England in India

[aussie1st]

Lol if India prepare green wickets they may as well give England the test series. Surely the last test against Pakistan has shown this. Their bowlers conceded 500, in contrast the Pakistan attack conceded under 300 for the 2nd time in the inns.
England's weakness is spin and that is India's strength.

 

[James219]

Referring back to the discussion about Test and One Day favourites, the test series I would say is pretty well balanced, with both sides yielding minor advantages in different areas. I doubt India will produce out and out dustbowls, most wickets these days are not as characteristic, but surely they will turn a fair bit which will worry England. England with Jones will have extra firepower even if the ball isn't seaming everywhere, I'm sure they are prepared for the worst and have counter attacks, they don't just go into the first test with a pre-conceived hope that it will move everywhere without a back up. Flintoff, Harmison and Jones all have very good pace and when rotated well would be hard to cope with in most situations. If England get off to good starts against India's pace attack, which is more than capable really, they could help the middle-order even when they face the formidable spin attack. But India have a great batting line-up and are also well prepared for England's plans, so that is why it is a fairly balanced series with an obvious Indian home advantage as is with most countries hosting other teams. The ODI series would generally produce even wickets, and England are only 1 point behind India in the rankings, for all they mean anyway, so that also would be interesting. But the ODI series will rely heavily on the outcome of the test series in terms of confidence and momentum.

 

[Sureshot]

What happen to Darren Gough he was such a good bowler is he reitired or what.

Bad Knee injury.

He then opted out of the Pakistan tour to go ice skating reality TV.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

He was on ?Strictly Come Dancing? to be precise.

The ODI series would generally produce even wickets, and England are only 1 point behind India in the rankings, for all they mean anyway, so that also would be interesting. But the ODI series will rely heavily on the outcome of the test series in terms of confidence and momentum.

I don't think the test series outcome will matter much when the ODI's start. We tend to start well and then fall away, look at the South Africa and Pakistan series!

 

[James219]

Well yes good point, when you think about it they are two different games. More evidence was that Australia won the 3 ODI series against England in 2005, and they fell apart in the test series, suggesting that the momentum is completely different.

 

[beefy_botham]

they've been two different games for a long time. England will go to India refreshed but the conditions will be toughest thing for them. I dont think they've got a chance in the one dayers.

 

[m_vaughan]

they've been two different games for a long time. England will go to India refreshed but the conditions will be toughest thing for them. I dont think they've got a chance in the one dayers.

Thats right. It all depends on Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the ODIs.

 

[Sureshot]

Nope, for me it depends on the bowlers other than Freddie, particularly Blackwell/Udal.

 

[James219]

They are dependant on the two yes, but if they do find some consistency the whole team will be alot more confident in their whole approach and will be a real threat. It's not only them two you need back-up players and as stated above every aspect of the team needs to perform, if you're relying heavily on a few then the unit won't function. They're defintely not expected to win the one day series but I wouldn't say they've got no chance.

 

[m_vaughan]

LG ICC Rankings PREVIEW:





Rating before Series:
England (2nd - 113 points)
India (3rd - 111 points)

Series Outcomes:
India win 3-0 (India 116, England 109)
India win 2-0 (India 115, England 110)
India win 2-1, 1-0 (India 114, England 111)
Series Drawn 0-0,1-1 (India 111, England 113)
England win 2-1,1-0 (India 109, England 115)
England win 2-0 (India 108, England 116)
England win 3-0 (India 106, England 118)

A draw or better will keep England in second position. Even a 3-0 defeat, will at the most drop England by one place to third. However a 2-0 or 3-0 defeat for India, will drop them down to fourth place behind Pakistan (108 points). If South Africa get a whitewash of Australia, then South Africa will come to 107 points, which means India with a 3-0 defeat can even drop down to fifth place.

 

[sohum]

I think this series will be close... I'm thinking its 2-1, 1-0 to India.

 

[m_vaughan]

I think this series will be close... I'm thinking its 2-1, 1-0 to India.

I'm going for a 1-1 draw, with one game being drawn.

 

[Briggsey]

Its going to be an interesting series, having both come off the back of defeats in Pakistan, both sets of teams will be looking for a positive reply, but with that defeat still fresh in the minds of the Indian team, it could prove to be an interesting factor.

India without doubt have the stronger batting line up, but England have a much stronger bowling attack so for me its going to be quite even and winning the odd session will be vital which is why i too am going for a 1-1 draw.

As far as the ODI's go, well its a mixed bag for England, they did well against Australia, but lost it against Pakistan. The spirit was there in the final ODI against Pakistan though, winning from what looked like a loosing situation so there are signs of encouragement their. We need to bowl well and restrict their top order. We did it so well against India before the champions trophy where we outplayed them in all but one of the games, but these are different conditions and different sets of players, I think India will take the one dayers, but it will be tight.

 

[SaiSrini]

LG ICC Rankings PREVIEW:





Rating before Series:
England (2nd - 113 points)
India (3rd - 111 points)

Series Outcomes:
India win 3-0 (India 116, England 109)
India win 2-0 (India 115, England 110)
India win 2-1, 1-0 (India 114, England 111)
Series Drawn 0-0,1-1 (India 111, England 113)
England win 2-1,1-0 (India 109, England 115)
England win 2-0 (India 108, England 116)
England win 3-0 (India 106, England 118)

A draw or better will keep England in second position. Even a 3-0 defeat, will at the most drop England by one place to third. However a 2-0 or 3-0 defeat for India, will drop them down to fourth place behind Pakistan (108 points). If South Africa get a whitewash of Australia, then South Africa will come to 107 points, which means India with a 3-0 defeat can even drop down to fifth place.

Wow. India just need to somehow win the series to get back to the No.2 spot! So its a clash for the second best test team in the world! Even though Pakistan have beat India in the recently concluded test series, it doesnt confirm that Pakistan are a better test team than India! They have to beat India in India to confirm that which they havent done since a long long time (I think their last test series win in India came before 1989!).

So the India-England test series should be really exciting to watch! People might predict India to be favorites but if I were in Rahul Dravid's shoes, I would reject that note!

Its going to be an interesting series, having both come off the back of defeats in Pakistan, both sets of teams will be looking for a positive reply, but with that defeat still fresh in the minds of the Indian team, it could prove to be an interesting factor.

India without doubt have the stronger batting line up, but England have a much stronger bowling attack so for me its going to be quite even and winning the odd session will be vital which is why i too am going for a 1-1 draw.

As far as the ODI's go, well its a mixed bag for England, they did well against Australia, but lost it against Pakistan. The spirit was there in the final ODI against Pakistan though, winning from what looked like a loosing situation so there are signs of encouragement their. We need to bowl well and restrict their top order. We did it so well against India before the champions trophy where we outplayed them in all but one of the games, but these are different conditions and different sets of players, I think India will take the one dayers, but it will be tight.

I hope India prepare sporting wickets and not dustbowls! That can confront their weakness and help them in the long run if they prepare sporting wickets! I expect Nagpur and Mohali to be sporting enough! Whats the other test venue?

Edit : I see from the first page that its Mumbai! Oh god! I hope we dont get another dustbowl in Mumbai which the Aussies raised such a hue 'n cry about?

 

[sohum]

Mumbai actually has not been a dustbowl, traditionally. But the games do tend to finish well short of the five days. I remember in Australia's 2001 tour, India lost the game in the third day.