India in England/Ireland/Scotland

[Leicester Fox]

and we have a certain mr Pietersen Harmy looks to be coming back to form and if we get him back and firing then i reckon we could do really well here.

 

[wolf]

no dhoni in the test side either.

I don't know what squad you are looking at.

 

[Deleted member 11215]

woops... *runs and hides*

 

[Gunner786]

i didnt see dhoni either

went over the squad like 5 times on cricinfo but he wasnt in the test squad

 

[Vcassano]

He's not a proven threat in Test Matches yet, so I wouldn't be overly bothered if he was in or out, from an English perspective.

 

[Sureshot]

Shame, I would have liked to see Hoggard make Sehwag his bunny again.

The dangers of a Hoggard bouncer...

 

[m_vaughan]

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/297784.html

Indeed it is today zub.

Sehwag, Bhaji and Munaf all miss out.

I actually dont mind those omissions. The England bowlers can swing the ball well and Harmison can bounce the ball, both of which trouble Sehwag.

Harbhajan, well, I dont think he is quite as effective away from the subcontinental wickets. Also I think people have learnt to play him well in recent times. Kumble is a better option.

Munaf has just come back from injury so probably he should first prove his fitness in domestic cricket. Taking him straight away on a long tour of England wouldnt be a very wise idea.

The experience of Sachin, Saurav and Dravid holds the key for India. England have a good bowling attack and use the conditions very well. Also gone are the days when the batsmen couldnt play spin bowling. Infact with players like Prior and Pietersen in the side, England now take the attack to the opposition bowlers.

 

[Sureshot]

Lords, Trent Bridge and The Oval are the test grounds.

Hmm, spin could play a part at The Oval, you'd expect seam to dominate at the first two. If Sidebottom plays (I hope so) him and Hoggard could win us the series.

 

[Deleted member 11215]

only 3 tests has really annoyed me, we're playing at home so why should we play what there best at?i dont see what wrong with 5 tests 5 odis.

 

[SaiSrini]

I am actually happy with these omissions (except Bhajji to an extent). Munaf's fitness has always irritated me. Its not as if he is India's best bowler. And Sehwag - come on, we have always gone on and on about how poor Sehwag has been in recent times. he deserves all this. let him fight for his place.

Karthick and Jaffer are in good form at the top. India have a very good batting order with Yuvraj and Laxman on the sidelines. I feel Gambhir should be given a chance along with Jaffer instead of Karthick. Use a specialist opener instead of a makeshift one for England's conditions.

And I dont think India will need 5 bowlers for English conditions, where its relatively cooler than the subcontinent. So either of Laxman or Yuvraj can play as the 6th batsman. So all leads to a very strong batting line up. The bowlers should be 3 seamers (Zaheer, Sreesanth and Ranadeb Bose) and Kumble. Bose is a highly acclaimed bowler in the Indian domestic circuit. Lets see how he fares here

I still feel this will be a highly balanced series. Should be pretty exciting too. I feel India will win the test series by a slight margin, and will win the ODI series comprehensively. A successful tour this time for India!

 

[evertonfan]

Hmm, spin could play a part at The Oval, you'd expect seam to dominate at the first two.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Trent Bridge was an absolute dustbowl last year. What an idiotic groundsman. The pitch offered nothing for our pace attack but was a raging turner for Murali. That Test is the reason I wanted Trent Bridge not to have a Test this year.

 

[manee]

To me, Sehwag out is a contreversial move. You cannot take a match winner like him. However, it is an understandable move. He is poor in England since Hoggard's bouncer (for some odd reason) troubles him and so does the seaming ball so it makes sense to drop him. I would never have him out of the ODI team though since he did OK in the Afro Asia cup and World Cup and is a match winner.

Munaf out is for good reason but will he now just disappear from the scene and bowl 70mph for the rest of his life. I hope not, he can bowl 80mph without breaking a sweat, quite a feat. He needs a quicker run up to reduce the stress on his body and consequently, less body in the action would cause him to get less stiff and field better.

Why has VRV Singh been dropped, he is a tearaway quick and in short sharp spells and nutured well he could be India's first quick quick bowler. Oh well, didn't make an impact, was dropped. Back to the tough time of getting wickets on spinning pitches in Indian domestic cricket. Harbhajan Singh is acceptable since he has talent and now, after some bad performances, must 'think' about how to use his talent best.

Ishant Sharma has been pushed a bit too early, he is reasonable pace and with his bounce and hitting the seam could provide some tough deliveries for him to the England batsman. Also, hope Bose and R Sharma can do well, but don't know much about them.

Probable teams in my opinion:

Test

1. Jaffer
2. Karthik
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Ganguly
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. Dhoni
8. Kumble
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Sreesanth
11. Ishant Sharma

ODI

1. Gambhir
2. Uthappa
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Ganguly
6. Yuvraj Singh*
7. Dhoni
8. Chawla
9. RP Singh
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Sreesanth

*Not Yuvraj captain but an asterisk to point his selection by me out. I think Karthik scores too slow to bat 6 in ODIs and Yuvraj is the better fielder and can bowl too. VVS Laxman I feel has been left out due to there not being a space for him, he is fine away from home and his recent form has not been terrible, I just don't see him getting picked.

Can I have some information from a viewer of Indian domestic cricket of how Bose bowls, specifically whether he bowls pitched up or short, accurate or not, swing or seam movement and how quick?

 

[SaiSrini]

I heard that Bose is a 'line and length' bowler at reasonable pace late 120's and early 130's).

Read this article of Srikanth and was impressed
http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Further_crisis/articleshow/2117155.cms

I feel Srikanth is right. If India can have a batting consultant with Prasad and Robin Singh, they can have another management consultant to motivate the guys and that would be it. I wish this time, the BCCI goes for an Indian. The players are being given too much of a hand every time a coach is selected. For a change, why not the BCCI select a guy who the people feel is best suited for the job?

Munaf out is for good reason but will he now just disappear from the scene and bowl 70mph for the rest of his life. I hope not, he can bowl 80mph without breaking a sweat, quite a feat. He needs a quicker run up to reduce the stress on his body and consequently, less body in the action would cause him to get less stiff and field better.

If Munaf disappears, it wont be anyone's but his own mistake. He played with his fitness, and is paying for it. He wanted to cling onto his place even at the cost of aggravating his injury. Anyways, if he can bowl at the pace at which he started and if he can field decently, he is an asset to have!

Why has VRV Singh been dropped, he is a tearaway quick and in short sharp spells and nutured well he could be India's first quick quick bowler. Oh well, didn't make an impact, was dropped. Back to the tough time of getting wickets on spinning pitches in Indian domestic cricket. Harbhajan Singh is acceptable since he has talent and now, after some bad performances, must 'think' about how to use his talent best.

VRV hasnt used the chances given to him. To me, he seems another of those guys who does well in domestic circuit but doesnt work in international cricket.

Ishant Sharma has been pushed a bit too early, he is reasonable pace and with his bounce and hitting the seam could provide some tough deliveries for him to the England batsman. Also, hope Bose and R Sharma can do well, but don't know much about them.

Sharma was impressive in that match against Bangladesh. If he can RETAIN HIS PACE and continue working on line and length, he can serve India long. But who follows it these days? Hope Zaheer and Sreesanth revive the Johannesburg memories too often during the England tour. I am predicting for Sreesanth to come back with a bang in the tests in England.

This would be my team for the tests and ODI's (some small changes made to your line ups, just to give you credit for typing the names out).

Test

1. Jaffer
2. Gambhir
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Ganguly
6. Yuvraj
7. Dhoni
8. Kumble
9. Zaheer
10. R Bose
11. Sreesanth

ODI

1. Gambhir
2. Tendulkar
3. Rohit Sharma
4. Yuvraj
5. R Dravid
6. Dinesh Karthick
7. Dhoni
8. Chawla
9. Agarkar
10. Zaheer
11. Sreesanth

 

[Sureshot]

only 3 tests has really annoyed me, we're playing at home so why should we play what there best at?i dont see what wrong with 5 tests 5 odis.

The ECB have agreed plans for 7 Tests and 10 ODIs each year, with 2 20-20s. As India refuse to play 20-20s we play 7 ODIs against them. They need someone to kick that board down a level.

 

[m_vaughan]

Hmm, spin could play a part at The Oval, you'd expect seam to dominate at the first two. If Sidebottom plays (I hope so) him and Hoggard could win us the series.

Valid point. Both can swing the ball a great deal which will test most of the Indian batsman. Sehwag would almost certainly turn out to be a bunny to one of those two bowlers so dropping him is a good idea imo.

I think England hold the edge at Lord's and Trentbridge while India do the same at Lord's. So 2-1 to the home side sounds fair to me. I doubt MV's side will lose the series, having not lost at home since 2001.