England In India - October 2011/12

I'm not saying that, or the fact you are making petty excuses, I'm just wondering if they really should be slow starters in this series considering they have just got off the back of playing the West Indies. Granted it probably isn't the same standard of cricket, but I'm not sure they should be starting as slow as usual.

Thats a fair point you know. The West Indies tour was certainly good enough test match preparation for the Indian players coming into this test.

The argument for why the likes of Dhoni, Khan, Tendy missed parts of the WI tour was too much cricket. Their batsmen got a good testing in caribbean at least since the WI bowlers bowled well.
 
I was at Lords today and the atmosphere was absolutely amazing, especially in that final sessions when everything hung by a thread...cheers, booes, sighs...and then Anderson put together a good spell of bowling. Broad was highly unlucky (damn you Morgan). What a test, what a day, England have this.
 
Great show by the English. It was a perfect performance except for lapses in the slip catching. KP's double century in trying conditions and their bowler's ability to use the condition well were the differences between the two sides. If England keep playing this way and Khan fails to get fit, I see England winning this series 3-0 or something. This Indian team however, has shown ability to fight back. It will be interesting to see how it all unravels.
 
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Agree with barmyarmy, whether you agree with the rankings (system) or not, it is done in a way that the fact England are playing at home when they go top is irrelevant. Seem to be plenty of excuses for losing floating around, the better side won so get over it

A very impressive and satisfying win, given the fact that, like barmyarmy said, England had to take 15 wickets in the end. 3 of those were Morgan/Strauss/Swann's fault and the other two could have been done away if certain Indian batsmen didn't oppose DRS. It would appear their opposition has worked wonders for them.

The Indians could as easily suffer from the lack of LBW referrals as gain, while England could bemoan the number of errors in umpiring and catching they still won comfortably as I was sure they would. I still can't believe the pundits were going on as if the pitch was a flat 'un, there was plenty in it for the bowlers as the various spells of wickets reinforce. Sure the bowlers "bowled well" for those wickets, but you don't get multiple instances on most pitches and I think the totals were a little inflated

Sure England got to 160/3 in the 1st innings, but it could have been worse and they didn't have to face Khan (2/18) much. India were then bowled out for 286 and 261 while inbetween those innings England were reduced to 62/5 and 107/6, all except the 1st innings of the match heading for par of 300 which is far from the batting belter the pundits would have you believe it was. Sure there were runs for those who batted well, but there was enough movement in the pitch to make sure the batsmen could get a good ball at any time. Aside from the England 1st innings which included KP's cracking innings, 816 runs were score for 27 wickets @ 30.22 per wickets, set fair for totals around 300 which is way below what I'd suggest for a flat track.









The fact that the second Test starts on Friday seems a little too soon and a little unfair on India too, since they have illness, injury and fatigue haunting their team at the moment.

Poppycock, it's the same for both sides and it is just bad luck on India that they are the ones with injuries and illness. Would it have been "a little too soon" if England had lost Pietersen and Swann to injury........................? (as well/instead) Both sides start on Friday, that wasn't decided during or after the 1st Test or indeed based on the injuries and illnesses. That's life, you can't always have your best players available as is the case with Sehwag's absence.




MOTM is a tough one, the obvious key performances are Pietersen's 202no, Prior's 71 and 103no, Broad's 74no and 4/37 and 3/57, Dravid's 103no and 36 and Anderson's 5/65

I'd narrow it down to one batting (Pietersen more influential in the result, special mentions to Dravid and Prior) and one bowling (Broad had a bigger impact overall, special mentions to Anderson, and lesserly Kumar and Sharma)

I see officially it is Pietersen, well I'd give it to Broad. He bowled well in both innings, kept India in check with three of the top four in their 1st innings when the match could have moved towards parity and then his 74no came at a crucial time when India were still in the match. You could argue Prior played a bigger hand than Pietersen overall, a key 71 when the score had been 270/5 in the 1st innings, and a hugely decisive 103no when it had been 62/5 in the 2nd innings with all results then still possible. Law of big number has been applied officially though, immense innings as it was - as any double usually is.
 
Finally a deserving team winning.
Sachin,Dhoni and Zaheer should learn that cricket is not about superstars and records.
The Fitter and better is always the winner.
 
The key for friday is if ZK can recover and Sachin's viral infection is no longer a factor (which I doubt it will be). This match proves, even on a pitch as flat as Lords, England's can pick up 20 Indian wickets. Dravid and Laxman seemed comfortable in patches but everyone else was at see. 4 days to shape up.
 
The fact that the second Test starts on Friday seems a little too soon and a little unfair on India too, since they have illness, injury and fatigue haunting their team at the moment.

How is it unfair? Its been scheduled like that since last year.
 
How is it unfair? Its been scheduled like that since last year.
It's still hard on India. They weren't expecting Gambhir and Zak to fall injured during the game and Sachin getting sick. I doubt any side prepares for losing 3 key players so suddenly in one swoop, especially after they've already lost 1 star player prior to the series.
 
Injury or no injury this is the schedule and we have to be at our best. Good thing is that Sachin was out with just viral and no injury. Gambhir is going to be 100% fit too.

Now only one thing remains and that is Zak. I dont want him to play next test and be ready for 3rd and 4th. Sreesanth can take his place.

We will be at our full strength in 3rd test with Viru now returning then
 
Sreesanth should play the next test in Zaheer's place. With Ishant finding good form in the 2nd innings and Praveen proving to be a good option by himself, I think we can manage on our own in the 2nd test without the presence of Zaheer. Zaheer can meanwhile pull himself up and get ready for the 3rd test. With Sehwag also ready to play the 3rd test, India should be full strength by then. They have to play as well as possible and try to win the 2nd test, which I believe they can.

Hope Gambhir and Sachin are 100% by the time the 2nd test starts.
 
It's unfortunate rather than unfair. The events themselves are not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, because only a setback can inspire a rally or counterattack. It's possible to stir a sleeping giant that might have been lulled by the safety of good luck. Managing fortunes is a big part of cricket and although sometimes that means the odds stack against you, winning from such a position is the ultimate goal.
 
Now former and current english players will start talking too much. I am confident that India will win the series. Remember we have not yet played with our full strength team..
 
I wouldn't read too much into Lord Test, really; India were up against it right from the beginning. You did not have Sehwag to start with, Tendulkar burning with fever in the first innings, not taking field and had to bat with lower order batsmen in the second(clearly affected his game coz mindset was to survive right away; wrong approach), Zaheer was not available(clearly India's best bowler), Harbhajan out of song for so long, Gambhir got injured, did not open and Dravid was put to a do a job he shouldn't be doing(affecting his game too). Things couldn't have been worse, England deserved every bit of what they got, they played well, however, I must say it was far from a flawless performance, KP looked patchy early on and while Zaheer was operating, he could not put bat to ball, I wonder what could have been his innings like if Zak had stayed. Catching was terrible from both ends, Dhoni sucks as a wicket-keeper. What we must understand that it was strongest squad of England(Broad proved he was deserving enough in place of Bresnan; no doubts now) against weakest Indian Team. Trust me, Indians will come back hard at them, I wouldn't be surprised if India wins the next game. As a matter of fact, I think they have a better change than England if Zak plays. And for God sake, dont say Lord was a flat track. A place where ball swings all day, and you are never really in(admitted by Wasim Akram during commentary) cannot be called a flat track. Its gonna be one hell of a series. :cheers
 
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BBC have stated, Yuvraj should play for Harbhajan and should be Indias main spinner :eek:

Come on be serious
 

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