***Official*** England in India

[CricAddict]

It's a half-decent (not very good) start for India, and while seeing England pull the game into the second session of the fifth day was disappointing, there are a few good things that don't need to be changed- while a lot has been spoken of Pujara and Ojha, another key issue is that of Umesh Yadav. The England seamers managed just one tailender wicket, while Yadav has snared four, on a flat deck with low bounce. India need to persist with him for the next two years and not discard him like they did Ishant (and are now staring at the frightful possibility of Dinda being a strike bowler).

One disappointment, apart from the failure to squash the English batting in the second innings, is the total lack of support from the batsmen who can bowl. Ashwin bowled 45 overs in one innings, and 28 in another. Ojha bowled more than fifty. The pacers came close to 20 each. In both innings, all the bowling options Dhoni had at his disposal, bowled a grand total of nine overs across the match! That's really poor, especially from Yuvraj, who is fighting for the number six place in the batting lineup. If there's no support from the batsmen when they're bowling, not only will the bowlers struggle, but India's number six won't be found.

What could do with a bit of work, though, is the spin combination. Ojha and Ashwin have been unconvincing on this surface, which is a far cry from a rank turner. We're talking of taking a bagful of wickets for under a hundred each. They're not as good as the top three Indian spinners, and need to turn the ball a lot more to be effective in batting-friendly conditions. Harbhajan can help these blokes out a little, as he's not an overly selfish bloke.

Yuvraj could have been given more overs in the second innings. Agree with that.

 

[Woodster]

Not a good opening Test for England, but at least we showed that we can score 400+ in these conditions, hopefully in future innings we can do so without having to dig ourselves out of a rather large hole in the first place.

Can't speak highly enough of Alastair Cook with the bat. His powers of concentration are immense, and despite not looking like he has the ideal technique to play spin effectively, yet, as he always does, he finds a way to succeed.

Despite sertain positives we can take from this Test, there's no doubt we've been clearly second best against the hosts. Our bowling, so disciplined and accurate in the UAE, was down on pace and less threatening, it may only be the first Test but that is a concern. Swann was excellent and the obvious change is to give him some support in Monty Panesar, with Tim Bresnan the likeliset to sit the next one out. Much speculation about Broad's place in the side too, but I can't see them leaving him out just yet, even if Steve Finn would offer us something different.

Samit Patel has been unlucky with the bat, getting two stiff LBW's, but if Panesar is selected his part-time off-spin will be of lesser importance. If he is rated as one of our best batsmen in these conditions then of course his position should be retained, personally would be happier with one of our other alternatives in there.

 

[mugshot]

People have said this about Bell for years, and apart from a few glimmers of class, he's flattered to deceive.

He's still a decent player, but he's been the opposite of Chanderpaul; he looks a lot better than he really is.

Inconsistency and never quite achieving full potential is the problem. Bell is a good player but his glimmers of brilliance show what he could achieve but never quite hits the mark with.

 

[LFD]

England v India: Ian Botham and Stuart Broad in Twitter spat

Sir Ian Botham has hit out at Stuart Broad after the England bowler reacted angrily to criticism of his form.
After England's defeat by India in the first Test, Broad tweeted: "Before you listen to too many ex-playing 'experts' being negative, ask them if they ever won a Test series in India...#28years."
Botham then sent a tweet to Broad, criticising his overseas performances.
He wrote: "Didn't average 40+ with the ball overseas! Not sure what I scored vs India with the bat? #justsaying"

Botham, England's record wicket-taker with 383 victims, had earlier left Broad out of his England team for the second Test during his post-match analysis for Sky Sports.

Broad failed to take a wicket in Ahmedabad and was dismissed for three on the final day as England crumbled to a nine-wicket defeat.

He now averages 41.71 with the ball overseas and just 14.86 with the bat, compared to his home records of 28.74 and 34.52 respectively.

Botham had a batting average of 61.55 and a bowling average of 25.53 in seven Tests in India, although he sat out the 1984-85 tour, when David Gower's men clinched England's last victory in the Asian nation.
Botham called for England to make four changes for the second Test, starting on Friday in Mumbai.
He wants to see Steven Finn, Monty Panesar, Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow brought in for Broad, Tim Bresnan, Samit Patel and Ian Bell, who is flying home to attend the birth of his child.
Broad later tweeted to play down the row.

He wrote: "Spat with @BeefyBotham?? What spat? Love Beefy, best bowler England have ever had, then add his batting. Twitter is funny at times!"

BBC Sport - England v India: Ian Botham and Stuart Broad in Twitter spat

 

[flibbertyjibber]

To be honest I would imagine most of the criticism is aimed at Nick Knight again, as he always says a lot but never actually did anything in test cricket, was one of our finest ever one day openers granted but when it comes to tests getting criticism from him must feel like getting it off a keyboard warrior on here to the players.

 

[mugshot]

BBC Sport - England v India: Ian Botham and Stuart Broad in Twitter spat

Lol, Broad knew there was no way he was going to beat ol beefy in a spat.

 

[centurymaker]

.

"They [the bowlers] had to work really hard," Dhoni said. " Especially if you are expected to take more than 10 wickets to get a team out."

"I don't even want to see this wicket," he said. "There wasn't enough turn and bounce for the spinners… Hopefully in the coming matches we'll see the wicket turn, right from start, or as soon as possible so that the toss doesn't become vital."

"It was not so easy. I can tell you that," he said. "We were on the field for two, two-and-a-half days. The bowlers had to bowl very patiently. Ojha bowled close to 82 overs, Ashwin bowled 70 overs.

"As the game progressed the pitch got slower and slower. I don't think there was much turn for them. The odd ball turned, but there wasn't enough bounce for the edge to carry to the slip fielder. It was about keeping one or two deliveries out and you were set for the game."

 

[Viscount Tom]

Dhoni in test cricket is hard shocker.

 

[theegyptian]

even with broad broading it up, dhoni comfortably outdouched everybody during this match.

 

[centurymaker]

how many catches and stumpings did Dhoni miss in total?

 

[Cabinet96]

Criticised the umpires as well. Dhoni is becoming a bit of a parody tbh. Should focus on his own game instead of slagging off the officials like he always does.

 

[Neil Pickup]

even with broad broading it up, dhoni comfortably outdouched everybody during this match.

The quote about umpiring is a disgrace.

 

[Viscount Tom]

Overrated captain and a pretty poor keeper tbh isn't worth his place in the Indian side, Saha looked a much tidier keeper in Aus.

Still stand by that I think Kohli should be captaining India, bit Ganguly like in attitude which is what I think they need.

 

[Cabinet96]

I think we have seen just about enough in this second innings to suggest we might manage a little better than that, should be able to draw a couple I would have thought.

But Cook and Prior were the only people to score more than 40 for us in the match. That is just staggering.

Add in the fact that it was probably our worse performance with the ball in years.

The seamers were seriously down on pace, and have been for a while, Trott still looks in a rut, KP seems to have his head clouded again, I just don't back the rest of the batsmen to get any runs out here.

It was a positive sign that we improved so much in the 2nd innings (we have to bare in mind that the first dig was the first proper go against quality spin on tour so far) but I still just can't see the quality and form in the team at the moment to beat a strong India side at home.

The only way England will win a test is if they catch everything and Cook goes huge again, IMO.

 

[centurymaker]

overrated captain and a pretty poor keeper tbh isn't worth his place in the indian side, saha looked a much tidier keeper in aus.

Still stand by that i think kohli should be captaining india, bit ganguly like in attitude which is what i think they need.

+1

 

[mugshot]

But Cook and Prior were the only people to score more than 40 for us in the match. That is just staggering.

Add in the fact that it was probably our worse performance with the ball in years.

The seamers were seriously down on pace, and have been for a while, Trott still looks in a rut, KP seems to have his head clouded again, I just don't back the rest of the batsmen to get any runs out here.

It was a positive sign that we improved so much in the 2nd innings (we have to bare in mind that the first dig was the first proper go against quality spin on tour so far) but I still just can't see the quality and form in the team at the moment to beat a strong India side at home.

The only way England will win a test is if they catch everything and Cook goes huge again, IMO.

Really good post, totally agree with what your saying.

 

[silentstriker]

The quote about umpiring is a disgrace.

He should have referred those calls.

/obvious

 

[Jono]

Kohli has as perfect a gsme a sub cont bat can have for non sub cont conditions.

Exactly. You wonder whether this SilentStriker bloke watches the game sometimes. Hi back foot game is very suited to SA and Australian conditions. If he gets his head right like he did nearer to the end of the Australian tour he will do very well.

Grouping Kohli with Raina is a disgrace. Far better batsman and much much much better looking ffs

 

[Pup Clarke]

Is it Tatenda Taibu swimming? If so, I can not answer that question.

heh

 

[silentstriker]

FFS, I just listed the whole lineup and said it'd be untested - I didn't specifically say anything about Kohli. In fact, I only specifically pointed out Yuvraj and Raina as the ones who suck a lot.


Err, though it looks like I forgot Gambhir.