England in India - Oct to Jan 2012/13

[SaiSrini]

Tiwary and Rahane are fair players but they will take about twenty tests to be good players, in that time their confidence will dissipate. Its ironical how fans like yourslef chased out Laxman and to an extent Dravid to broad players like Pujara, this Pujara guys seems a failure he played well in the first test but thats it! What about the bowling, what replacements you have, none I guess!

Just accept it, India weakness is finally coming to forth! All this crap about the revenge series and India winning 4-0 has shown to be a fallacy. All the arguments that Ashwin is a mystery spinner like Ajmal/Narine has been shown how stupid thinking guys like yourself do!

The one time India needed Sachin to bat the inns of his life he fails them but you guys say he is the best? He is crap always has been and will always be an utter waste!

Really which Indian has hit 3 triple centuries in FC?

No amount of your Sachin hate/bashing is going to change the fact that he is a LEGEND! He is, he will, and he will always be a LEGEND in international cricket... Right now, everyone is failing, not only Sachin. Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, etc everyone is failing. Yes, Sachin should retire but its not going to be that quick fix solution to India's problems, LET ME TELL YOU THAT!

The problem lies with India's current priorities, which is definitely NOT TEST CRICKET. The fact that they always schedule test cricket during weekdays inspite of seeing low crowd turnout points to the fact that they conduct test cricket just because they have to. Given a choice, India would give up test cricket altogether. The money comes from IPL and the shorter formats, the players earn all the big bucks from the shorter formats and don't really value the test cap as much, etc. The golden era of Indian cricket in tests is over. From now on, we will have the "once in a blue moon" performance in tests followed by performances like this which will become more consistent that we will stop caring about it anymore.

Indian test cricket IS DYING!

 

[shravi]

Yes, I know wholesale changes have been proposed. And we're not stupid. We realize it's unrealistic. And we realize it won't happen. But these players have consistently (apart from Aswhin who just had this one shocking series) let us down for more than a year now. We are just crying out for a change, and obviously it is going to look a little knee-jerk right after the match, or in some cases, during. However, this is when emotions are at their highest.

 

[Highlander999]

Meh, only got yourselves to blame. If you put 20/20 cricket on a pedestal like has been the case in India the past few years, then you breed a crop of batsmen who haven't got the ability to stick it out for any long period of time without gifting their wickets away and bowlers who can't stick to a line/length and work batsmen over. At least England, Australia and South Africa all have batsmen who can go and make big scores (bar Purjara who seems like a good find, keep him away from the IPL for India's sake!) and bowlers who can keep it tight. That is why those 3 teams will always be challenging for the number 1 test spot. India had a chance to make it 4 teams consistently challenging, but the BCCI and apparently the majority of the fans would much rather watch the X-Factor of cricket and the end result = India being about the same level as Sri Lanka or Pakistan and yet you guys still didn't even win the World 20/20.

Basically the Indian cricket team is becoming like modern day footballers, a bunch of over-paid fools who have no passion and would much rather groom their ego's then focus on their main job - playing for their country!

In other news. Captain Cook! What a guy. Brilliant role model for all young cricketers

 

[playkid12]

The one time India needed Sachin to bat the inns of his life he fails them but you guys say he is the best? He is crap always has been and will always be an utter waste!

Hint: when you have to put such an aggressive tone into your statements, it's because almost no one agrees with you, and you're trying to clamor for attention like a toddler.

You're literally basing a 20+ year career on one series when he's well past his prime and struggling for runs. He's 39. I'm not going to disagree that based on what I've seen, Sachin needs to retire soon, but to say that he's been an utter waste is just hilarious. There was a time in India where people wouldn't bet on cricket matches until he was out. He's single handedly won many games for India and has respect from cricket gurus, commentators, players, and fans worldwide.

 

[War]

The one and only - Ravinder Jadeja.

Damn well based on the Jadeja i've seen in limited overs, if he has 3 triples in fc, then the standard of bowling in india's domestic game is really crappy at the moment.

 

[Satan666]

Meh, only got yourselves to blame. If you put 20/20 cricket on a pedestal like has been the case in India the past few years, then you breed a crop of batsmen who haven't got the ability to stick it out for any long period of time without gifting their wickets away and bowlers who can't stick to a line/length and work batsmen over. At least England, Australia and South Africa all have batsmen who can go and make big scores (bar Purjara who seems like a good find, keep him away from the IPL for India's sake!) and bowlers who can keep it tight. That is why those 3 teams will always be challenging for the number 1 test spot. India had a chance to make it 4 teams consistently challenging, but the BCCI and apparently the majority of the fans would much rather watch the X-Factor of cricket and the end result = India being about the same level as Sri Lanka or Pakistan and yet you guys still didn't even win the World 20/20.

Basically the Indian cricket team is becoming like modern day footballers, a bunch of over-paid fools who have no passion and would much rather groom their ego's then focus on their main job - playing for their country!

In other news. Captain Cook! What a guy. Brilliant role model for all young cricketers

True that! They performed badly in the World T20 cup, its just a matter of several matches for their weak ODI outfit to be exposed, only Kohli has held them up in ODI matches this year his form is in a slump so I expect India lose heavily in ODI also.

This is good for the game though, Team India's failing would weaken the BCCI kingdom, hopefully ridding their monopoly on the game once this is achieve some normalcy should return to cricket.

India never had a golden era in test cricket!

 

[Fahad Mohammad]

Every plyr coming in india and plyng in indian conditions in IPL
so now they practiced

 

[Satan666]

India, though, have lived in a different kind of denial for the last 18 months. In their minds they are still the world's No. 1 in Tests and should have won the World Twenty20 but for five minutes of rain. Somewhere down the line this team changed from one that was bitterly disappointed at coming back from South Africa with a 1-1 draw to one that was indifferent to two whitewashes, looking for excuses and not reasons.

India v England, 3rd Test, Kolkata, 4th day : From magic to harsh reality for India at Eden | Cricket Features | India v England | ESPN Cricinfo

Indian fans should have a read, Saisini!

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

Meh, only got yourselves to blame. If you put 20/20 cricket on a pedestal like has been the case in India the past few years, then you breed a crop of batsmen who haven't got the ability to stick it out for any long period of time without gifting their wickets away and bowlers who can't stick to a line/length and work batsmen over. At least England, Australia and South Africa all have batsmen who can go and make big scores (bar Purjara who seems like a good find, keep him away from the IPL for India's sake!) and bowlers who can keep it tight. That is why those 3 teams will always be challenging for the number 1 test spot. India had a chance to make it 4 teams consistently challenging, but the BCCI and apparently the majority of the fans would much rather watch the X-Factor of cricket and the end result = India being about the same level as Sri Lanka or Pakistan and yet you guys still didn't even win the World 20/20.

Basically the Indian cricket team is becoming like modern day footballers, a bunch of over-paid fools who have no passion and would much rather groom their ego's then focus on their main job - playing for their country!

In other news. Captain Cook! What a guy. Brilliant role model for all young cricketers

that doesn't really make much sense to be honest tom. most of the batsmen in their team have been playing cricket for years before twenty existed and indeed, the new players generally seem to be identified as FC specialists, sharma, ohja and pujara haven't played twenty20 for india in 3 years. of the ones you're left with gambhir, kohli and yuvraj, gambhir has proved himself able to make scores in test cricket and kohli is clearly talented and worth taking a punt on (he's also 24, younger than any batsman in englands team and has some developing to do whether he played test cricket or not)

and for most of the 2000s both india and sri lanka sat comfortably above england in the rankings so I don't know where you got the idea that england have consistently been one of the top 3 teams?

england are doing really well, good coaching, players beginning to hit their peak, india are in transition, most of their players are way either past their peaks or new to the test arena. I would agree they have also made counter productive moves, don't think fletcher is a good coach and their bowlers are not being managed correctly, but pinning it all on the IPL is being opportunist.

 

[MUFC1987]

I think people are being harsh on Fletcher to be honest. I wasn't his biggest fan in terms of One day cricket, but in Tests, you can't doubt his credentials for me. He took us from a poor side to the best in the world, that's proof enough for me.

I think India have just hit a comfort zone. They thought they were unbeatable at home, yet England have worked hard and shown that there is a way to beat them, much like we did with Australia in 2005. Australia had that dominance that made them think they were unbeatable and to be fair, they nearly were. But a team will always come along at one stage and work you out and beat you and that's what's happened with India.

I think the ability is there though. The likes of Kohli and Pujara are certainly good enough. The likes of Ojha and Yadav have looked good too, it's just there are too many people getting in the side without achieving much.

 

[sifter132]

Talk about throwing all your toys out the pram! Good sides need consistency in selection, you need to get behind your team. There is no shame losing to this england side which is probably the second best in the world. A team that dominated the first test cannot be as bad as a lot of you are saying, its just a kneejerk reaction.

Accept that you've just been outplayed for two matches, form is temporary.

In the short term, I'm on your side here - this team was good enough to win the first Test, they deserve a shot at the 4th Test. My theory on team building is to panic after the series, not during it. Only if a player is truly struggling should he be replaced, show some faith! All the batsmen have made 50 at least once in the series, the bowlers would be where I might look if there are changes to be made in the 4th.

But in the long term I don't believe this for a second. India has some real problems, with personnel, technique and attitude. They need a plan and some fresh eyes: probably with a new coach with a vision. Fletcher's tenure has shown ZERO signs of improvement in Indian cricket.

 

[War]

Yea Fletcher is a good coach. Its just that he has taken over india @ a time when the majority of their stalwarts are passed their peak & the talent pool in certain area's just isn't good enough.

Plus its obvious he doesn't have any major authority over team selection & the overall running of indian cricket/player development like he had during his tenure as coach.

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but pinning it all on the IPL is being opportunist.

While all of India's current ills can't be totally blamed on the ipl - it certainly is a major factor.

What have the BCCI really done with the millions they have gained from IPL to try and plan for the inevitable retirement of the tendulkar era players to help develop their traditionally poor first-class structure, so that the production line of the future indian test players becomes good?

I've seen in the past year people like akash chopa, sanjay manjrekar and harsha bhogle writing articles on cricinfo with alarming regularity about these issues.

All i see the BCCI doing is overworking its players, flexing its dumb muscle being a bully on the world stage & making dumb excuses for india's performances in tests since their abysmal tours to england & australia last year.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

The main problem is India's attitude. It's pathetic. They have no fighting spirit what so ever. As well as England have played, they haven't really met the intensity they did in the UAE and SL. Didnt Pak get bowled out for 99 or something in one of the Tests and still go on to win? That's what India need, that drive to never give up, not just from Ashwin, but from the whole team.

But I seriously doubt it. They'll just blame the pitch again, even though it's home territory.

 

[SaiSrini]

India v England, 3rd Test, Kolkata, 4th day : From magic to harsh reality for India at Eden | Cricket Features | India v England | ESPN Cricinfo

Indian fans should have a read, Saisini!

If you had put your reading glasses on, you would have seen that I have been arguing with you about your 'flirtish love' for Tendulkar, not India!

 

[Cricketman]

This too shall pass....