Natwest Challenge (Eng, Ind)

[m_vaughan]

England to win 2-1 or 2-0 (with the other game being washed out)

 

[brad352]

Looks like the forum ate Rangeela's post :cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer

 

[slade]

Nope ... We will smash the confidence out of England's bowling attack.

 

[adit123]

2-1 to India . WE r due for a good performance

 

[m_vaughan]

If Sachin plays then maybe 2-1, otherwise its 3-0 to England, fair and square!

 

[Rangeela]

Schedule


Wed 01 Sep England India Trent Bridge
Fri 03 Sep England India Oval
Sun 05 Sep England India Lord's



England Squad

*Michael Vaughan
Kabir Ali - replaced 26th August
James Anderson
Gareth Batty
Paul Collingwood
Andrew Flintoff
Ashley Giles
Darren Gough
Stephen Harmison
+Geraint Jones
Anthony McGrath
Vikram Solanki
Andrew Strauss
Marcus Trescothick
Alex Wharf - added 26th August

India Squad

Virender Sehwag
*Sourav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
VVS Laxman
Yuvraj Singh
Mohammad Kaif
Ajit Agarkar
+Dinesh Karthik
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Ashish Nehra
Irfan Pathan
Rohan Gavaskar

 

[Rangeela]

Sachin Tendulkar has failed a fitness test and is ruled of the NatWest Challenge, the three-match one-day series against England, beginning on September 1. However, there is still a chance of him playing in the Champions Trophy which starts on September 10

 

[m_vaughan]

How good are India without Sachin?

 

[sohum]

How good are India without Sachin?

Quite good. Remember when that guy called Virender Sehwag had to open the batting?

 

[Briggsey]

Yes but you cannot rely on him only, what if Harmy was to bowl him first ball? Also Dravid is a little out of touch given his scores at the back end of the Asia Cup and Ganguly hasnt looked quite the part since the start of the year.

 

[m_vaughan]

[COLOR=Royal Blue]Ganguly has never looked the part ever since he became captain. He is there only as long as he is the captain.[/COLOR]

 

[sachinisgod]

dude... u forget - English conditions are perfectly suitable to both Ganguly and Dravid... and the latter is not someone who stays down for a long time... he can come back and win one dayers on his own...
past three onedayers against England... Sachin scored 50+ in WC... else got a duck at Lords and poor score in Colombo... just check out the results...
though its a universally accepted fact that India with Sachin in the side is a different side...

and poor boy harmy may get Sehwag in one or two games but if that guy fires in the third... Harmy's ODI career may be in jeopardy...

tell'em to take care...

INDIA will win 2-1...

 

[sohum]

What if Harmy bowls him first ball? Then they will be at a disadvantage. same thing as if harmy bowls hayden, gayle, hameed, jayasuriya or gibbs were to be bowled first ball. India do not depend on any single batsmen to get them through....that was the story of the 90s when it was Sachin and only Sachin.

I'd say you were being old-fashioned if you claimed that the above was true.

What would England do if they Solanki or Strauss first ball (who opens for them anyway)? They would not sit down and collapse.

Every one of India's top 7 batsmen (except gavaskar) have got a one-day century--proving that they can fire (on their day). if england (who have been used to playing against 'super-competitive' teams such as West Indies) go into this series with that attitude, they might end up losing it 0-3.

It should be good to watch, especially since neither team has performed well in their most recent ONe day tournaments.

 

[Rangeela]

England are really good in the Test matches watching them from previous couple of series but when it comes to ODI they lack talent specially the middle order batsmen and 5th bowler....
As far as India goes they are good side but lack of commitments in recent matches. They must realize not to take anything for granted. this is a time to prove to themselves that we can win matches w/o sachin.

As far as the series goes I dont want to predict who will win but this series will really help them to perform well in ICC trophy.

 

[sohum]

Yes.....at this point India should just start afresh and forget all their recent successes. The first key is Irfan Pathan and the second one is Virender Sehwag. When Irfan Pathan picks up an early wicket (and he usually does) he goes on to pick up 3-4 wickets in the match. India would need good support pace bowlers as these guys are usually guilty.

As for batting, India are sorely missing a good start in their last few matches. Sehwag hardly lasts a few balls....some blame this on his marriage. India just need a little momentum at the beginning of the innings. And after they get that....they must continue the momentum by running singles and such. As Slater said during the Videocon Cup, the Aussies from their early age are trained to look for a single as soon as they hit a ball, while the subcontinent players either admire a shot or practice it immediately, trying to figure out why it was mistimed.

But this is the cricket culture of each country, and it cannot be changed. India have just seemed to enter a grey phase of late and they go around the game like zombies. It seriously becomes boring to watch after some time. But Ganguly was looking in good touch. Maybe they should experiment and try Ganguly out to open (now they have to because of Sachin). They should also give Dinesh Karthik a chance in the Natwest Challenge as it is not as important a series as the Champions Trophy.

That's all!!