***Official*** England in India 2016/17

[Bijed]

Just noticed Moeen is MotM, on instinct didn't feel like he especially deserved it but I guess a century + 3 wickets is about as strong a case as anyone's made? Rashid's 7 would have put him in contention I suppose. Other than that, I guess the other centurions didn't score enough more than Moeen to make up for their lack of bowling, so it's probably a fair choice.

On the subject of the centuries, surely it can't happen often that you get 6 in a game and they're from 117-130?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Missed the last hour as kids were in the rememberance day parade. Top effort, was always unlikely.

Funny Rashid was the best spinner in the match by a long way considering the stick he gets.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Yeah so many good things to take from this match. What do we do if Anderson is good to go for the second Test?

leave him out. Same side then maybe ROTATE Woakes for 3rd test as he will have played 4 in a row and Anderson has an extra week of bowling to get sharper.

 

[Bijed]

Yeah, Rashid surprised and impressed me here. Both him and Moeen have taken good strides forwards as bowlers, recently, I feel. Still don't feel too confident in any of our spinners when they can't afford to go for runs, but more so than during the summer.

 

[Pothas]

leave him out. Same side then maybe ROTATE Woakes for 3rd test as he will have played 4 in a row and Anderson has an extra week of bowling to get sharper.

I think they probably will and no problem with him missing the next match but fundamentally I agree with Howe, we are a better side with Anderson in for Ansari.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah, Rashid surprised and impressed me here. Both him and Moeen have taken good strides forwards as bowlers, recently, I feel. Still don't feel too confident in any of our spinners when they can't afford to go for runs, but more so than during the summer.

Yeah all credit to Rashid, I did not think he was good enough to put in a performance like that, really hope he can repeat it.

Going to be really interesting to see if Moeen comes back to England a better bowler.

 

[mr_mister]

who cares Moeen is a top 6 heavyweight now. ton after ton after ton

 

[Furball]

Thing with Rashid is that (I think) all of his Test cricket has come in conditions that have been alien to him, against batsmen who are both used to the conditions and who in theory are better players of spin.

If Moeen can justify batting at 5 long term, then with Stokes at 6 England can pick Rashid for a 4 seamer, 2 spinner balance.

I'm not 100% convinced by him as a long term option but at the same time I think his record at Test level needs a bit of qualification.

 

[OverratedSanity]

M Vijay stat of the day #2

Since his return to the team, M Vijay averages the most deliveries per dismissal for any opener, with 102. He's also the only one to average over a Cowan.

Others:

Cook- 92
Warner- 63
Brathwaite -96
Tamim Iqbal- 95
Tom Latham- 93
Dean Elgar- 95
Martin Guptill- 50
Rajendra Chandrika- 44
Gautam Gambhir -32

 

[Prince EWS]

Gambmbhir

Gambmbhiring to become a thing.

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah Moeen should solidify himself as a top 5 bat now. Spinner can be between Rash/Leach/Ansari down the order with Moeen being an excellent 6th bowling option. Would give us great balance.

 

[Howe_zat]

It's a valid thought to have Rashid as almost a situation bowler who only has to take over either in the second innings and/or when England have a lot of runs on the board for him to attack with. Maybe that's a longer term view, and in lieu of a great spin bowler, just having more variety is what's needed to win around the world. Despite having spent 90% of audio content bagging him I actually think Rashid could well function as our spinner in Australia given that a) he's a leggie, b) he plays well there for Adelaide, so long as we have the runs to play with.

But it feels like a waste of a place when they could be relying on their seam attack at home and could use that spot to try and build a better top five in home conditions.

 

[CricAddict]

Thing with Rashid is that (I think) all of his Test cricket has come in conditions that have been alien to him, against batsmen who are both used to the conditions and who in theory are better players of spin.

If Moeen can justify batting at 5 long term, then with Stokes at 6 England can pick Rashid for a 4 seamer, 2 spinner balance.

I'm not 100% convinced by him as a long term option but at the same time I think his record at Test level needs a bit of qualification.

Yes, Anderson for Ansari and this team looks set for all conditions.

 

[Howe_zat]

M Vijay stat of the day #2

Since his return to the team, M Vijay averages the most deliveries per dismissal for any opener, with 102. He's also the only one to average over a Cowan.

Others:

Cook- 92
Warner- 63
Brathwaite -96
Tamim Iqbal- 95
Tom Latham- 93
Dean Elgar- 95
Martin Guptill- 50
Rajendra Chandrika- 44
Gautam Gambhir -32

Gambhir stat:

He has now played 58 tests. In the first 29 tests he averaged 58 with 9 hundreds. In the second 29 tests he averaged 27 with 0 hundreds.

 

[Bijed]

who cares Moeen is a top 6 heavyweight now. ton after ton after ton

He has turned things around impressively since people - quite justifiably - starting questioning his place in the side. Been a good year in general for player development - Stokes, Woakes and Bairstow coming on well in all aspects of their game, Mo's batting and now maybe his bowling have improved and Rashid's starting to suggest that he could be a test bowler. Shame Finn's regressed so badly though.

 

[Furball]

It's a valid thought to have Rashid as almost a situation bowler who only has to take over either in the second innings and/or when England have a lot of runs on the board for him to attack with. Maybe that's a longer term view, and in lieu of a great spin bowler, just having more variety is what's needed to win around the world. Despite having spent 90% of audio content bagging him I actually think Rashid could well function as our spinner in Australia given that a) he's a leggie, b) he plays well there for Adelaide, so long as we have the runs to play with.

But it feels like a waste of a place when they could be relying on their seam attack at home and could use that spot to try and build a better top five in home conditions.

You'd still have Anderson, Broad, Woakes and Stokes as your seam attack at home.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

You'd still have Anderson, Broad, Woakes and Stokes as your seam attack at home.

Also I am not sure we have a better bat to place in the top 5 anyway so his runs come in handy when he does play and his ability to mop up the tail could prove useful given our struggles over the years.

Surprising how many people can't seem to pick his googly considering they are meant to be good players of spin and it not like he is a new player as he has been around years.

 

[Furball]

Also I am not sure we have a better bat to place in the top 5 anyway so his runs come in handy when he does play and his ability to mop up the tail could prove useful given our struggles over the years.

Surprising how many people can't seem to pick his googly considering they are meant to be good players of spin and it not like he is a new player as he has been around years.

I wonder if his left hand obscures his grip when he's at his release point.

 

[grecian]

Thing with Rashid is that (I think) all of his Test cricket has come in conditions that have been alien to him, against batsmen who are both used to the conditions and who in theory are better players of spin.

If Moeen can justify batting at 5 long term, then with Stokes at 6 England can pick Rashid for a 4 seamer, 2 spinner balance.

I'm not 100% convinced by him as a long term option but at the same time I think his record at Test level needs a bit of qualification.

Well you maybe right but bowling in the sub-continent, never a terrible thing for spinners there are worst places he could bowl, and Moeen had outbowled him fairly comprehensively in his previous Tests.

Having said all this was an hugely encouraging performance from him, and I'm certainly much more in his camp now.

 

[theegyptian]

Next test is meant to turn square from ball one so I reckon Batty for Ansari will be the one change. I think they'll want to maintain 3 spinners and I can't see Anderson displacing Woakes or Broad having played no cricket.