England vs India 1st test debate

First topic message reminder :

England side:

1) Andrew Strauss (C)
2) Alistair Cook
3) Jonathan Trott
4) Kevin Pietersen
5) Ian Bell
6) Eoin Morgan
7) Matt Prior (WK)
8) Stuart Broad
9) Graeme Swann
10) Chris Tremlett
11) James Anderson

India side.

1) Abhinav Makund
2) Gautam Gambhir
3) Rahul Dravid (WK)
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) VVS Laxman
6) Suresh Raina
7) MS Dhoni (C)
8) Harbhajan Singh
9) Zaheer Khan
10) Praveen Kumar
11) Ishant Sharma

Should be a terrific match and series!

My Prediction: England to win

Series Prediction: 1-1

C'mon England!

Duty281 wrote:

cricketfan90 wrote:i wonder if the debate over india's best friend UDRS will come into play tomorrow

Although I'm being horrible, I would love Sachin to be out for 99 in this test to a shocker of a LBW decision.

I think everyone does tbh, just to prove a point about UDRS as they rejected it

Duty281 wrote:

LeBron's Homie wrote:

cricketfan90 wrote:we wont slog him around, but he can be very incosistnet and if khan's injury proves to be bad, then a lot of pressure is then on kumar

Kumar loves bowling long spells so he will be fine.

Zaheer is out of the tour

Not yet he isn't.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/current/story/524212.html

Of course if England do beat India the WUMs will be pointing to this. Boost for England though

If he plays again, he's some sort of freak lol

What's this obsession of the Master getting a rough decision when he's on 99? Rough calls are part of the game, take it on the chin and move on.

Sachin isn't going to start crying or throw his toys out of the pram. The guy is a true gentleman.

If England are banking on Sachin only falling to a rough decision, then they can enjoy their time in the field.

LeBron's Homie wrote:What's this obsession of the Master getting a rough decision when he's on 99? Rough calls are part of the game, take it on the chin and move on.

Sachin isn't going to start crying or throw his toys out of the pram. The guy is a true gentleman.

If England are banking on Sachin only falling to a rough decision, then they can enjoy their time in the field.

The fact that India rejected the DRS being used on LBW's because the indian batters didn't like the system, so to get out where the DRS could have saved him from the rough call

LeBron's Homie wrote:What's this obsession of the Master getting a rough decision when he's on 99? Rough calls are part of the game, take it on the chin and move on.

Sachin isn't going to start crying or throw his toys out of the pram. The guy is a true gentleman.

If England are banking on Sachin only falling to a rough decision, then they can enjoy their time in the field.

Personally I'd like to see Tendulkar go first ball to an Anderson outswinger, but maybe if he got a stinker of an leg-before shout on 99 then the Indian squad might see the benefit of the full Decision Review System.

LeBron;

Do you honestly rate every Indian batsman above Trott right now?
I am pretty sure that Dhoni would disagree with you. He is one of the best bastmen in the world right now.

LeBron's Homie wrote:What's this obsession of the Master getting a rough decision when he's on 99? Rough calls are part of the game, take it on the chin and move on.

Sachin isn't going to start crying or throw his toys out of the pram. The guy is a true gentleman.

If England are banking on Sachin only falling to a rough decision, then they can enjoy their time in the field.

The thing is Indias continued distrust of DRS partly goes back to a lbw decision aganst Sachin whch was given on review. Thier argument is that he was too far down the pitch for any system to reliably give anyone out.
But as people are saying India will look very silly if they then start complaining that anyone was gven out roughly, someything as a team they have a habit of doing ( eg Sachin va DRS) even if he himslef does tend to keep quiet and deal with thes ethings well. The Indian press and support in particular jumps all over any perceived mistakes, and they dont exactly shy away from attacking refs and umpires do they.
England wont be banking on rough calls to get out Sachin, although some fans will take a smug pleasure in seeing the Indian fans implode, and dohni flip out, if he gets out to a poor lbw call that could have been reviewed. Ultimatly though we should all want to see the corrrect decison made as often as possible, and not have captains and players whinge and attack referees, DRS helps with that.

Personally i hope that there are no dodgy decisions.
I also want to see Tendulkar get his ton this test. I cant think of any other player that is more deserving of it. A legend of the game and a really nice guy as well.

I met him a few years ago whilst on a buisness trip and he was so humble, he wanted to know more about me and what i did that talk about his exploits. A genuine lovely chap.

Who gets chap of the year award, Tendulkar or Sangakarra?

Have to say Im impressed by the way both have handled themselves, Tendulkar for not milking the limelight and letting his cricket do the talking, and Sangakarra for his courage and morals.

I used to date the sister of a BBC sports reproter, he had nothing but good things to say about Sangakarra and the Sri Lankan team in general after the 2007/08 tour.

I dont know too much about Sangakarra myself except his cricket but i have heard from people that have met him that he is a diamond chap.

For me Sachin Tendulkar is the model professional that many young kids could do well to emulate.

Morning all.

It's refreshing that in sport, despite all the bad stuff that goes around, there are still people like this. Not just in Cricket, either: Jonny Wilkinson is much like that, from all I've heard.

The weather here is beautiful, and has been since dawn. Trott and Pietersen still at the crease - the situation is there for England to take the initiative today and build the sort of score that puts pressure on any side.

Can they do it?

Morning cowshot, I will try not to say many positive things today as the curse is on me

Oh, you don't have to worry today. The sun is out and everything is positive.

Pietersen could go any moment - hey, what's new about that? What we've seen with this England side is that even if a few fail, others generally DO deliver. And I noticed msp saying that Pietersen is the wicket the Indians really want, even if most England supporterrs would put Cook and Trott ahead of him for sure, and many would put several others as well!

The pressure, it seems to me, is on the Indian attack, especially if Khan cannot play.

Vaughan says, Dhoni will bowl!

I still think that there is an element of pressure on the English batsmen. The first session will be crucial, if England get through it without loosing any wickets and score some decent runs then England will take the edge away from India.

What???? Seriously

Cricinfo confirm that as well. Dravid will keep wicket.......

Yep Dravid wil keep wicket to Dohni...I assume he bowls medium pace?

Without Yuvi And Sehwag India only have Tendulkar as a support bowling option.

Yep, seriously. Apparently he can swing it.

Oh, yes, there is pressure on the batsmen. Pietersen in particular is all over the place. Trott lost his wicket early on the second day after his big score against Sri Lanka, so that might be in his mind. But it seems to me that after a slightly disappointing first day, the Indian attack is under more. Hey, if we're lucky they might bowl KP into form!

From cricinfo : ‎3-0-19-0

Those are Dhoni's figures. Not exactly inspiring for India is it.

I can understand the Piertsen theory on this wicket. This partnership is huge for England. Trott is the guy who can bat till christams, butPitersen could really punish this reduced attack. If these two get big scores and get teh run rate up later in the day India could be in trouble.
If Pietersen gets out quickly Trott will clam up, even if England still get a big toal it could take up a lot more of the game and make a draw easier for India.

With Khans injury its very hard to see India winning the game unless they get both early today.


Perhaps a bit ahead of myself given we are at the start fo the first innings, but iots hard to see India bowling England out twice cheaply and the game will be shortened. Realisticaly India will be looking at damage limitation now and trying to avoid losing rather than going for the throat and trying to force a win.

Dhoni is keeping wicket confirmed by sky.

Dravid would keep while hes bowling only I assume.

I totally agree with your views Peter, even at this early stage India may resort to damage limitations in this test. This first session today will be crucial.

I just cant rate Trott high enough right now, in incredibly difficult conditions yesterday he still managed to score very well.

butPitersen could really punish this reduced attack.

Oh please oh please oh please.

But my concern is India's batsmen going last on a good pitch. They could hit a lot of runs very fast. We still need to be looking for 600, I'd say.

Sainty wrote:Dhoni is keeping wicket confirmed by sky.

Yep but Dravid will keep if Dohni bowls.

If England can get close to or 200/2 at lunch then i think that they will have the momentum in this test.

Correct me if i am wrong but wasnt Zaheer an injury worry before this match started?

KP, looks a bit up for this today......

Feels like the batsmen are just feeling their way back into their innings. No dramas so far, which is all to England's good.

eirebilly: Starting to look good, isn't he? Chuckle. Could STILL go any second!

I don't know ZK was an injuiry worry directly, more that his lack of match fitness might be a problem. 7 months without a first class game?

I think that i read somewhere that he had a strain whilst training. If that is true then it was an even bigger gamble by the Indian selectors than that of an un-match fit player.

I am being carefull not to curse today lol

Sharma is really causing KP some problems there. Excellent over from him.

These two cant bowl all day. The lesser bowlers will be on soon so KP and Trott dont have to take any chances but just see one or both of these off.

Trott has improved his average even more, what a start to his test career. Certainly exceeded expectations, and you cant call it just a flash in the pan. Hes faced everyone now.

It's patience and innings building. Mustn't underestimate the bits and pieces bowlers, but, well, I'm beginning to have a sense of fruit there for the picking.

PSW: Trott is just getting better and better.

eirebilly wrote:Correct me if i am wrong but wasnt Zaheer an injury worry before this match started?

Yep. Hes been rushed back because India knew tehy needed him, especialy with the conditions as they were and the squad bowlers looking rubbish in Taunton.

Only one warm up game is a mistake, even if they considered the West Indies tour a warm up.

Yep lovely conditions, surviving yesterday was crucial and India will be annoyed they only managed to get England 2 down.

Of course they have the worlds best batting line-up so will be licking their lips at batting on it.

They'll be keen to get Zaheer back quickly. Seems far and away their most dangerous and the series would be less winnable without him. If it is hamstring it'll be difficult for him to go a whole match without it recurring with a good month off to be honest.

Zaheer to return later in the Test it seems. Good news I feel.

Trott goes! Change of pace?

Trott gone now. Big wicket for India.

Come on England, keep it together!

very Poor from Trott. Surive the tough conditions and then blow in in good ones.

Big chance for Bell here.

chuckle: Typical cricket. How many of you, asked at the start of play, would have said Trott would be out before Pietersen?

Normally i would worry but Bell has been in good form as well. Not the wicket England wanted to lose.

Kumar running on the pitch again ...tsk tsk.

162-3 is ok. 162-5 is not. Big partnership this.

Is Kumar leaving marks Swann might find useful?

He will get warned if he continues it., he really should know better than to do that.

Its good that India have managed to make this interesting again. Neither Bell nor Peitersen look great.

Kumar was already warned yesterday, and its only a couple of tests since Harper became a racist by removing him for doing it.

To be fair Peter, only a few posters said he was racist. Most of us just though he chose his words poorly.

England arent looking that convincing but at least they are batting themselves into a decent position.