t know if anyone caught it but Ian Botham’s ‘Doorman’ jibe at Ian Chappell gave me a laugh, even if it was petty. It left Bumble in stitches but it was rather stupid of Sky to 'highlight' Chappell whilst Beefy was on air.

 

[Richard]

What, they showed some old footage?

And I missed it.

 

[Jono]

Foxtel showing the match on delay is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

Anyway, this looks like a horrible pitch. India's bowlers were horrible, and if I was an English fan I'd be pretty frustrated with those two late wickets because they could have really rammed home the advantage.

 

[BoyBrumby]

What, they showed some old footage?

And I missed it.

Nah. Chappelli was just standing at the back of another comm box & Sky's cameras focussed on him.

 

[Richard]

Haha, WTF is Chappell commentating for?