India in England Jun-Sept 2014

[PokerAce]

Since a lot of the talk has been about DRS above, I will like to chip in with a point. The truth is that Umpire's call makes no sense for one more reason.

For instance, in an LBW decision the Umpire knows the ball is hitting the stumps only partly and not full on, just enough to return an "Umpire's Call" on review. However this is not an issue for the Umpire, he knows the ball is 'just' hitting the stumps, and if that is the only issue he would give it out. However the issue is he is not sure if the batsman was struck in line of the stumps. The Umpire is of the view that the Batsman was struck outside the stumps, and if he believed that the ball struck the Batsman in line he would have given it out, even though the ball would partly go on to hit the stumps.

The Bowling side reviews, and lo and behold, the Impact was slam bang in line of the stumps, but then the ball is show to 'just' be hitting the stumps and 'Umpire's call' is returned, hence the Not Out Decision stands. This is now ridiculous, because the basis of the 'Not Out' was not whether the ball would 'just' hit the stumps, but whether the Impact was in line or not. The Umpire having seen that the impact was in line, would give the Batsman out, the basis of the decision was where the impact was and not whether the ball would hit the stumps, but he cannot, because there is no provision to explain what he was basing his decision on to the person making the review, the Third Umpire.

In a decision where there are three grounds to consider 1) Where did the ball pitch, 2) Where was the impact 3) Would it hit the stumps, on which of the three grounds did the Umpire rule Out or Not Out is important. Without knowing this just blindly returning an 'Umpire's Call' is ridiculous.

In the above example, the Umpire would have liked to review whether the impact was in line of the stumps or not, and having seen that the impact was in line, he would have ruled it out. However the DRS, which will show the impact was in line, will just plainly assume that the Umpire already knew this and doesn't have any doubts on this part, and will let the decision Not Out stand on the ground that the ball was only partly hitting the stumps, Which the Umpire knew and was fine with, and which was never a ground for him ruling the appeal as Not Out !!

That is DRS for you !!

Okay onto the test itself, I had thought that it would be a 5-0 whitewash but on the basis of the 1st session I am willing to reconsider that. What a waste of a pitch !

 

[abhi_jacko]

Just tuned into the game

So are the SKY Sports commentators right about Cook being very proactive today ?

 

[ParkedTheBus]

If the ball hits the stumps, the batsman is out. Simples. Even if only a part of the ball hits the stumps, the bails are still dislodged(in most cases), aren't they? So, that technically makes the batsman "out".

Chipping into the pitch argument, this is an absolutely disgraceful one. I'd rather teams getting out for 100-odd on green tracks than this sub-continent type of pitches where there is absolutely nothing in for the bowlers.

 

[Lebanna]

Just tuned into the game

So are the SKY Sports commentators right about Cook being very proactive today ?

In a word, yes. He (with support from Prior) have been moving the slips up before the ball fell short resulting in the 3rd wicket. Just before that he had a silly mid on to Pujara which resulted in the 2nd wicket.

Chipping into the pitch argument, this is an absolutely disgraceful one. I'd rather teams getting out for 100-odd on green tracks than this sub-continent type of pitches where there is absolutely nothing in for the bowlers.

It doesn't have to be 100 ao. But at least make it even. Now this has gotten better in the afternoon now the ball is doing something, but on the first day of a test, a pitch should not be this...stodgy

 

[Aalay]

I am loving the way Murli Vijay is batting. I didn't watch the first session but int he second session, he has shown excellent discipline when England were on top. He has left the ball well and didn't panic after those 2 quick wickets. He has started to take some risks with those late cuts in Ben Stokes over but I think we needed that because we haven't scored much this session. Rahane was again very sloppy at the start with his usual fishing outside the off stump when there is no need to. One think Virat Kohli needs to learn from Murli Vijay is not to panic when the runs aren't coming quickly. I can't believe I am saying this but Kohli often panics too much in those situations and tries too much to score runs rather than just playing it out.

England have been excellent so far in the field. Another thing that I think will be very important in this series. India needs to take every chance that they can get in to put pressure on England.

 

[SaiSrini]

Decent start for India so far. Considering the pitch and the quality of our batsmen on such pitches, we should have been here at a much better position than this, but I would take it for now.

But I do think Dhoni has slipped on the very first opportunity itself. What did he see in this pitch to play 4 seamers (including a guy like Binny). Ashwin should have been played. I agree with aditya here. We are essentially playing with 3 specialist bowlers (Kumar, Shami and Ishant) out of which one is a major liability (Ishant). Ashwin wanted to prove a point in this series, and this pitch is one where spinners are definitely going to get help at some point of time. Basically Dhoni picked the side on ground reputation (which is what I didnt want him to do, before the series began)

This could be a huge, dull draw. India are definitely not capable of sneaking 20 wickets, even with England's current condition. Our batters might bat well, but I dont see a win for us here.

 

[IceAgeComing]

Dravid on TMS answering listeners questions btw, it's pretty interesting

 

[Aalay]

What a waste!

 

[IceAgeComing]

Wait, why was Cook as Silly Point?? Shouldn't everyone be on the boundary?

 

[ParkedTheBus]

I dont think any of us really expected Vijay to perform like this. I hope he carries on and gets a "daddy hundred".

 

[abhi_jacko]

Very well done Vijay .. this should silence all the "he is in the team because he play(ed) for CSK"

--

Our MSD plays the weirdest looking shots haha
That Drive was so odd looking. But effective nonetheless

 

[Lebanna]

I am loving the way Murli Vijay is batting. I didn't watch the first session but int he second session, he has shown excellent discipline when England were on top. He has left the ball well and didn't panic after those 2 quick wickets. He has started to take some risks with those late cuts in Ben Stokes over but I think we needed that because we haven't scored much this session. Rahane was again very sloppy at the start with his usual fishing outside the off stump when there is no need to. One think Virat Kohli needs to learn from Murli Vijay is not to panic when the runs aren't coming quickly. I can't believe I am saying this but Kohli often panics too much in those situations and tries too much to score runs rather than just playing it out.

A little harsh on Kohli. He was only out there for 8 balls - hardly time for the pressure of no free flowing runs to get to him. Of course the other problem is that he was only there for 8 balls.

 

[SaiSrini]

Hope Dhoni scores as much in the next two overs as possible. When the new ball comes, he could be gobbled up pretty quickly. I am pretty confident Dhoni is going to play his poking game outside off stump once the new ball is in. Anyways for him, this innings is already a success as he has scored 30+.

Dhoni would be better off attacking the new ball when it comes, but I dont expect him to do it (so far, he has not showed attacking signs).

 

[abhi_jacko]

35 in 41 in a test match is fairly attacking IMO

 

[IceAgeComing]

holy hell England needs a spinner