***Official*** India vs England 2021 General Discussion thread

[Smudge49]

Yes IMO, individually it wouldn't but the combination of that and the Australia tour would definitely kickstart the debate, at least.

England winning is not super likely though because Kohli has a historically ATG home captaincy W/L record.

I don't know if England's victory is extremely unlikely, especially if their core middle order of Bairstow, Root, Stokes and Butler negate/counter attack the Indian spinners.

Putting the runs on board is hard part for visiting teams in Asia, if England manage that, they seem to have decent mix of bowlers to pick from.

Jadeja is a big blow for India IMO.

 

[Teja.]

I don't know if England's victory is extremely unlikely, especially if their core middle order of Bairstow, Root, Stokes and Butler negate/counter attack the Indian spinners.

Putting the runs on board is hard part for visiting teams in Asia, if England manage that, they seem to have decent mix of bowlers to pick from.

Jadeja is a big blow for India IMO.

India has lost only 1 test at home in the last 8 years after losing to England to 2012. If England can pull it off this time, it will be an ATG win and fair play to them tbh. No excuses about India missing personnel from my end!

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Putting the runs on board is hard part for visiting teams in Asia, if England manage that, they seem to have decent mix of bowlers to pick from.

If I remember rightly, last time England toured they ran up several 400+ scores in the first innings of games but still lost extremely heavily as India would respond with 600 each time. It'll need Bess and Leach to perform far better than Moeen and Rashid did last time if England are to be in with a shout. Hopefully we push them close but it would be a surprise if we came close to even drawing the series.

 

[theegyptian]

Squad for first 2 tests.

England Men’s Test Squad:

Joe Root (Yorkshire) (captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

Reserves:

James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Amar Virdi (Surrey).

Honestly this rest strategy seems a little strange with the current covid situation. Wood, Bairstow and Curran return home after SL series and then return for final two tests of India series. Buttler going home after first test of India series. Must be a nightmare with the players having to observe quarantine periods. Lack of net/match practice for those coming in. Guys like Bairstow who seemingly were getting some momentum then having to fly home.

Means Foakes will play 2nd test (and probably 3rd and 4th) with Bracey as understudy for the second test at least.

Basically the multiformat players have been given some kind of rest, except Moeen who is destined to be stuck in quarantine or being 12th man all winter.

 

[Smudge49]

If I remember rightly, last time England toured they ran up several 400+ scores in the first innings of games but still lost extremely heavily as India would respond with 600 each time. It'll need Bess and Leach to perform far better than Moeen and Rashid did last time if England are to be in with a shout. Hopefully we push them close but it would be a surprise if we came close to even drawing the series.

This is the general mistake visiting teams make in the sub-continent, unless the pitch is an absolute dust-bowl an average visiting spinner can only play a supporting holding role.

How the fast bowlers use reverse swing and variable bounce can to a large extent decide which way the game goes in such conditions.

 

[Daemon]

Very strange from England. I imagine it’s based on feedback from the players on the whole bubble thing though so fair enough.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Honest question, if England manage to do the unthinkable and somehow beat India after the high of the Australian tour, will Kohli's captaincy be under any risk?

Yes.

 

[Senile Sentry]

There will be noise, sure, but his record, esp. at home is phenomenal. I dont see any actual threat to his position even in that hypothetical.

Well it would involve some horrendous batting performances , so usual suspects Rahane and Rohit will be under fire.

So even if Kohli s captaincy is at risk, if the said batting collapses were the cause, then his challengers might lose their place first. And Kohli gets to retain his captaincy, albeit at a notice.

 

[harsh.ag]

Yeah, it's probably a mental health issue and fair enough, but Bairstow and Buttler will be especially missed

Mind you, this is a lot like India's start to the Oz tour ?

 

[honestbharani]

ECB are usually very proactive about these things. They can sometimes over do it (Ashes cookbook etc.) but I do like how much they try to get ahead of the situation and manage something before it happens than wait for it to happen and react.

 

[silentstriker]

Umesh is also out?

 

[silentstriker]

I dont think Bumrah or even Ishant will be match fit for the first game. If it was me, I will go with only 3 changes from the line up that played today. Virat for Mayank, Ash for Saini, Kuldeep for Natarajan. Pujara might have a broken finger too, so maybe play Mayank at 3 in that case.

Rohit
Gill
Pujara/Mayank
Virat
Rahane
Pant (wk)
Sundar
Ashwin
Shardul
Kuldeep
Siraj

uhh why is it a choice between Pujara and agarwal?

 

[Prince EWS]

uhh why is it a choice between Pujara and agarwal?

He explained in the post:

Pujara might have a broken finger too, so maybe play Mayank at 3 in that case.

 

[silentstriker]

Clearly in retrospect, Washington Sundar delivered and was the right choice but I feel bad for Kuldeep Yadav. I’ll admit I’m a fan but he has done well for the most part when he has been given chances. Hell I think he got a five wicket haul in the very last Test he played....

I understand he’s behind Ashwin and Jadeja but surely when one of them is out....

 

[silentstriker]

He explained in the post:

whoops fair enough.

not a fan of Rohit but it’s at home so....

 

[Cruxdude]

I think Sundar takes Jadeja's position and we play Ashwin, Ishant, Kuldeep, Bumrah

 

[Window]

Siraj has done really well over the past three matches. Thought selectors may wish to persist with him. Any chance he gets selected over Ishant if India play only two fast bowlers? Curious to see what the top 3 fast bowlers will be in SA and England tours (besides Bumrah).

 

[Smudge49]

I think Sundar takes Jadeja's position and we play Ashwin, Ishant, Kuldeep, Bumrah

Isn't Axar Patel more like a like for like replacement for Jadeja?

 

[Shri]

jaddu is out of the test series for all 4 games

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Is Axars general MO the same with the red ball as with the white? Because if so I can't see a bright future, similar to Jadeja but less accurate and generally just worse