England in India

[SaiSrini]

I think Raina must open with Sehwag.Gambhir must be kicked out.In place of him Venugopal must be given a few chance.

That would be suicidal. Raina is a middle order batsman and should be persisted in the middle order. Lot of middle order batsmen have had major problems when they were shuffled to the top of the order!

 

[prarara]

They only do that when they lose, easier than admitting they were outplayed

What a convenient and collective 'they'. Please refrain from sweeping generalizations.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

That would be suicidal. Raina is a middle order batsman and should be persisted in the middle order. Lot of middle order batsmen have had major problems when they were shuffled to the top of the order!

Actually, Raina started as an opener in List A cricket, kinda like Ganguly.

 

[avk2love]

also Ramesh Power bowled well
not the same goes for his fielding though

 

[cricket_lover]

I was not impressed by Powar...for some reason. He might be taking wickets but his on-field temperament was not impressive. I still think he is a temporary option for the team.

Raina would do good at no.6 or 7. Dravid should bring himself down the order, pushing Kaif up.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nothings wrong with his attitude. He is just a laid-back, fun-loving guy. Gets the team's spirits up, good for the team overall. Also a really good offspinner (A traditional slow bowler) and a pretty decent batsman. I want to see him in the test side once or twice, can't do much harm.

 

[Manohar]

There is nothing to fear abt Hoggard. He is an intelligent bowler, thats all. Not a bowler like Brett Lee or Shane Bond whom you fear facing!

It is not fear of getting hit but getting out!

There are many, many reasons.

Often they use ODI cricket as a breeding ground for future test players. They also have a rough idea as to what side will be playing in the World Cup.

With those two facts in mind, the following occurs. England at the moment are trying to work out if Prior has the ability with the bat to replace Jones. They are also trying to work out who the final bowler will be in their ODI team in the world cup, a role that has never been filled since Goughies "retirement".

Here are a few lines from an article by Graham Gooch posted on the net.

"Coach Duncan Fletcher says all the slots in England?s team for one-dayers are more or less settled. He must be having the likes of Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles and Michael Vaughan in mind. But the relentless diet of one-day cricket has shown that the second string should be interchangeable.

If India is not missing Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly and is taking the failure of Virender Sehwag in stride, it?s because no place is secure. There is a price tag on every slot. It is dangerous on the part of England coach to convey that moss could actually grow on most slots now perceived settled."

 

[puddleduck]

Well Gooch has a point, but one of Englands areas lately is to give players extended runs in the team, they have dropped the chop and change mentality, more so in test cricket than the ODI arena though. And with central contracts, there is perhaps a bit of pressure to pick from within that pool, otherwise you are paying someones contract for no reason

Same time can you really pick a better team for Odis than -

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan (as poor as he is in the Odi arena)
Pietersen
Flintoff
Collingwood
Jones G/Prior
Giles/Blackwell
Harmison
Jones S/ If he continues with injury problems Anderson
Anderson/Plunkett/Ali

As I said, Anderson, Plunkett and Ali are currently all playing in the current series v India because the management is attempting to narrow it down to one of those, whilst also gaining a realistic view on who is 2nd and 3rd in the pecking order.

The only other areas of uncertainty are if Prior scores a bagful of runs in this ODI series perhaps giving them reason to play him ahead of Jones. Vaughans batting ability in the Odi arena, although Fletcher shows him unwavering support, and whether Giles returns to fitness and can oust Blackwell. Other than that, it is pretty much set in stone.

 

[Manohar]

Well Gooch has a point, but one of Englands areas lately is to give players extended runs in the team, they have dropped the chop and change mentality, more so in test cricket than the ODI arena though. And with central contracts, there is perhaps a bit of pressure to pick from within that pool, otherwise you are paying someones contract for no reason

Same time can you really pick a better team for Odis than -

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan (as poor as he is in the Odi arena)
Pietersen
Flintoff
Collingwood
Jones G/Prior
Giles/Blackwell
Harmison
Jones S/ If he continues with injury problems Anderson
Anderson/Plunkett/Ali

As I said, Anderson, Plunkett and Ali are currently all playing in the current series v India because the management is attempting to narrow it down to one of those, whilst also gaining a realistic view on who is 2nd and 3rd in the pecking order.

The only other areas of uncertainty are if Prior scores a bagful of runs in this ODI series perhaps giving them reason to play him ahead of Jones. Vaughans batting ability in the Odi arena, although Fletcher shows him unwavering support, and whether Giles returns to fitness and can oust Blackwell. Other than that, it is pretty much set in stone.

Sounds reasonable. It is just a bit of a surprise why the England team management feels that the team is so settled when they are 6th in the ICC ranking. If the ICC ranking is not a good reflection of the current status of the team then in the last three series against good teams, England did OK against Australia, did not do well against South Africa and also did not do well against Pakistan. May be they feel that they could not get most of their good players at the same time for a series and feel that they will get it together for the Word Cup. Just some observations.

 

[sohum]

Who is this Vishal Bharadwaj everyone is talking about? Are you confusing Vijay Bharadwaj for someone else?

India moved up to #3 in the ODI rankings. I think it's kind of dangerous if England center all their plans around the World Cup and the Ashes. Cricket is not about building towards a singular goal, unlike other sports. If England are not picking the team that is going to win them the matches in India, I think they are doing a huge disservice to the team. Besides, what is the logic about settling in a team that performs worse than another one. England may well have a match-winner sitting in their wings, because of experimentation.

 

[Sureshot]

BCCI needs to punish the third umpires who have give wrong decisions game after game to our cricketers. In aussieland, they help home team, & our idiots give infavour of opposition .

Only the ICC can punish the umpires who work for the ICC.

 

[gaurav_indian]

The 3rd ODI b/w England and India is a day night game?

 

[Stephen Bailey]

The 3rd ODI b/w England and India is a day night game?

I don't think any of them are.

 

[gaurav_indian]

I don't think any of them are.

I think there is a day night game in this series but don't know which.May be the next one at Cochin.

 

[SaiSrini]

There is no game in this series which is a day/nighter!