*Official* Third Test at Edgbaston

[flibbertyjibber]

I know we slaughtered Australia for picking that 17 man squad before the first test but I would certainly pick a 14 man squad for this upcoming test with Panesar and Taylor/AN Other bat added to cover in case Trott and Swann are unfit. Also it would give Taylor a taste of the build up even if he wasn't selected.

Saves us having a player racing to get there the day before or on the morning of the match and not being prepared anyway.

 

[Cevno]

Dhoni should have come up with a better excuse. In fact should not have come up with any at all

He probably got asked a question about the workload and preparations and answered it honestly.

Not like he is saying that India lost only because of that. Actually good that he did that, as the jerks at the BCCI will probably have some pressure about preparation for tests too.

 

[tooextracool]

There is a six batsman & four pacemen option should Trott not be fit.

Sammy Patel. His SLA would cover the spin if needed (I don't think he'll be a serious option in tests, but he's better than a part-timer and has decent variations, plus him turning the ball away from right handers is a bonus) and he's a good enough batsman to have a career average in excess of 40.

Tremmers in for Swann and Sammy replaces the injured Trott

How has Samit Patel been going with the bat this season? Might be a decent shout if Swann is injured, but he'd definitely need to play as a batsman first rather than as a bowling all rounder.

 

[smash84]

He probably got asked a question about the workload and preparations and answered it honestly.

How is he being honest if he didn't mention the impact of IPL?

 

[smash84]

He probably got asked a question about the workload and preparations and answered it honestly.

Not like he is saying that India lost only because of that. Actually good that he did that, as the jerks at the BCCI will probably have some pressure about preparation for tests too.

lol @ the comment at the bottom of that artilce

 

[Cevno]

How is he being honest if he didn't mention the impact of IPL?

Don't know how the question was structured actually but he does not mention the World Cup either.Think reading it again he is talking more about the preparation time before this tour on the back of the West Indies tour. The IPL doesn't have too much to do with it,why would he mention it?
It's been a problem with the scheduling of Indian tour abroads for years now and even later when we tour Australia , we have no warm up games(even after landing up cold there in the 1st test last time).

 

[smash84]

hmm.....you might be right

 

[CricAddict]

Dhoni blames the loss on cramped schedule - Rediff Sports

interestingly no mention of the million IPL games they played right after the WC,comes across as a pretty lame excuse since half the side missed the Windies series while the best performing batsman and bowler were present in both the series.

Missing Shivfan here. Very very surprising that there has been so many posts after this and no post from Shivfan

 

[Furball]

Dhoni should have come up with a better excuse. In fact should not have come up with any at all

Doesn't read like an excuse to me. Dhoni is correct in what he says - India's preparation for this tour has been a complete shambles.

 

[Anku31]

Preparation has been poor for this tour.4 days after finishing the 3rd test against WI,India were playing the tour game against Somerset.Isn't it ridiculous?
And also,there is one thing we haven't noticed IMO.The players who went on the WI tour have done well in England but those who weren't a part of it,haven't.Only Dravid,Praveen,Ishant have done well.

 

[Cevno]

This test reminds me of the the 3rd test of the Australia series back in 2007/20008 at Perth.

India had arrived undercooked for the first test and lost it, then lost the second as well. Australia was on their way to create a new record of consecutive wins at Perth.Sehwag had not played the first 2 test matches and the Dravid had opened instead along with Jaffer who was struggling. Zaheer had been injured for the second match and Harbhajan had bowled **** and been dropped for the third test.
Just lacking a controversy.

Hopefully the result is the same too and Sehwag smacks a century in the tour game as he did there before the 3rd test and then in the 4th test too.

 

[CricAddict]

This test reminds me of the the 3rd test of the Australia series back in 2007/20008 at Perth.

India had arrived undercooked for the first test and lost it, then lost the second as well. Australia was on their way to create a new record of consecutive wins at Perth.Sehwag had not played the first 2 test matches and the Dravid had opened instead along with Jaffer who was struggling. Zaheer had been injured for the second match and Harbhajan had bowled **** and been dropped for the third test.
Just lacking a controversy.

Hopefully the result is the same too and Sehwag smacks a century in the tour game as he did there before the 3rd test and then in the 4th test too.

Very good comparison, Cevno.
Feel so hilarious and equally bad to see an ardent Indian team supporter Cevno's avatar.

 

[smash84]

Very good comparison, Cevno.
Feel so hilarious and equally bad to see an ardent Indian team supporter Cevno's avatar.

Well said......

 

[Xuhaib]

think India will at a minimum draw this game the batting line up is a due a big score finally this could be the game with Sehwag returning also can't see Broad sustaining this ridiculous run of form at the moment he's bowling like a 90mph Glen Mcgrath

 

[GIMH]

Picking Sehwag as a spinner is a good idea, will compensate for Anderson owning him twice

 

[Riggins]

Preparation has been poor for this tour.4 days after finishing the 3rd test against WI,India were playing the tour game against Somerset.Isn't it ridiculous?
And also,there is one thing we haven't noticed IMO.The players who went on the WI tour have done well in England but those who weren't a part of it,haven't.Only Dravid,Praveen,Ishant have done well.

Surely that means the preparation of the team wasn't actually that bad??

 

[Jacknife]

How has Samit Patel been going with the bat this season? Might be a decent shout if Swann is injured, but he'd definitely need to play as a batsman first rather than as a bowling all rounder.

Samit's averaged 37 this year, with one ton in 18 innings, so he hasn't been pulling up trees by any stretch of the imagination, not had a bad year so far with the ball, averaging a tad under 26 with 31 wickets.

 

[MW1304]

Only way Samit could play is batting 6 and as a 5th bowler - certainly not good enough to be the primary spinner. Trouble is, there's much better options for batting 6 out there. Pretty sure he's been abject with the bat in the last couple of seasons (but better this year tbf).

 

[Kylez]

if he could somehow put on some muscle and bowl 5 kms quicker, he'd be much more threatening.

Misha is such a frustrating cricketer. If he could just fix that ridiculous no-ball problem and the occasional accuracy problem, he'd be a great attacking bowler for India.

When Mishra first came onto the scene, he looked like a confident and energetic cricketer. Now he looks quite nervous before he bowls and appears to be unconfident. It's a real shame, it's wasted potential at the moment.

 

[nsniks]

News coming is that Swann has declared himself fit for the 3rd test