***Official*** England in India

[Hazza]

Dhoni and Jones seem to be in a similar mould to me. Both attacking batsmen who can score heavily, but haven't got their places in the team due to having a fantastic ability behind the stumps.

 

[Neil Pickup]

You disagree?

I mean Jones isn't exactly known for his glovework behind the stumps...but then neither is Dhoni. Plus Jones has more experience.

I wanted to give it to Dhoni, but a pool of 6 test matches just isn't enough to judge him. So the tie goes to experience.

No, I agree. I'm just enjoying the moment someone praises the glovework of the man who's responsible for the phrase "Geraint moment".

 

[luckyeddie]

No, I agree. I'm just enjoying the moment someone praises the glovework of the man who's responsible for the phrase "Geraint moment".

I always thought the phrase was "Jaysus. He's made Geraint pig's ear of that one".

 

[superkingdave]

I don't think there's any agreement been reached between BCCI and Sky and/or third parties over live coverage of any of the tour (not 100% certain on this - anyone?).

I for one will not be shelling out for 'pay per view' on top of the current wheelbarrow-load of cash I already pay.

Its a bit muddled, i don't think its been sorted yet, middle of february seems the consensus but if you check digital spy people have emailed sky and had replies back saying they have no plans to show it. However if you look at some of their cricket articles they have banners at the top saying 'Watch all the action from England's tour to India Live on Sky Sports' eg http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,8-1210520,00.html

Even if Sony were to be awarded the rights, they'd likely sell it on to sky.

 

[adharcric]

5 seamers?!

Yes, 5 seamers. We can go in with 3 seamers and 2 spinners if Pathan and Munaf are there at 7 & 8 to strengthen the late-order batting. Then again, it depends on whether we have 15 or 16 in the squad. We'll have 2 specialist openers, 5 specialist middle-order bats (including Ganguly), 1 wicketkeeper, 2 spinners and 4 seamers for sure. That's 14. The 15th spot can either go to a reserve opener or a 5th seamer. Maybe 5 seamers is a better idea on foreign green tops though.

I'll personally be fine with 4 seamers provided that 1 of them is Pathan and 2 of them are speedy (sreesanth/munaf/vrsingh).

 

[luckyeddie]

Its a bit muddled, i don't think its been sorted yet, middle of february seems the consensus but if you check digital spy people have emailed sky and had replies back saying they have no plans to show it. However if you look at some of their cricket articles they have banners at the top saying 'Watch all the action from England's tour to India Live on Sky Sports' eg http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,8-1210520,00.html

Even if Sony were to be awarded the rights, they'd likely sell it on to sky.

The latest info I got was from the ECB site - and they expect the situation to be resolved shortly. If it's part of the Sky Sports package as normal, that's fine (that's why I've it, of course). If not, sayonara.

 

[adharcric]

The fact that Gautam Gambhir and Dheeraj Jadhav have been included in the BP XI Squad may indicate that the team management is finally being sensible and deciding to go in with a specialist opener alongisde Sehwag. For this reason, they want to give these two match practice as they didn't get anything in Pakistan. Of course, it could also indicate that Gambhir and Jaffer are competing for one spot in the test squad and Dravid will continue as the opener, which would be rather stupid considering the thrashing we got in Karachi.

The call-ups for Munaf Patel and VRV Singh should be partially attributed to the influence of Chappell. Sure, the fact that these two are pacy bowlers has nothing to do with Chappell. But if you remember, when Chappell was appointed they announced a pool of seamers and Munaf was in that despite not having done anything over the past year .. an indication that pace matters in this new regime (and it should). Then VR Singh was called up following the Challenger Series and his injury woes were given so much importance .. another indication that pace matters. It might seem as if anyone with the slightest intellect would realize that we desperately need pace, but obviously this hasn't been happening in India because we have every single fast bowler clocking 130 kph. The future is looking better with Sreesanth, Munaf and VRV.

 

[irfan]

The future is looking better with Sreesanth, Munaf and VRV.

How fast are these 3, adhar, Lee, Shoaib pace 150+ or more Ntini, Sami pace 135-150??

 

[honestbharani]

How fast are these 3, adhar, Lee, Shoaib pace 150+ or more Ntini, Sami pace 135-150??

Munaf apparently bowls consistently around the 140 kph mark. So, I guess he is in the Sami category. But to be honest, I am more excited about VRV Singh. The guy has a peach of an outswinger. I saw him in the challenger series. He looked okay with the bat as well, definitely not a bad option for no.9. But more importantly, he kept beating Sachin with pace AND movement. He does try to bowl that magic ball too often for my liking though. I guess it is just inexperience.

 

[Sanz]

But more importantly, he kept beating Sachin with pace AND movement.

Well Now a days even Bhupinder Singh(selector) can beat Sachin with his pace and movement.

 

[honestbharani]

lol, but seriously, I think VRV Singh has more potential than Munaf. But I have been wrong about such stuff before.

 

[adharcric]

lol, but seriously, I think VRV Singh has more potential than Munaf. But I have been wrong about such stuff before.

Let's hope you are right this time, because I think Munaf has tons of potential. If we can get a threatening pace duo to go with Irfan's swing and the spin duo, it might not always be about the opposition bowlers versus our batsmen.

 

[adharcric]

I'd really like Pathan-Munaf-VRV-Kumble-Harbhajan. They all either have ability or potential with the bat and are all wicket-taking options with an obvious weapon ... unlike someone like Agarkar, who doesn't produce too many threatening swinging deliveries and still manages to bowl rubbish at a low speed.

 

[honestbharani]

Still think Kumble would be 8 though.

 

[adharcric]

Still think Kumble would be 8 though.

sure why not, it'd still be a deep batting lineup.

 

[honestbharani]

Absolutely, none of the new Indian bowlers are actual mugs with the bat, except Sreesanth and RP Singh.

 

[TIF]

S. Jones - Kumble..........Advantage: India

How on earth can you compare a pacer with a spinner?

I think you meant -

A. Giles/S.Udal - Kumble Advantage: India

 

[TIF]

I cant understand why the Indian pacers tend to slow down as their career progresses and become more injury prone? We used to have Zaheer and Nehra, consistently bowl at 145 kph+ in 2003, but now Zaheer only bowls in the 130s. Also, Pathan, bowled at over 143 kph+ in Australia, but now, he just is another 120s kph bowler.

Munafs pace was hyped at over 150+ kph when he came in in 2003, but has he lost his pace? or still kept it at over 140+ kph.

VRV Singh, looks like another bowler who would never compromise on his pace. He sacrificed his line and length to gain that extra pace and has been known to bowl at 145-150 kph in domestic cricket, but he is very fragile.

RP Singh and Sree Santh in 2003, formed a new pace triplet for India in 2003 and the 3 played in a warm-up match against New Zealand then. RP Singh, was a 140+ kph bowler then, but now he seems to be a more of a line and length bowler with a ability to reverse swing the ball and bowls in the 130s kph now. Sree Santh, looks to have not cut down his pace yet and still bowls at 140+ kph.

However, pitches in India arent too pace friendly, it has been noticed that in Australia and South Africa, the Indian bowlers, generally bowl at 5-10 kph faster than what they do in India. So, if Munaf/Sree Santh/VRV Singh bowl at 140+ kph in India, they might clock at 150 kph when in Australia/South Africa. It has happened with Pathan, Zaheer and Nehra as they all clocked over 140+ kph in South Africa and Australia, but dont seem to bowl anywhere higher than 135 kph in India.

 

[marc71178]

How on earth can you compare a pacer with a spinner?

I think you meant -

A. Giles/S.Udal - Kumble Advantage: India

Except Jones will be far more likely to play, so in which case, why not compare Jones with a reserve Indian seamer instead?

 

[alternative]

Ashley Giles in any case has been ruled out, and Ian Blackwell replaces him.. anyway in any case, our spin bowlers are far better than those two left arm spinners...