Story A Journey with England *UPDATED* (Teams Announced for First 20/20!!!)

[formula1man]

nice squads. haven't heard of most of them, i like Mahmood though.
lol at Broad though

 

[Kiko_97]

Wow! A lot has happened here. Shame about Broad and lol at Sidebottom's haricut. KUTGW and come on ENGLAND!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

well it's a pretty inexperienced team at international level. It's good to see Carberry in the squad, he's done so well without being acknowledged and he deserves at least a chance at international level. I would've thought you'd have Mark Pettini in the squad. He has an excellent average and I don't rate Mustard to highly. Good story!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Well thats a good team in test and odi great thing is that it looks like the selection is done on the base of performances in county that brings some more reallity in the story...
I am loving this story TOM ...KUTGW

 

[saladguy]

nice squads. good to see adil rashid in the ODI setup

 

[Pranav]

very nice squads. KUTGW

 

[Highlander999]

Live​

England Arrive in India

The England Squad have arrived in India after a 16 Hour Flight with the England Team being delayed for 2 hours at Heathrow. Apparently there are still problems at Terminal 5, with Pietersen, Rashid, Panesar and Strauss's backs all going missing. It was later found that they had been sent to Papua New Guinea by mistake The bags are expected to be re-united with their owners later today. The team do look tired but where able to appreciate the reception they were given at Mumbai International Airport, where they were met by Religious Leaders and the Indian Prime Minister. Soon the team were quickly whisked off to their hotel.

Although the England team were looking pretty tired and must be suffering from jet lag they had a quick nets session after tea. Pietersen looked in fine form and was seen hitting the bowlers all over the place. If he can carry on this momentum, he must surely make a big score. Mustard also looked in pretty good touch. He is the only wicket-keeper out here with England so it is crucial he performs well so as to prove the slectors are right in allowing him a go in the Test Arena.

Well with England safely in India, it was time for India to announce their squad. Anil Kumble did the honours,

V

Indian 20 Man Test Squad

A. Kumble (C)
M. Dhoni (WK) (VC)
D. Kartik (WK)
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Sehwag
H. Singh
Sreesanth
VVS Laxman
Z. Khan
RP Singh
A. Agarkar
Yuvraj Singh
M. Kaif
R. Sharma
I. Sharma
I. Pathan
P. Chawla
S. Ganguly
W. Jaffer



Indian 20 Man ODI Squad

M Dhoni (C) (WK)
S. Tendulkar (VC)
JP Yadav
R. Dravid
I. Pathan
D. Kartik (WK)
S. Ganguly
P. Chawla
V. Sehwag
W. Jaffer
Z. Khan
H. Singh
Sreesanth
R.P Singh
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
A. Agarkar
R. Sharma
I. Sharma
R. Uthappa
​

Anil later spoke about these two squads,

I don't think I have seen such a strong Indian squad in a very long time. This is probably the strongest team in the world and I feel we will have little problem in beating England. We have a good mix of youth and experience with youngsters like Piyush and more "mature" guys like Sachin. The team are really fired up and I must say so am I. We really cannot wait for the first 20/20 match!

So it appears the Indians are ready to take on England. Their squad does look very strong. England are going to have their work cut out in trying to beat them. However, first off they have two practice games to play. The first one, is against President's XI and is a day-nighter while the other one is a 4 Day Game against India "A". Expect a lot of squad rotation as England try and find the perfect team to go into the first 20/20 match. This is going to be an exciting Tour

 

[Dr. Pepper]

yadav, kaif and agarkar were interesting choices by india. I think you are the favourite to win because your team has some great players, hopefully Carberry will shine. India will probably do badly. Lol about the bags going missing. Where did you get Papua New Guina???

 

[saladguy]

lol the bags went missing!!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Bags went missing....lol

 

[formula1man]

India squad looks alright, i bit surprised not to see any IPL stars in the line up.

 

[Highlander999]

Live​

President's XI v England @ Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Well it is time for England's first warm-up match against President's XI. It is a 50 over match and is starting at 8 p.m so it will be played under lights. Earlier this evening, Dinseh Mongia the captain of the President's XI won the toss and elected to field. Here is how the toss went.

Well we are here this evening for the match between, President's XI and England. Dinseh Mongia has won the toss and elected to field. Dinesh what made you decide to field first?

Well David, the pitch is looking quite dusty out there and we have some top quality spinners in our side. With England not having any spinners in their side we are confident we can bowl them out cheaply and then get the runs.

Is this a chance for you guys to weaken England up before the important matches start?

This is an important match for us. The boys are really fired up and we really want to show the England team what they are going to be up against. They should not under-estimate us. We are ready.

Good luck with the match Dinesh.

Thank you.

So Paul. Disappointed to have been put into bat first?

Nah not really. We had planned on batting first anyway. We've gone in with a pretty strong team and I feel we are more than able to score 300+ even on a turning wicket.

Are you maybe wishing you had played either Monty or Graeme Swann?

Well we are still trying to find our team for the first 20/20 match and so we are just trying to let everyone have a game. I'm sure Monty and Graeme will be playing in the next match. For now it is just about the lads getting themselves into the right frame of mind for that first match.

Well, good luck for the match, Paul!

Cheers David.

So President's XI have won the toss and elected to field first.

Now let's take a quick look at the two teams:

It looks like England have gone in with the best side available to them with the likes of Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Sidebottom and Cook. Plunkett is the only unfamiliar name as he makes his England recall debut. You would be expecting England to post a big total here. The President's XI is not a weak team but the English just look to have more talent. The President's XI does have some good players though. Uthappa has been named in the 20 Man Squad by India as has Kartik, so both will be looking to impress. Mongia, Raina, Kartik and Rao are also very good players who England will have to watch out for.

The first ball is due to be bowled. Stay tuned to see all the action from President's XI v England :cool:

 

[saladguy]

Nice update, England should win this one!

 

[Spoobir]

No spinner in India? Could be a mistake, especially if Plunkett bowls like he usually does. I'm still going for an England win though.

 

[Jit]

ya england need a spinner i think its will be a close game