England in India - Oct to Jan 2012/13

[War]

The practice games selection is hardly much of big deal either way. Since even if India had picked proper spinners in any game, it will have little bearing on the actual test matches.

 

[War]

With KP back, its going to be an interesting series. But I still expect India to do pretty well in this series considering that we are on home conditions.

In fact for this series, I won't play much of Zaheer. Ishant and Yadav with Ashwin and Ojha should be our bowling attack in atleast two tests. Hope Aaron is ready and back for this series.

Why would you say that i wonder?. Has Zaheer to you been showing decline as a test match bowler recently?

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[vorgaphe]

I agree that India should prepare pitches that suit them, but to claim that England and Australia prepared green tops is an absolute joke. Hardly green tops when 4 batsmen scored over 200 in the two series.

 

[Aalay]

Almost everyone is playing domestic games to get into the groove for the tests. Even Virat Kohli is playing a domestic game to get into test mode and prepare. Good news, this is! India's domestic cricket will get a boost again once these star international players take part again in domestic cricket. The crowds will come to see them, and domestic players can try and sneak some good performances under watching eyes, and try to stake claim for the national side.

Indian players should often play domestic cricket when they are out of the team or when they have to prepare for an international series.

Yes, you are right. Almost everyone are playing in Ranji opener for their respective state team.

Sehwag,Gambhir and Kohli to strengthen Delhi Ranji squad | Mail Online

So Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli and Ishant Sharma playing for Delhi which is good because I feel both Sehwag and Gambhir do need some time out in the middle before test series starts.

Sachin and Zaheer playing for Mumbai and Pujara will actually get the practice against England bowling attack. I also feel that Dhoni too needed some practice before the actual series and he should have played one of the ranji games.

 

[puddleduck]

I agree that India should prepare pitches that suit them, but to claim that England and Australia prepared green tops is an absolute joke. Hardly green tops when 4 batsmen scored over 200 in the two series.

Apparently India's seam attack was so weak that England were able to pile on 600+ in almost every innings...

 

[SaiSrini]

Why would you say that i wonder?. Has Zaheer to you been showing decline as a test match bowler recently?

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Because I am looking ahead towards South Africa 2013. Zaheer's fitness has irking Indian fans quite a bit in recent times. And his attitude towards fitness has consistently been plunging downwards. If he is not going to be there for South Africa at peak fitness, its time for us to move on FROM NOW!

 

[ricky87]

Petersen hard at work practicing for slow left arm. That takes care of the Indian pace attack what about their spinners KP?

Because I am looking ahead towards South Africa 2013. Zaheer's fitness has irking Indian fans quite a bit in recent times. And his attitude towards fitness has consistently been plunging downwards. If he is not going to be there for South Africa at peak fitness, its time for us to move on FROM NOW!

What is wrong with his fitness? He was fully fit in the T20 World Cup, the only thing to be concerned about is his form and not his fitness. He used to have fitness issues, but he has made his commitment towards the national side very clear, and he has the backing of the captain. I feel he along with Umesh Yadav should be our 2 seamers.
England tour has not even started and you are already looking at South Africa? You mean to say this series is not important after what England did to us a few months ago?

4-0 now is pretty far fetched considering Kevin Pietersen has returned for them and he must be doubly hungry to prove a point to his own team and to his own board. And he is a game changer!

I predict 2-1 in favor of India.

KP or no KP, India was never going to win 4-0, and England is not going to win a Test in India, for now.

 

[spooony]

India will always have dry pitches that suites spinners due to their climate. When you are trying to fight a climate and try and create pitches that go against it you will end up with test matches that's completed under 3 days. The pitches id slower but its no excuse as a good batsman are suppose to handle all kinds of bowling. Instead of regular line and length fast bowlers must adapt and bowl a bit fuller. If your in the sub continent you need to learn how to get reverse swing going which is not that difficult to achieve. You just need communication and tell the fielders to stub polishing the ball everytime they touch it as it the trick is to polish one side till it starts to happen. I note Australia did a thing that was very clever by assigning a guy who polish the ball. In every game only he is allowed to polish it. No one else.

 

[SaiSrini]

What is wrong with his fitness? He was fully fit in the T20 World Cup, the only thing to be concerned about is his form and not his fitness. He used to have fitness issues, but he has made his commitment towards the national side very clear, and he has the backing of the captain. I feel he along with Umesh Yadav should be our 2 seamers.
England tour has not even started and you are already looking at South Africa? You mean to say this series is not important after what England did to us a few months ago?

KP or no KP, India was never going to win 4-0, and England is not going to win a Test in India, for now.

Zaheer's fitness is so bad that his no-form only aggravates the issue further. He is a huge liability on the field. He has completely lost his batting (he takes huge swipes these days a'la Afridi) and his bowling form has been deserting him for long now. And also, Zaheer is not going to go too long. He is 33+ now. A fast bowler doesn't last as long as batsmen do.

And I am looking at South Africa 2013 because that's the next major goal. Everyone knows that India will do well in home conditions, no matter who the opposition is. We have to start preparing for our next overseas tour and that's South Africa 2013. That's a year away from now. And I don't expect Zaheer to last till then.

 

[ricky87]

Well then by that logic, Sachin should not be in the team either, you cannot have different standards for different players. Zaheer isn't a good T20 bolwer but he is fine in ODI's and Test matches. Zaheer is also playing the Ranji opener for Mumbai.

The next major goal isn't South Africa, it is England!

 

[aditya123]

Well then by that logic, Sachin should not be in the team either, you cannot have different standards for different players. Zaheer isn't a good T20 bolwer but he is fine in ODI's and Test matches. Zaheer is also playing the Ranji opener for Mumbai.

The next major goal isn't South Africa, it is England!

I agree. We are speaking of Zak`s form looking at his T20 performances which were actualy getting better during the Super 8s stage. He has`nt broken down since The Aussie tour either. During the tests in Australia he was in good rhythm with the new ball, it was just the old ball that he was`nt able to run through the lower order as he usually does. We also have to bear in mind he was making a comeback after a long layoff in that series and even then was quickly amongst the wickets.

I`d back him to do well against England. We need him at the top to counter the Cook threat.

 

[barmyarmy]

So are we expecting the BCCI to charge the England team an admission fee to play the match?

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

next there will be tollbooths between the wickets.

 

[1iram1]

It all depends on England's batting if this series is to be close and I hope they fire.

 

[Epic]

Hmm, I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that Raina is captaining the A team or the fact that no one has blamed Dhoni for Raina captaining A team.

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The whole "we'll make turners" thing is just an attempt at some mind games if you ask me, the BCCI would never let a turner go through on purpose, they'd rather have a 20k crowd for 5 days than a 40k crowd for 3 days.