Lords test 2011 : Predictions and discussion

[EnterTheVoid]

James Lawton: Arrogant tourists' refusal to embrace technology was nothing short of sabotage Saturday, 23 July 2011 If India had been an omelette rather than the world's No 1 cricket nation – at least for a few more weeks – they would surely have been sent straight back to the kitchen in the first desultory, rain-smeared action of the 2,000th Test match at Lord's. Critically undercooked in the field and at the bowling crease, they were so much less than what they might have been. However, their greatest disservice to the game they have so often adorned so brilliantly came before their captain M S Dhoni won the toss and promptly backed away from the challenge of pitting such batting titans as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman against the swing potential of Jimmy Anderson and Co. Right or wrong, Dhoni made a strategic decision. What India did, at the insistent advocacy of their captain, when arguing successfully against lbw verdicts under the Decision Review System, was nothing less than sabotage. It would have been bad enough if Dhoni's team had not so recently hastened the retirement of experienced Australian umpire Daryl Harper with a distasteful, though unfortunately not unprecedented, attack on official credibility following some debatable decisions in a Test match against the West Indians. That was a bullying performance which, ironically enough, perfectly illustrated the most important benefit of cricket's wider willingness to embrace technology. The Indians say that the predictive capacity of Hawk-Eye is less than infallible and, scientifically and practically, they may have a point. But then when you consider the weight of probabilities – and the certainty that without DRS cricket will inevitably see the return of the vice that so routinely dragged it into the sports gutter – the overwhelming reaction must be anger. Anger that a team which in the past has inflicted some of the most outrageous pressure on match officials – notably when Jamaica's Steve Bucknor was forced out of the 2008 series in Australia following the controversy of Harbhajan Singh's alleged racist remark to Andrew Symonds – has derailed a system which, while less than completely perfect, wiped away at the flick of a button some of cricket's worst ills. It was certainly one small blessing that, when Zaheer Khan was given the lbw against Alastair Cook on the first day at Lord's, it was a finely calculated but correct decision. Otherwise cue pressure on match officials, charges of bias and lament that if Hawk-Eye has a small margin of error in it, it is infinitely less than that of even the most accomplished and nerveless umpires. Before technology, there was a contagion of cheap and relentlessly cynical appealing. It was the open sore of cricket, the permanent assault on its old claim to be a game of manners and ultimate sportsmanship. That may always have been a myth, and certainly the great W G Grace did his best to dismantle it, but there has been no questions about the uplifting consequences of DRS. The new, swift arbitration succeeded in all but a dismissal of the claim that inevitably it undermined the authority of match officials. But what kind of authority is it that can be routinely exposed by the television camera? Bucknor and Harper, even they might agree, were capable of mistakes – huge, match-changing ones – and would they and their supporters really argue that some notional dignity is more important than the need to get the big decisions right as often as possible? Beyond this basic argument is the disturbing impression of the power of Indian cricket to inflict its will on every issue, every situation. If Dhoni had been speaking of an errant hotel porter in the West Indies instead of an umpire he might have been criticised for overweening arrogance. Dhoni said: "If the correct decisions had been made the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now." Maybe he would have had someone running his bath, which at least would have given him a little more undisturbed time to consider the truth that he had just happened to overlook. The all-conquering Indians had been delayed by what they believed to be human error – the problem which DRS has so largely, so brilliantly, overcome. The Indian board claims that it has always "expressed a willingness to embrace technology for the good of the game". Yet no one is in doubt that from its rupee-pile of influence it set the ground rules for the current series. In all the debate over the future of Test cricket, whether it has the ability to retain the interest, even the love, of a majority of cricket fans, there should be one fundamental position. It is that every decision should be about shaping the future of a living, endlessly engaging force, rather than preserving some of the worst of its past. In the latter category there is doubt about the malevolent role of those who, without a shred of conscience, have sought to apply maximum pressure to the men in the white coats. For a little while such perversion of working justice was not merely checked but put into reverse. You could see it in the dwindling of a bowler's belief that he had the right to pursue every faint possibility that an umpire might be proved wrong. You could see it in the pensive expressions of captains anxious to hang on to their ability to challenge those decisions which were plainly outrageous. Whatever the Indians achieve in the next few days, nothing could exceed the value of a touch of humility – and competitive decency – in this matter so crucial to the game which in so many ways they have superbly enhanced. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/james-lawton-arrogant-tourists-refusal-to-embrace-technology-was-nothing-short-of-sabotage-2318950.html

What the **** ?!?!? You've got to be kidding me.

[Blue Panther]

I thought aussie media had this attitude towards tourists...

[Ultimate_Game]

Our lower order batting After witnessing the batting performance on Day 3 what should be a concern for us is total lack of support from our lower order to Dravid. There were 4 ducks in all in the bottom half of our innings and even PK could very well gone for a duck the way he was playing. You don't expect your lower order to get 50s or 100s but surely is it too much to ask the lower order to try and support well set batsman at the other end? They may have helped play out 15-20 overs more if they had shown a bit more gumption. They should at least aim at frustrating and tiring the opponent bowlers out and keep the opponent in the field as long as they can. One thing is sure - if they play the same way they did in the 1st innings the match would be lost and maybe even the series.

[EnterTheVoid]

The guy is talking out of his rectum when he expected India to pass up the advantage of bowling first. As for the remaining ramblings, meh, whatever.

[Ultimate_Game]

I thought aussie media had this attitude towards tourists...

It's the same in Eng as well. It's just that before now they weren't any good so the media had to keep it's mouth shut :haha:

[Alchemist]

I understand the frustration as of today. But recently our lower order is doing a great job. Today was on off day at the office for every one.

[Ultimate_Game]

I understand the frustration as of today. But recently our lower order is doing a great job. Today was on off day at the office for every one.

It's not just the performance but the lack of thinking or planning. For example we had 30 odd runs to save the follow on and we had Dravid well set. Instead of trying to support Dravid we saw Harbhajan flash 1st ball outside off and PK played as if it was the final over of a T20. PK was able to score a few runs but he very well could have gone early on. I am all for being aggressive and positive but surely they need to have a bit of common sense as well. Such an approach was justified if Dravid had gotten out or if we were still some ways off follow on. Percentage cricket was to support Dravid to get the 30 runs and then play for as long as possible as every over played out was as crucial as runs scored.

[pensionplan]

Yeah, probably England's team ran up some numbers on stats guru like you when they declared at Chennai before Sehwag smashed them to bits - oh the predictive power of stats guru! :(( Last I heard, the English team had sued stats guru and cricinfo for making them lose the Chennai test.

No but seriously go look at how many games where it meant something going into late 4th or 5th days Sehwag had an impact and compare that with VVS or SRT or GG or even RD in the last 3 years and you will see for yourself outside of just crunching in numbers which I do not support anyway. Plus any which way you look at a mere 30 average in the second team innings is not something worthy of a batsman to be branded great IMO and I wholeheartedly want Sehwag to corrrect that and up the ante before his career is over.

[surajmal]

why must pakis resort to hide their true identities (pakiness) from others. You people do the same thing in US and Canada. You open businesses with Indian sounding names or try to pass yourself as Indian so as to not be ostracized. It really is an interesting phenomenon. Would you mind shedding a light on this? (this is a question to all the mouthbreathing paklurks)

[Ultimate_Game]

why must pakis resort to hide their true identities (pakiness) from others. You people do the same thing in US and Canada. You open businesses with Indian sounding names or try to pass yourself as Indian so as to not be ostracized. It really is an interesting phenomenon. Would you mind shedding a light on this? (this is a question to all the mouthbreathing paklurks)

I can understand why pakis do so when running a business as they can end up making more profit by targeting indian market but what beats me is why would you do so on the internet? i mean would you pose as a Paki or assume the identity of one, go through the trouble of getting a nick which sounds Paki and then hunt for an avatar that looks paki? Just so that you can go on a forum to spite folks you don't even know!!! That's one hell of an inferiority complex!

[Blue Panther]

I would set a target of more than 500 so that india would just want to draw the match and lose wickets.

[Ultimate_Game]

I would set a target of more than 500 so that india would just want to draw the match and lose wickets.

That would take too much time and will leave India with a very gettable draw. To set a target of 500 Eng will have to score 300 more which will take day 4 leaving India to bat just one day - not gonna happen.

[Roshanrocks]

If i were Strauss..... I would ask my batsmen to see off first hour of the day, accelerate after that.... See what we have at lunch... If we manage to even 100 at lunch, we cud go beserk after lunch, score another 100 odd in quick time and let India bat as long as possible. If i was Strauss I would think about rain interruption as well and plan to bowl MAX overs at India.... I wudnt bother about the target as i wud be confident india wont go for the chase and will play for a draw If I was Strauss....

[crics]

After watching the first Innings, I am sure it will be a draw. If you noticed, the main scorers were Mukund (didn't expect him to score 25+) and Dravid. As we all know, our batsmen gets better after each match in away matches, I cannot see Gambhir, Sachin, Laxman and Raina repeating their mistakes.

[jeeves]

tendulkar batted with fever India's battle to save the first Test against England could be in further mess after it was learnt that Sachin Tendulkar batted in the first innings with fever and may bat only after the fall of India's fifth wicket in the second innings if he doesn't take field on Sunday. Tendulkar remained absent on the field for the short period England batted in their second innings on Saturday after India were bowled out for 286. The little master was running a fever when he joined centurion Rahul Dravid in the middle, with India's score reading 77 for the loss of two wickets. He did well to survive until lunch break and kept the hopes of his 100th international century alive with some exhilarating strokeplay to start the second session on day three. After he was out, caught at second slip off Stuart Broad for 34, he had spent nearly an hour and a half in the middle with fever. And soon after returning to the dressing room, the little master left the ground for team hotel. It has also been learnt that he has been put on antibiotics. But with his team fighting to save the match, Tendulkar needs to be at his best in India's second innings, or else England could run away with a 0-1 lead in the four-match series. However, as per rules, Tendulkar would be required to field during England's second innings on Sunday to bat at No. 4. Failure to do so will not allow him to take guard before the fall of fifth Indian wicket in their second innings. India conceded a big first innings lead of 188 runs after the famed batting lineup, except Dravid, failed to deliver.

[wobblydoggy]

We will win this. Strauss will set a target of 400 runs in 130 overs. 3 runs per over. We will bat very well in second innings and win the match. :P

I think not, the one thing Strauss will be wary of is that terrific batting line up you have. No, I see England trying to hit a quick 320-50 and putting you in this evening for fifteen overs

[Roshanrocks]

:((

[wobblydoggy]

Yup. Take time and overs off the match by going with 8-1 field or asking Bhajji to bowl darts outside leg with 5 fielders on the leg side.

Dhoni has already been warned this year for a poor over rate. He will have to be careful or he will be sitting out the next test

[Trichromatic]

I think not, the one thing Strauss will be wary of is that terrific batting line up you have. No, I see England trying to hit a quick 320-50 and putting you in this evening for fifteen overs

Yeah, I know that. I don't think England will bat for only 2 sessions today. No matter how Indian batting has performed, England would like to set a target of 450 and make sure that India can never have enough overs. If they try to draw then that's where England can create lot of pressure on them. After all, if England thinks that they can win match in 130 overs then they can do so in 115 overs also. They would go for later in my opinion.

[Trichromatic]

Dhoni has already been warned this year for a poor over rate. He will have to be careful or he will be sitting out the next test

This innings will be very tough for Dhoni. When opposition tries to score quickly, maintaining over rate can be even more difficult.