England's tour of India - 2021

[Crassus]

Because there's just too many folks in India who follow cricket and follow it with passion.

The trolling of Vaughan's comments about the pitch, has been pretty rough in these past few days. But you guys can take heart from the fact that there were lots of trolls on Tim Paine after today's win by India, and the trolls went back to the SCG test where Paine sledged Ashwin "See you at the Gabba mate... your own team mates dont like you... etc etc etc".

Many Indian fans love to troll/meme people who pass out controversial stuff against Indian players. And their memories are longer because they just have too much of time on their hands for cricket.

I listen to quite a few cricketing podcasts in the UK and very often they'll say something and then make reference to the fact that they will get nailed on twitter by Indians for it.

One of them suggested Kohli was a poor captain and then pretty much retracted the comment for fear of Indian backlash.

 

[Bevab]

I listen to quite a few cricketing podcasts in the UK and very often they'll say something and then make reference to the fact that they will get nailed on twitter by Indians for it.

One of them suggested Kohli was a poor captain and then pretty much retracted the comment for fear of Indian backlash.

That comment is far more likely to incite an Indian civil war than a backlash.

 

[Crassus]

I'm annoyed with the ECBs handling of the situation. I do understand that we're trying to manage players during a pandemic and bubble life is hard. I also understand that we have a packed schedule but we have agreed to that.

It seems unnecessary to me to play so many 50 over games this year (9) when there are so many other things going on and we're years away from another 50 over World Cup. Unless we're planning to send out a completely different team for them then I don't understand the value in them.

Do we need to play NZ AND India this summer? Do we need to play India twice in a year?

What the ECB should've done in my opinion is given all the multi-format players the Sri Lanka series off. Then play our best team for this India series and get the players needed in for the T20s. You could even pick a reserve team for the India T20s as almost all the England team will be in the IPL getting practice against the best bowlers anyway.

Unfortunately it seems like the ECB have prioritised the World Cup over the test team as Eoin Morgan gets what he wants with all the big hitters being available for his games but Joe Root has to without his best team so they can rest up for the white ball games and the IPL. This might be an acceptable way of managing things in some parts of the world but to the average fan in England test cricket is still the pinnacle and this has not gone down well.

 

[karansentosa]

Just wanted to know why were only these 2 grounds chosen for 4 tests. I mean there are plenty of other grounds in the country which deserved to be the hosts too. On top of everything, everyone saw the Ahmedabad pitch being eroded in the first match itself but still had to go through another 5 days of intense cricket after a buffer for few touch-ups.

 

[Bevab]

Just wanted to know why were only these 2 grounds chosen for 4 tests. I mean there are plenty of other grounds in the country which deserved to be the hosts too. On top of everything, everyone saw the Ahmedabad pitch being eroded in the first match itself but still had to go through another 5 days of intense cricket after a buffer for few touch-ups.

Probably because it is easier to maintain a biosecure bubble with a limited number of venues. Although I do admit that Ahmedabad has got more games due to it being the brand new stadium on the block and the politics behind it.

 

[Verified Enigma]

politics

Real truth

 

[Aislabie]

What the ECB should've done in my opinion is given all the multi-format players the Sri Lanka series off. Then play our best team for this India series and get the players needed in for the T20s. You could even pick a reserve team for the India T20s as almost all the England team will be in the IPL getting practice against the best bowlers anyway.

Agree with this partially; re: the T20 team, you have a point about the best players playing in the IPL, but this is probably the most important pre-WT20 series for preparation: a full squad playing together against the world's best team in the same conditions the tournament take place in. It's hard to overvalue that

Re: the Sri Lanka series, that 2-0 whitewash made WTC final qualification possible, so going hard out there was a strong option. And without Root it could have gone very differently even at full (ish) strength.

No point offering problems but no solutions though.

Make these players available for all Tests and no limited overs:
Rory Burns*
Dom Sibley
Zak Crawley
Joe Root
Ollie Pope*
Dan Lawrence
Tom Lammonby
James Bracey
Ben Foakes
Sam Curran
Chris Woakes
Jimmy Anderson
Stuart Broad
Ollie Stone
Mark Wood
Ollie Robinson
Jack Leach
Dom Bess
Amar Virdi

Make these players available for all limited overs and no Tests:
Jonny Bairstow
Jason Roy
Alex Hales*
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Sam Billings
David Willey
Moeen Ali
Tom Curran
Chris Jordan
Jofra Archer
Reece Topley*
Saqib Mahmood
Adil Rashid
Danny Briggs

That gives you a solid extended bubble for each format. There are a few players missing though:

Players to be given choice of bubble:
Ben Stokes
Jos Buttler
Matt Parkinson

Bit of a weird trio, but they're players who'd be at home in either squad to a similar extent.

And the final thing: A no-shame culture if players ask for a break from touring. Bubble life sucks, these guys have families, and so on. All are valid points and as a result there shoild be no shame in opting out of any assignment.

(* denotes players who might be umavailable for other reasons)

 

[Yash.]

Jonny Bairstow
Jason Roy
Alex Hales*
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Sam Billings
David Willey
Moeen Ali
Tom Curran
Chris Jordan
Jofra Archer
Reece Topley*
Saqib Mahmood
Adil Rashid
Danny Briggs

Tom Banton?

 

[Bevab]

I'd even put Buttler in the white ball squad first, he is a lot more important to the LO team than the test team. Woakes and one of Archer/Wood would be the others I'd have in the mixed squad list, Woakes is absolutely vital to the ODI team but his lack of importance to the T20I side means he still doesn't slot in quite there and the lack of security over his test spot also ensures that he may be a bit of a wildcard depending upon the conditions and opposition. Rotate Archer and Wood based on how they feel about their workload and fitness alongside form at a given moment.

 

[SaiSrini]

Just wanted to know why were only these 2 grounds chosen for 4 tests. I mean there are plenty of other grounds in the country which deserved to be the hosts too. On top of everything, everyone saw the Ahmedabad pitch being eroded in the first match itself but still had to go through another 5 days of intense cricket after a buffer for few touch-ups.

If we were not in a COVID world, they would never hold a test back to back in a single venue.

 

[Aislabie]

Tom Banton?

Yeah definitely; he's someone to have in the limited overs bubble

I'd even put Buttler in the white ball squad first, he is a lot more important to the LO team than the test team. Woakes and one of Archer/Wood would be the others I'd have in the mixed squad list, Woakes is absolutely vital to the ODI team but his lack of importance to the T20I side means he still doesn't slot in quite there and the lack of security over his test spot also ensures that he may be a bit of a wildcard depending upon the conditions and opposition. Rotate Archer and Wood based on how they feel about their workload and fitness alongside form at a given moment.

I agree that Buttler's more important over there, but as the incumbent Test keeper I think it would have been fair to give him the option to prioritise that. Now that Foakes is the incumbent again, bin Buttler off to the one-dayers

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Now that Foakes is the incumbent again, bin Buttler off to the one-dayers

 

[Ed Smith]

Yeah, it's a no from me

 

[aitorita12]

I have seen lots of praise for Gill and Pant over the last few weeks. However, it is important to note that this is Test cricket, not T20 cricket. India would do well to bench Gill and Pant, so that they learn the Test temperament. Anyday, I would prefer a Pujara 70(255) over a Gill/Pant 35(35).

 

[Aislabie]

Bait weaker than my home-cooked attempts at curry compared to the food cooked by basically every competent adult in India