India v England 2008

[Chetan0304]

Mumbai XI beat England at 2nd practice match by 124 runs

BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai 222 (Waghela 45, Khavilkar 65) beat England 98(Kshemal 5-73) by 124 runs

Flintoff 5,Collingwoed 8. Kevin 0 .

this ODI was the last one

 

[RoboRocks]

Lets hope not. There's no need for any rubbish since it will be tough for England anyway.

Swann needs to come in for Wright. Wright is a capable cricketer but at the moment he's doing nothing. Play another spinner and you have a balanced attack plus Swann can also bat down the order so the batting line-up remains strong. Why would think about dropping a seamer who has a good record when Luke Wright doesn't really have role.

 

[khalek]

England are depending too much on Flintoff and KP to fire, it shouldn't be like that. Its really tough to beat India at home and everyone has to give their best.

 

[Leggie]

Ishant is going to miss the first ODI...Guess the four bowlers will have to be Zaheer, RP, Munaf and Harbhajan, Or playing Yusuf at No.8 and using him as a bowlers which is probably unlikely.

http://www.cricketnirvana.com/news/international/2008/november/news-20081112-288.html

 

[King Pietersen]

Yayyy. We have a chance in the first one then . Looks like Broad's going to be fit as well, so the only player we're missing is Sidey, who probably wouldn't be in the First XI anyway, he's not exactly been superb in ODi's for England. I'd much rather have Jimmy and Broad. Jimmy's started the tour better than anyone, took 3/15 in the first game iirc, and got a wicket yesterday. Just a shame we got hammered really. We'll be stronger with Shah back in the side though. KP will fire in the proper matches, or so I hope anyway.

 

[Leggie]

Now thats just rubbing salt into the wound that Ishant can't play, The pitch at Rajkot is expected to favour seamers according to CricketNirvana.

http://www.cricketnirvana.com/news/international/2008/November/news-20081112-301.html

P.S. - Rajkot is just a drive away from my Hometown (Porbandar). The closest International Stadium to me in fact.

 

[Arunava]

doesn't matter ishant plays or not. .we can field any local lads, and they will run over them

 

[Cricketman]

Sehwag
Gambhir
Raina
Sharma
Dhoni
Vijay
Yusuf Pathan (Argh, playing only because we needed some fire power at the death)
Piyush Chawla
Zaheer
Munna
RP

That's what i'd play anyways.

 

[m_vaughan]

The positive for England is that the defeat was in a warm-up game. But they still have it all to do now.

The 4-0 win over South Africa wasn't that long ago, so England obviously are a good enough side, but every game is a new game and the latest injuries are not helping either.

 

[Leggie]

Bhajji > Piyush. Bhajji has more than deserved his place after bowling brilliantly in the Test Series. Piyush isn't even in the squad anyway.

Damn come to look at it, Our line up looks pretty weak. I mean no Sachin, No Ishant. Those two were big in the Test's.

 

[King Pietersen]

I read a good plan of how to fit Owais Shah into the England Test side. Move Bell upto the opening spot. Bell's more attacking than Strauss, which would allow Ali Cook to revert to his old style of being the more defensive partner. I think the main problem with Cook atm is he consistently feels the need to play a nothing shot because neither he or Strauss are going along at a decent rate. I think if Belly opened then it would allow Cook to settle in and play his natural game, with Bell being more expansive and the more aggressive of the 2 players.

Bell's one of the most aesthetically pleasing batsmen in the game, he's top of the list for me, and he prefers the ball coming onto the bat. He's not experienced at opening the batting though, which could be the problem. I'm sure he could do it, Michael Vaughan has been effective opening the batting, and they're pretty similar players. I can just see it being Vaughan who comes in for Strauss if a change is made. I wouldn't want to see Michael back in the side atm, he's not got any form, and why he's been called into the Performance squad is beyond me, he's not deserved his call-up.

This would result in a team of:
Bell
Cook
Shah
Pietersen
Collingwood (Eventually Bopara or Patel)
Flintoff
Prior
Broad
Harmison
Anderson
Panesar

Would be very effective, and certainly give every team a problem or two.

As for the OD Warm-up game, was a 1 off blip. We had no Broad or Shah, so were expected to struggle a little. We won't perform that badly in the ODi series. Pietersen's not lost a proper game as full England captain, but this is going to be a real challenge for him. The Pietersen vs Dhoni battle is going to be a good one. Can't wait.

 

[Sureshot]

Nah, I think Bell has enough problems with the swinging new ball as it is.

 

[Highlander999]

I don't know what's with the India hate on here sometimes.

A) Because everyone is fed up with the BCCI

and

B) Because people are annoyed at the way all these young Indian members have turned up in the Cricket Discussion forum and bombarded us with their stupid, immature, incredibly bias views.

 

[Leggie]

So you think they represent the whole of India?

 

[Skater]

My prediction - no matter what team England play - India 6-1 England.