***Official*** England in India

[Teja.]

Can't determine anything from how they play this Indian side. Dare I say it but these guys are giving the 90s a run for their money. Just as bad abroad but now ****ty at home too.

Indeed. We're a fairly good side when we get on top early but once the other side has momentum with the bat, India absolutely collapses mentally, becomes regressive and waits for a mistake from the other side. It's like watching B'desh on the field once the opposite side puts on a 100+ partnership. With worse fielding of course.

 

[SS1]

Can't determine anything from how they play this Indian side. Dare I say it but these guys are giving the 90s a run for their money. Just as bad abroad but now ****ty at home too.

It isn't just this series though.

They've struggled in the Sub Continent by messing about. Pakistan have the best spinners on earth. Sri Lanka they just batted appallingly. However, in India they appear to have learned. The last side to win in India, despite their shortcomings, was in 2004. How many Test series have India lost at home in the last 20 years ? They don't lose many, thats for sure. After what SA did to them, to win there would be hugely impressive.

 

[Pothas]

Can't determine anything from how they play this Indian side. Dare I say it but these guys are giving the 90s a run for their money. Just as bad abroad but now ****ty at home too.

Regardless of how good/bad India are an England series win would be a big deal.

 

[Howe_zat]

They are still 100 behind, fellas.

I fancy their chances too but it's also completely plausible for them to be bowled out by around tea, meaning a rather meagre lead.

 

[GIMH]

Ridiculous post. We've lost 1 wicket in 80 overs. This means we could only lose 1 more by tea tomorrow. Do the ****ing maths.

This ones in the bag

 

[SS1]

Ridiculous post. We've lost 1 wicket in 80 overs. This means we could only lose 1 more by tea tomorrow. Do the ****ing maths.

This ones in the bag

Hallelujah.

We aren't on a bunsen here. This is a good wicket, bit of reverse but nothing major yet. England should comfortably put a big score up here and then bowl India out. 316 from India was appalling on this wicket, its a 500+ wicket when you win the toss at Kolkata. Barring a ridiculous show of batting tomorrow from England, this Test is close to being done.

 

[SS1]

Context is that India have lost at home twice in 25 years.

If England win here, it will be significant.

 

[shankar]

The dominance in the 90's was based on proper turners with Kumble who was brilliant on them and batsmen who made batting look easy on those wickets even against the best wickets. Ever since the wickets became flatter and slower since around 2003, opposition batsmen have had a pretty good time in India. The difference was that the Indian batting had been strong enough to overcome the impotence of the spinners by consistently putting up big totals themselves. Even then, India hasn't been as dominant at home as in the 90's and early '00s - Australia won in 2004, England drew once, South Africa drew twice and a very weak Pakistan drew once as well. Right now with the retirements and Tendulkar's decline, the batting doesn't seem like it's strong enough to hold the fort.

What's worrying now as Mumbai showed is that India seems to be unable to go back to the formula of the 90's. Even domestic cricket has been played on these same kind of pitches for 10 years now. There are practically no dominant spinners around in domestic cricket. Aakash Chopra has written on this recently (Link). Even the ones that come through like Ashwin and Ojha seem to be more geared to bowl on slow turners like Ahmedabad. The batsmen also no longer seem to have the skills of the 90's batsmen on the proper turners (This needs more evidence, but it seems like an obvious consequence to infer).

 

[centurymaker]

Can't determine anything from how they play this Indian side. Dare I say it but these guys are giving the 90s a run for their money. Just as bad abroad but now ****ty at home too.

exactly.
not only have they been hopeless outside, they are now ordinary at home.

we should've realized after their unprecedented whitewashes abroad that this side wouldn't fare too well at home either.
coz a team that is strong at home tends to do much better than 4-0, 4-0 abroad

if it was left to me i'd play the following team in the next test

sehwag
rahane
pujara
tendulkar
r sharma
kohli
dhoni
harby/ohja
mishra
yadav if fit
zaheer

 

[centurymaker]

Indeed. We're a fairly good side when we get on top early but once the other side has momentum with the bat, India absolutely collapses mentally, becomes regressive and waits for a mistake from the other side. It's like watching B'desh on the field once the opposite side puts on a 100+ partnership. With worse fielding of course.

spot on.

it's like they have given up on the match.

 

[centurymaker]

Context is that India have lost at home twice in 25 years.

If England win here, it will be significant.

south africa may have won twice in the last 5 yrs if it hadn;t been for short series'

 

[Jono]

Haven't read this thread for day 2 yet, and I'm sure there is some complaining about India's bowling in this thread, and fair enough they weren't fantastic, but when India lose this match it will be down to their batsmen. Scoring just over 300 on that wicket is disappointing to say the least.

England bowled brilliantly though, and as a rule, if you drop Cook you're ****ed. That has proven to be the case.

 

[SS1]

Lets be honest, India are akin to a more talented West Indies.

They are gutless. They lack patience. They don't fancy a fight. They are unfit. They can't play cricket unless it is in conditions that suit them. They are, in short, a shambles.

However, at home they are damn good. Dress it up however people like but they have lost at home twice in 25 years. They weren't that great prior to SRT, VVS, Dravid, Kumble etc....they still barely lost. Winning in India is a huge achievement, look at the 1st Test.

The issue is that India is a massive cricketing nation that right now has no interest in playing the most testing format. They are far happier labelling some guy a superstar because he can hit 70 off 30 balls against Pune, despite the fact barely any of their cricketers are capable of seeing a seamer off on a greentop.

Indian cricket requires a massive slap in the face and quick.

 

[Turbinator]

if it was left to me i'd play the following team in the next test

sehwag
rahane
pujara
tendulkar
r sharma
kohli
dhoni
harby/ohja
mishra
yadav if fit
zaheer

This.

I will absolutely lose it if Yuvraj gets another game.

 

[Jono]

Imagine how bad things would be for India if they hadnt doctored the the pitch to suit their side

Such **** posting, what does that even mean? You think they'd have prepared a green top?

Dhoni has been asking for turners. Got a slow pitch in the first test (not what he wanted, they won), and got a turner in the second test (what he wanted, they lost).

This pitch is neither. Your post makes no sense on like 5 levels.

 

[Jono]

Ridiculous post. We've lost 1 wicket in 80 overs. This means we could only lose 1 more by tea tomorrow. Do the ****ing maths.

This ones in the bag

You filthy ****

 

[Cruxdude]

The difference in class is so obvious it is sad watching this game. The last year and half have been thoroughly depressing as an Indian fan.

Expected India to compete well in England. Probably even win it. We were thrashed so bad. Expected that to be a lesson against poor preparation for such a huge series and thought we would do decently in Australia considering they were supposed to be in "decline". Thrashed once more.

Gave up on performing well outside the subcontinent for some time at least but thought we would do well in India and England have disabused that hope too.

Watching the Indian team struggle against Anderson, I had high hopes on Zaheer and even Ishant looked good against Cook initially. This is probably the most depressing loss at home since the 2-0 against SA in 2000.

 

[Contra]

The difference in class is so obvious it is sad watching this game. The last year and half have been thoroughly depressing as an Indian fan.

Expected India to compete well in England. Probably even win it. We were thrashed so bad. Expected that to be a lesson against poor preparation for such a huge series and thought we would do decently in Australia considering they were supposed to be in "decline". Thrashed once more.

Gave up on performing well outside the subcontinent for some time at least but thought we would do well in India and England have disabused that hope too.

Watching the Indian team struggle against Anderson, I had high hopes on Zaheer and even Ishant looked good against Cook initially. This is probably the most depressing loss at home since the 2-0 against SA in 2000.

Pretty much this, should we lose this series I think it will be the worst of them all, even worse than losing 8-0 overseas, losing at home will be hard to digest if it happens.

Also Amit Mishra is TRASH, I don't ever want to see him in test matches again, guy bowls an insane amount of no-balls.

Can we honestly try Jadeja? His bowling style is perfect for pitches like the last one, and his batting would be handy too. Jadeja can't possibly do any worse than Yuvraj batting wise, and he'll bowl a lot more than Yuvi too.

 

[sli]

would chawla be a better option

 

[sli]

i don't like ashwin playing test cricket he really struggles to get wickets, mishra is ordinary and should never play again for india