India in England Jun-Sept 2014

[Gaurav_7]

They say people only realize the importance of something when it is gone. I am sure that will be the case with MSD. We will only realize his value once he retires, be it Tests where he hasn't done that well with the bat.

 

[cricket_icon]

It might sound ridiculous but for some reason India seem to have a lot more choices in the seam bowling department than spin right now. For the first time in many years, we have two genuinely fast bowlers in Yadav and Aaron and in the seam department, people like Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh in the shed to go with Shami, Bhuvi, Ishant and Zak. Unfortunately, as for spin the cupboard is`nt quite brimming with talent. Ojha tends to get a raw deal and Mishra is now ageing. Among the younger lot, Aksar Patel did reasonable well recently and Pervez Rasool has to be the most talented of the lot.

well none of those "pace" bowling "talents" get me excited. I've seen a couple of them ball and they are merely average for the international scene. But I see where you're coming from, there at least looks to be options in the seam department but I ask again, where are the top level Indian spinners? Is there an issue at domestic levels? pitches? or preference of domestic captains to not have spinners? maybe the IPL and the way some mediocre spinners are feasted upon, making the art seem unattractive.

I find it odd that a country with a decent spin bowling lineage can't produce a truly world class bowler in half a decade or more.

 

[War]

Yawwwwwnnnnn

Great decision from the selectors. Buttler has the potential to change the game in one single session, really can't wait to see how he goes.

Ye i got no prob with Buttler being picked. But we should acknowledge in comparison to De Kock, Buttler had more legitimate issues about his long format keeping consistency than the S African.

Buttler himself acknowledged this, which is why in his own mind he signed for Lancashire before the Ashes. And in a perfect world, he wanted a full season keeping in 4-day, before he challenged Prior.

This is why i was sort of leaning for Foster as a stop gap throughout the summer in a similar vein to Paul Nixon being a stop gap keeper during the 2007 world cup.

But of course life is not perfect, so hopefully Buttler can step up with his glovework sooner than expected.

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When did I ever say that we won every series outside of home? I just pointed out a trend there which suggests that most of India`s famous wins overseas have come in helpful conditions except the one at Adelaide in 2003. All the other venues had help for the bowlers and the Indian attack became a potent force. The Indian batting during the period (2002-2011) and now had enough quality to fight it out and stay in the game. Even at Rawalpindi in 2004 when we won that famous series in Pakistan, the home side had prepared a green seamer which India capitalized on.

We may not win every game on a green wicket but are more likely to battle it out on an even keel when there is help for our bowlers. Its simple. Our bowlers do not have express pace or mystery and thus need help from the pitches. .

Ok agreed, this sounds much more balanced because i have seen a few indian posters in previous NZ & SA tours threads mention the extreme.

 

[abhi_jacko]

We will sorely and surely miss MSD as our wk-batsman in tests .. he pretty much revolutionised the wicketkeeper position for us, because our wicket keepers before him were walking wickets except for a few good innings.

I mean just statistically comparing him with our few significant keepers, Dhoni outshines them both behind the stumps and in front. Mongia, Kirmani, More had batting averages in the 20-25 range in both tests and ODIs. Only Farokh Engineer hit the 30s. Compare that to Dhoni's 38 in Tests and a mind-numbing 53 in ODIs, and we can all see how invaluable he has been to the team across all formats just as a batsman. He comes out tops when comparing the keeping stats as well.

His retirement will leave a huge void which will not be easy to fill at all.

 

[grkrama]

KP wants back in

"I'd love to play for England again but we might to have for a few things to change before that could possibly happen," Pietersen told 'BT Sport'.

"Over the next 12 months there's an opportunity to win a World Cup in Australia and to get the Ashes back. To pick up a trophy with the England team would be sensational and to avenge what has happened over the past 12 months would be what dreams are made of," he said.

Pietersen said he can help the younger members of the team regain some of the lost confidence.

"What I know I could bring to that England team is helping those youngsters play a brand of cricket which would develop their games," he asserted.

 

[abhi_jacko]

KP wants back in

KP for captain !!

 

[grkrama]

ya would be cool but im sure ECB wont do that, another talent wasted.

His retirement will leave a huge void which will not be easy to fill at all.

This whole team has been built around MSD, he is the only player after SRT to give the feeling of being there always constantly.

Also his fitness is something no one has given credit much, its huge toll mentally and physically to captain,keep and finish across all 3 formats, not to mention IPL, and doing that consistently over years is something i don't see any other player doing.

The only thing i would like to see him get to his name is an overseas test hundred, im sure he can do that if he gets a workaround for the outswingers around off stump, i like that technique of walking across he tried, but didn't persist with it the following day.


His captaincy and batting talents will be missed across all formats, overseas test may be not much but even there he has done his best with the resources available.

 

[abhi_jacko]

ya would be cool but im sure ECB wont do that, another talent wasted.


This whole team has been built around MSD, he is the only player after SRT to give the feeling of being there always constantly.

Also his fitness is something no one has given credit much, its huge toll mentally and physically to captain,keep and finish across all 3 formats, not to mention IPL, and doing that consistently over years is something i don't see any other player doing.

The only thing i would like to see him get to his name is an overseas test hundred, im sure he can do that if he gets a workaround for the outswingers around off stump, i like that technique of walking across he tried, but didn't persist with it the following day.


His captaincy and batting talents will be missed across all formats, overseas test may be not much but even there he has done his best with the resources available.

Agreed on both points

Would love for him to score a couple of overseas centuries - one in this series and another down under. Would be perfect

 

[MUFC1987]

Interesting dynamic with Buttler coming in after Cook said at the start of the season that he wasn't good enough to play in the Test team. I'm not convinced by his 'keeping, but it is an exciting change, so I'm all for it.

Re: KP, how's he going in First Class cricket this summer?

 

[Aalay]

It was the 2011 England and Australia test series which put serious doubts on Dhoni's ability to lead the test side overseas. I have a strong feeling that Dhoni will retire from tests after Australia tour and possibly ODI's after the world cup. He clearly wants to make an impact in the 2 series which gave quite a hammering to his captaincy.

 

[lion100lion]

It was the 2011 England and Australia test series which put serious doubts on Dhoni's ability to lead the test side overseas. I have a strong feeling that Dhoni will retire from tests after Australia tour and possibly ODI's after the world cup. He clearly wants to make an impact in the 2 series which gave quite a hammering to his captaincy.

He may retire from tests after Australian tour, but I don't think he will retire from odi before 2019 World Cup. Also, Samson will get mature as a wicket-keeper by that time.

 

[ferg512]

What on earth is Chris Woakes doing in the squad? Hes another one of those mediocre players England could do without. From the few times I've seen him he just looks like a 130ks county bowler and his batting isn't going to be better than a number 8. They really do need to think outside the box.

 

[grkrama]

swann on cook

Alastair Cook, the England captain, has struggled to score runs for an extended period now and that has put a question mark over his place in the side. Swann suggested that a complete change of approach could help the batsman. "He has done everything right," Swann said. "He's gone over his routine, hit a 1000 balls in the nets and even got a start in the second innings. But nothing has worked for him. So personally I would like to see him do something unnatural, go against his game.

"Go have a couple of beers, eat some junk food, calm down and take some pressure off, and then smash the bowling when you bat. Just throw caution to the wind.

"But I know he won't do that. So I don't really know the solution to this problem."

India in England 2014 : Rahane the stand-out player - Graeme Swann | Cricket News | England v India ? Investec Test Series | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[ste_mc_efc]

What on earth is Chris Woakes doing in the squad? Hes another one of those mediocre players England could do without. From the few times I've seen him he just looks like a 130ks county bowler and his batting isn't going to be better than a number 8. They really do need to think outside the box.

he averages <25 with the ball in FC cricket and 38 with the bat.

He didn't impress in the ODIs, but it's not the 90s. We can't just write someone off after one test match.

His performances in the CC warrant a decent shot.

 

[cricket_icon]

KP for captain !!

let's not get too carried away lol I'm a huge KP fan but he isn't captaincy material

he averages <25 with the ball in FC cricket and 38 with the bat.

He didn't impress in the ODIs, but it's not the 90s. We can't just write someone off after one test match.

His performances in the CC warrant a decent shot.

Stokes is above Woakes in the pecking order and deserves to be, so there really shouldn't be any argument for Woakes to be in this team...yet.

My ideal test team for England would be:

1. Hales
2. Cook (still has a lot to give as a cricketer, maybe not much more as captain)
3. Ballance
4. KP (makes a comeback once the ECB get their heads out their arse)
5. Root
6. Ali
7. Buttler Wk
8. Stokes (should get a decent run in the side)
9. Broad C (captain and a very good bowler when fully fit)
10. Finn (the best fast bowler and I mean proper fast bowler in England but he needs to regain his confidence, something the ECB, the coaching staff and the selector's have all played a part in destroying)
11. Plunkett

That's a team full of young, aggressive blood that want to grab a game by the neck and some level headed experience.