England's tour of India (Nov '16/Feb '17)

[Rehan_24]

Sudden panic?? I believe that England has a small edge over Pakistan if it came to winning a series in India. Pakistan's lower batting order is very weak while England's is not. England's lower order did not do much yesterday but they are usually very good .

That we can find out when we play a series against each other India vs Pakistan cricket series has no hard and fast rules. Both compete so well with each other head to head and thats the beauty of this rivalry.

 

[Aalay]

Very good effort by the team to get the first win in the series. I would like to start by Saying that Kohli definitely attacked more today than he did yesterday with more players around the batsmen. Both Ashwin and Jadeja started off really well in the first hour and created a lot of opportunities. Shami also set up Root very nicely which was good to see. Jayant Yadav also bowled love length and got just enough turn to trouble the batsmen.

I agree with Kohli when he says that England's tactics were very surprising. We have seen South Africa try this tactic when they were hear early last year and it didn't work out. You can't just go in a shell and defend everything that comes your way. You need to keep scoreboard moving or rotate the strike to frustrate bowlers. If you are just defending, you are more likely to receive a ball which will get you out. This pitch was not even a turner, it was just that the odd balls were spinning. I liked how Bairstow was batting and that was the way to do it.

Also I know the Indian players are still learning how to use DRS properly. However, Saha needs to more active to decide whether to review or not. Ashwin needs to calm himself when using DRS because he wants to review everything. I would also like to bring in Rahane's perspective from slip and allow him to express his opinion before going for a review as he is someone who is calm and we need that. Kohli also gets too excited sometimes and goes for review when there is absolutely no need for it.

 

[C Boomer]

Even though this match has finished, fear not, it won't be long until the 3rd test begins in Mohali, though if you're at a loss between now and then, check out C Boomer's poems.... You'll always find something in there to whet the appetite and keep your interest in the game ever compelling and feverish??


C Boomer's Cricket Poetry. | Page 6 - Entertainment on PlanetCricket Forums

 

[Aislabie]

England really have backed themselves into a corner here - their only available options in the last batsman's slot are:

1. Ben Duckett - looks all at sea against quality off-spin, no footwork (I was vocal in my pro-Duckett support before this tour, and still think he earned his chance)
2. Gary Ballance - so devoid of form as to be gaseous, no footwork
3. Jos Buttler - played on FC game in 12 months; career FC average of 32

The other option, which I think should be genuinely considered, is including Chris Woakes as the foremost batting option. I think the argument can be made that he is a better long-form batsman than Buttler, even if the latter's talent is more obvious:

• Chris Woakes - 4833 FC runs @ 36.89 (9 centuries, best 152*) // 525 Test runs @ 32.81 (2 fifties, best 66)
• Jos Buttler - 3336 FC runs @ 32.07 (4 centuries, best 144) // 630 Test runs @ 30.00 (5 fifties, best 85)

There is also the option of flying a batsman in, which naturally England would never do:

• Nick Gubbins - 2156 FC runs @ 40.67 (4 centuries, best 201*)
• Sam Billings - 1982 FC runs @ 33.03 (3 centuries, best 171)
• Steven Davies - 10878 FC runs @ 40.43 (21 centuries, best 200*)

Now personally, I would go with this eleven out of what's available:

1. Alastair Cook
2. Haseeb Hameed
3. Nick Gubbins
4. Joe Root
5. Ben Stokes
6. Jonny Bairstow
7. Moeen Ali
8. Adil Rashid
9. Stuart Broad
10. Gareth Batty
11. James Anderson

I would never be surprised to see Buttler walk out to bat at number four though. Or even for the side to look like this by the end of the series:

1. Alastair Cook
2. Haseeb Hameed
3. Joe Root
4. Jos Buttler
5. Ben Stokes
6. Jonny Bairstow
7. Sam Billings
8. Moeen Ali
9. Adil Rashid
10. Stuart Broad
11. James Anderson

The ECB loves a good multi-dimensional cricketer after all.

 

[asprin]

I think England are doing remarkably well even if they did end up losing the test. Unlike previous visiting teams, they have shown grit and determination and have not folded up without a fight (not having rank turners might have helped them in doing so). So I think the only change they need is to bring back Woakes in place of Duckett. Their bowlers are capable of troubling our batsman and with Woakes back, they will have more bite, both in batting and bowling.

 

[Epic]

Jos Buttler set to replace Ben Duckett in Mohali | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

Any chance of him keeping wicket and Bairstow moving up the order?

 

[zwarrior]

Jos Buttler set to replace Ben Duckett in Mohali | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

Any chance of him keeping wicket and Bairstow moving up the order?

I don't think so. In the article they have mentioned that he will be back as specialist batsmen.

 

[zwarrior]

Bhuvi is back in India's 16-man squad for the remaining three Tests against England. GG has been left out.

 

[Aalay]

Hard-Hitter Rishabh Pant Asked to 'Stand-by' for Indian Cricket Team

I don't know how true is this since I have not read anything about this anywhere else. However, he looks like the only shining light in domestic cricket right now (as a keeper) and they way he is performing this season is absolutely amazing. However, I haven't seen his keeping so I don't know how good he is as a keeper. If his keeping is good, I wouldn't mind seeing him being fast-tracked as a back-up to Saha since there is absolutely no other options that comes to mind. Sanju Samson is there who is clearly very talented but doesn't have the numbers to justify his selection.

 

[Epic]

Imho, if we intend on playing Ashwin as an all-rounder outside of Asia we need a better wicket-keeping batsman, we need someone who can bat at #6 and average 40 odd.

 

[Velocity]

Buttler seems a WAY better option than Duckett. Duckett's technique against spin is crappy. Even though Buttler hasn't played red ball cricket in a year, he sounds a better option over Duckett and Gary Ballance. Both Duckett and Buttler are aggressive, Buttler seems to have a better technique against spin as he displayed aganist Pakistan in the UAE in 2015. I'd rather have Buttler keeper than Bairstow. Bairstow is just not grabbing those chances, but he is a better batsman than Buttler. For the boeling, I think Ansari should be dropped for Gareth Batty, Batty has experience that Ansari doesn't have, and off spin troubled Indian batsmen, with Moeen Ali.

India: Bhuvi back, but it's a very tough choice whether Shami or Yadav should be dropped. There's Jayant Yadav who could be dropped, but his performance seemed good enough to let him stay otherwise. Depending on the pitch, I'd go with the same side, but if the surface is good for seamers, then it would make sense of Bhuvi to come into the side.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Buttler like last time called for 3rd test and scored 3 fifties and England won. Will he bring the same luck this time around? Lets see

 

[SaiSrini]

If I were Kohli, I would first start off by sending Saha ahead of Ashwin. We need to give Saha the respect he deserves for his batting. He is a solid batsman and just because Ashwin is getting runs doesn't mean Ashwin comes ahead. Saha is a keeper-batsman and should come ahead of Ashwin. And I would persist with Saha for a few series. He has got a lot of crucial runs in recent times in tests and we were speaking about how he was settling in. Too early to think of axing him. This is also Saha's first series with DRS and so let him learn it (if the opinion is influenced by how Saha has made some mistakes in giving feedback to the team on whether to use DRS or not).

I would even send Saha ahead of Rahane at times and give him that confidence boosting backing.

 

[zwarrior]

The main focus we have to see for choosing wicket keeper is that his skills as a keeper should be top notch. Because, when Ash and Jaddu are bowling, there will be lot of pressure on keeper and the keeper has to be excellent. More than batting skills, I feel we should focus more on wicket keeping skills. At this point, I don't think Pant has that skills. ( I might be wrong as I haven't watched his keeping). There is no doubt that Pant is an excellent batsmen, but how good is he behind the wickets ? I don't want to see him as a back up for Saha for atleast this ongoing series as this is a very crucial series for us.

MSD was an excellent wkt keepr. But, he isn't playing tests anymore. Other options I can see are Dinesh Karthik ( horrible keeper) and Naman Ojha ( pretty decent). So, he should be the back up for Saha. And yes, I agree with @SaiSrini that the management should trust Saha and send him ahead of Ash. Sure, Ash is scoring runs but if we boost Saha's confidence and send him ahead, it will be a good for us in the future.[DOUBLEPOST=1479872758][/DOUBLEPOST]As soon as I posted the above post, I saw this-

Parthiv Patel back in India Test team; in for injured Wriddhiman Saha | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo


Parthiv Patel will be playing next match as Saha is injured and will not play the third Test to avoid aggravating the injury.

 

[asprin]

Parthiv Patel back in India Test team; in for injured Wriddhiman Saha | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

Are you kidding me? This is absurd. I don't understand the insistence on going back to the same old tried and tested players. Parthiv is not good enough for Test cricket.