England In India - October 2011/12

[Auwais]

lol really? How do the druggies and the match fixers come on top of the Indians in the rankings? They can only do one thing and that is to stop taking drugs and play atleast one match without match fixing and then think about even taking number 8 in the ICC test rankings.

 

[Insomniac]

I love riling up Indians.

 

[War]

my 3rd test review

You know ha i always expected England to win this series - but the manner in which they have drubbed IND i didnt expect and i truly amazing everytime i look back the scores and highlights of the past three test - utter obliteration.

This England team certainly has all the ingredients to potentially become the best ENG team since the glorious 1951-1958 side, that dominated test cricket unequivocally. Great days most certainly lie ahead, im already chomping at the bit in anticipation of ENGs upcoming winter tests.

This win also pretty much proves as ive said for the last 4 years that Indian's 2007 win in England was a fluke due to the fact ENG have plethora of injuries to key players (Flintoff, Hoggard, Trescothick, Harmison, S Jones) and the then experienced Indian team had a ease ride against some then young English players. Now that Anderson/Tremlett have come of age as bowlers compared to their bowlers who were finding their feet in test cricket in 2007 - they have owned the legendary IND batting line-up.

Sehwag double duck although one can fairly claim he probably hasn't had the best preparation, still does highlight the man's inept technique when facing quality fast-bowlers in pacer friendly conditions. His legacy as a great opener is on the line for the remainder of 2011 for sure, further failures in the final test and when IND go to Australia this Christmas, will solidify once and for all that he is nothing more than a flat-track bully and cannot be mentioned amongts the hierarchy of great openers in test history.


However though i go back on my old pet peeve and i continue to maintain its still too soon to rank ENG as number #1, just 8 months into their potentially dynasty which begun with the 2010/11 Ashes win. Its extremely knee-jerk to do judge ENG based on that fact that they won 19 out their last 30 tests since May 2009 as this BBC article shows: BBC Sport - Reaction as England beat India to move top of the cricket rankings


ENGLAND SINCE MAY 2009

Beat West Indies 2-0 (home)
Beat Australia 2-1 (home)
Drew 1-1 with S Africa (away)
Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (away)
Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (home)
Beat Pakistan 3-1 (home)
Beat Australia 3-1 (away)
Beat Sri Lanka 1-0 (home)
Lead India 3-0 (home)

English cricket after the Moores/Pietersen saga between West Indies 2009 - Pakistan 2010 where the embryonic stages of the Strauss/Flower partnership and development. No one in their right mind was ranking of speaking of England as anything close to best team in the world then and rightly so because they had alot players who did not convince the world they good all-round players.

The 2010/11 Ashes win regardless of how far this team goes in the future, will be regarded by historians im sure as the starting point of this teams greatness. Thats why the West Indies 76-91 dynasty is always started in 1976 in England and AUS 95-2007 dynasty also begins from the 95 win in the Caribbean.

Players for ENG like Anderson, Tremlett, Cook, Bell, Bresnan came of age in Ashes 2010/11. The faulty ICC ranking system which judges form of the a short two year period, does not recongize this and its has incorrectly made a correlation with ENG of between of WI 09 - PAK 2010 to ENG between AUS 2010/11 - IND 2011. Those are two completely different ENG teams that one cannot compare.

Another dumb thing i saw was this cricinfo statement at the end of the match:

55.3Bresnan to Sreesanth, OUT, 86.5 mph, that's it! Bresnan finishes it. 3-0 England, and for the first time since 1980 England are the world's No. 1 team! Length ball kicked up onto the shoulder of the bat, it flew to Pietersen at gully to spark wild celebrations. England get into that huddle we've seen at the end of their last three brilliant wins and they have absolutely nailed India here

WHATTT???. Reallly what kind of crazy revisionism of test history is that. No way was any English team # 1 in 1980, its is pretty damn well known common knowledge that the West Indies era of dominance which stretched from 1976-1991, covers 1980.

If their was unofficial ranking system back them which presumably made that fraudulent assessment of the ENG side of 1980 doesn't know cricket and is just another example of why ranking system of any form are a joke.

Only the 1951-1958 ENG side was ever a #1 of any shape, form or size in test history.

All this win proves that ENG have now moved ahead of IND, but they aren't better than S Africa. If the Saffies en route to what will be a big series here next summer crush opponent in their path, no way can people say ENG are #1 unless England beat S Africa next summer.

But if S Africa were to slip up this year i.e losing or failing to defeat Australia (a potentially rejuvenated Aussies mind you) in their upcoming two test series by the end of 2011, that would be better time to call ENG # 1 since that will be a clear sign that the Saffies are slipping just like IND as the two premier test teams since the dominant Australia era ended in February 2007.

 

[angryangy]

WHATTT???. Reallly what kind of crazy revisionism of test history is that. No way was any English team # 1 in 1980, its is pretty damn well known common knowledge that the West Indies era of dominance which stretched from 1976-1991, which would cover 1980.

I thought everybody knew about WSC

 

[War]

I thought everybody knew about WSC

By 1980 all the players had came back to their respective territories and most importantly the West Indies had won their first series in AUS in 79/80 which was hyped as the unofficial # 1 series beforehand.

The WI unofficially became # 1 after winning that down under tour - although history starts their dominant era from 1976. So ENG does fit into the picture in any way, especially considering ENG didn't win any of their series during the 1980 period; lost to Windies twice and Australia.

 

[Gurjot95]

Pakistan should be ranked ahead of India in the test rankings too.

We had crappier batsmen and still managed to do better than India.

Azhar Ali > Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag and Gambhir and Laxman and Raina.

Time for your 2nd wish...

Swann will rip anyone apart in India! Ideal conditions for him.

Really, he was rip apart by our batsman instead that includes 3. As said, India plays spin much better.

England deserves Number one rank. Now it's their time to prove in SA and outside home conditions. I think India did pretty well to prove they were number one till England came and owned them. No excuses that we were missing our strike bowler because our batsman didn't do well too having their full strength. England did well and deserves 3-0 margin.

I find it funny people blaming Dhoni for this. Remember it's his first Test series he lost as a captain. Before this series he had figures of 15 won and 3 lost matches as a captain. Not bad, eh?

 

[Haarithan]

England deserves Number one rank. Now it's their time to prove in SA and outside home conditions.

FTR, England drew 1-1 with South Africa in their own backyard, late 2009. Now, its RSA's turn to tour England in July 2012 - England hot favorites again...

Anyway, I'm tipping an England South Africa showdown for the ICC Test Championship final at Lord's in April 2013. Cos I just don't see any other team slicing these two sides off their top 2 ranking in the near future.

 

[Owzat]

Yet to pass 300 in the series, big fail by India. Any excuses of fatigue won't wash, lack of preparation might explain conceding 700+ and losing by an innings in the FIRST or maybe second Test, but not the third ffs

Their bowling has been toothless, that doesn't help and is a shame for Kumar who has lacked real and consistent support, as has Dravid.

Shame is they'll now have both eyes firmly on the ODIs, no point in playing the fourth Test and indeed I'm not sure why they bothered scheduling four. If I were England I'd rest a few players ahead of the ODIs/winter tour

Strauss
Carberry
Hales
Taylor
Bopara
Stokes
Prior
Bresnan
Tremlett
Panesar
Finn

I doubt England will change anything much, they're too one dimensional in thinking. I'd retain Bopara simply to give him a "run", especially if he is going to go on tour. I'd retain Strauss to try and find a bit more form, Prior as he won't play in the ODIs anyway and Bresnan to give Broad a rest while maintaining some batting down the order. I'm assuming Monty is still second spinner, and that others named are either in contention or being considered for the future. Could argue a place for Patel, drop Panesar and have Patel as the spinner since spin hasn't done much this series.

But England will probably go for 4-0, would be nice but to me it is job done and use the meaninglessness of the last Test to try something and rest players.

 

[Haarithan]

On the fun side of things, I just loved this - our new zero rupee stamp.

 

[AbhishekS]

That stamp thing has become too old now!

 

[BKB1991]

lol really? How do the druggies and the match fixers come on top of the Indians in the rankings? They can only do one thing and that is to stop taking drugs and play atleast one match without match fixing and then think about even taking number 8 in the ICC test rankings.

Man you gotta look at the facts, we played better cricket and some of our players also earned bonuses.





And ended their careers.

 

[playkid12]

Man you gotta look at the facts, we played better cricket and some of our players also earned bonuses.





And ended their careers.

Man you gotta look at the facts, the fastest bowler that your country boasts was tested positive for steroids. Another handful were caught red handed in match fixing in the very recent past.

Don't get me wrong - India sucks and is overrated as hell. They don't deserve a top rank with that bowling attack. It's just that Pakistan sucks even more. Indian players might suck, but the Pak ones are rotten to the core - from their drug use, ball biting cheating, match fixing, and comments that have political repercussions (big hearts, anyone?). And they're only rated high by their own countrymen. When's the last time Pak has actually performed well? FFS, they got all out against the WI under 200 and lost to them in one of the tests. The same team India's bench beat. I swear, you Pakistanis love coming to a beaten horse when its down to kick some dirt. It's a bit pathetic. Since your team never performs, you need to laugh at India when they don't to feel better about your state. Anyway, do what makes you feel happy. But it's incredibly amusing to watch.

Anyway, congratulations to England! They thoroughly outplayed India in every aspect of the game and deserve to be #1.

 

[barmyarmy]

On the Swann thing the reason he was ripped apart is that the Indian batsmen couldn't play the seamers so were delighted to throw the bat at a spinner. He bowled well when India were trying to play test cricket and only got slogged when they had given up and were playing T20 style to entertain the crowd.

 

[deepuparayil]

Kudos to the England team for giving a reality check for all the Indian cricketers and over confident(over optimistic) Indian fans. I'm going to bring back an argument Aussie and English fans used when India became no.1. I don't think England is no.1 ranking material because more than English players ability, it is the inability of Indian players resulted in this series loss. Also England is just like Srilanka at their home. With their super spinning pitches and bowlers tailor made for that conditions, they will beat any strong team at their home. Like that England also have some bowlers tailor made for their home conditions. I can guarantee you that they will be a failure in conditions different from their home conditions. Before glorifying this England team let them prove somewhere else, then we can talk about the no.1 rank.

I really hope Dhoni will lose his test captaincy after this series, if doesn't learn from his past mistakes. If he become a little more attacking in the field and give more support to his bowlers, he will become a fine captain.

 

[s2sschan]

Should England reverse their batting order for the final test?

This poll is an Insult to India and Cricket. Should be taken off immediately. Appeal to Cricket fans of all countries to ask the admins and mods to remove deeply insulting opinions.

Cricket is about bringing people together.

Cut it out!