*Official* 1st Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 05 - 09 Feb 2021

[wpdavid]

We barely played in Asia during the 1990's; only the horrific 1992/93 series in India and one-off test in SL iirc. And most of that side had barely played in Asia anyway. Gooch and Gatting the obvious exceptions, I suppose. I think the turning point was Fletcher's time in charge. As has already been said, Thorpe benefited, as did Trescothick, who played some fine innings over there. Stewart would have coped better at the top of the order of course.

Thinking about that, did we really not tour India between 1993 and 2001? That's just odd. I understand why we didn't tour Pakistan for 13 years after the Gatting tour.

 

[wpdavid]

Apologies to whoever mentioned this earlier, but Silverwood's role should't be underestimated. The whole attitude of the side seems different nowadays, and selection is far more sensible.

 

[honestbharani]

I dont even think you can blame Bayliss for that. He was brought in with a vision to win the home world cup. Now the priorities have changed with the WTC having come in and the ODI side having found a blueprint. And I guess Silverwood does have a level head on his shoulders, and having gone through the agony of missing a promising career due to injuries, I guess he will also be able to sympathize with the players more. Definitely deserves the kudos and so do their 937498234 backroom staff, tbh. You dont get to keep up this level of cricket away from home in tough conditions without their support.

 

[greg]

Yeah, be Broad next test and both to play the day nighter.

Just stop pratting about and pick them both.

 

[wpdavid]

Definitely deserves the kudos and so do their 937498234 backroom staff, tbh.

That's two more than I counted ..

 

[Shri]

think silverwood takes a load of pressure off root's shoulders and let him think more about his batting

at least according to one of the million cricket podcasts that i am subscribed to

 

[cnerd123]

Looks like reverse swing is alive and well after all. Yesterday Hassan Ali got it to reverse nicely too. No better sight in cricket than stumps cartwheeling.

A batman caught on the boundary to a fingerspinner is pretty nice.

I don't think India had any realistic chance of chasing this down. What happened at the Gabba, and then at Chattogram, were freak incidents. Kohli and Gill batted well but, as @Howe_zat used to say, there is always one big partnership in the 4th innings that makes you think they might win the game. Once that's broken sides collapse.

Being able to bat for 2 days is what won England the game. Yes it's a flat pitch but India has won games bowling first on surfaces like this before. Nadeem and Sundar didn't bowl well, England (mainly Root) batted well, and India's only solution was to bowl dry. They could have bowled England out sooner if they took all their chances offered and bowled a bit tighter, but it is what it is.

 

[Woodster]

Fantastic win for England, a performance beyond my expectations. I was questioning whether we'd run out of time, thought we took a while to accumulate our very sizeable first innings total on what was then a very decent pitch, but Root and the side could do no wrong in this Test. Won with plenty of time to spare. As has already been discussed the toss helped appreciably and while India didn't bat poorly, I do expect them to re-group and be much more obstinate in the second Test. Apart from Pant, who will continue to be Pant, he'll thrill and at times frustrate in equal measure but it'll never be dull.

I do still have reservations with our spin depth. I thought Leach bowled well again today, but Bess was all over the show yet still capable of producing a beauty to capture an important wicket.

 

[ParwazHaiJunoon]

Don't know why some Indians hate VK. @sunilz
You won last series in Australia because of him. At least that's what your winning team said.

Shastri: "This is Kohli's Team. Team's fighting spirit & character has Kohli written all over it". "Kohli was 'Uncut Diamond' when I took over & now he has evolved brilliantly"
B Arun: "Kohli called us on the night of 36ao & we discussed our plans going forward"
Ash on his YT interviews: "Kohli motivated us on ZOOM. He helped coaches make plan on Zoom. blah, blah, blah ....."

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

think silverwood takes a load of pressure off root's shoulders and let him think more about his batting

at least according to one of the million cricket podcasts that i am subscribed to

I think there's definitely something in this. The Bayliss 'hands off, empower the captain' approach worked great with England's white ball teams because Morgan was already experienced, had a vision of what he wanted from his team and is a natural leader. Bayliss and Root wasn't a great fit as Root was a brand new captain and naive in a lot of ways, and probably would have benefited with more decision making and guidance from above him.

From what we can glean Silverwood offers a lot more input into the red ball planning and management side than Bayliss did, plus Root obviously has a lot more captaincy experience himself now.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Very well done, England. Professional in all respects. Makes a difference when a team holds all its catches and converts half -chances too, doesn't it?

 

[Pup Clarke]

It'll be interesting to see if India re-assess their options for the next test. I'd expect minimal changes (maybe Kuldeep for Nadeem)

Possible rest for Bumrah given his demands and workload management being a thing? Be nice to see Siraj at some point in the series

 

[karan_fromthestands]

It'll be interesting to see if India re-assess their options for the next test. I'd expect minimal changes (maybe Kuldeep for Nadeem)

Possible rest for Bumrah given his demands and workload management being a thing? Be nice to see Siraj at some point in the series

The combination for third test will be interesting, it's a day-night game, and both sides might be tempted to go with 3 seamers.

 

[sunilz]

Don't know why some Indians hate VK. @sunilz
You won last series in Australia because of him. At least that's what your winning team said.

Shastri: "This is Kohli's Team. Team's fighting spirit & character has Kohli written all over it". "Kohli was 'Uncut Diamond' when I took over & now he has evolved brilliantly"
B Arun: "Kohli called us on the night of 36ao & we discussed our plans going forward"
Ash on his YT interviews: "Kohli motivated us on ZOOM. He helped coaches make plan on Zoom. blah, blah, blah ....."

In first 6 years of Captaincy
DHONI
ICC WT20
ICC ODI WC
ICC CT
Test no 1 rank

KOHLI
?

 

[cnerd123]

The combination for third test will be interesting, it's a day-night game, and both sides might be tempted to go with 3 seamers.

Let's do some future planning.

If you want to play 3 quicks in the 3rd Test, you want them to be Ishant, Bumrah and Siraj. Shami might be in consideration, but let's see if he's fit enough. Ashwin is the lone spinner, and Sundar might retain the number 6 slot thanks to scoring some decent runs.

That means for the 2nd Test you'll probably want to rest one of Ishant or Bumrah. Bumrah is more likely to win us the 2nd Test, but is also the most overworked, and is also key to winning the 3rd Test.

So assume we rest Bumrah for the 2nd Test to ensure he is 100% for the 3rd one. We will play with Ishant and Siraj, with Ashwin and Sundar the spinners. Who takes that 5th bowling spot? Not Nadeem. Do we believe Kuldeep will make the difference? He is hungry and has watched the rest of India play a test ahead of him. But do we need a 3rd spinner? Who is the go-to 3rd quick? Thakur?

Might be worth leaving heavily on Bumrah instead. Play him in the 2nd and 3rd Tests, and if we win them both, he can be rested from the 4th one.

Either way, I can't see this India side getting significantly stronger for the 2nd Test. They just need to play better. Take all the chances that come their way, bowl tighter lines, and bat more overs somehow.

Root is a real ****ing problem tho. How do you take away one side of the field from him? He sweeps and reverse sweeps incredibly. Are you going to have your spinners bowl short to him and hope to get him cutting/pulling straight to the fielders? They're going to need some ****ing incredibly precise plan to get him out. For Steve Smith they had a blueprint to follow from NZ. Does anyone have a blueprint to this?

@Flem274* how did NZ bowl to Root?

 

[Arachnodouche]

I was hoping at home we wouldn't necessarily need Sundar's batting and could actually pick a legit bowling option but based on this Test we very much still do need Sundar. Rohit and Rahane need to pull their weight the rest of the series else I couldn't care less to see the back of them both for good.

 

[Spark]

Root has always been pretty excellent against spin, no? He's taken it to the next level and then some in the last two months, but him being very good against spin isn't new. His main issues have always been against high quality pace bowling (well, that and conversion)

 

[cnerd123]

I was hoping at home we wouldn't necessarily need Sundar's batting and could actually pick a legit bowling option but based on this Test we very much still do need Sundar. Rohit and Rahane need to pull their weight the rest of the series else I couldn't care less to see the back of them both for good.

Rohit vs Rahane vs Kohli triple threat match

Winner gets Indian Captaincy. The two losers get dropped from the XI and forced to earn their way back in the Test side with Ranji/County runs.

Pant can then finally play as a specialist batsman. Sundar stays at 6, Gill and Che Pu and the winner take up 3 slots, so you only really need either a new opener or middle order bat. Lokesh Rahul perhaps the first choice for either. Done.

 

[honestbharani]

Don't know why some Indians hate VK

He himself explained it in an earlier post - Sachin fans, MSD fans, Rohit fans. Sunilz ticks at least 2 of these boxes, he does not like MSD much either, from what I have seen. Maybe he is just a Mumbai fanboi.

Starting to think @sunilz is actually Sunil Gavaskar. ?

 

[honestbharani]

Root has always been pretty excellent against spin, no? He's taken it to the next level and then some in the last two months, but him being very good against spin isn't new. His main issues have always been against high quality pace bowling (well, that and conversion)

Yeah, he is in a purple patch but you saw that he has his failings still, we need a bit of luck to go our way, the edges to carry etc. Root nicked the first ball he faced from Ashwin in the first innings IIRC, closing the face of the bat too early and beaten by the angle but it went between two fielders or something. Smith was very similar in Aus, the first scoring shot in Sydney was almost a catch to Gill at leg gully. These things can also make a difference.

He is awesome against spin though. You really have to attack him with the seamers from one end early on. It is our best shot.