*Official* 4th Test - England v India - Keep all Discussion Here Please!

[Anil]

That's bad. Patel will and should replace Ratra easily if he continues in this vein. So, the fightback is on....66-1. Tomorrow is the crucial day. If we don't lose more than 2 wickets till say, tea, we are in with a chance of earning a draw.

[Edited on 9/6/02 by anilramavarma]

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Yes now i see the importance of Patel , Ratra hasnt been doing a tidy job behind the wicket and like a million people said already Agarkar needs to be give the Royal boot .... he sucks , 0 contribution well done on Bangar for playing the 2nd strike bowler position role , kept his own r.p.o low and took key wickets

Harbajan well done on taking a 5 wicket bag , bit too late but not late enough , England will be unhappy on not reaching 600 but 515 is enough for them to scare India :P

Hopefully Indias batsmen give them better returns although i cant see a win for both sides here

Unless Sachin and Ganguly Bat Fast wisely :P Dravid looks in fine form he will continue im sure but hes strike rate shouldnt be 20.34 that would ensure then that this match will result in a draw

So Far england looking the better , India needs to try hard that if they cant reach a big total try and avoid the Follow on atleast

And i really hope Agarkar does better in the 2nd innings or i hope he gets knocked out by his own crap bowling

 

[aussie_beater]

actually when it comes to spinners, I thought Ratra was no better then Deep Dasgupta....I don't know if he has improved a lot, but the stats sure don't tell me anything special.

As for India surviving this one, I feel the ball is in the Indian batsman's court now and unless they perform according to their reputation, India is in for big trouble.With Harbhajan getting five wickets, it appears that the wicket is going to turn as time goes by.....anybody who saw the match can confirm that.But unless the Indian batsman act stupid while playing Giles, it should be ok....but how often I have wished that way in the past fifteen years


[Edited on 9/6/02 by aussie_beater]

 

[Anil]

Against Giles, what they need to do is exactly what they did in Headingley, block him out initially, get set, milk him and then thrash him. He is not a good bowler by any standard, it is his negative line that helps him to keep batsmen quiet and frustrate them. Wait him out, make him frustrated in turn and they get to face a mediocre bowler who has run out of ideas(or the only idea he ever had).

It is the pacers that India has to be wary of. If they tackle the moving ball well and don't commit harakiri like what Sehwag did, they can pull off the draw.

[Edited on 9/6/02 by anilramavarma]

 

[Top_Cat]

Interesting stat: out of 515 runs...england made just 44 runs in the 'v'. Shows what length india bowled.

You're kidding me, right? Sheesh, that is bloody awful. There's no excuse for bowling too short at that level. Agarkar was awful in the bit I saw him bowl.

Maybe the Indian bowlers need to be put to practice in the nets where the pitch is set up so that if they bowl short, the ball flies back at them and hits them right between the eyes. Follow that up with a 'A Clockwork Orange'-style initiation of images of fast bowlers bowling yorkers and batsmen hooking bouncers and long-hops for six. They'll never bowl short again.

 

[scorpio]

Yes...44 runs is all they scored in the V. Shows how badly india bowled. I dont think swapping ratra for patel or vice versa will make big diff. The bowling has to be tightened like hell. Ganguly had a crap test as captain so far.

I posted this in before the first test...

sehwag opening is the most stupid thing i havee heard in a while

In banglore 3rd test he was all over the place against caddick and hoggard and andy.
Yeah he is a good bat but still needs to go a long way in terms of technique.

When will our team stop pushin middle order batsmen to open and screw them ?

looks like ,sadly , i was right. Sehwag is not a long term prospect atleast away from home. I hope there is no screwing up today..if they bat sensibly a creditable draw can be salvaged.

 

[Gotchya]

Maybe the Indian bowlers need to be put to practice in the nets where the pitch is set up so that if they bowl short, the ball flies back at them and hits them right between the eyes. Follow that up with a 'A Clockwork Orange'-style initiation of images of fast bowlers bowling yorkers and batsmen hooking bouncers and long-hops for six. They'll never bowl short again.

LOL....hehehe..absolutely have to have one of those

 

[oyesachinoye]

English bowlers are going great too.India is 310 for just 4!

Maybe "the wall" will come up with a double ton!!!

 

[Anil]

Looks like we are heading for a draw here.

The only other possibilty of a win if India suffer a collapse at this point and concede a lead of over a 100. The English swing their bats around and swell the lead to 350+ and give the Indians a go. The Indians hungry for a series win just might go for it. As we are talking about two of the most mentally fragile teams in test cricket, anything can happen at that point.

Before somebody gets worked up about the above,it's just a hypothesis and I think, about the only way there can be a result in this match.

[Edited on 9/7/02 by anilramavarma]

 

[hindmaatujesalam]

Nah, it will end in a dull draw!

 

[BengalCat]

India won the last series b/w the two countries, with this series likely to end in a draw, India maintains the upper hand at test matches

 

[aussie_beater]

it ain't over yet....so hold it, pals !

 

[aussie_beater]

In this series, Dravid is having a ball ! He is living up to his reputation as "the Wall".

 

[scorpio]

I think it is gonna be a draw A_B. Both teams just wont attack...

 

[aussie_beater]

Yes, the cards are for a draw at this point for sure....

 

[luckyeddie]

It almost looks as though both sides have settled for a draw. When Giles was brought on this morning to bowl a foot outside Tendulkar's leg stump I thought 'here we go again'.

Luckily, Stewart let a couple through for byes and that was the end of that 'experiment'.

Corky IMO tried his guts out today. I know that he just has to show up to impress me () but seriously that 11 over spell this afternoon has got him at least within sight of the plane, and a week ago that suggestion would have been laughable (some of you guys may still think it is, but there's no substitute for effort).

I think the 6th seamer for Oz will be between him and Tudor, and the next 2 days might well decide it. Still think it's 70-30 in Tudor's favour, but the gap is closing.

 

[Neil Pickup]

On their performances this Summer, it has to be Corky - especially today - but I would bet a large sum it was Tudor.

Alex - the academy is where you want to be...

 

[scorpio]

Sorry eddie..i do agree that he is a game trier..but i think he is past his prime


taken from cricket4.

Dominic Cork for me is just a one-trick bowler. He doesn’t look anything at all, he looks innocuous when he tries to swing it and the only time he does look even vaguely dangerous is when he runs in hard and tries to bounce them out.

It is interesting that six of his last eight wickets have been with bouncers and that seems to be his only route to taking wickets at Test level, so he’s not good enough to take to Australia because he hasn’t got anything else up his sleeve.

Cork doesn’t have the swing any more. His arm is lower than it used to be and he just looks tired.


But on hindsight i might add that regardless of what team plays aussie might smash england going my current form and tactics..

 

[luckyeddie]

Can't say I disagree with you one bit, Scorpio.

I know his best days are behind him but at least he has one trick.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to channel4 - Corky's '7' gesture was aimed at them in particular.

 

[scorpio]

what gesture? i dont get to see em. cork was mentioned as keeping it tight in quite a few analysis. But i will cover that when i write up a report this evening