England's tour of India - 2021

[zimrahil]

Our tail is a big, big problem. The opposition know that once the 6th wicket falls, it's only a matter of 10-12 overs/10-20 runs before the innings wraps up.

I am certain you bring this up every time India play England - England bowlers that good ?

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[Bevab]

Yeah I would normally agree with that but our lineup today had only Bumrah as a genuine bunny who himself seems to have worked on his batting a bit. Can't expect them to stay up there on a pitch where our top order doesn't perform well either.

 

[blockerdave]

Most bogus formula of qualification. India are the best test team in the world at the moment and I would say NZ and ENG are both very very close behind.

What I am most impressed with England about is their preparation for this tour. Not just by mauling Lanka first but also the prep in England. What I am most puzzled by is the departure of Jos Buttler. That is beyond my understanding!

I think the Buttler thing is just to give all format players a test from the bubble and avoid breakdown. Timing does seem odd though after just 1 test

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Definitely. And the reverse is also true - Jason Roy scored a pile of runs against us at Lord's but it only served to show how unprepared he was to be a Test batsman

Same with Jack Leach.

It's good for cricket that Silverwood has replaced Trevor Bayliss

Silverwood seems to have been great for the test team. I think Root has come into his own. The hands off approach that Bayliss was famed for clearly didn't seem to help Root in the same way as Morgan. The team looks a different side from 12 months ago, very much one moulded in Root's image.

 

[Crassus]

Silverwood has gone back to basics. He's got England playing test cricket the way it should be played. You try and bat long 1st innings and hopefully set the game up from there. You see off dangerous spells of bowling and play low-risk percentage cricket.

Under Bayliss red ball cricket was very much an afterthought as the focus was on winning the World Cup. We were finishing tests in 2/3 days and basically trying to bat 'aggressively' in all formats. That's ok, if it's a nice sunny ODI at Trent Bridge with no sideways movement but put a Dukes down on an overcast day at Lords and you have us being bowled out for 85 against Ireland, or 58 against NZ or 67 against Australia. We had players like Malan, Roy, Hales, Bairstow and Buttler all trying to bat at 4+ an over. Great if you're winning but embarrassing when you're skittled out for nothing.

As soon as Silverwood came in we brought in Sibley and Crawley, both players who like to occupy the crease for long periods of time. Definitely a clear change of plan and we're much more competitive as a result.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I wonder how much a factor the lack of a crowd has made. I think the Australia series was India's first test series since the pandemic outbreak and there were partial crowds (and they had substantial support). Whereas England haven't played in front of a crowd for 12 months and are the experts of the empty stadium.

 

[blockerdave]

I wonder how much a factor the lack of a crowd has made. I think the Australia series was India's first test series since the pandemic outbreak and there were partial crowds (and they had substantial support). Whereas England haven't played in front of a crowd for 12 months and are the experts of the empty stadium.

I think also with a full crowd going berserk on day 1 when we just lost 2 quick wickets and it’s a much higher pressure situation.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ok, so as expected we folded out and continued playing as we were playing in Australia. I know I will be crucified for saying this but, we are struggling and if no one is seeing that, you are part of the problem as well.

Why is Rohit still opening and being preferred over actual openers in KL and Mayank. he played one good innings and has played below par Rohit inning. Not all players are meant to be test players. Yuvraj was one example, Gill will get better with time. He has the potential but has to work on his game to play longer innings. You have all the talent, use it wisely.

Pujara is doing what he does. No complaints there,. Kohli played a good second innings but something is changed in the way he plays these days. He is no longer ruthless.

lets talk about the elephant in the room. Ajinkya Rahane!! Yes he captained better compared to Kohli, he did good in an inning in Melbourne, but he has played below par. His position in the team should be questioned. We have enough talent in domestic cricket and no one player should hold up space when they are under performinng.

Pant will play like he has played. If we want him to play like that, we need a cushion of someone playing better and longer innings compared to what Rahane is playing. If Rahane gets back into form, Pant playing the way he has been would be ok.

No, please dont say we dint play that bad. We played poorly. As a home team, we were more under prepared compared to England. We had zero plans and just were riding on the confidence of the Australia series.

Also, Australia was a mediocre team. They had 3-4 players who perfomed. England has 5-6 rockstars who will perform. I see England winning this series. Kohli the captain has no clue and plans and that is hurting Indian team right now. The day night match is England’s game as well.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Brilliant article and also funnily poetic given how some of the posts a few pages ago were about how he seems to not take the risks to play out of control even if it sometimes might make sense to save his wicket. His Adelaide performance has also gone under the radar for a similar reason, both were magnificient knocks that deserve more credit than they will deserve due to the match results. Kohli does seem to have a library of them (Edgbaston 149 anyone? That would have made Cricinfo's top 25 of all-time had it been a match-winning knock. Or that 153 in the tour of South Africa, the only century in the entire series), hopefully he gets one real winning knock in a tough situation.

Not sure why Gill was included in that article when his control should have been high too. I do think he's got a very high control percentage too in most of his performances, his dismissals seem frustrating because of how good he plays before getting out so suddenly. Frighteningly talented batsman who could be the cornerstone of this team if he keeps this progress going.

I just feel its only a matter of time - a big Kohli special is round the corner.

He has been quite for a way too long now.

 

[asprin]

I am certain you bring this up every time India play England - England bowlers that good ?

You're saying they aren't?

 

[asprin]

Also, it's not a bogus format just because it doesn't necessarily put India in the final

I wouldn't term it that way but from memory weren't the qualification rules tweaked right in the middle of the tournament?

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I wouldn't term it that way but from memory weren't the qualification rules tweaked right in the middle of the tournament?

There was the small matter of a pandemic. And I'd argue the rules are better now than they were before.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

I agree with the English lot, rules are better with percentage points

However, the original criteria of playing 3 home and 3 away is not upright

One should play atleast 4 home and 4 away

evening keeping away india vs pakistan will constitute the above.

if the scheduling is tight, keep the calender for 3 yrs instead of 2

 

[asprin]

And I'd argue the rules are better now than they were before.

I'll defer to your judgement then given that I never really kept track of the original rules nor the newer ones - was simply trying to make a point that they were changed (for whatever reason). It was not an attempt at debating which version is better.

 

[zimrahil]

You're saying they aren't?

Good attempt at deflection, so you are saying you do bring this up every time England play India ?