India v England, Second Test, Wankhede Stadium Mumbai

First topic message reminder :

So the 2nd test of the 4 match series between India and England is getting underway at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium from tomorrow. The hosts are leading the series after their win in the first test at Ahmedabad.
The track is expected to have assistance for spinners, but the possible bounce from the track and proximity to the sea might offer something for the seamers as well. The pitch was previously used in a Ranji match where Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane had scored hundreds.
The weather is expected to stay good.
Both sides have injury concerns going into the match. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is unlikely to be risked as he's not fully recovered from the back problems that necessitated calling up Ashok Dinda as cover for the 2nd match in a row. However Dinda, who had covered for Ishant Sharma is unlikely to make it to the playing side, Ishant should be the prefered option. This will be Virender Sehwag's hundredth test. India probable side.
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Cheteshwar Pujara
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Ravichandran Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Pragyan Ojha.
As for England Ian Bell is unavailable for selection as he's on paternity leave. Stuart Broad has some fitness concerns. Tim Bresnan had a shocker of a match last time round, continuing a prolonged form slump. Steven Finn continues to be unfit. Cricinfo seems to think that Eoin Morgan, and Jonny Bairstow is likely to make it to the side in place of Bell.
England probable
Alastair Cook
Nick Compton
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Eoin Morgan/Jonny Bairstow
Samit Patel
Matt Prior
Stuart Broad?
Graeme Swann
James Anderson
Monty Panesar.
In 2006 England won at Mumbai on the back of an all-round performance from captain Andrew Flintoff and good bowling performances from James Anderson and Shaun Udal. The last test at the venue produced a very exciting match that finished as a draw with the scores leveled.

49.28 = career test averages of both KP and Cook at that point.....

amazing averages

btw can cooky beat his 766 runs in aus in 2010!!!

Both still giving the odd sniff here and there though, this innings is still a long way from adequate. We know England are well capable of folding quickly

Cook is now the batsman with the most runs before turning 28 - beating Sachin by about a hundred runs so far! Admittedly, having played about ten more innings than Sachin...

I'm currently in Kolkata, and I've been politely reminded that England lost the first Test a few times, so I'm getting my own back with this partnership. Glad to see that KP is back in the runs, and that Cook is scoring like it's 2010.

Over rate seems to have slowed dramatically in last hour. In absence of breakthrough India looking to avoid bowling more overs than required....

come on england don't lose concentration to zaheer now

cooky has looked good for me PSW - you need that little bit of luck though- but when your inform you get it!

KP giving his best performance for yonks- and really great to see that these two can play so professionally together after all the shannigans!

For yonks? How about that special hundred just a couple of Tests back.

ermm what the one v SA!

yeah i suppose it was all marred for me!

I suppose KP isnt really an inform or out of form player is he really- he just plays well or he doesnt!! it comes way to natural to him!

anyway its his first decent performce since his reintergration!! so its something to be thankfull for!

178 - 2. Excellent fightback by Cook and KP. Match evenly poised.

Excellent partnership between kp and cook. Difficult to decide who has the edge, prob just India due to having runs on the board. Englands position looks good but could quickly deteriorate if they lose a couple of quick wickets.

As good a day as could have been hoped for...but still I have doubts, especially after the way they crumbled on day 5 after the fightback last test.

Good day foe Eng, can't wait for 4am. Maybe cook to 22 and KP to make it 22 and join the club.

ok england are 150 behind with 18 wickets- but we have to bat last

india have 10 wickets left and are at home and bowl last..

marginal england edge for me!

What a lovely day for England. India were wrapped up for 327, Monty getting five-for. A good start by England with the bat followed, but Compton making a start but getting out for 29 was disappointing as was Trott's duck. Still Cook (in wonderful form) and KP (getting in wonderful form) gave England a superb platform to build on for the remainder of the Test. The target has to be a minimum of 427, which would be match-winning. That is very possible with less than 250 to get to that magic figure and plenty of batting to come.

Overall, a great day to be an England fan. The edges flew everywhere in England's innings but not to the Indian fielders. Bit of luck towards the end when Aleem Dar made another incorrect decision but if we had DRS it wouldn't have mattered.

Unlucky India.

England could still collapse for 50 runs very easily in the morning. It seems to have gotten easier to bat on as the day goes on.

Cook is just a superstar at the moment and Kp comes to the party.

In an ideal world, England would bat India out the game and not need to bat again hopefully.

Long way to go yet

End of D2:

1) a day won by England after a hard fight.
Not entirely convincing.....but they were brave...and luck favoured the brave with edges falling short and and a couple of LBWs going their way.

2) The problem with such pitches as we have seen so far ......luck evens out.....and after some good luck...comes bad luck in clusters and wickets tumble in a heap.

3) the other problem is such intense focus as Cook, Compton have show is not sutainable batsmen after batsmen...inning after inning...and a bit of slip in concentration...the game slips fast.

Therefore because of reasons 2) and 3) it is impossible to extrapolate where the current score of 170-2 might end up with.
It could be as low as 220ish and as high as 400...depending on how much luck Eng get and how much superhuman concentration England batters can show.

About as good a day as England could have hoped for TBH.

Wrapped up the innings without much further damage (40 runs between wicket 7 and 10) this morning - well done Swann; then their best two batsmen coming to the party and still in.

For India, I thought Harbajhan looked distinctly average. I'm surprised (again) that Yuvraj didn't bowl a bit more, but I guess with 3 spinners...

I said after day one that the pitch is turning, but the bounce is fairly even. Still the case. Also noticeable that as the ball gets old it becomes easier to bat. Not much evidence of reverse from either team really (Zaheer got 2 to hint in, but not beyond that) With that in mind, England have to make sure these 2 are still at the crease when the 2nd new ball. Then the first 5-6 overs should be ok, but once a bit of shine goes off the ball, it will really grips and bite.

England marginally ahead at the moment, but need to bat through tomorrow to give themselves a lead.

Oh, and to come back to my previous point on umpiring, do we really think that the Zaheer decision compensated for the Ashwin one? Come to mention it, if Panesar gets a shocker, does that compensate the Cook not out to Harbajhan?

I said yesterday that Ojha and Khan would be the only real threats and so far that does appear to be the case although Singh did turn a few sharply towards the end. Seeing off the new ball will be crucial tomorrow, hopefully Cook and KP will still be there when India take it.

After some recent Test matches (have a look at the current Aus v SA !) I am wary of making any predictions day by day...

But obviously England hope to bat through tomorrow. Will really want these two - their best equipped to play spin bowling in Indian conditions - to get in again and push on towards 300. But it is essential that all the batsmen concentrate their socks off tomorrow and claw out every run possible. Even a modest lead could prove a match winner on this surface , given the expected deterioration. I'd be disappointed if soft wickets are given up in this innings , after the terrific efforts that have been made over these two days to get a share of the game despite losing an important toss.

Good Test Cricket. Roll on day three.

Yes, a very good day for England. That last session was so important - if we had mucked that up, things would look very different.

Cook and especially Pietersen not only lasting the session but pushing the score along decently as well. So different than from when Cook and Compton were batting when the latter's emphasis was on survival. I'm not particularly criticising Compton for that but the benefits of sensible aggression were clearly shown later on.

These two now need to bat together as long as possible tomorrow. I still fear that when one wicket falls, another will shortly follow. I agree with Mike that we are now marginally ahead - but we know that matters can change too quickly ....

For all the talk that England cant play spin they are actually now averaging better against the slows than the Indians have across the series...and thats depsite Samit Patel have served up a hearty meal of pie mash in the first test.

Its only Ohja who has been a problem for England, the other have pretty awful figures.

Combined spinners
India 559 15 (37)
England 540 16 (34)

Obviously the figures dont tell the whole story and are a small sample but it does highlight what Boycotts been banging on about, theres not too much for England to be terrified of ...Indias spinners are not Murali or Warne, and Panessar and Swann can cause India as many problems.
It does also show how daft the decision not to play Monty in the first test really was, he is delivering what he promised he would develop into on his first tour here.

Im sure we will see more flurries of English wickets go down at stages in this and the next test, but on sporting wickets like this England can bat and the certainly have the bowlers to give them a fighting chance in the games.

And again credit to Inidia for producing a good test pitch which should produce a result.

Let's remember India will be demoralised and slightly tired after spending so much time in the field in the First Test. If they don't get a wicket early on tomorrow, there could be a lot more runs available for England. 249 to get, keep that number in mind, it will give us a first-innings lead of 100 which would surely be a match-winning one. Cook, KP, Bairstow, Patel, Prior, Broad and Swann are the men to get those runs with maybe Jimmy and Monty chipping in with 20 runs between them.

A fantastic days play for England really, as well as they could have hoped.

My only concern is that when a big stand has been compiled and they go away over night and come back the next day, a wicket inevitably falls early on. They'll need all of their skill, application and luck in equal measure to ride out that first half hour tomorrow. Starting against spin with men around the bat will be tough, and for that reason one wicket could lead to numerous.

There's a long way to go, but two good sessions tomorrow will see England very nicely placed indeed. One horror session, or failure to gain a significant first innings lead, could see England in a whole world of trouble.

Days like today are why I love Test cricket. Plenty for the bowlers, runs for the batsmen that were patient, skilled and applied themselves correctly. I was enthralled by each and every moment.

Fists - that sums it up well. Excellent days play. Will tomorrow be dominated by another implosion against spin - or prolonged and steady application by England batsmen?

Quite so. Im gonna say this again, Im really chuffed that India produced a sporting wicket for this game and kept the series alive. Im at the front of the queue when it comes to blaming the BCCI for doing their level best to destroy test cricket but here they have produced a fascinating match that either side couldve won and that is giving the fans something to follow...rather than a drab slow batting affair occassionaly punctuated by periods of Englands batting imploding and Stuart broad getting told off for kicking things.

Starting to believe in Englands spinners, and the batsmen have shown the second innings on the first test is their level not how they played in the first.

They can match India and push them in this test.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Quite so. Im gonna say this again, Im really chuffed that India produced a sporting wicket for this game and kept the series alive...

Peter - Yes, I agree with that and applaud those responsible. Cracking Test so far.

At risk of reaching your own levels of customary cynicism - and I recognise the steepness of that challenge - I do wonder if that will continue if India go two up in the series ....

oh guildford jeas!!

guildfordbat wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Quite so. Im gonna say this again, Im really chuffed that India produced a sporting wicket for this game and kept the series alive...

Peter - Yes, I agree with that and applaud those responsible. Cracking Test so far.

At risk of reaching your own levels of customary cynicism - and I recognise the steepness of that challenge - I do wonder if that will continue if India go two up in the series ....

Nice one.

Today was the best day england have had for a while it seems, excellent stuff first from Swann and Monty and secondly from Cook and Pietersen who batted brilliantly. I've been very impressed with Compton so far even though he hasn't managed to make a big score but he has now, twice in a row, made decent opening stands with Cook that at least take some shine off the ball and provide a platform for Trott.

Having said that, Trott is on a pretty poor run, since his last hundred he's batted 16 times and averages just 31. He could do with some runs.

i just dont see any justification for keeping trott in at 3- stick him in as opener or put him in as a anshor at 4- KP has to come in at 3..

compton looks like a trier- but he was bamboozled today- almost all his runs were scored when the ball started spinning and they were all from edges, did he even play 1 shot!

The justification for Trott at three would surely be his excellent record there? He is having a lean patch, granted, but he deserves time to overcome that.

Moving him would just be odd...youd be talking about dropping him if anything. Fact is though in averaging 30 hes still contributing far more to the side than Samit Patel. Or Broad for that matter.
If Trott does go its a choice between bringing Root into the side, putting Bell there yet again or trying to pretend it would be a good idea toput more pressure on KP

Compton deserves a decent go at 2, hes not really wowed yet but not had the easiest of starts either.

Good morning folks.

Come on England

morning!!

200 up!

Good first half hour for england

this is looking quite easy out there!!

100 up for Captain Cooky

Well done Cookie.

(Smith and Amla out in the other match chasing 429. 38/2 currently.)

Cant see the Aussies losing that one!! looks like that will be a good win

classy classy 100 from kp in less than 130 balls!

So happy for him. Good stuff KP.

Only trail by 90 now.

This one for you mysti... (maybe wait til 10am)

yeah its abit early for that!!!

for me

Good first 45 minutes

Hundred each and a pretty fast sixty runs scored...

Need them to go on though , ball still doing things and it won't be easy for a new batsman. You'd think Dhoni would be disappointed with his bowlers this morning so far.

I'll have an espresso cheers mysti

Having one of those myself.

Important for at least one of these guys to go very big now, preferably both of them.

glad i have sleeping issues atm..

It's not too bad for me, coz it is an hour later here.