India in England/Ireland/Scotland

[SaiSrini]

Ganguly is an arse. He's lazy, he's not committed and he loves himself. How could you want that as captain?

Ganguly has been India's best captain in recent times. Though people might show that Dravid might have a better record, Ganguly has been the better captain. An Indian fan would always be positive of a turnaround when Ganguly was the captain. Ganguly used to think out of the box. Dravid more often goes by the conventional way of thinking. Ganguly was pro-active, Dravid waits for the opposition to blink.

Ganguly was lazy even when he was captain. But that didnt hinder from him being a very successful captain. Dont even question his commitment. He has been scoring runs by the bagfuls for India ever since he made that fairy tale comeback. Give me a series where he hasnt scored good runs. Its the same case as Tendulkar. How do people expect these two batting greats to finish off every game they play? What are the others sitting there for?

to me in this tour the umpiring has been dreadful and cost bith teams dear at times.....

I fully agree with that. The umpiring has been bigger than horrible so far in this tour. I also think we need a better fielding coach. Robin Singh does not seem to be doing well. Even youngsters like Karthik, RP Singh, Gambhir, etc do not seem to be fielding well. I feel either give the gloves to Karthik or make him sit down.

 

[pal]

Regardless of his flaws as a player, Ganguly was definitely a better captain than Dravid. Some of India's most memorable wins (Natwest Series 2002, Ind-Aus 2001) and campaigns (WC 2003) came under his reign.

He failed to hold up his end at a crucial time today, but I don't think his commitment is in question.

 

[m_vaughan]

Ganguly is an arse. He's lazy, he's not committed and he loves himself. How could you want that as captain?

Ganguly, imo, was India's best captain. He isnt the most agile fielder, but that does make him lazy. He has also been the most consistent performer since making it back to the Indian team.

 

[jkartik]

Regardless of his flaws as a player, Ganguly was definitely a better captain than Dravid. Some of India's most memorable wins (Natwest Series 2002, Ind-Aus 2001) and campagins (WC 2003) came under his reign.

He failed to hold up his end at a crucial time today, but I don't think his commitment is in question.

ganguly is anyday a better captain than dravid !
also, dont forget the india-pakistan series of 2004(friendship series) !
india won 2-0(tests) and 3-2(ODIs) !

the fielding has been really horrible, so has been the bowling !

if i were dravid i would have told munaf patel to keep his line and length
with his cows in his farm !! hes slowly turning into irfan pathan !
unable to bowl over 130 without any swing/seam....well, even 125 is quite fast for him now..:hpraise :
oh and RP singh needs an eye surgery...!

also, englands lower batting order is times better than indias.....

 

[pal]

also, englands lower batting order is times better than indias.....

Bring in Kumble!

 

[Sureshot]

No, it is not 'your' fault that India's fielding is bad, but I do not see too much of an improvement from the side who played the West Indies except from Anderson, Broad and Bell.

That's only 3 players. How have you not included Cook? And of course the re-introduction of Flintoff, that's 5 players, half the team!

I was really proud of England again today, we batted fairly well, nothing spectacular but a 3rd successive good score, and no batting collapse to cost us the game! I think the opening stand was vital, even if neither went on, a good platform is essential to a win. KP doesn't look right, looks mentally tired, fielded really well though. Useful runs from the lower middle order/tail, which almost certainly got us a score which made the Indians fight for the win. Our opening bowlers are doing really well, again another important factor for a successful ODI side is a good opening bowling partnership, Broad and Anderson have been excellent. Much better than having Plunkett opening, etc. Although Tremlett was expensive he got two huge wickets, he played a big role today, without those wickets India would've won I think. Collingwood did really well in both departments and Prior kept well with a good catch to dismiss Ganguly and a very good take when Colly bowled a wide.

Our fielding was superb (even if Tremlett looks horrible in the field) and that alone was worth about 20-25 runs in comparison with India, maybe even more!

England are learning and showing big signs of improvement from our last series.

Out of order. Captaincy is a major part of the game and it was a very poor choice at the toss. Although slightly harsh, he is entitled to his opinion just as you are.

I don't think it was that bad a call by Dravid, did he get it wrong? Yes. Wasn't enough to influence the game, conditions were identical all day long. India just weren't good enough. Running between the wickets, learning how to field and throw (What does Munaf do?) would gain India as much as maybe 25-30 runs a game.

 

[Collywobblers]

That six Tremlett hit was the biggest hit i've seen. Reminded me of that six Freddie hit at that same part of the stadium in the Ashes 2005 off Brett Lee. This one actually cleared the stand though. Quite incredible. Mind you, thats what tail enders do aint it. Swing hard. If they connect its brilliant to watch. Cameos from the tail is something I love to watch in cricket!

 

[sohum]

I wouldn't read too much into it. He's promising, but lets not build him up too much. I prefer Powar to Chawla.

I prefer Chawla to Powar. Powar is probably more useful at the moment but his fitness and his age will not keep him in the side for too long.

 

[PhilD123]

I think the key word England can take out of the 3 games so far, Consistency. We have performed well for games before, ie. 1st ODI against West Indies, 4th ODI last year against Pakistan, but we've never done it for more than a game or two really. We've put together 3 excellent performances, yeah perhaps not everyone fired today, but our fielding and our opening bowlers were excellent along with Bell who is improving rapidly. We were without Flintoff, our star man as well.

Having said that, we can't afford now to take the foot off the gas and allow India to win the series. We need to keep with the consistency and keep on the pressure.

Yeah that Tremlett 6 reminded me of the Flintoff one, was the same area. 19 valuable runs from Tremlett!

 

[sd92]

I prefer Chawla to Powar. Powar is probably more useful at the moment but his fitness and his age will not keep him in the side for too long.

I agree with this, Powar is a little on the heavy side, and i imagine he will be somewhat like Robert Key...in for a while then out.

 

[PhilD123]

I agree with this, Powar is a little on the heavy side, and i imagine he will be somewhat like Robert Key...in for a while then out.

His run up makes him look extremely chubby, with small steps and quite a wide frame. Although I do think it was even worse in India last year!

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Looks like England have finally got the idea of this ODI thing, eh?

 

[irottev]

That six Tremlett hit was the biggest hit i've seen.

I've seen lots bigger, but that was a biggie. I don't think i've seen bigger from a tailender. Lee hit one bigger not long ago, but he's not really tailender quality.

Good win for England. They batted pretty well really. Bell has come a long way. His innings really held England together.

India seemed to do reasonably well with the bat, just no one got the hundred they needed. Anderson and Collingwood seemed the difference. Kept it tight economy wise and took big wickets.

Collingwood was lucky with that LBW, was pretty plumb, but batsmen get benefit. He didn't punish India too much really. India still would have fancied themselves chasing that score.

With India, I noticed in the first overs. They didn't seem threatening at all. Munaf is a good bowler usually, but in bad form. They need someone fast and dangerous. I think they need to bring in Sreesanth for someone with aggression and passion. Khan is a good bowler, but RP Singh just doesn't seem threatening nor does Munaf at the moment.

If you look at other teams, theres a quick and aggressive bowler with someone who is tight and gets movement.

Lee, McGrath/Bracken
Bond, Mills/Franklin
Ntini, Pollock
Malinga, Vaas
To some extent Anderson, Broad. Anderson is more accurate and nagging then aggressive though.

India need someone to bowl aggressivly with Zaheer Kahn for early wickets.

 

[BigCrickNan]

At least Anderson is getting wickets now...at the world cup he would bowl decent spells but couldn't breakthrough.

 

[sd92]

Anderson has impressed me recently, a lot of it is to do with Allan Donald i imagine.