***Official England in India***

[Richard]

Well that's the end of that, India will win by however much they're ahead of on D\L.

 

[Evermind]

Any idea how the Pathan stumping might've changed the equation?

 

[Richard]

India would've been ahead by less than they ended-up being.

 

[Tim]

Another typically ridiculous mess...there's floodlights but the game's over due to bad light.

 

[Precambrian]

Well done India. 3-0. Win by 16 runs this ODI.

Dunno why Pietersen and Flintoff were involved in a very animated discussion with the umpires. Looked disappointed both. However fact is that Fred and Broad had only 2 overs left between them, Swann completed his quota. So even if light had not deteriorated, that would leave 7 overs to be bowled between KP. Patel and Anderson. And India are down only 5 wickets.

 

[Rant0r]

To be fair, KP has always spun the ball a long way. He had a reputation as a big ripper (remember that he started as a specialist spinner) that didnt have good control.

he does rip it a fair way, more than a lot of specialist finger spinners, but he doesnt have that drop, bounce or variation of flight that would make him dangerous at international level, he needs to work on that, or in my opinion, bowl himself less

 

[Precambrian]

Another typically ridiculous mess...there's floodlights but the game's over due to bad light.

Yeah, dunno why but there is captain's agreement prior to the series not to use floodlights. Strange indeed.

 

[Furball]

at Pietersen getting more spin than Swann

Edit : He gets Rohit though. Another throw-away after a promising start.

Not sure what's so funny about that.

In terms of the amount of spin he's able to get, Pietersen's always been one of the best fingerspinners I've seen.

 

[Precambrian]

I can't see England coming back strongly and win all the remaining matches. But the positives are Fred's and Broad's bowling. Fred was particularly impressive because he bowled to the weaknesses of each Indian batsman. Swann too was impressive and begged the question why he was not used before in this series.

However England's batting, particularly the middle order needs to fire. So does India's. It's been Yuvraj show, and the failures of Raina and Sharma have gone unnoticed so far. However with Tendulkar coming back, Gambhir will be pushed to No.3, which would mean either Raina or Sharma missing out, and the middle order strengthened.

 

[Precambrian]

Not sure what's so funny about that.

In terms of the amount of spin he's able to get, Pietersen's always been one of the best fingerspinners I've seen.

Funny because he was getting more turn than the specialist. Yeah I know he started as one. Got the ability and if he gets in the right areas, he can do a job here.

 

[Rant0r]

Ian Chappell did. In addition to that, there appears to be a whole lot of fan boys on here who proclaim him him. Thus far, from the young 'uns, he hasn't done much more than Uthappa and Karthik, and he is certainly behind Raina.

what's happened to uthappa anyway ? he seemed to have a few tools, but then indian crickets seems to be flooded with young batsmen with gifts but few postmen... karthik has fallen so far back as a batsman and as a keeper it's not funny, i can't believe he was ever a specialist keeper, the last time i seen him he was horrendous, he's got the yips that bad that parthiv has overtaken him, and he's not much chop, might have improved though

 

[Precambrian]

what's happened to uthappa anyway ? he seemed to have a few tools, but then indian crickets seems to be flooded with young batsmen with gifts but few postmen... karthik has fallen so far back as a batsman and as a keeper it's not funny, i can't believe he was ever a specialist keeper, the last time i seen him he was horrendous, he's got the yips that bad that parthiv has overtaken him, and he's not much chop, might have improved though

Both are doind well in the domestic circuit. Karthik hit a career best 170 odd just a few days back, and Uthappa his second ton of the season. However both stands little chance of making to the ODI squad right now. Unless selectors really decide to give a strong message to Raina and Sharma.

 

[gettingbetter]

what's happened to uthappa anyway ? he seemed to have a few tools, but then indian crickets seems to be flooded with young batsmen with gifts but few postmen... karthik has fallen so far back as a batsman and as a keeper it's not funny, i can't believe he was ever a specialist keeper, the last time i seen him he was horrendous, he's got the yips that bad that parthiv has overtaken him, and he's not much chop, might have improved though

Started off as an opener, didn't do all that well there, decent, but not enough to retian his position in the team. Also remember he was competing alongside guys like Gambhir, Tendulkar, Sehwag and maybe Ganguly at times. Then he had a short stint down the bottom (out of position), had one good innings there, failed a lot of the other times and now, due to a combination of lack of runs and the emergence of specialist middle order batsmen - Raina, Yuvraj and Rohit and a solid opening combo, he is out of the team/squad.

Wouldn't be suprised to see him back, he has something about him. Just FTR, he is captaining he domestic team too now.

 

[Richard]

I always rather liked the look of Uthappa in ODIs, but Gambhir has deservedly moved ahead of him for now.

 

[Jono]

Yeah Uthappa will be back. Good player, just seemed like he was getting a bit too big for his boots, and some time away from the game will do him good. I think all the players in the top 6 are probably better, and Yusuf Pathan's doing his job reasonably well for the moment.

Also should be remembered Sachin is due back into the team.

 

[Evermind]

[about Uthappa] Wouldn't be suprised to see him back, he has something about him.

Yes, an absolutely hilarious name.

 

[honestbharani]

Good win for India.

 

[Precambrian]

Meanwhile the Indian team for the next two ODIs has been announced.

Irfan Pathan IN, RP Singh OUT
Tendulkar IN, Vijay OUT

Good to see Irfan back in the hang of things.

 

[silentstriker]

No, I dont have an issue with that point, infact I agree with that. But the assumption that No Bounce=Flat or that subcontinent pitches are flat and hence Gambhir's scores were made on flat tracks and mean nothing is just too much assumption and taking the credit away from the batsman.

And If It were so easy to score on Indian Pitches, why only one Aussie had a 50+ average in the India-Aus series ?

Did I say they mean nothing? Runs are runs. I said I don't know if he can score outside the subcontinent. The reason one Aussie had a 50+ average is that the Indian team bowled extremely well in mostly unhelpful conditions. I don't think anyone would deny that.

 

[silentstriker]

Meh Test match (Aus Vs Nz) more exciting than this one day tbh...

When is that not the case?