How confident are you that India will beat Eng/Aus at home?

[Cricket Tragic]

Bad time to ask this question but.... We're strong at home (lost only 2 series in close to 25 years) and run on auto-pilot IF we're playing well but we've not been as convincing even in some of the recent home tests though there is incredible belief that we can come back and win - something that was there even in overseas tests before last summer. England haven't won since 84/85 and Australia since 2004 but they've run us close in tests (Bangalore 2001/2008, Mohali 2010, Chennai 2008 being a few recent examples). England also won a test in 2006 which helped them draw the series.

[Dravid_TheWall]

People think we will do well at home. But I think we won't win as well as we used to-it will be more close. This problem away from home will soon impact on home performances against top sides.

[wobblydoggy]

Bad time to ask this question but.... We're strong at home (lost only 2 series in close to 25 years) and run on auto-pilot IF we're playing well but we've not been as convincing even in some of the recent home tests though there is incredible belief that we can come back and win - something that was there even in overseas tests before last summer. England haven't won since 84/85 and Australia since 2004 but they've run us close in tests (Bangalore 2001/2008, Mohali 2010, Chennai 2008 being a few recent examples). England also won a test in 2006 which helped them draw the series.

Whereby in Aus and England you get pitches that other nations can roll the home side cheaply, India do not produce such pitches. Here WI sides touring in the 70's and 80's found it pretty easy going with pitches to their liking and in Aus and SA too. In India you prepare pitches that are too much in favour of the bat and not an equal test for bat over ball or ball over bat IMHO

[Pagalpanti]

At home we're unbeatable. Except for SA we've beaten every team in both formats of the game at home.

[Pagalpanti]

Whereby in Aus and England you get pitches that other nations can roll the home side cheaply, India do not produce such pitches. Here WI sides touring in the 70's and 80's found it pretty easy going with pitches to their liking and in Aus and SA too. In India you prepare pitches that are too much in favour of the bat and not an equal test for bat over ball or ball over bat IMHO

Not really. Apart from few roads most of the pitches helps spinner, hence the visiting teams struggle even if the pitch doesn't have much pace and bounce.

[deathmonger]

At home we're unbeatable. Except for SA we've beaten every team in both formats of the game at home.

????????? We've beaten SA at both formats of the game at home. We've defeated them twice in tests. Never lost in ODIs ever.

[deathmonger]

We'll win. Ppl like Vijay and Sadgopan Ramesh have hit centuries against good Oz bowlers. No worries in batting. Also Dhoni becomes superman in India.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

When the ball will spin Aussies and Poms will start complaining.Let the Turn begin.

[Dravid_TheWall]

We should prepare Kanpur type pitches, a pitch Bhajji described as "a good one." :hehe:

[Pagalpanti]

????????? We've beaten SA at both formats of the game at home. We've defeated them twice in tests. Never lost in ODIs ever.

I meant series. Last 2 series against SA at home we've just managed to draw.

[Pagalpanti]

We should prepare Kanpur type pitches' date=' a pitch Bhajji described as "a good one." :hehe:[/quote'] Needn't be sarcastic. If Australia and England prepare green tracks where matches end in 3 days and are labelled as 'sportive' pitches then we are well within our rights to prepare turners which suits our style of play.

[Nova]

It will be close but India will win.

[deathmonger]

I'm sure BCCI will be looking for 'revenge' and prepare rank turners. Should be like the one where Hirwani made his debut.

[Dravid_TheWall]

Needn't be sarcastic. If Australia and England prepare green tracks where matches end in 3 days and are labelled as 'sportive' pitches then we are well within our rights to prepare turners which suits our style of play.

I used to think that but the Kanpur pitch is going to far... The only reason these matches have ended in 3 days is because of India's inept batting. The Aus pitches may be green but provide opportunities for Batsmen to play their strokes and for bowlers to get something from the pitch too. By all means we should prepare spin friendly pitches but I don't believe in a complete dust bowl. It doesn't help us in the long run anyway.

[deathmonger]

I used to think that but the Kanpur pitch is going to far... The only reason these matches have ended in 3 days is because of India's inept batting. The Aus pitches may be green but provide opportunities for Batsmen to play their strokes and for bowlers to get something from the pitch too. By all means we should prepare spin friendly pitches but I don't believe in a complete dust bowl. It doesn't help us in the long run anyway.

should be like chennai 2004 against aus or the calcutta one against eng in last odi. pure turners like the SL one may backfire.

[Sundar88]

Those teams will be more competitive in India than India were in those countries but India will still win it easily. You see the reason why we get thrashed in those countries is because we simply don't have the resources to win there (our batsmen are FTB's and we don't have enough quality fast bowlers to bowl them out quickly). When playing in India both these weaknesses will be negated and hence we will be on a level playing field. Australia are difficult to beat anywhere regardless of who's playing because their domestic cricket is so good it keeps producing quality players, but we should still be able to beat them like we did last year. England and South Africa have always been weak in the subcontinent because they can't play spin, in England's case their fast bowlers are rendered almost completely useless in our conditions as compared to Australian/South African fast bowlers.

[deathmonger]

Those teams will be more competitive in India than India were in those countries but India will still win it easily. You see the reason why we get thrashed in those countries is because we simply don't have the resources to win there (our batsmen are FTB's and we don't have enough quality fast bowlers to bowl them out quickly). When playing in India both these weaknesses will be negated and hence we will be on a level playing field. Australia are difficult to beat anywhere regardless of who's playing because their domestic cricket is so good it keeps producing quality players, but we should still be able to beat them like we did last year. England and South Africa have always been weak in the subcontinent because they can't play spin, in England's case their fast bowlers are rendered almost completely useless in our conditions as compared to Australian/South African fast bowlers.

This is especially true as Oz and SA fast bowlers are more out and out fast bowlers while Eng bowlers are more swingers. That's why Finn did well in India but Bresnan was **** as he did not get any movement whatsoever.

[daryl1985]

Whereby in Aus and England you get pitches that other nations can roll the home side cheaply, India do not produce such pitches. Here WI sides touring in the 70's and 80's found it pretty easy going with pitches to their liking and in Aus and SA too. In India you prepare pitches that are too much in favour of the bat and not an equal test for bat over ball or ball over bat IMHO

Explain in more detail please.

[Dravid_TheWall]

should be like chennai 2004 against aus or the calcutta one against eng in last odi. pure turners like the SL one may backfire.

Agree.

[daryl1985]

I think the series will be close fought. There is no way India will win easily. India rarely crush sides at home. In their ascent to the number 1 spot in test cricket, India won a lot of tight matches at home and did not crush teams too often. The home series win against England in 08/09 was made possible by India chasing down a freakish score on the last day thanks to superb knocks from Sehwag and Sachin (England were on top for 70% of that match and comfortably drew the 2nd match in that series). In the last BG home series, Australia were in positions to win both tests (especially at Mohali). In our last home series with South Africa (drew 1-1). We came within minutes of losing that series but Harbhajan took Morkel's wicket a few minutes from the close of play. The likes of New Zealand and West Indies have been in excellent positions to win matches in their last series in India but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities. India's ascent to being the number 1 team in test matches was due to the fact that they won a lot of tight matches and someone stepped up at the crucial moment. Now that we seem to be some way off our best we are being beaten easily in foreign conditions.