England tour of India - Oct 14 - Oct 29, 2011

[asterix]

^ Masala news.. But Jimmy Paaji is a tough cookie.. With him in the selection panel, Chika will have to more careful till the end of his term. I can foresee Jimmy becoming the chief selector in the next panel.. It will be good...

[rkt.india]

A news channel reporting of a serious faceoff between MSD and Amarnath in yday's selection meeting. MSD was backing Bhajji, RPS and Nehra, Amarnath was dead against it and told MSD to tone down his requests considering the disastrous Eng tour, that bthe team needed new faces and that the selectors wanted youngsters. MSD then gave up and asked the selectors to chose whoever they wanted to pick! Also Jimmy Paji told MSD you have played Clt20,now you have to play in the Eng ODIs as well. Not sure how true the story is, but looks like Jimmy Paaji is on a mission. Won't be surprised to see the Amarnath-MSD tussle taking new turns in the future.

But one thing is for sure Aravind ka fayda ho gaya while RP and Nehra both are better bowlers than him. Jimmy should have had a look at Aravind first before selecting.

[mishra]

Lets see..... Lala is very genuine guy. MSD would have accepted his arguments. I think media is just spicing it up

[vishalvirsingh]

I feel umesh is somtimes too full in trying for ytorker or else he becomes so short that even at his ppace he gives enuf chance to batters to hit him.... He jst needs to bowl good length baLls on offstump n outside the offside stump... Neither bowl too full nor short and he will be successfull. I feel Varun and umesh have a grand chance to play as Vinay n arvind r definitely bot better than them....PK is certain to play , umesh is a better fielder than varun though. If these 2 guys bowl well than they can really race ahead of many fast bowlers and become certainities ...its a golden oppurtunity for them..

[Texy]

HOW THE EFF does Vinay run faster than ball speed Kumar gets selected over and over again?? he must know ppl in high places ...this is fkin ridiculous.....

[Rahul48]

Selection of spinners is good

[Tiger80]

India will have a point to prove: Cook http://www.rediff.com/cricket/slide-show/slide-show-1-india-will-have-a-point-to-prove-cook/20110930.htm England outplayed India in all three formats of the game in their recent home series but One-day skipper Alastair Cook says beating M S Dhoni's men in their backyard in an ODI series next month would be a lot tougher task. Stating that Indian team would be "itching" for revenge, Cook said, "Of course it will be difficult over there. They will have a point to prove and the conditions will obviously suit them. I doubt we will see much green grass on the wickets we play on. "They are world champions at home and itching to get revenge. It is down to us and how we cope with conditions and how we play. The best players adapt to that. We have players who have never played in India in an England shirt. "The learning curve will be so steep but they will handle it well," Cook told Daily Telegraph. India suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat in One-dayers in England in a five-match series last month with a match washed out and another ending in a tie. England also humbled India 4-0 in a Test series that resulted in the latter losing their No 1 ranking. Although Cook is aware that a number of key players in the Indian team -- Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh -- have been ruled out of the first two ODIs due to injuries, he admitted that on home turf, India are a tough side to beat. The tour of India is certainly going to be a litmus test for Cook, both as captain and as a player because England have not beaten India in a One-day series in India since 1985, with their last two series ending in 5-1 and 5-0 thrashings. But Cook is drawing confidence from a good summer in One-dayers where he has averaged 58 and scored runs at a strike rate of 95. "It could not have gone too much better for me," said Cook. "As a batsman I always said I could play One-day cricket for England. I had to back that up with action straightaway and as a captain you want to start well as a player. It gives you that added sense of authority. It kind of ends doubts and helps your captaincy. "It takes time for you to get used to being captain of the side and the coach and players get used to you. Really, I have only done it for six weeks. It takes longer than that but people are working out how I do things and what I expect from

[Dravid_TheWall]

The hope lies on our batting to score big runs and put pressure on them in that manner. If this does not happen, we will struggle.

[Dravid_TheWall]

Vinay is mentor to Mithun and Aravind for state team, sorry that was just too funny when I read that on cricinfo. How Vinay retained his place despite looking like garbage in every match he has played in international cricket is beyond me. Ojha should be in ODI squad, what has he done wrong! Same for Yusuf Pathan. Otherwise good squad.

[Cricket Tragic]

^Yeah but the batting lacks firepower tbh. No Sehwag/SRT at the top and Yuvraj in the middle order. It would be better for us if the wickets take some turn.

[WC2011INDIA]

^Yeah but the batting lacks firepower tbh. No Sehwag/SRT at the top and Yuvraj in the middle order. It would be better for us if the wickets take some turn.

Eh. I don't know. On Indian flat pitches, these young batsmen can easily put up a total of 280+. Even 300+ is possible.

[Cricket Tragic]

If the pitch is actually flat, 280 won't be enough with our bowling attack.

[SachDan]

If the pitch is actually flat' date=' 280 won't be enough with [b']our bowling attack.

True that. Our bowlers will find it difficult to defend anything less than 320.

[Tiger80]

'Irony that I walk in the team as Bhajji goes out' Rahul Sharma http://www.rediff.com/cricket/slide-show/slide-show-1-irony-that-i-walk-in-the-team-as-bhajji-goes-out/20110930.htm In the reckoning since his stupendous performance for Pune Warriors in the last IPL, leg spinner Rahul Sharma says it is a "dream come true" to find a place in India's ODI squad for the first two matches against England. "It is like dream come true for me. It is a reward of my hard work and good performances in IPL and also in domestic cricket over the years," the lanky spinner told reporters on the eve of Rest of India's Irani Trophy match against Rajasthan. The 24-year-old Sharma shot into prominence after bagging 16 wickets with a miserly economy rate of 5.46 runs, which was the best among bowlers who had played more than five matches. Also the fact that he battled a career-threatening facial nerve disorder problem made him stand out. But the Punjab lad is a touch sad with that he won't be able to bowl in tandem with his senior state-mate. "It is an irony that I walk in the team as Bhajji goes out. I wanted to play with him and bowl in tandem with him," he said. Rahul was quick to acknowledge Harbhajan's influence on his career. "I hail from Jalandhar in Punjab and Bhajji has been great help to me. I see this opportunity as a new challenge and I wish to give my hundred percent because that's what matters the most," he said. He felt a good show against England will enhance his chances of making it to the national team that will tour Down Under at the end of this year. "I too had to struggle like all others to reach this point, and also had to recover from a back injury [he missed the Emerging Tour]. The Indian team leaves for Australia in near future and I want to consolidate my position with some good performances," the youngster said. Sharma did admit that Twenty20 makes spinners a bit more defensive trying to stem the flow of runs, but claimed he has a few tricks up his sleeve after working on suggestions from the legendary Anil Kumble. "Yes, the IPL tends to make spinners a bit defensive, but I try to be as accurate as possible. Anil Kumble has also insisted that I maintain my accuracy. I feel accuracy, use of the crease and the bounce which I am able to extract is the biggest strength of my bowling," the six feet four inch tall leggie stated. "Kumble is my idol. He has often helped me and I have been successful in adding a few new tricks in my armoury with his help in the nets," he said. Rahul has had the rare distinction of dismissing Sachin Tendulkar twice in the last edition of IPL and that is one memory he savours. "I was able to get his wicket twice in IPL but I had to focus hard while bowling to him because he is technically the best. Dravid and Sachin are great players and I don't think I have reached a level where I am eligible to talk about their greatness," he said, with all humility.

[WC2011INDIA]

If the pitch is actually flat' date=' 280 won't be enough with [b']our bowling attack.

I know. You were mentioning about batting. I back these players to score 280+ in each game. I am hoping that bowlers like Vinay who apparently are good at taking wickets on Indian pitches, will deliver.

[Tiger80]

Eh. I don't know. On Indian flat pitches' date=' these young batsmen can easily put up a total of 280+. Even 300+ is possible.[/quote'] Even then England managed to chase 338 .Now our bowling is much weaker than what it was in WC

[div]

Our spinners are much taller than the medium pacers

[Cricket Tragic]

True that. Our bowlers will find it difficult to defend anything less than 320.

[asterix]

Vinay is mentor to Mithun and Aravind for state team, sorry that was just too funny when I read that on cricinfo. How Vinay retained his place despite looking like garbage in every match he has played in international cricket is beyond me. Ojha should be in ODI squad, what has he done wrong! Same for Yusuf Pathan. Otherwise good squad.

Why can't Vinay be mentor of Mithun & Aravind? Vinay is an experienced India international player...

[Number]

yup.. Ashwin - 6'2'' Rahul - 6'4'' looks are also a bit similar.