England in India

First topic message reminder :

England main side is in India from Nov 2012 thru end of Jan 2013.
The schedule below....and interestingly Eng Performance Side ( meaning A side?) will also be in India overlapping with the senior sides tour.....
I believe Netherland will also be playing the Eng Performance side in 3 games at Poona club.......why at Poona club ?

Tue Oct 30 - Thu Nov 1
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sat Nov 3 - Mon Nov 5
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai

Thu Nov 8 - Sun Nov 11
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground, Motera, Ahmedabad

Thu Nov 15 - Mon Nov 19
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 1st Test - India v England
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Fri Nov 23 - Tue Nov 27
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 2nd Test - India v England
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Wed Dec 5 - Sun Dec 9
09:00 local | 03:30 GMT
04:30 CET 3rd Test - India v England
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Thu Dec 13 - Mon Dec 17
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 4th Test - India v England
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Thu Dec 20
20:00 local | 14:30 GMT
15:30 CET 1st T20I - India v England
Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune

Sat Dec 22
20:00 local | 14:30 GMT
15:30 CET 2nd T20I - India v England
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Sun Jan 6 TBC v England XI
Feroz Shah Kotla, DelhiDelhi

Tue Jan 8 TBC v England XI
Harbax Singh Stadium, DelhiDelhi

Fri Jan 11
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 1st ODI - India v England
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Tue Jan 15
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 2nd ODI - India v England
Nehru Stadium, Kochi

Sat Jan 19
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 3rd ODI - India v England
HEC International Cricket Stadium Complex, Ranchi

Wed Jan 23
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 4th ODI - India v England
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala

Sun Jan 27
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 5th ODI - India v England
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Shelsey93 wrote:I'm not too worried about Bell personally... he's a top player who can play spin, and will surely come good in Asia sometime soon.

What to do with the openers? Hope they get a second innings here probably.

Well it seems that England have more players who are ready for challenging for the middle order batting places than those of the opening slots. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if England's selectors adopted a strategy of using one of the middle order batsman as a temporary opening batsman just for these tests in India. With Kevin Pietersen being a better player of fast bowling than of spin bowling, he would be the primary candidate for the opening batsman slot alongside Alastair Cook.

Bell can play spin? On what basis? When has he ever scored runs on a pitch assisting spin?

Sturat Meaker called as a replacement/ stand by for Finn.
It seems it has been annonced that Meaker will play the 3rd warm-up game .

and CI reports Finn is unliklely to be fit for T1.

Big Blow for Eng...and unfortunate for the series.....where the fans were looking at the best players from both sides.

Almost like Zaheer going indisposed on the first day of the series in Eng

and it seems there are doubts over Broads fitness also.
why don't they call Woakes also?

and hey Meaker can bowl fast........and suprise he turns out to be a Sout african

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/current/story/589613.html


It is understood England are keen to rest Stuart Broad for the final warm-up game, against Haryana at Ahmadabad from November 8, before the Test. Broad also missed the first warm-up game, which raises questions about his match fitness.

While Meaker, whose international experience is limited to just two ODIs, does not possess the height of Finn, he does bowl at a similar pace. He remains the fastest bowler recorded at England's National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough.

Meaker's South African background - he was born in Pietermaritzburg - will revive claims that England are reliant on imported talent, but his family moved to England when he was just 12 and he has progressed through the Surrey system. He was Surrey's leading wicket-taker in the 2012 Championship season - he claimed 44 at 22.56 apiece in 10 games with a strike-rate of a wicket every 38.7 deliveries - and has the ability to swing the new and old ball both ways.

Quite how match fit he is at present remains to be seen. He has been resting since the end of the English domestic season over a month ago and only returned to fitness training at Lord's in the last few days.

Whatever happens to Finn, Meaker will remain in India until meeting up with other members of the England Performance Programme squad who leave the UK on November 19.

Meaker called in as cover for Finn. No doubt the usual numpties will cry "south african" again, which is silly - Meaker moved to England when he was 12 and learned his cricket there (as did Strauss, and Prior - KP and Trott are different IMO, and of course Morgan); saying he is South African is a bit like saying (almost) all the Aussies are english... Point is, Meaker is more English than South African.

Shanky: Bell made 60odd against Australia at Perth in 2006 on a turning pitch against a certain SK Warne. Probably others since then, but can't be bothered to look. He can obviously play spin, just watch him bat, but he has issues, mainly that he gets beaten on the outside too easily (after a half-stride usually), so is especially prone to SLA, or mystery off-spinners; he also seems to have a mental rather than technical block when it comes to the subcontinent.

He can certainly play spin - plenty of times he's played well against spinners, if not always in Asia.

In Asia he averages 36 - not up to his standards but also not totally awful. He has two hundreds (1 in Bangladesh and 1 in Pakistan). The one in Pakistan came at Faisalabad when Afridi took 4-39 and Kaneria was also playing.

As Mike says, he scored runs against Warne in Oz. He also scored 140 at Durban in 09/10 - a match when Swann took 5-54 in the 4th innings, and when Paul Harris and JP Duminy bowled 62 overs between them.

He did have issues with Warne early on (who didn't?) and also with Ajmal last winter (which England batsman didn't?). Overall, I'd also say his issue is more when he starts against spin - you could say chuck him in at 3 but India are more than likely to have Ojha and Ashwin in tandem pretty much from the start anyway.

Mike points to a mental issue on the sub-continent. Maybe, but I'd like to think any mental weakness in his game (if it ever actually existed) faded post-2009. Of course, if he does have mental doubts they'll get worse the longer he goes without a score.

I don't like the idea of Trott being asked to open. He has been pretty good at 3, and although he has failed to convert some of the good starts into big hundreds, he has been among the runs in this season as well. Think Samit Patel has already made a very strong case for that first test starting 11. Bairstow should certainly get his chance in the 2nd test as Bell won't be available.
If Finn's not available, I'd have either Onions or Bresnan playing that first test. Not too sure of Meaker at test level, although he can bowl real quick.

cook and kp for me to open- i dont like trott playing with another opener type!

he is the perfect no4 for me- a great anchor- basically a lower order opener

Don't they would or should open with Pietersen. Bell who has been opening in ODIs of late or Trott who has been batting at 3 would be the more likely options if they go for one of the middle order batsmen to open. Pietersen is best to be left at 4.
I would still favor Root opening along with Cook, some runs in the 2nd innings would certainly help.

Yep, I hope they aren't tempted down the Trott to open route.

Whether it happens or not though is really in the hands of Compton and Root - score some runs here or against Haryana (if they play) and they can book the slot. Don't score any runs and putting them in a Test would be a big risk: bigger than shifting to Bell to 3 and playing Bairstow and Patel.

can we remeber that Root has only had 1 innings!

There are reports that in the camp in Dubai theere were about 3 to 4 spinners from various counties bowling at England for simulated practise.

The most worrisome thing is that much of their practise against spin is being annuled in India by getting neither pitches nor any kind of spinners to practise against for a good 18 to 20 days leading into the first test.

and they lost Finn in one of the pracise games.

and England bowling is providing practise to the Indian batsmen that will face them in the real tests....

These acclimitization / practise games are proving to be a bane for the English team I think

338/6 at stumps, Patel and Morgan have made breezy half-centuries whilst Bairstow has made an unbeaten ton. Some positives there for England. Hope we declare early tomorrow, we need to see how Onions, Panesar and Patel are bowling. Get Mumbai A out cheaply, then hopefully Compton and/or Bell will make some serious runs on the 3rd day.

" Bell who has been opening in ODIs of late"

he only opened to replace KP..

Kp is now back.

KP opening in Tests would not be a good idea. The chances of losing a wicket to the new ball are always higher than later on, and KP isn't always the best starter.

Some could argue that others - Sehwag, Jayasuriya, Dilshan - have made a success of being Test openers having previously been middle-order players. But KP's career needs no resurrection. He wouldn't necessarily do badly up top, but we wouldn't be maximising his ability.

The new ball, as shelsey said, could always be more of a wicket taking threat, although in conditions like that of India it may not be as effective as it would be in some other parts of the world. Pietersen is England's best batsman, and if he gets set, can play the spinners very well and he has the sub-continent experience as well. No point in risking him at the top.
Bell on the other hand has been pretty average against spin in the sub-continent, and starting against the new ball could do him some good, although India could always start with Ojha or Ashwin as they did during the NZ series. However, they would be bowling with the new ball that won't grip the pitch so much.
But as I said, Root is a fine young tallent, and I hope he would come good in the practice match and take his place along with Cook at the top and stay there long.

Early setback for England against Mumbai A, both Samit Patel and Stuart Broad are gone without adding much to the England total. 341-8.

Now 345-9 as Onions goes.

Mumbai A 69-2. Pujara is batting on 26.
Graeme Onions and Joe Root with the wickets. Root has already bowled 6 overs. If he has a good 2nd innings, this additional useful 2nd string would strengthen his case vs Nick Compton.

Dhawan must be kickking himself at throwing it away to a part time spinner.
Pujara has given himself some time in the middle.

English bowling on a seam friendly pitch should roll them over for 120ish even if Paujara keeps holding one end.

selvey confirms on twitter......that the ball from indian seamers was hooping around in morning haze....as Eng lost 3 wkts for very little...so much so that he thought Anderson, Onions and Board will be dangerous...but as it turned out they were not.

Selvey was noticing as "morning haze" what I have called elsewhere mist/ dew on wintery morning in all over India except in south.
The air is laden with dew at about 9 to 9:30 am start ( because days are shorter)....and in the first hour.......the Real Swing bowlers can make the ball talk and produce a few unplayable Jaffas.....like the one that Waingankar got Compton clean bowled with yesterday.

Likes of Manoj Prabhakar, sandhu, Binny madanalal earlier,......and Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Rituraj singhthese days are masters in using this first hour to their advantage....even at their 125kph they have learnt to produce a few unpalyable jaffing deliveries in the first hour.

Eng must be mindful and try to work this first hour misty/ dew to their advantage....certianly anderson can...at even higher pace.

and then selvey reports Root got one to turn and bounce with whihc he knocked off Dhawan...and Monty got Pujara to edge one that anderson dropped.

a very good pitch to test the batsmen on this one.

Frustrating morning for england, Onions and Root with a wicket a piece.

Pujara on 62 *....against a good opponent on a difficult pitch.....continues to comfort the indians.

meanswhile Gambhir and Kohli got 40s against a good seam attack of UP in Ranji....not quite what we would have liked to see....but atleast time spent in middle

Tendulkar and Rahane cracked hundreds in Ranji and Yuvraj also a few runs against Eng....so the India batting machine is getting oiled.

Sehwag did not bat until No.5 in 2nd inning of Delhi.......I suspect he is injured....whihc means Rahane should open ( or less likely Mukund)

Mumbai are going along so slowly that I wonder if their main objective is to not let England bat again.

Duty281 wrote:Mumbai are going along so slowly that I wonder if their main objective is to not let England bat again.

It's not an easy pitch....bounce, seam, movement, spin and 1 naturally slow scoring Trott type batter ( Pujara) bent on making it count...and the otehr guy shah punching above his weight cautiously.....
winning mental and personal battles hour by hour....session by session

Mumbai A 184-2. Pujara is batting on 82.

But there are some bad news for India as well. Virender Sehwag has picked up a finger injury and didn't open in the Delhi 2nd innings in the Ranji Trophy match against UP, and has come out to bat at 6. more worryingly, Zaheer Khan seems to have some injury concern and has walked off the park during the Mumbai-Railways match. Seems like groin trouble, don't have much idea about the extend of the injury.

Very frustrating for England, although the scoring rate is at least in check.

Pujara just out - caught in the slips off Panesar.

211-3. Has to say a disappointing day for England. Other than Pujara, Dhawan and Yadav, none of the others aren't even near being considered even for India A.

msp83 wrote:211-3. Has to say a disappointing day for England. Other than Pujara, Dhawan and Yadav, none of the others aren't even near being considered even for India A.

rest aren't even good enough to be regulars in Mumbai squad of 14

msp83 wrote:But there are some bad news for India as well. Virender Sehwag has picked up a finger injury and didn't open in the Delhi 2nd innings in the Ranji Trophy match against UP, and has come out to bat at 6. more worryingly, Zaheer Khan seems to have some injury concern and has walked off the park during the Mumbai-Railways match. Seems like groin trouble, don't have much idea about the extend of the injury.

you call it bad news ?

I think it's a blessing in disguise that patchy inconsistent sehwag will be replaced by a solid Rahane ?
and an undisguised blessing that Zaheer has limped off now and will not limp off on D1 of T1.
I hope Pathan is considered as a replacement

Not England's day inspite of picking a wicket off the last ball of the day.

This is a oppoent against whihc a statemnt would have been to score 400-2 on D1 and then stretch it to 550-3 declared by lunch on D2.

and roll them over for under 150 by ened of D2.

The tougher the struggle, the greater the preparation. And England are getting properly prepared in the field.

stumps 232-4

Duty281 wrote:The tougher the struggle, the greater the preparation. And England are getting properly prepared in the field.

I hope that is the case.
We are all looking forward to a good competition

KP_fan wrote:

Duty281 wrote:The tougher the struggle, the greater the preparation. And England are getting properly prepared in the field.

I hope that is the case.
We are all looking forward to a good competition

Yeah not like last time.

well the fielding was something that really was expeptional in our lead up to becoming no.1!

something that has clearly been missing this year!

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:But there are some bad news for India as well. Virender Sehwag has picked up a finger injury and didn't open in the Delhi 2nd innings in the Ranji Trophy match against UP, and has come out to bat at 6. more worryingly, Zaheer Khan seems to have some injury concern and has walked off the park during the Mumbai-Railways match. Seems like groin trouble, don't have much idea about the extend of the injury.

you call it bad news ?

I think it's a blessing in disguise that patchy inconsistent sehwag will be replaced by a solid Rahane ?
and an undisguised blessing that Zaheer has limped off now and will not limp off on D1 of T1.
I hope Pathan is considered as a replacement

KPF, I Think Sehwag should be given a couple more chances before a replacement is called in. Although team India seem to be considering Rahane as an opener in the making, I m a bit concerned that he has been batting at 3 for Mumbai for the last few seasons. Even in the ongoing match where he hit a ton, he batted at 3 despite Mumbai veteran and regular opener Wasim Jaffer being unavailable. Rather than opening with Rahane, they went for the wicketkeeper batsman Aditya Tare at the top.
Anyways my worry is not too much about Sehwag, and I wouldn't complain much if he's not picked in the test squad, but Zaheer is a different matter altogether. Don't think Ishant Sharma has found any wicket taking form to be considered for national duties, Praveen Kumar himself had some minor fitness concerns yesterday and he hasn't reached his top form as yet. Despite his impressive batting form and decent form in limited over matches, Irfan Pathan is not yet ready for a test comeback in my view. Vinay Kumar is useless at test level, Mithun is not in great form, Sreesanth is not even playing for Kerala these days.
The question of who after Zaheer was a massive concern during last years England tour, we haven had any answer as yet.

it is hard to get a pacer ready for internationals and hit the ground running of the quality of Zaheer, or Sreenath.
even Zaheer / srinath took a few seasons to get to their peaks.
they adjust, adapt, find their feet in one or 2 international seasons....thats just the rule of the game.

ishant i agree has done nothing to deserve a come back...
.but dinda and have Irfandone what anyone can do...prove themselves in FC, A games and ODIs when given an opportunity.

I do not share your pessimism...I believe further to Dinda and Irfan, Sami Ahmed ( not playing first round of Ranj ibecause of perhaps an injury), B. Kumar, Awaana, Pankaj singh and further on harshad Patel are all international potentials.

Yadav is laready established as a raw potential....he will get better and mature with more exposure

Then there is a chance of return of Praveen, Sreesnath and Munfa and Aaron also at some point.

they can be written off only after thy have had a decent run given to them....not all of them but amidst them we will find one or two international quality bowlers.


There was a same tone of pessimism at the impending departure of Dravid, Ganguly, Tedulkar, VVSL, Sehwag etal....

and now....Kohli and Pujara have filled some boots......Tiwari, Rahane, Yuvraj, Robin Bisht, Rayadu are all comforting that the future is not so bleak.

we may not have the greatest batsmen of an era in our team.....but we can still be competitive.

India shouldn't waste Rahane... his FC record is up there with the best ever, and not giving him a Test seems rather stupid.

For me Gambhir should be more under pressure than Sehwag - his Test record is woeful in the last two years or so.

KP Fan, I've never doubted India's batting strength - you have plenty of excellent players on the sidelines. The bigger worry will be specifically whether they cope better with England's bowling this time (of course, this will be somewhat easier because of the conditions)

The problem with the bowling is that those coming through just aren't as dynamic as those that come through from England, Australia and SA. Most are OK but they're also unlikely to be able to make real inroads to the better batting line-ups.

Decent work out for all the England bowlers again which is the main thing, and more important then rolling sides over cheaply, although I read now that Broad is also an injury concern.

Interesting to see Root bowl so much (and in fact more than Patel). I wonder how much of a factor Bairstow's century was, if Bairstow plays at 6 ahead of Patel then England's back up bowling looks very weak, and Root's off-spin would certainly come in handy.

England will want to bat for at least 50 overs in their second innings, at the very least to give Root, Compton and Bell another chance. I suspect Mumbai will be under orders to ensure this doesn't happen, and find myself again bemoaning how "practice" matches have now become "try by all means not to give the touring side any meaningful practice" matches. This is not reserved to India, Australia A did the exact same thing against South Africa, whilst England themselves have long welcomed touring sides with County 2nd XIs.... I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I don't like the current practice.

For India, Pujara scoring runs against at least 2 members of the likely test attack is an obvious plus-point, although for me not a surprise. He looks a very good player. Rumours of Zaheer's injury would be a major blow though - although not at his best the last couple of years he still stands head and shoulders above the back-up options available.

I see Pietersen opening in tests has been mentioned by mysti. Mysti and I haven't always or even often agreed on things, but in this case I think the idea - which in all probability won't happen or even be considered by the management - has merit, at least in sub-continent conditions. Whilst Shelsey and msp are correct in that the new ball always represents a risk, I actually think that on the subcontinent it is the best time to score runs; when the ball gets soft and old, and the pitch is usually slow and low hitting through the line is difficult, and scoring rates usually slow. Pietersen is an attacking batsman by nature, so getting him in when it's easiest to score runs makes some sense. Moreover, good player of spin though he is, I've always felt he's more comfortable starting up his innings against pace; when settled he can smash the spinners everywhere, but getting settled against spin is not always his forte.

The issue is of course balancing this with the possibility of him getting out to the new ball early on, but in India against this Indian team, I'm not sure it's that great - Zaheer seems to have lost his natural inswing, which with Pietersen's big stride could I feel have been an issue; Yadav is quick, but doesn't swing the ball much either.

As I say, there's no way I expect England to even consider the idea, but personally I think it does have merit.

Shelsey93 wrote:India shouldn't waste Rahane... his FC record is up there with the best ever, and not giving him a Test seems rather stupid.

For me Gambhir should be more under pressure than Sehwag - his Test record is woeful in the last two years or so.

Sehwag is the greater wory to me...because he has shown signs of losing reflexes.....age related.,...and we all know how he is a hand /eye coordination dependent palyer .
Loss of reflexes means his decline is irreversible and he is heading to a terminal end.
Gambhir meanwhile has a bad form/ concentration issue...he has done 30s and 40s and 50s in tests....and an 85 in australia and a few 90s in ODIs.....so he keeps up the hope.
Based on those hope generating innings and past record he probably has 2 tests to play a big one.

KP Fan, I've never doubted India's batting strength - you have plenty of excellent players on the sidelines. The bigger worry will be specifically whether they cope better with England's bowling this time (of course, this will be somewhat easier because of the conditions)

In Indian conditons this batting line up will be a handful and will win the series undoubtedly.
Even an other wise suspect Dhoni is solid like a specialist batsman in these conditions and Ashwin at No.8 an allrounder.

The question remians is how competitivbe can England get in this series....and what will be the scoreline. Can they pull of a draw or two if the pitch is slow ...or put one acorss to the Indians throuhg an extraordinary Steyn like spell from Finn?

It is beyond this season at home.....when India travels to SA.....and other overseas tours is when India's new generation batting will be tested.
Kohli and Pujara have shown signs of steppping up.
India missed the opportunity of not blooding one or two more youngsters in 2011 in Eng and Aus.

The problem with the bowling is that those coming through just aren't as dynamic as those that come through from England, Australia and SA. Most are OK but they're also unlikely to be able to make real inroads to the better batting line-ups.

The way to look at your own bowling resources is what they diffrentiate in...and not go for one on one compariosn...
so India has Ashwin and Ojha .....two pretty competent spinners...which puts India almost at Par with WI and Pak as the only otehr nations with high quality spin duos.

and Yadav as fast as any in the trade.....he sills one slot.

and then we have to look at what we can make from our fast medium and medium fast bowlers....Praveen and Irfan can swing it like best in the business ....as Praveen showed in England and WI.

Pankaj / Sami/ Awaana are a yard faster than Praveen have honed their skills in Ranji dustbowls and should be able to reverse.....inspite of being a yard slowers than their SA and Aussie counterparts.
Zaheer emerged from the same system....and his skill is his swing and reverse with the old ball.

we've simply gotta give our best talent exposure and see how bets they can compete...and focus on our "haves"...the glass half full.......and hope that will compensate for the "have-nots" and the half empty part.

Re: 2nd spinner for England.....

I haven't seen Joe Root bowl.....but have seen KP and I think Patel ain't much better than KP as a spinner.

and inspite of Patel's scores....one with 3 dropped catches...and the other against club class bowling when the new ball had lost it's shine....I would suggest England prefers a specialist batsman.
Now if they believe that Patel is their best specialist batsman at No.6 than so be it....but not pretend to have him as a spin bowling allrounder

KPF, I hope some of the emerging pacers would make the step up sooner rather than later. I hope Praveen Kumar rediscover his successful combination of controled swing at high 120 to early 130 KPH very soon. He could be a class act if he could keep himself fit and on top of his game. Among the group of pacers India introduced at the highest level in the last 6 years or so, only Ishant can be expected to turn things around. Sreesanth is a lost tallent, he has massive tempramental issues that would never allow his tallent turning into the finished article. RP Singh was a condition specific bowler who doesn't have Praveen's control over swing or decent pace. Doesn't look fit enough for international cricket either. Munaf Patel had become a joke as a test bowler with his massive attitude problems, and even Rohit Sharma shows far better temperament.
Think the selectors have to take a more approach towards Rajasthan's Pankaj Singh. He has been a very good strike bowler who has won many matches in Indian conditions for his side. Hasn't got a fair chance with India as yet. Dinda and Shami are prospect, any idea as to why Shami Ahmed isn't playing Bengal's first round match?

Stuart Broad is the latest with an injury concern. Seems Zaheer has no real injury issues, just a case of cramps according to Ajit Agarkar the Mumbai captain.

msp83 wrote:Stuart Broad is the latest with an injury concern. Seems Zaheer has no real injury issues, just a case of cramps according to Ajit Agarkar the Mumbai captain.

you know what I think of Broads' 126.5 kph stuff..
Losing him might be a blessing in disguise for England who might be forced to play panesar by default

any idea as to why Shami Ahmed isn't playing Bengal's first round match?

he didn't play the duleep games nor was picked for the India-A game vs. Eng whihc I believe he would have been was he fit.

here is a fitness report just before the final of duleep about him....


With Shami Ahmed unavailable due to a side strain sustained during Indian ‘A’ team’s tour of New Zealand, Dinda will have Orissa seamer Basant Mohanty and all-rounder Biplab Samantray for support.

It looks unlikely that Finn will be playing that first test. Will it be Bresnan or Onions who would take his place? Bresnan's batting and ability to bowl long spels might count in his favor, but I really would like to see Oniions given a go. During his return to test cricket early this year, his pace was consistently up and he on an average bowled a lot quicker than either Anderson or Broad managed throughout the summer. In Indian conditions good pace has troubled the Indian batsmen, Onions isn't as quick as Finn is, but he bowls mostly wicket to wicket and at a very lively pace. Could be a good bet if Finn's not available.

Bresnan will get it. He's found some form in the last month or so, and has a stunning record v India (in 2011, and in one-day cricket)

Apart from De Lange, I don't see any "dynamic" quicks coming through from SA either. Kleinveldt in the test squad tells you all you need to know.