England in India - Oct to Jan 2012/13

[Aalay]

One more chance for Ishant Sharma. I hope he makes use of this opportunity.

India v England, 2nd Test, Mumbai : Umesh Yadav 'unfit' for Mumbai Test, says MS Dhoni | Cricket News | India v England | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Aalay]

Oh boy! Harbhajan comes back and India playing 3 spinners. Is this pitch a rank turner?

 

[Aalay]

And Gambhir's horror run continues.

 

[shravi]

Drop Sehwag. Drop Gambhir. Rahane in. Mukund in.

 

[Paki007]

Should have played Panesar in the 1st match as well

 

[SaiSrini]

Horror run for Gambhir! The guy needs to be put on notice for sure in tests. If he is failing in India too, he can't play the "me and Sehwag have a 50 plus average" trump card. I would rather try Mukund out again in his place. Mukund now has some international experience. Or even Shikar Dhawan.

Expecting some announcement from Sachin at the end of this series. FINGERS SERIOUSLY CROSSED! Hope Pujara and Kohli take us out of trouble here... With Yuvraj coming in next and him not being too comfortable vs spin, it will then be down to Ashwin and then the tail (comprising of Dhoni and others).

----------

So all the talk about the pitch having good grass cover before the test was just eye-wash.. When both teams are playing three spinners, there must be something in the pitch..

Harbhajan has a good record at Mumbai, which helps India's cause. And he has a test century and a handful of 50's, so he can bat.. Hope his selection pays rewards for us here. I kinda like this decision by MS! If need be, Kohli can turn his arm over for a little medium pace.

 

[Owzat]

Bell, he's missing the 2nd Test for sure, I believe the wife is having a kid.

And shocker, despite so many failing in the first Test the only 'casualties' are Bell who couldn't play anyway, and Bresnan to make way for Panesar when Broad didn't fare any better than Bresnan.

Closer to what it should have been first Test, still doesn't amaze me England batsmen do FA and don't get dropped while bowlers are changed more often than some people change their underpants. Be interesting to see if Trott and Pietersen fail this Test if they are axed, can't imagine England will axe Pietersen unless he scores multiple consecutive golden ducks to awful smears and even then, maybe

 

[barmyarmy]

I think 200 is a decent score on this track. Can't afford to let Pujara and Dhoni get away.

 

[Paki007]

Dhoni again couldn't build on a good start.Good bowling from Panesar.It turned and bounced quite sharply

 

[Epic]

And they say this kind of pitch is bad for Test cricket? Piss off will ya', solid day of cricket, runs, wickets, everything for everyone.

 

[Aalay]

Good day of cricket for both teams. England fans can clearly see now that how important Panesar is on this kind of surface. Gambhir's highest score this year is 83 against Australia and his next highest score is 45 against England in the first test. He had an average of 32.8 last year and this year it is almost the same, so he needs to improve because India need to get good start. Another concern for me is Virat Kolhi. No doubt that he has been wonderful for India in the shorter format but I am again getting this feeling that he is still not patient enough to score runs in test. I am not sure if anyone else have seen this but he looks very frustrated if he can not hit a boundary after 3 or 4 dot balls. Pujara is a masterclass with another century. I liked Ashwin's innings and the way he started attacking bowlers. I think Pujara and Ashwin have put India slightly ahead of England and seeing the turn on the pitch, around 350 will be a very good score.

 

[Owzat]

I think 200 is a decent score on this track. Can't afford to let Pujara and Dhoni get away.

We needed to hammer home good early work. Good to see Monty in the wickets, shame Swann hasn't yet joined in

 

[Haarithan]

Just please axe Stuart Broad already. Can't recall a delivery he crossed the 85 mph barrier!

 

[MUFC1987]

He's either not fit or just so badly out of form. Either way, I agree, he should have been dropped. Bresnan could have played without losing anything from the batting.

We really need to find a way to get Pujara out at some point in this series.

 

[War]

Just got to love the Mumbai pitch, hasn't changed since the first test i saw their in 2000, when Donald/Pollock where bowling on day 1.

Once it continues its trends, i expect the Indian spin trio to get MASSIVE assistance - which depending on how England batsmen play will define this test.

Although i supported 3 quicks playing over Panesar - it sort of highlights why on occasions overseas, England miss having a true quick bowling all-rounder like Flintoff/Botham/Greig who could allow the team to have 3 genuine quicks & two spinners. A third seamer like Meaker could have been equally useful as Panesar today.