India v England 4th Test, Nagpur

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So we are reaching the last lap of the series with lots of things at stake.
England are 2-1 up, and this is a historic chance for Alastair Cook's side to make history by winning a series in India after 28 years. After a dreadful year where they lost 7 test matches and the well earned number one ranking, England seem to be getting firmly back on track.
Captain Cook is leading from the front, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior are backing him well with the bat and Nick Compton has been solid if not spectacular. Of late Jonathan Trott also found some form. James Anderson has been good, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann comfortably outbowled their Indian spin counterparts.
There are injury concerns though Steven Finn, who bowled very well in the last match is almost ruled out. Stuart Broad won't be able to step in for him, as he's already ruled out. That leaves a straight choice between Tim Bresnan and Graeme Onions. Bresnan has struggled to match his ashes form since his elbow troubles, and was pretty poor at Ahmedabad in the first test. Onions didn't have a great time in the tour matches. I would personally go for Onions, who has more pace than Bresnan has and bowls a wicket to wicket line. But England might prefer Bresnan's experience and his previous record in the sub-continent. There are questions over Samit Patel's place as well. Patel hasn't really gone on to play a big innings so far, but he has got a few important starts. If Finn's ruled out, his 5th bowling option would be more handy for England.
As far as India go, its a test match at the crossroads for them. The team has lost 2 back to back home tests after 12 years. They are facing the prospect of a home series loss after 8 years. All these come on top of the disasters in England and Australia. The batting isn't firing, the spinners are being outbowled. The leader of the pace pack is send packing by the selectors. There are shrill calls for the captain's head.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expects his side to show some character in these circumstances. He expects Gautam Gambhir to convert one of those starts into a big one and he believes Sachin Tendulkar, as he has often done will deliver for his team and prove the speculators wrong. He things he can handle the criticism coming his way.
They are sure to go in with 2 changes as Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh who played the previous matches are dropped. It could be Ajinkya Rahane's much anticipated test debut. He might bat 6 in place or else they can bat him at 5 and push Virat Kohli to 6. The other option is to pick Ravindra Jadeja who has been in the form of his life in the Ranji Trophy this season. Jadeja has already scored over 800 runs with 2 triple hundreds for Saurashtra and has picked 26 wickets with his left-arm spin. Playing Jadeja would mean they can play 3 spinners without losing the balance of the attack. The absence of Zaheer and the unavailability of the injured Umesh Yadav might mean that Ishant Sharma's experience might see him playing. Remains to bee seen as to who would partner him in the seam bowling department. Ashok Dinda has been in the squad for some time, Parvinder Awana has good pace and recent good form.
As far as the pitch goes, cricinfo reports that it hasn't been watered for the last couple of days. So the dry pitch should turn. From when onwards and how much remains to bee seen.
Weather is expected to stay good.

well I think trott was just promised an over.. we saw clips of him practising bowling in the warm up- maybe it was just banter- and he was giving it to the lads saying he had a new super bowl or something!

alfie wrote:Yes I guess that was what Cook was thinking. But Trott seems a strange choice even so : KP is more the sort of bowler I'd be using to tempt an indiscretion ...or even Root - they won't have seen him bowl.
Not that it mattered. Just a hunch I suppose.

Great day for England. But India still has some batting so they need to keep the pressure up tomorrow morning.

True Alfie, a lot of people seem to love the idea of smaking KP out of the ground!

Can't blame them , can you , PSW ? Apart from looking pretty hittable , he would be just really annoying...

I get the idea of bringing on a part-timer to force a false shot. But this was the last over of the day that is always likely to be blocked (we're not talking Steve Waugh trying to get his hundred in here). Surely it should have been Anderson as the most likely to force a mistake from a batsman playing defensively.

VTR we've seen players fall into the trap in the past, including KP!
Of course the opposite can happen, you get Mike gatting trying to leave Shane warne alone down legside....

I think the idea behind giving a part-timer an over towards the end of a day (or session) is that the batsmen relax (unconsciously often) and will be in two minds whether just to block out, or put the bad balls away. Remember Clarke getting out to a Pietersen long-hop in Adelaide? Typical example. 20 minutes earlier he'd have pulled it for 4 (or 6), but because of the end of the day, he played a half-hearted dab and gloved it. I've seen Hussey almost get Tendulkar in a similar way also. Trott wasn't a bad option IMO given the pitch.

I normally like to bowl a spinner for the last over (as they are more likely to make the batsman play, and hence more likely to force a mistake). This obviously isn't a hard and fast rule though, and I can see the logic in giving it to Trott, as he's likely to make the batsmen play and batsmen are likely to want to block, and so might be induced into a mistake...

England will be delighted with today's work. As I said earlier at the start of the day's play they'd have happily taken anything over 300, so 330 was a good effort. Nice innings from Root, Prior and Swann to get them there. Also good to see Root's genuine annoyance at getting out, we need batsmen who want to play big big innings, not just 60s and 70s. Noticeable that all five England batsmen who got into double figures reached at least 47, and while it would have been nice for one of them to go onto a biggie, at least the starts weren't wasted too much. India have wasted two already.

India's batting was very uncertain from about half an hour after tea. Anderson bowled superbly to remove three of the top 4, finding just enough movement off the surface and through the air. I expect his first spell to be a real handful tomorrow as the ball should reverse (it certainly did for Sharma, who's not in the same League as Anderson as a bowler but bowled well here). I reckon India have made a mess of their selection again, given the pace bowlers have been the most dangerous on this pitch they should have picked Dinda or Awana. England will be disappointed Finn isn't there, he'd have been a real handful on here.

On the Pujara dismissal, I don't think it was a howler, or even such a poor decision (though it was after viewing super slow-mo replays the wrong one). Live it looked very out to me (there were two clear noises, and the angle suggested glove onto pad) and the ball really only just missed the glove. Certainly not as bad as the Cook decision, but nonetheless, a decision that would (almost certainly) have been overturned under DRS. Great "catch" by Bell too it must be said.

For tomorrow, India need to somehow bat through the day and get close to the England total. The advantage of their selection is that they bat deep (on this pitch Sharma and Ohja could well hang around for a while too), but run scoring has proven difficult as expected (we never got to see what Sehwag could do), so even if India survive the day you think they'll be at most level with England.

For England, the plan is simple: bowl India out as cheaply as possible, then bat them out of the game (yes that may sound a tad negative, but it's the only sensible thing to do).

PSW I am the first to say england should push on the RR in many situations.

However in this one your right. No need to at all. A draw is a win

Have a feeling tomorrow will see a lot more fight from India.

"Swann got one to turn and bounce at Cheteshwar Pujara although replays showed it had come off elbow rather than glove towards short leg". This what cricinfo match report says. Anyways no point in arguing on whether Cook or Pujara got the more incorrect call. Both were not out, both would have been overturned on review. There of course are more questions and factors in the DRS debate than the BCCI, but when India do not use DRS when they have a choice, is entirely the BCCI's mistake. How much more of substandard umpiring will it take to convince them?

Chawla was asked - citing Cheteshwar Pujara's disappointment at being given out caught off the elbow and pad - if it was high time that India agreed to using DRS. "Replays suggested that it was not out, but it is part and parcel of the game," Chawla said. "At the end of the day, umpires are also human, so you can't really say."
Piyush also believes that there is not much to be concerned about India's batting unit or the bowling. No wonder he remains an average cricketer despite so much of early promise. Very satisfied with mediocrity all around, batting , bowling or umpiring!.

Guys, check out the boxing forum, the Sugar Ray Robinson thread.

I've put forward the case for The Don being the greatest sportsman that ever lived..back me up

FOF gets a moment of peace in which to reflect when he got rid of Mystiroakey for a few minutes to argue a case no one was arguing against

msp83 wrote:
Chawla was asked - citing Cheteshwar Pujara's disappointment at being given out caught off the elbow and pad - if it was high time that India agreed to using DRS. "Replays suggested that it was not out, but it is part and parcel of the game," Chawla said. "At the end of the day, umpires are also human, so you can't really say."
Piyush also believes that there is not much to be concerned about India's batting unit or the bowling. No wonder he remains an average cricketer despite so much of early promise. Very satisfied with mediocrity all around, batting , bowling or umpiring!.

I must say I found the interview rather puzzling. It's only right that he's still being optimistic, and India are by no means out of this Test (though they're behind at the moment). However, a dose of realism would be healthy too. "We are doing well as a bowling unit." he says. Well they did OK here, but in the previous two tests it was certainly not the case.

He also says "They got one big partnership [between Prior and Root], but after that we restricted them well." again, not really, last three wickets added 88 runs.

and this "We have lost a few wickets, but we have two quality batsmen [Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni] at the crease," said Chawla. "They are having a good partnership, they are seeing the ball really well". Again, to suggest that a partnership of 16 is "a good partnership" borders slightly on the delusional. By all means say that you think they're looking good (I'm not sure Dhoni in particular is really, but...), but don't go over the top.

England are in firm control. First off, lovely batting today. Adding 131 runs from our overnight position had given England an above par score. Great to see Swanny chip in with a fifty. In a way, it's better that England took 146 overs to make 330 than say 110 overs because the pitch has deteriorated that much more as a result.

Then Jimmy Anderson blew away the top order including Tendulkar one more time. For me, there is no better bowler in the World than James Anderson, he can bowl extremely well anywhere in the World. For me, 2012 has answered the question "Can Anderson bowl well in the subcontinent?" The answer is an emphatic yes. In this decade Anderson has averaged under 30 in nine out of ten test series. Phenomenal.

Tomorrow, England should be aiming to get India out for under 250. Maybe even under 200. Kohli and Dhoni are at the crease and both horrifically out of form and there's not much batting after that. It wasn't too long ago that India were talking about 4-0 after the First Test. Then England bettered India on a turning pitch, a flat pitch, and now on a disgracefully slow wicket. Can we play you every week?

ShahenshahG wrote:FOF gets a moment of peace in which to reflect when he got rid of Mystiroakey for a few minutes to argue a case no one was arguing against

So i take it what you are doing is trying to make an argument when there isnt one.. Are you sure you arnt talking about your self shah!

Not at all my love - I was just wondering What fists was up to. Long time since he's been on the boxing boards.

maybe your one of the reasons he hasnt been on there

Maybe. I can't remember propositioning him which is the usual reason people leave the boards

Ha, don't you worry shah I'm still a constant reader of the boxing board, and contribute on occasion. I generally wait for the more intriguing threads these days though, as discussing the virtues of a Mayweather Pacquiao fight has just about fried the section of my brain that is reserved for boxing over the past few years.

Anyway, turns out there is a lot of love for The Don, and I'm glad to see it. I feel he is oft overlooked when such discussions of sporting greatness occur.

I think hes the only one who can cetegorically be named the greatest because of the fantastic statistical records that can and are kept for posterity.

ShahenshahG wrote:I think hes the only one who can cetegorically be named the greatest because of the fantastic statistical records that can and are kept for posterity.

+1


You know, it's nigh on two years since I last read anything by anyone trying to claim Sachin's better than the Don

99.94? Rubbish. How about an average of 112?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/51874.html

(Please note I'm being sarcastic)

Duty281 wrote:

Tomorrow, England should be aiming to get India out for under 250. Maybe even under 200. Kohli and Dhoni are at the crease and both horrifically out of form and there's not much batting after that ....

Well, IF we pick up the last 6 wickets for 40, we'll have the opportunity to enforce the follow on. Very unlikely but a nice thought.

I agree with earlier posts that when we bat second time round, we don't need to force the pace. However, I'll be surprised if we can bat so long to force a draw. One way or another, I think there'll be a winner of this Test - should be England but still at least a couple of hard days' work ahead of us ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBIfcWpYFs

Look at that scorecard from India's most popular 24 hour news channel. 'The Revenge Series' it is titled.

very good day for england

tendulkar's dismssal summed up his past 12-18 months in test cricket IMO.

If we do get the chance to enforce the follow on there is no way we should.

Bat them the hell out of the game, we dont want to be chasing 150 odd on the final day to win

Olly wrote:If we do get the chance to enforce the follow on there is no way we should.

Bat them the hell out of the game, we dont want to be chasing 150 odd on the final day to win

I agree there. India have successfully won a test match in the past having followed on after their first innings V that great Australian test team in 2001.

Anyway I believe that both Kohli and Dhoni will put on a double century partnership tomorrow to give India a first innings lead which gives them a chance to bowl us out cheaply in the second innings.

We arent bowling them out for 40 runs anyway. When we bat, there wont be a declaration coming.

Dhoni going ahead of Jadeja was a strange move IMO....however if he pulls it off, then he will be a hero again in india lol.

I'd like to make a few comments.

Firstly on the umpiring, I think people need to get a grip. Pujara looked out live not only by what you saw but also people reaction - all the fielders were convinced, the umpire gave it out immediately - before the days of action replays I doubt anyone would have even figured out it was a bad decision.

I have read people suggesting the umpiring in the series has been poor, and I agree to a point (Aleem Dar, who otherwise is a fantastic umpire, had two poor tests), but I would dispute that the umpiring in this test has been anything other than good. We have had 2 mistakes (one poor one, one understandable) in two days - one to each umpire; if someone could point out one player who has made fewer than one mistake in this match then I will call the umpiring substandard. Until then, the umpiring standard has been as usual of a higher standard than the playing standard, and I repeat my concerns that we expect the umpires to be perfect but not the players.

That being said, it is stupid that we're not using the technology that would allow us to correct obvious umpiring errors. I think it was Gerry who asked why the BCCI insist on not using DRS. As well as all the reasons given above, there is the role of their senior players (not to openly name a certain Sachin) who mistrust it, and use their influence on the board not to accept it. Added to a suspicion that India tend to benefit if anything from umpiring errors at home (e.g. against New-Zealand). I'm not sure how true that is overall TBH.

Anyway onto more interesting matters. Anderson bowled beautifully again. Hopefully even Billy would now accept England are right to pick him on the subcontinent, and even sonic/demonracer/other pseudo would accept that he isn't merely a home-town bully. Gambhir fell driving outside off again and that has to be a concern. As does his so often getting in and then getting out.

I thought Root batted with great patience and maturity. He seems like a very thoughtful cricketer, who knows his game, and is ambitious (and according to Thorpey very hard-working). I agree with mysti that there is a bit of a young Cook about his attitude (not his technique). However England fans have a great tradition of bigging people up, only to knock them down at the first sign of struggles (Bell, Bairstow, Cook and even KP at times). Let's wait and see before we claim he's the solution to all problems.

Sharma bowled well. Seems to be bowling a fuller length based on the two tests so far. About time. Let's see if he can keep it up.

I also thought England's fielding was excellent, and their energy in the field reminiscent of the ashes in Australia. How quickly things can change, and what a difference it makes to get back to winning ways.

The game is far from over and India could fight back. If they bat through tomorrow they'll be close to parity, and England could crumble under pressure, so a few early wickets and getting a lead of 100+ is crucial still.

However, you would much rather be in England's position right now.

" before the days of action replays I doubt anyone would have even figured out it was a bad decision. "

thats the problem- we have action replays- the refs need to use em- or we need to be able to use them in the use of drs.

I personally am not blaming the umpires for making human mistakes- i am blaming the powers at be for not having DRS in india!!

It just highlights the need for it

Not disagreeing with any of that mysti (although at least cricket - unlike football - uses technology for line calls).

Very interesting article by Aakash Chopra about the different styles of the spin-bowlers we've seen so far:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/596889.html

I'm not sure the Pujara one was a shocker at all to be honest.

On my small screen it looked very close to the glove, though probably missing. In the past those have often stayed with umpires call when going to the 3rd Ump.

It's been a great day for England, this is going to be a result and looking to the close of play tomorrow, England are the only side who have a chance of being in a dominant position.

Got to say I have been hugely impressed with Cook as a captain today. Nowhere near the finished article, but improving greatly.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:It's been a great day for England, this is going to be a result and looking to the close of play tomorrow, England are the only side who have a chance of being in a dominant position.

Got to say I have been hugely impressed with Cook as a captain today. Nowhere near the finished article, but improving greatly.

India also have a great chance of getting into a dominant position as they only need to get past a paltry score of 330 odd which England made in their first innings.

This is a lovely partnership here for India. This is the partnership that could save this match for them.

Any of these two fall before lunch and India are again in trouble though.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:I think hes the only one who can cetegorically be named the greatest because of the fantastic statistical records that can and are kept for posterity.

+1


You know, it's nigh on two years since I last read anything by anyone trying to claim Sachin's better than the Don

soon it will be Kallis challenging the Don.

I think you m,eant cook Bilt..


Very suprised india are playing so slow.. They are playing themselves out of this game unless they press the rate, I understand its a very very tough wicket to score on- but they have no control of the game in this situation anyway

Just a quick comment on the Pujara wicket yesterday. On first look it did look very close, besides it was an excellent take by the umpire. But Pujara was obviously disappointed by the call, he knew it came notthe of the glove. You don't have gloves that extend to your elbow anyways, so I can't really understand how was it very close.
Anyways, its time the BCCI rethinks about the DRS.

The new ball will be crucial for England. India have to weather Anderson with the new ball here.

Cook holding the new ball back for now, Panesar continuing with the old one.

Now the new ball taken and James Anderson starting off things.

Undia starting to play nicely here..

Anderson getting the ball to move in a touch to Dhoni. They really have to be careful with him. India strangely played 4 spinners, but its the pacers who are doing more of an impact, Sharma for India and Anderson for England.

Dhoni played Anderson mostly from the crease in that first over with the new ball. Not too sure that's the right way.

dhoni with a good 50...

Oh, very nearly a run out just before drinks. That would be the last thing India would need at this stage.

Has Kohli settled in?