*Official* India Tour of England 2018

[Howe_zat]

pick dinesh karthik to open

 

[Prince EWS]

Test squad(for first three matches): Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.

Xuhaib asked why were are pessimistic. If you look at our squad, no batsmen are in form except Rahul. Bowlers we were banking on like Bhuvi are facing injury issues. The big positive is Kuldeep in a season where the pitches will be dry. Which begs the question, why was Chahal or some other spinner not drafted in this squad, ffs.

Haha there are three better spinners than Chahal in the squad, man.

 

[Pratters]

On paper Ashwin and Jadeja are good but neither have been in top form.. I would have liked some one else in the squad as cover given how spin is likely to play a crucial role. If not Chahal, I don't know some one else. Chahal has at least been effective in the ODIs..

 

[Pratters]

Important tour game v Essex next. Will it be broadcast any where?

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Haha there are three better spinners than Chahal in the squad, man.

And more at home in India.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

I'm all over it today. Four beers by 2pm and you can't stop my rampage of prompt and correct posts with one small typo each in them.

Your colleagues in Pennsylvania better lay down before PEWS lays the Amish Smackdown "4 beers".

 

[vcs]

I know it's in OS's DNA to be pessimistic but I'm quietly hopeful about this series (and a sucker for punishment). They've had decent preparation time and I've believed for a while that this team is better than the 2008-10 vintage (this series and the Australian tour will put that theory to the test).

They were quite competitive in SA while losing and I'm hoping it will translate to better results this time. They've also been OK so far in the limited overs leg and matched England there. Injuries etc. are a setback, yes, and there will undoubtedly be some dodgy selection decisions.

 

[Pratters]

Batting is a worry though.

Rahane's batting has dipped in last 12 months or so. He had started to look solid for a brief period. Pujara is not in any sort of nick.

 

[trundler]

Should've given us 5 tests instead..

 

[OverratedSanity]

I know it's in OS's DNA to be pessimistic but I'm quietly hopeful about this series (and a sucker for punishment). They've had decent preparation time and I've believed for a while that this team is better than the 2008-10 vintage (this series and the Australian tour will put that theory to the test).

They were quite competitive in SA while losing and I'm hoping it will translate to better results this time. They've also been OK so far in the limited overs leg and matched England there. Injuries etc. are a setback, yes, and there will undoubtedly be some dodgy selection decisions.

Tbf, I didn't even give a pre-series prediction or anything before people got worked up with the supposed gambhiring. I just said the selections were a shitshow which they are.

I even said that we'll win a test. With a bit of luck, I think a drawn series is definitely possible. A series win is unlikely but if Bhuvi manages to come back and somehow be at 100%, anything's possible. Been saying for months that Bhuvi will be the main factor which decides whether we do well this series.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Tbf, I didn't even give a pre-series prediction or anything before people got worked up with the supposed gambhiring. I just said the selections were a shitshow which they are.

I even said that we'll win a test. With a bit of luck, I think a drawn series is definitely possible. A series win is unlikely but if Bhuvi manages to come back and somehow be at 100%, anything's possible. Been saying for months that Bhuvi will be the main factor which decides whether we do well this series.

gg

 

[Cow Corner]

There's a lot of inconsistencies being stated here.

1) Injuries: The main blow is Bhuvi. That's really the only meaningful injury we're having. Bumrah made his debut in South Africa for ffs, he was not even in the scheme of things until that. Our first choice bowling squad has always been Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Ishant. All through the home season those are the quicks that have played, and we've won plenty of matches without Bhuvi. Umesh/Ishant were our pace bowlers against Australia, and Shami/Umesh vs England. Vs Sri Lanka it was Ishant/Umesh. Bhuvi played the odd game on favourable surfaces. So while he's a big blow, we shouldn't be moaning about Bumrah being injured.

Saha being out might be a blessing in disguise. While he's safe with the gloves, his returns with the bat are really poor. Karthik is a pretty good keeper, much better than Parthiv. We can't keep relying on a keeper/batsman on away tours who averages 30 overall and <30 away. At home we can get away with it, but with 5 bowlers away we need a keeper who can bat. DK has been in exceptional form, and he's a class player and I'm pretty happy he's in the team. We have to remember that we're already quite used to playing without Saha...who's been injured in almost every series we've played over the past 12-18 months with DK/Parthiv filling in.

2) ODI/ Domestic form: We are conflating the two. If ODI form matters than Rohit should be playing...clearly we are saying that red ball vs white ball is a different game. Our bowling line up has been in top test match form, including Ishant/Umesh and even Shami (the last test India played he ran through SA). On the other hand Pujara has not scored a meaningful score for donkeys years away from home. Perhaps some of you have not been following his performances at Yorkshire. He's been wiped out, and getting bowled quite often which is a long time issue for him.

 

[theegyptian]

It's a hard series to predict.

I could see all 3 possibilities really.

Comfortable England win - Very tough for teams to win test series away these days seemingly. Seems to be falling apart a little for India. India have capitulated in England in recent test series. Foreign spinners haven't had much success in England in recent times.

Comfortable India win - Wickets are dry, spinners will dominate, even India fast bowlers were better than ours in India 2016. Broad, Anderson, Woakes all been injured, not played much. England are a very average test side, maybe even bad.

Close series - England aren't very good at tests but they are at home - can be very inconsistent. India no great experience of winning test series outside Asia but they have the players to compete and England don't have the dominant streak to keep them down.

 

[OverratedSanity]

There's a lot of inconsistencies being stated here.

1) Injuries: The main blow is Bhuvi. That's really the only meaningful injury we're having. Bumrah made his debut in South Africa for ffs, he was not even in the scheme of things until that. Our first choice bowling squad has always been Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Ishant. All through the home season those are the quicks that have played, and we've won plenty of matches without Bhuvi. Umesh/Ishant were our pace bowlers against Australia, and Shami/Umesh vs England. Vs Sri Lanka it was Ishant/Umesh. Bhuvi played the odd game on favourable surfaces. So while he's a big blow, we shouldn't be moaning about Bumrah being injured.

Saha being out might be a blessing in disguise. While he's safe with the gloves, his returns with the bat are really poor. Karthik is a pretty good keeper, much better than Parthiv. We can't keep relying on a keeper/batsman on away tours who averages 30 overall and <30 away. At home we can get away with it, but with 5 bowlers away we need a keeper who can bat. DK has been in exceptional form, and he's a class player and I'm pretty happy he's in the team. We have to remember that we're already quite used to playing without Saha...who's been injured in almost every series we've played over the past 12-18 months with DK/Parthiv filling in.

2) ODI/ Domestic form: We are conflating the two. If ODI form matters than Rohit should be playing...clearly we are saying that red ball vs white ball is a different game. Our bowling line up has been in top test match form, including Ishant/Umesh and even Shami (the last test India played he ran through SA). On the other hand Pujara has not scored a meaningful score for donkeys years away from home. Perhaps some of you have not been following his performances at Yorkshire. He's been wiped out, and getting bowled quite often which is a long time issue for him.

No one's really moaning about Bumrah at all tbh. I wouldnt play him even if he was fit. The point is more that as a collective India's pacers all have fitness issues coming into a long 5 test series. Ishant is fit, but Shami, Bumrah, Bhuvi are all carrying knocks.

I dont want to see SHardul Thakur playing a test match.

We have to remember that we're already quite used to playing without Saha...who's been injured in almost every series we've played over the past 12-18 months with DK/Parthiv filling in.

Don't think this is a particularly good point. Most of that was at home and when Parthiv did fill in, he dropped a bunch of catches, especially in the test in SA which proved really costly.

I don't mind Karthik at all though. Perfectly decent option.

 

[vcs]

Ishant is fit

I'm sure that guy is made of titanium

 

[OverratedSanity]

Dude is unbreakable. If he was as good as he is fit he'd be McGrath.

 

[cnerd123]

Ishant did well in his brief County stint with Sussex

4 games, 114.3 overs, 15 wickets @ 23.06, econ 3.02

Division Two tho

 

[Top_Cat]

Good number of overs in that, some good batters in those line-ups (guys like Bell, Trott and Cosgrove) and he took top-order wickets - should have a good series.

 

[trundler]

What's the most matches he has played in a row? Mcgrath played 52 if I'm not wrong.

 

[theegyptian]

Sam Curran putting himself in the reckoning. Stokes trial due to happen around the second test so opportunities abound. Broad, Anderson and Woakes all been struggling with injury.