Trent Bridge Test, 2011 : Day by day prediction and discussion

[Cricketics]

Being Dhoni If a team does well, captains are given plenty of credit. Once the same team loses, captains are often bounced out with lot of criticism. Critics will continue and from news channels to newspapers, a captain would reach from high to low headlines after just one match. Such is what our champion captain going through after recent world cup win. Not that he has come out sane in all departments. He has been ordinary in his keeping, but the truck load of problems which he has had to face, definitely deserves mention. Dealing with bowlers like Zaheer Khan, who has been our best bowler, but has been very disappointing in terms of promise shown in his fitness. To rule yourself out from bowling after just half day of bowling during the start of the series, doesn't really help any team or captain. Your top bat, gets a viral fever and has to unfortunately spend the day in a hotel than on the field, doesn't help either. It was problems of plenty for Dhoni. It's hard to win from such situation. All together, England didn't just play well against us, but the won the mental battle too against Dhoni and team in the whole first test. They enhanced their performance knowing that Indians were with 1 bowler less and that showed in their game. We weren't prepared going into first test that we will face such problems. Now having known all of these problems before the start, I think Dhoni would be ready to face challenges ahead in this test. He would know how and when to use Harbhajan(if he gets to play), who has been really disappointing in first test. I agree with people who say "captaincy is overrated" but this rite now is one of those situations where captaincy will be really tested. These are the moments where you can seriously test the captain. Who's bad, good and the great. At the end of the day - JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDAR. Dhoni has come out as champion in most of the situations whenever India has been down. He has made the right moves. and once again Dhoni will snatch back the attention and headlines towards him once the 2nd test meets it's closure.

[Sid]

Well I still think we can get a 1-1 result in this series and only reason for that is MSD,he has done it in the past,he has to do it again. He needs to inspire his team like he always does and he can do that by having a good game himself at Trent Bridge with both bat and gloves.

[Rajiv]

For a second, I thought u were asking abt sakshi - Ms Dhoni

[jonas10]

Cant wait til Sehwag is healthy and we got part time spin options available in sehwag, raina, yuvi and now Dhoni apparently!

[Trichromatic]

What should be the order of the batsmen? Mukund Dravid Laxman Sachin Yuvi Raina Dhoni This looks weak after Sachin. 2-3 quick wickets in first hour and England may run into this side when the playing actually becomes little bit easier.

[daryl1985]

What should be the order of the batsmen? Mukund Dravid Laxman Sachin Yuvi Raina Dhoni This looks weak after Sachin. 2-3 quick wickets in first hour and England may run into this side when the playing actually becomes little bit easier.

I'd maybe promote Raina to 3 and give him some responsibility. Unless Sachin was prepared to either come in at 1 down or drop to 5 (Raina would then go to 4).

[Guest Gunner]

What should be the order of the batsmen? Mukund Dravid Laxman Sachin Yuvi Raina Dhoni This looks weak after Sachin. 2-3 quick wickets in first hour and England may run into this side when the playing actually becomes little bit easier.

Bamboo lag jayega iss batting order ke saath. :cantstop::cantstop:

[Trichromatic]

Playing in trent bridge would be easiest after first hour or first session. At that time Swann would be bowling. Who would be there to take advantage of those conditions? Yuvraj and Dhoni? I want to see Laxman at no 5 and not no 3. He can easily make spinner look like part-timer and would be better against pacer too. If Yuvi, Raina and Dhoni get stuck against Swann, then that would add extra pressure. Swann should be easiest bowler to face in these conditions. But he might get worst batsmen of spin to bowl at, if Laxman comes at no 3. :/

[Sid]

Swann will be looking forward to ball to Yuvi if he plays.

[NareshK]

I'd maybe promote Raina to 3 and give him some responsibility. Unless Sachin was prepared to either come in at 1 down or drop to 5 (Raina would then go to 4).

Raina at 3 sounds better than Laxman or Yuvraj at 3. Then Laxman can go back to his usual position at 5 and Yuvraj can come in after him.

[NareshK]

From being No.1 and the team to beat to becoming underdogs after a single test. Only Team India can make this possible. :isalute:

[Guest Gunner]

I don't know what is the problem with you people. After repeated warnings you keep attacking the poster instead of replying to the point he is making. If this continues I am going to lock this thread.

[NareshK]

India has the best chance of winning at this ground because it will help their bowlers the most. On tracks like Lords or Edgbaston, Ishant, Sree, PK, Bhajji will be out bowled by Broad, Anderson, Tremlett. India has a good batting lineup and if they put up a good total on board, their bowlers will be in business. Same thing happened in Durban. It was a deadly, swinging, bouncing track and everyone expected India to fold but they outplayed SA.

[Texy]

Land of Sherlock Holmes LOLOLOL .... tics comes up w/ some of the best motivational threads :haha:

[ganeshran]

We need to have a fit team to win.. if 3 of our key players are not fit, how do we expect to win?

[Clarke]

I'd say MSD should open in absence of GG, Yuvi would be a waste as an opener. He can leave more deliveries than Raina/Yuvi. Dravid prefers the #3 spot and should continue.

[Rajiv]

We need to have a fit team to win.. if 3 of our key players are not fit' date=' how do we expect to win?[/quote'] Elementary my dear Watson, Elementary

[SachDan]

Trent Bridge test,the test that matters.. for No.1 Team team in the world, Team India :isalute: From Poms to Pakis haters are in full swing. English pundits,their media outlets and keyboard warriors from "land of pure" have already written up tour team's obituary, not only questioning our numero uno status but also going to the extend of hailing England as the REAL champions of test cricket!! While listening to or reading these guys one gets the impression Team India have already surrendered the test series 4-0 !! Last year in a test series which was labelled as "battle among equals" (rightly too) we lost first test against SAF at Centurion but came back strongly and defeated Saffies at the fastest pitch in the world!! There's no reason why Team India can't bounce back and shut those desperate mouths! C'mon Team India :two_thumbs_up:

[Cricketics]

We need to have a fit team to win.. if 3 of our key players are not fit' date=' how do we expect to win?[/quote'] How do we expect? We have to expect. We have been in similar situation in the past. Plus, it's something which we can't do anything about anways if our players are injured. We are top test nation and should know how to play when our players are injured. You forgot 2008 perth test? We had lost first 2 test and came back strong. Zaheer didn't play in that game either. Our bowlers picked their game up and so did the bats. We replied well.

[fineleg]

merge with cricketicz thread? same theme to the OP? Bounce back and beat the land-o-sherlock holmes. All the jingoism apart - this is a very tough situation without ZK, Sehwag and half-fit Gambhir. The lone spinner is determined to throw darts, and MS Dhoni's batting has lost its way. Are they going to drop the dart hurler and go with no-ball Mishra or erratic-Sreesanth? So, many things need to fall in place. India has taken this series (preparation for the series) too lightly, and hence under cooked.