***Official*** England in India

[Raymond]

ODIs in 2006

http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/BY_CALENDAR/2000S/2006/ODI_TEAM_RESULTS_2006.html

 

[adharcric]

vs Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan and England (~ 20 matches) (min 5 matches)

V Sehwag: 30 bat
S Tendulkar: 39 bat
G Gambhir: 27 bat
R Dravid: 56 bat
Y Singh: 65 bat, 37 bowl
M Kaif: 14 bat
S Raina: 55 bat
MS Dhoni: 79 bat
I Pathan: 35 bat, 20 bowl
R Powar: 31 bowl
H Singh: 23 bowl
A Agarkar: 8 bat, 31 bowl
RP Singh: 28 bowl
S Sreesanth: 32 bowl

 

[Jono]

Dhoni, Yuvraj and Pathan have just been outstanding. Obviously can't forget Dravid, but he's been doing it for a while now in ODIs.

Great figures

 

[Jono]

Dont get carried away. It was good batting and a great performance by the Indians but come on, they were up against nothing. Shove Harmison, Flintoff and Jones in there and you would have got no where near the total you did

Jones has done nothing in ODIs as of now, so if you include him I may as well come out and say "Oh we didn't have Munaf Patel" despite the fact he's done nothing in his first 2 ODI matches, but he has potential, like Jones.

Flintoff played the first 4 matches and it didn't make too much of a difference, and considering India chased large totals with Vaas, Murali, Nel, Pollock (still a champion ODI bowler), Ntini and Asif, saying they wouldn't have got near that total is a joke.

 

[Raymond]

SIG'd it

 

[adharcric]

Without Harmison, Flintoff and Jones the target was achieved with nearly no risks taken whatsoever. If they were there, the same target may have been achieved with a few risks taken. Don't forget that Dhoni and Tendulkar were missing and they are far bigger match-winners in ODIs than those 3 (Flintoff's in the same league I guess). Yeah India's young batting replacements (Uthappa, Raina) stepped up better than England's bowling replacements (Mahmood, Ali), but that's no excuse for England. As for Giles, I don't think he would've done anything more than Blackwell, who bowled quite well for England throughout the series.

As Jono said, we haven't chased 16 in a row against Panyangaras and Baisyas, we've done it against class bowlers.

 

[honestbharani]

Give him a break !! It's his 2nd ODI only.

And he was bowling to Pieterson who basically took Gillespie out of the Australian side.

 

[alternative]

Personally, Uthappa was my man-of-the-match. Sreesanth took six wickets, but a MOM bowler shouldn't be part of a rotation that gives up 288 runs on the day. Chasing the target was a much more difficult task and Uthappa laid the foundation brilliantly.

Completely disagree, for starters ODI's are a batsmen's game.. and for a bowler to get six wickets its a big thing to acheive so give the chap some credit.. and as for the 288 runs, it wasn't him.. it was his fellow bowlers who didn't support him.. so i think he correctly deserved the MOM award..

 

[honestbharani]

I really hope Vikram Singh comes back into the attack at some point and takes three wickets. Just to keep AA out! Please VRV, please!

As always, evil loses in the end. The good shall triumph as usual. And we will have greatness grace our lives when AA takes the field against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.

 

[Sanz]

You can't say oh Sehwag and Kaif were on a poor run and if everyone was on good form blah blah. Sehwag's not that great in ODIs anyway and a whole batting lineup isn't ALL on form at any given time.

Blah Blah Blah...Michael Vaughan is an ordinary ODI player, so is jones. Who else was missing Trescothick, well let me rephrase the last part of your statement "a whole batting lineup isn't ALL going to be available at any given time".

 

[Jono]

Yeah I accept the injuries for the tests, and the fact they drew the series whilst missing so many players was nothing short of amazing.

But these same injuries have not effected their ODI side nearly as much. Fair enough Trescothick, but Sachin clearly matches him. Harmison is another fair one, but Anderson has to this date been a far better ODI bowler, and Giles wouldn't have done much IMO. He would have probably been economical like Blackwell but he wouldn't have ripped through teh Indian batting or anything. Vaughan is a joke in ODIs, and yeah maybe he would have done a bit better than Prior or Shah, but he wouldn't have won it for England that's for sure. And its England's own fault they left Bell out for so many matches!

Its a stupid thing to argue, these injuries but they keep being brought up which is ridiculous for this ODI series. Its clear who, at this moment in time, is the better ODI team

As a team they were a different class, because they were playing against a side with several completely useless players in it and that's frankly the main reason there was such a gulf. It is worth noting that nearly all the remaining members of England's first choice side all did well (Strauss, KP, Flintoff, Collingwood, Geraint and maybe Plunkett/Blackwell) apart from maybe Anderson if we assume he'd make a first XI.

I think the fact that Pathan with the bat averaged more than your opening batsman shows Strauss did not do well. The only time he scored was when Pathan didn't play. Flintoff sucked with the bat, and Geraint was merely decent near the end. Collingwood did his job, and KP performed well whilst throwing away his wicket away whenever he looked like tearing the game apart.

 

[honestbharani]

Thoughts on the series:


It is obvious that England in ODIs are down in the dumps. But the one reassuring thing for them must have been the way Bell shaped up in the last two ODIs. He never looked like one who will do well in ODIs but he seems to have found his place as an opener. Earlier, I wanted KP to be the opener, but now that I have seen Bell, I am convinced that it would be the best for England to open with Tresco and Bell, with KP at 3 and Strauss at 4, followed by Colly and Freddie and Jones and four bowlers. AT least the batting line up looks good there.


But the English second string have been shown up in this series. IT seems weird that they have trouble coming in and doing well in ODIs. In India, domestic OD cricket is almost non existent. Teams are lucky if they get to play even 10 ODs in a year. Contrast that with England, where there used to be like 3 different ODI leagues in the late 90s, if I am not mistaken. And I am sure they play a hell of a lot more ODs than their Indian counterparts. It is very bizarre, to say the least.


For India, while things do look rosy, I think the form of Sehwag and Kaif is a major issue. Hopefully, they will find their feet during the calypso series. I am a big fan of both these guys but it is clear that there are others putting their hands up now. The middle order has more than a few contenders and already we seem to have 4 guys up for the openers' slot, and that is not including our latest ODI opener, Dravid. Kaarthick has again shown that he is a class keeper. His batting is obviously not in the Dhoni league but he has heaps of talent, IMHO. It is only a matter of using it judiciously. He often seems to get these good 20s and 30s and get out at the domestic level. If he can correct that, it will be even better for INdia. VRV Singh was disappointing. I guess he needs another season of domestic and A team cricket before he is ready for the next level. He has potential but needs to work on accuracy, fitness (he seems to have lost pace after that niggle) and variety. The other fast bowlers were ok, even though RPS seems to have regressed. All in all, India now have a whole bunch of guys to pick from for each position and it only means that good days are ahead for Indian cricket, hopefully.

 

[kvemuri]

As always, evil loses in the end. The good shall triumph as usual. And we will have greatness grace our lives when AA takes the field against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.

God please no...Afridi, Malik and Razzaq will have a field day, and this list doesn't include Inzy and Akmal. Without AA, Afridi struck a 45 ball 100 against us, with AA consider that to be 25 ball 100 in making.

 

[adharcric]

God please no...Afridi, Malik and Razzaq will have a field day, and this list doesn't include Inzy and Akmal. Without AA, Afridi struck a 45 ball 100 against us, with AA consider that to be 25 ball 100 in making.

If Afridi accomplishes that, blame Munaf, RPS and VRV for letting the trash back into the team.

 

[kvemuri]

Fair enough Trescothick, but Sachin clearly matches him..

Now that is a joke, Sachin is yards ahead of Tresco, Tresco is good but Sachin is better, I would compare Viru with Tresco not Sachin. Its like comparing Viv Richards to Dhoni.

 

[Jono]

Relax man I know Sachin is better than Trescothick, but they 'cancel' each other out in the sense that they are both the best openers for each other's ODI teams.

Sachin obviously trumps Tresco in ODI cricket, even with his recent decline because he's still been excellent in ODIs bar 2005 when he was hampered with injuries.

 

[kvemuri]

Relax man I know Sachin is better than Trescothick, but they 'cancel' each other out in the sense that they are both the best openers for each other's ODI teams.

Sachin obviously trumps Tresco in ODI cricket, even with his recent decline because he's still been excellent in ODIs bar 2005 when he was hampered with injuries.

Ahh..my apologies then, after having read Scaly's claims about Viru not being a good odi batsmen and Sachin being a fair player, I guess I snapped when I saw a comparision of Sachin to Tresco. Your comment is fair enough they do cancel out each other.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Note to Kevin Pieterson: Get a hundred next time you get 5 starts.

 

[open365]

Gah, i wish people would stop going on about KP, his record in ODIs is bloody amazing, he's already scored 3 hundreds and 8(?) 50s, he's the best English batsman by far.

How many other Englishmen got a 100? None, England rely far too much on him, and he's given England far too much in return. Getting a hundred isn't as easy as you think

 

[Scaly piscine]

Ahh..my apologies then, after having read Scaly's claims about Viru not being a good odi batsmen and Sachin being a fair player, I guess I snapped when I saw a comparision of Sachin to Tresco. Your comment is fair enough they do cancel out each other.

Read properly or don't bother.