*Official* India Tour of England 2018

[ankitj]

Dunno if many people here have read Sanjay Manjrekar's latest article on cricinfo, but just have a look at these eye-popping stats on India's batsmen in recent times...

Dire. It will be interesting to see how they fare without Kohli playing in the next test.

Pandya 20.90 in case anyone is wondering. We can just play 6-7 batsmen instead.

 

[Top_Cat]

Manjrekar's Test average in South Africa and England: 27.31.

Well, he knows what he's talking about.

Cricinfo's editorial team, on the other hand:

We may for long not seen the best of Test cricket.

wat.

 

[anaksr]

Just take Ambati Rayudu for last two. He is one guy who has been dealt very badly throughout his career. You top score in IPL without any injuries only to be dropped from Indian team coz you didn't pass yo yo test. He might not be the best but he was never bad either. We have Rohit who was first given additional time to prepare for yo yo. Then there were romours of him failing it only to be back in team.
I wonder how can rules be different for each player. How could bhuvi pass that yo yo test with back injury. Virat says that fitness is utmost important. If for one second we keep Virat's importance in next match then going by his standard's he'll not clear fitness test and should not play but that's not gonna happen. Rayudu should be in. Justice might be delayed but should not be denied.

 

[wpdavid]

Dunno if many people here have read Sanjay Manjrekar's latest article on cricinfo, but just have a look at these eye-popping stats on India's batsmen in recent times...

Dire. It will be interesting to see how they fare without Kohli playing in the next test.

Vijay somewhat higher than I expected actually.

btw how doubtful is Kohli for Trent Bridge?

 

[Daemon]

Just take Ambati Rayudu for last two. He is one guy who has been dealt very badly throughout his career. You top score in IPL without any injuries only to be dropped from Indian team coz you didn't pass yo yo test. He might not be the best but he was never bad either. We have Rohit who was first given additional time to prepare for yo yo. Then there were romours of him failing it only to be back in team.
I wonder how can rules be different for each player. How could bhuvi pass that yo yo test with back injury. Virat says that fitness is utmost important. If for one second we keep Virat's importance in next match then going by his standard's he'll not clear fitness test and should not play but that's not gonna happen. Rayudu should be in. Justice might be delayed but should not be denied.

Yeah lets bring in an LO specialist to cover the flaws in our Test lineup

 

[rparikh14]

Just take Ambati Rayudu for last two. He is one guy who has been dealt very badly throughout his career. You top score in IPL without any injuries only to be dropped from Indian team coz you didn't pass yo yo test. He might not be the best but he was never bad either. We have Rohit who was first given additional time to prepare for yo yo. Then there were romours of him failing it only to be back in team.
I wonder how can rules be different for each player. How could bhuvi pass that yo yo test with back injury. Virat says that fitness is utmost important. If for one second we keep Virat's importance in next match then going by his standard's he'll not clear fitness test and should not play but that's not gonna happen. Rayudu should be in. Justice might be delayed but should not be denied.

Well thank God you're not a selector.

 

[Prince EWS]

In Tests it's arguable that Woakes is better with the bat then Buttler even before you look at his bowling

It's been unarguably true for their First Class careers, and arguably true for their Test careers as well. But if the selectors really thought this was possibly true, Buttler wouldn't have been in the top 30 or so picks for the spot to begin with. They obviously rate him higher than his output has been so far, and Woakes scoring some runs won't change that.

As for dropping the 3rd seamer to play a 3rd spinner, you are aware the game is being played at Trent Bridge aren't you?

I think he meant it conditionally on Bumrah being fit -- so Bumrah in for Kuldeep, Jadeja in for Pandya. Still three seamers and two spinners, just more reliable bowling and worse batting. I'd just bring Umesh straight back in for Kuldeep though.

 

[Top_Cat]

It's been unarguably true for their First Class careers, and arguably true for their Test careers as well. But if the selectors really thought this was possibly true, Buttler wouldn't have been in the top 30 or so picks for the spot to begin with. They obviously rate him higher than his output has been so far, and Woakes scoring some runs won't change that.

Or, they just shoe-horned a hot player into the line-up hoping he'd contribute.

As I've said, his selection at 7 is a particularly cynical one. He's there to have a swing and push the team 400+ or score a match-tuning rearguard if the top-order have bottled it. The former does little to keep him in the side (especially if England discover some actual Test match batsmen) and the latter is against his tempo and kinda hard to do anyway. Basically playing for his spot every game. No pressure.

 

[the big bambino]

In Tests it's arguable that Woakes is better with the bat then Buttler even before you look at his bowling and in any event picking Curran for variety when Woakes is a better batsman and bowler seems a stupid idea.

As for dropping the 3rd seamer to play a 3rd spinner, you are aware the game is being played at Trent Bridge aren't you?

Why so nasty all the time dude? Here's what i'd do: Keep Buttler because I think his batting has more potential. It seems churlish to drop Woakes but Curran has done alright so it isn't stupid at all. We saw what happened to your same same attack in Australia and someone has to make way for Stokes. Whomever misses out (and it could even be Stokes) would be unlucky so any selection speculation at this point is reasonable.

Were you too keen to saddle your chair and get into keyboard warrior mode to see I wondered about Bumrah's fitness? I'd pick him, the implication being for the spinner not called Ashwin. Jadeja for the AR role. If Bumrah can't play then Umesh comes in. So lets do some counting shall we? Sharma, Shami, Bumrah or Umesh. Why that's 3 places for seamers! Jadeja and Ashwin as spinners. Thats two spinners. Does that fit your Trent Bridge template; you tedious bore?

 

[Starfighter]

Why so nasty all the time dude? Here's what i'd do: Keep Buttler because I think his batting has more potential. It seems churlish to drop Woakes but Curran has done alright so it isn't stupid at all. We saw what happened to your same same attack in Australia and someone has to make way for Stokes. Whomever misses out (and it could even be Stokes) would be unlucky so any selection speculation at this point is reasonable.

Were you too keen to saddle your chair and get into keyboard warrior mode to see I wondered about Bumrah's fitness? I'd pick him, the implication being for the spinner not called Ashwin. Jadeja for the AR role. If Bumrah can't play then Umesh comes in. So lets do some counting shall we? Sharma, Shami, Bumrah or Umesh. Why that's 3 places for seamers! Jadeja and Ashwin as spinners. Thats two spinners. Does that fit your Trent Bridge template; you tedious bore?

Good mirroring.

 

[the big bambino]

Good mirroring.

Maybe its a hall of mirrors.

 

[Starfighter]

Maybe its a hall of mirrors.

Would make a change from the politics subbie, which has none so far as I can tell.

 

[the big bambino]

Probably because I suspect its an echo chamber.

 

[slippy888]

India need to give someone else a chance like a Shubman Gill, Samson, Pant

 

[Cow Corner]

Regarding Sanjay Manjrekar's article on Cricinfo and the flak that the Indian team of the 90s got for losing overseas...an interesting fact is that throughout the 1990s India never lost a single test by an innings overseas despite a) much worse bowling b) much worse lower order/tail/keeper batting. I think the Indian top order of the 90s was arguably better than today with Sachin, Azhar, Kambli, Kapil Dev until 94,early stage Ganguly Dravid etc post 1996 in overseas conditions because quite often they'd at least get to 250 and/or bat time. These guys have been horrendous.

That being said, I think, the Indian batting is actually a lot better than it has shown to be in the past 2 series so here's hoping this is just a blip.

 

[Shri]

Former India cricketer and chief selector Sandeep Patil has lashed out at current skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri for the team's spineless performance so far in the ongoing five-match Test series against England.

The visitors lost the first Test by a whisker in Edgbaston but the abject performance of the batsmen once again came to the fore at Lord's where India succumbed to a humiliating innings defeat in the second Test.

Patil, in his column for the Quint, took special note of Kohli's 'coffee' comment, which the Indian skipper had made before leaving for England. During the press-conference on the eve of India's flight to England, Kohli had said: "People have forgotten the Champions Trophy was also played in England. I was asked what I would do when I landed there, and I said I wanted to walk around the streets with a cup of coffee. My thinking is very different."

"We all clearly remember captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri’s joint press conference before leaving for the tour of England earlier this summer. One bold statement stood out, 'We have enough days to acclimatise in England and we are going to enjoy coffee'," wrote Patil.

"Seeing the performance of the Indian team in the first two Tests so far, the team really seems to have taken their skipper’s statement seriously – they are truly only enjoying the coffee in English conditions," he added.

Patil was also critical of the fact that the Indian team opted for a break before the Test series and played just one warm-up match, which too was changed from being a four-day game to just a three-day match.

"It is puzzling that when the BCCI provided the team the opportunity to play practice games, as was requested, coach Ravi Shastri and captain Kohli instead felt that rest was the best option for the team and played just a truncated three-day practice game in the 14 days between the ODI and Test series," wrote Patil.

"Great Indian cricketing idols Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly all voiced their concerns, but the current Indian team never felt like taking their advice."

Patil felt that the Indian cricketers have been playing in fear and their performances in England seem like that of a player who has just made his maiden senior bow at the international level.

"We are 2-0 down in the series with three more matches to go and I do feel especially bad because all these players who have extraordinary talent got themselves selected during my tenure as chief selector," wrote Patil.

"It amazes me that these extremely-talented cricketers, in the two Tests so far, have been looking like they are playing in fear, as if they are playing their debut match! As I said earlier, cricket is a cruel game. A game of glorious uncertainties. Yesterday’s heroes have become today’s zeroes. Seventy percent of this England tour is already over and we are still sipping coffee."

https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/...p-patil-tears-into-kohli-shastri-1845161.html

 

[Top_Cat]

Next Test is at TB - they're ****ed if they can't handle the Lord's slope. At least it's predictable!

 

[Borges]

With this much universal crying going on, I wouldn't be surprised if they put up a better batting display in the next test.
After the first test, it was all about the unsurpassed glory of test cricket; after the second test, it is all about test cricket, in particular batting, being dead.

 

[Cow Corner]

With this much universal crying going on, I wouldn't be surprised if they put up a better batting display in the next test.
After the first test, it was all about the unsurpassed glory of test cricket; after the second test, it is all about test cricket, in particular batting, being dead.

I don't think anyone's blaming the format or Test cricket at all.

 

[Gnske]

I am