England in India

[Cricket_god]

True.
If Kumble spun the ball more than he did, i'm sure India would have won few more matches..abroad. For India to win abroad, right now, they need both Kumble and the medium pacers to click..at the same time!
But with genuine pace bowlers, its a different case. India requires a bowler who can bowl reasonably fast...Sreesanth is looking good, he needs to play more cricket, may be a term or two in English county will help him.

It'll be stupid to talk about VRV/MP, since we know (almost) nothing about them. They are not yet in the limelight.

For the first test, India might go with two pacers/two spinners. Pathan and may be RPS/Khan should get the nod, apart from Kumble and Bhajji.

I Think piyush chawla should be selected as he has very good googly and spins the ball if harbhajan is unfit.he is great prospect for the future.sreesanth was bowling at 140 km/hr in the first 2 odis but then he dropped to about 130 km/hr .according to me india have enough swing bowlers and need
some bowlers who hit the deck and try to seam the bowl .i think vrv singh and munaf patel are better prospects than r.p singh and sreesanth because
they have some pace and are tall
for first test irfan pathan and vrv singh/munaf patel should be selected and kumble and harbhajan/piyush chawla as spinners.

 

[angryangy]

Piyush Chawla to me is much too young, only 17 I think. Leg spinners need time to develop their variations and hone their technique. I think the wise choice would be to allow him to develop at first class level. If he gets selected so early, his flaws will probably be picked up by much more dilligent international batsmen (perhaps not the best players of spin, but not to be trifled with nevertheless) and indeed, international coaching staff, with better resources. It could harm his international career before it is even begun.

Of course, he has made a lightning start to his career and selection could very well show the makings of a new champion. However, this is a gamble that should be unnecessary.

 

[sohum]

What if India had waited on selecting Sachin Tendulkar to international cricket? His statistics may have been so much more different. Or worse still, what if they had dropped him since he went so many games without making a century? Age is not always the best judge for performance.

But apart from that, I agree with you. There's no need in bringing in a budding spinner unless our current ones are failing. I think Harbhajan and Kumble will be more than a handful for the English batsmen.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Some bad news. Yuvraj Singh won't play the first Test. But Harbhajan is fit.

Injured Yuvraj ruled out of first Test
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indveng/content/current/story/238298.html

 

[cc2003btw]

^ Do you want to know what bad news is? A pathetic cricket board and TV company that:
a. Sell their TV rights the week before a major test series
b. Won't accept a perfectly reasonable offer from BSkyB just to scrounge some more money.

:

 

[SaiSrini]

^ Do you want to know what bad news is? A pathetic cricket board and TV company that:
a. Sell their TV rights the week before a major test series
b. Won't accept a perfectly reasonable offer from BSkyB just to scrounge some more money.

:

You guys speak as if money is the least important thing in your lives! Its annoying to see every Harry and Dick criticise the BCCI and the Indian companies of milking money!

Come on guys! Why shouldnt we try to extract as much money as possible? The game is huge in India and we have every right to look to big money!

Some bad news. Yuvraj Singh won't play the first Test. But Harbhajan is fit.

Injured Yuvraj ruled out of first Test
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indveng/content/current/story/238298.html

I dont think its too bad a news that Yuvraj is out! Of course, he is in red hot form! But we have the players required to fill in and perform in the same league as he does for India! Saurav and Kaif will be fighting for that No.6 spot with a specialist opener opening with Sehwag! The question is - Will Gambhir be persisted with or will Jaffer be given the chance?

Good news that Harbhajan Singh is fit! He needs to get back among the wickets and get into a purple patch! He needs to do that if he has to be our prime & top most spinner!

 

[sohum]

I guess Yuvraj's injury will give a place for Ganguly in the team. I think the Indian line-up will be:

Sehwag
Gambhir
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly
Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan
Kumble
Zaheer

I can't see the selectors dropping Zaheer, as they haven't in the past, even when he has not been performing. But they should look at getting another guy in. Perhaps they'll drop Gambhir and play Agarkar or Sreesanth. It'll be interesting.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Well, cause of the money the English people can't see the cricket of their home series on TV as a normal channel and they have to pay for it. Every country has such deals.

Also in the article is stated that for Sehwag a decision will be made tomorrow. Ganguly was normally already in the Test team, so Gambhir or Jaffer could profit from Yuvraj Singh's abscence. And Yuvraj Singh being injured is a big deal.

 

[cricket_lover]

It will be a blow for India if Sehwag doesn't play. For now, Gautam and Ganguly are set to play in the first test. Even the pace attack looks set, may be they have to choose for one bowler between Khan/Agarkar. They might go for Agarkar, if the conditions suit swing bowling. He can be handful with the bat as well.

 

[Ste]

^ Do you want to know what bad news is? A pathetic cricket board and TV company that:
a. Sell their TV rights the week before a major test series
b. Won't accept a perfectly reasonable offer from BSkyB just to scrounge some more money.

:

There is some more on this from the Media Guardian website this afternoon:

"Sony Entertainment Television confirmed today it was in the race to grab live rights to England's cricket tour of India in deal that could end Sky's near 15-year monopoly on showing the team's overseas games.

The cable channel said it had made a bid to cover the current England tour, which kicks off officially on March 1, but declined to comment on reports that it had offered up to $9m (5m), more than twice what Sky is understood to have bid.

Nimbus Communications, the conglomerate that owns the rights to Indian cricket, rejected Sky's initial bid at the weekend, leaving the ground open for rival offers.

Nimbus itself only secured the rights last Friday with a colossal commitment of $612m (351m) to show Indian cricket over the next four years."

Also said that the BBC has won radio rights.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Here is some information regarding that.

'It is highly unlikely that Sky will show it'
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indveng/content/current/story/238314.html

It's funny that even if you have Sky Sports you couldn't watch the cricket.

 

[puddleduck]

On the plus side, if someone like Sony or Zee Tv get it, firstly I will be able to afford it, as they do not tie you down to a 12 month contract. Also they do not charge up to ?42 a month for their service, and as a final plus they will almost certainly have a better commetary and studio team... someone please fire Colville, Willis and Botham

There is always a plus side.. unless it ends up on nothing

 

[Ste]

It's funny that even if you have Sky Sports you couldn't watch the cricket.

I do and I cant really afford anymore to spend on Sony, Zee TV or PPV so will have to miss out unless something happens with Sky tomorrow.

Still $9 for one series is alot of money. I dont see how any channel paying that could hope to get it back. At the most I think 100,000 would pay to watch it. That would need to be at a price of ?50 to be anywhere near Sony/Zee/Setanta getting back their outlay.

On the plus side, if someone like Sony or Zee Tv get it, firstly I will be able to afford it, as they do not tie you down to a 12 month contract. Also they do not charge up to ?42 a month for their service, and as a final plus they will almost certainly have a better commetary and studio team... someone please fire Colville, Willis and Botham

There is always a plus side.. unless it ends up on nothing

Although when i've watched cricket on ARY Digital before there is adverts all over the screen during play and even balls missed out because adverts are being shown. I dont know if Sony and Zee are like that though.

 

[usy]

^^ ste hope you not seen those mad Pakistani advertsing pure ripp off.

 

[Ste]

^^ ste hope you not seen those mad Pakistani advertsing pure ripp off.

I've only seen it a few times when its been free during cricket (Pakistan v India once and also the Asia Cup) so I dont know if it happens when its not free but they had lots of adverts scrolling along the bottom of the screen and even replays sponsored by various companies.

Do you have any of these channels usy, does it happen all the time or just when its free for the day?