India in England, Outsiders view.

[Switchblade]

Who is talking about averages - I have watched him bat.

Saw him bat in the Challengers trophy some of the shots he played were brilliant

[Cricket Tragic]

Ranji first class averages need to be taken with a grain of salt. Comparing him with Kohli is a mistake. How did he do in Duleep? How is he doing in IPL? That will be fairer comparison. I think there are half a dozen others who are ahead of him in the pecking order.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Raghav_12]

Thanks. Basically he is nobody. I was wrong about six ahead maybe more like a dozen ahead of him.

care to name these dozen? Honestly a serious question. I would rate following ahead of him for ODI/Test team to WI tour. 1. Kohli 2. Badri 3. Rayudu 4. Rohit Sharma Just few names came on top of my mind immediately..

[mukul002]

man to man, the english have a much better bowling line-up it'll be on our experienced batting stalwarts to put up a fight to keep us alive in the series and as always, we'll be droppin catches in the cold

I agree England are a strong fielding team , but their are frailties in their batting line up , and in general you will find that Indias main batsmen are rated higher than England's (e.g Gambhir and Raina have much better averages than most of England's middle order batsmen ). England might be without Kevin Pieterson due to injury and rumours have it Paul Collingwood will not be selected for the test series . Morale within the Indian team should be greater than England's (even though England did win the ashes against a rather poor Australian bowling attack which missed a quality pace bowler or two). Just now the younger generation in India are getting better opportunities to improve the standard of cricket , than the English youth and the coming test series should prove that the Indian foundation is stronger than England's as was proved in the 2007 test series . But Team selection is very important to prove the point ,which is why I would be keen to see Praveen Kumar in the team to strengthen the seam attack , rather than sree who is rather temperamental .Praveen is a Terry Alderman type bowler who would be ideal for the test series against England . Perhaps have both sree and Praveen , with a toss up to which of the two should be the third seamer ?

[Cricket Tragic]

I agree England are a strong fielding team , but their are frailties in their batting line up , and in general you will find that Indias main batsmen are rated higher than England's (e.g Gambhir and Raina have much better averages than most of England's middle order batsmen ). England might be without Kevin Pieterson due to injury and rumours have it Paul Collingwood will not be selected for the test series . Morale within the Indian team should be greater than England's (even though England did win the ashes against a rather poor Australian bowling attack which missed a quality pace bowler or two). Just now the younger generation in India are getting better opportunities to improve the standard of cricket , than the English youth and the coming test series should prove that the Indian foundation is stronger than England's as was proved in the 2007 test series . But Team selection is very important to prove the point ,which is why I would be keen to see Praveen Kumar in the team to strengthen the seam attack , rather than sree who is rather temperamental .Praveen is a Terry Alderman type bowler who would be ideal for the test series against England . Perhaps have both sree and Praveen , with a toss up to which of the two should be the third seamer ?

Colly has retired and KP is already fit. He is playing a game against Cambridge today.

[Serani]

I agree England are a strong fielding team , but their are frailties in their batting line up , and in general you will find that Indias main batsmen are rated higher than England's (e.g Gambhir and Raina have much better averages than most of England's middle order batsmen ). England might be without Kevin Pieterson due to injury and rumours have it Paul Collingwood will not be selected for the test series . Morale within the Indian team should be greater than England's (even though England did win the ashes against a rather poor Australian bowling attack which missed a quality pace bowler or two). Just now the younger generation in India are getting better opportunities to improve the standard of cricket , than the English youth and the coming test series should prove that the Indian foundation is stronger than England's as was proved in the 2007 test series . But Team selection is very important to prove the point ,which is why I would be keen to see Praveen Kumar in the team to strengthen the seam attack , rather than sree who is rather temperamental .Praveen is a Terry Alderman type bowler who would be ideal for the test series against England . Perhaps have both sree and Praveen , with a toss up to which of the two should be the third seamer ?

Trott has a higher average than Dravid therefore is a far superior player, dumb logic. If Indias batsman had to play 7 tests a year in England most of them would average less. Btw just a heads up, the Edgbaston pitch will be a minefield, they really having problems with inconsistent bounce atm

[Blueraphael]

Btw just a heads up' date=' the Edgbaston pitch will be a minefield, they really having problems with inconsistent bounce atm[/quote'] So Zak is going to run through your batting order like a hot knife through butter. :--DAnd Bhajji is going to his sidekick in the destruction...MUHAHA!!!

[Cricket Tragic]

Trott has a higher average than Dravid therefore is a far superior player, dumb logic. If Indias batsman had to play 7 tests a year in England most of them would average less. Btw just a heads up, the Edgbaston pitch will be a minefield, they really having problems with inconsistent bounce atm

Yeah, I've been following the games. Both Bell and Trott haven't got the best start to the season. I expect the test pitch to be better though.

[Serani]

Yeah' date=' I've been following the games. Both Bell and Trott haven't got the best start to the season. I expect the test pitch to be better though.[/quote'] Even the test pitch vs Pak last year had some inconsistent bounce, not really sure whats been going on the last few years because it used to be really flat.

[jusarrived]

Trott has a higher average than Dravid therefore is a far superior player' date=' dumb logic. [b']If Indias batsman had to play 7 tests a year in England most of them would average less. Btw just a heads up, the Edgbaston pitch will be a minefield, they really having problems with inconsistent bounce atm

Care to check some of our batsmens avg in England first ? on the contrary english batsmen have struggled on our spinning pitches more

[Serani]

Care to check some of our batsmens avg in England first ? on the contrary english batsmen have struggled on our spinning pitches more

Not really no

[vvvslaxman]

Onus is on England to break the 15 year wait. Every team that has gone to England has lost their series except India in the last 15 years. It is a tough English side. Big advantage for England is they will be fresher compared to Indians who will be wiped out at the end of IPL and Windies tour. Combined India/England stats in England in the last 15 years. Most of the Indian batsmen have done well. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;host=1;opposition=1;opposition=6;orderby=runs;spanmax1=11+May+2011;spanmin1=11+May+1995;spanval1=span;team=1;team=6;template=results;type=batting Bowlingwise http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;host=1;opposition=1;opposition=6;orderby=wickets;spanmax1=11+May+2011;spanmin1=11+May+1995;spanval1=span;team=1;team=6;template=results;type=bowling India has done a decent job.

[Cricket Tragic]

Onus is on England to break the 15 year wait. Every team that has gone to England has lost their series except India in the last 15 years. It is a tough English side. Big advantage for England is they will be fresher compared to Indians who will be wiped out at the end of IPL and Windies tour. Combined India/England stats in England in the last 15 years. Most of the Indian batsmen have done well. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;host=1;opposition=1;opposition=6;orderby=runs;spanmax1=11+May+2011;spanmin1=11+May+1995;spanval1=span;team=1;team=6;template=results;type=batting Bowlingwise http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;host=1;opposition=1;opposition=6;orderby=wickets;spanmax1=11+May+2011;spanmin1=11+May+1995;spanval1=span;team=1;team=6;template=results;type=bowling India has done a decent job.

SA beat England in 2008 and drew in 2003. SL also drew in 2006 thanks to that epic draw at Lord's. I think Pakistan also drew in 2001. Can someone confirm this?

[Sid]

SA beat England in 2008 and drew in 2003. SL also drew in 2006 thanks to that epic draw at Lord's. I think Pakistan also drew in 2001. Can someone confirm this?

Yes they drew the series

[vvvslaxman]

SA beat England in 2008 and drew in 2003. SL also drew in 2006 thanks to that epic draw at Lord's. I think Pakistan also drew in 2001. Can someone confirm this?

I don't say every series. Atleast in one series they lost if i remember right.

[Spiderguy252]

And it's make or break for Dravid. He has to have a couple of centuries this series or he's a goner me thinks.

[Fontaine]

Pujara just has to play. The guy scored a TON of runs last year in the A tour against Counties/WI/England Lions and routinely was the top scorer and finished as one of the highest run getters. That, and if Ishant continues his good form then India are going to put a beating on England because the rest of the players will do their job well.

[Raghav_12]

Pujara just has to play. The guy scored a TON of runs last year in the A tour against Counties/WI/England Lions and routinely was the top scorer and finished as one of the highest run getters. That, and if Ishant continues his good form then India are going to put a beating on England because the rest of the players will do their job well.

I think Pujara is injured and probably will not be available for England tour. Somebody can give updates on his injury.

[Fontaine]

I think Pujara is injured and probably will not be available for England tour. Somebody can give updates on his injury.

He'll be fine. Don't know about the results from the MRI scan but the fact that he had no swelling afterwards pretty much means there won't be any ligament/structural damage.

[Serani]

Ian Bell looking like he will score a lot of runs this summer.