Things I noticed so far in the Eng-India series

[indiaregulator]

Simply my two pence on the series so far: 1) Unless you are really special, you can't do much as a seamer Five seamers have played in the two tests so far. Three for England and Two for India. None of them have really done anything worthy of note. For India, the best Zaheer has done is kept things tight on one end of the scorecard but in terms of wickets, he really hasn't done much. He took 3 wickets in the first test but they were not due to good deliveries but poor shots or technique. Yadav performed okay in the first test but most of his wickets were tailenders or due to terrible LBW decisions. You have to however give him credit for taking Bell and Patel in two successive balls which sparked the beginnning of the end for England in the first test, (though one could argue Patel was never 'out'.) England's fast bowling have been just as good, or abject if you would say. Broad has bowled horribly and his usual impeccable line and length that we saw in the home series' against West Indies and India and in the UAE has been wayward in the two tests he has played. Something is fundeamentally wrong with his as both his accuracy and pace as fallen since the beginning of the South Africa series. Before he was a RFM with a great line and length and now he is just a trundler bowling pies. He needs to be dropped for the next test. Anderson has bowled okay but again, there hasn't been much in terms of seam movement or reverse swing. He bowled well and troubled Gambhir and Sehwag in one of his opening spells and trapped Gambhir LBW with a beautiful inswinger but apart from that, there hasn't been anything going for one of the world's best swing maestro's. I have to say I'm very surprised given his outstanding performances in Australia's flat pitches, where his reverse swing troubled all the Australian batsman. I expected better from him. There isn't much to say about Bresnan. He isn't a great strike bowler and is there to keep one end locked up and is only an explicit threat when the conditions suit him. To bowl well as a seamer in the subcontinent you need two things. A line just short of good on the offstump line and pace. We saw Dale Steyn run through the India order in 2010. When he realized that there wasn't much in the way of swing, he ramped his pace up to the 150's and the rest is history. Glenn Mcgrath traditionally has bowled very well in the subcontinent due to his natural line and length being exactly what is needed on Indian pitches. This leads on to my next point. England have one last trump card they have left to play; the exceptionally talented Steven Finn. I think he is going to do well for two key reasons. His line and length is almost identical to that of Mcgrath. He drops it short of a length just outside offstump making it hard for batsman to do anything other than defend. The second point is that he has pace, lots of pace. In the recent T20 world cup, he was the fastest bowler on show, almost 3KPH higher on average than the next fastest, Mitchell Starc. In fact, in the game vs West Indies, he was clocked at 155KPH. If Finn can maintain a pace of 140-145 whilst keeping his natural line and length, there is nothing to suggest he isn't going to take wickets. Especially when the pitch at Kolkata apparently has assistance to the seamers. 2) "Mystery" is a myth. For some strange reason, over the last few years there has been a mini-obsession with mystery bowlers. It was summerized quite bizzarely and hilariously when Sri Lanka decided to pick a rookie who had never bowled a first class match before (whos name is so long that I cannot even begin to fathom) just because he can bowl: Leg Break, Doosra, Arm Ball, Carrom Ball, Googly and an Offbreak. Never mind that he has a poor control of line and length, just because he has six variations it must mean he is naturally going to succeed, correct?! Wrong. In the past few years a number of mystery bowlers have appeared from various countries. The two Mendis' from Sri Lanka, Ajmal from Pakistan and Narine from West Indies. You could even count Harbhajan Singh as a mystery bowler. Yet only one of them is currently a world class test bowler. Narine debuted in England and was carthwheeled for fifty three runs in thirteen overs and did next to nothing. Mendis has been dropped from the test team for Herath and Randiv, neither of whom are exactly big turners of the ball. Harbhajan Singh now bowls darts and can't seem to flight the ball nor drift the ball. Why? Because he got so obsessed with his 'Doosra' that he bowled in so much and practicsed it so much that his natural offspin was dismantled. Narine and Mendis succeed in the shorter formats because Batsman have to attack them and in doing so the variations can undo them. But in test formats, sustained pressure is the key and if you bowl leg stump one delivery and offstump the next, consistent pressure if never going to be obtained. The only mystery bowler who succeeds in test cricket is Saed Ajmal. Why? Because he doesn't forsake his mystery for his offspin. To him, flight and delivery and turn are the most important and his doosra is just an extra weapon in his armory. He sustains pressure on batsman but bowling great lines and lengths on the same spot and then, only then, when the Batsman are pressurized into scoring runs, does he start to unleash his variations which will undoubtedly catch the batsman off guard. Did Shane Warne have mystery? Nope, he didn't. But his leg breaks were so good no batsman could do anything about them. Muralitharan certainly had mystery. But he wasn't reliant on it. His offbreaks were beautifully flighted and they turned almost like legbreaks. He, like Ajmal, only used it sparingly. We saw today that the best spinners in world cricket and still mostly classical spinners. Ajmal aside, the best spinners are Swann, Ojha, Panesar and Ashwin. We saw how well Ojha, Panesar and Swann bowled. With drift, pace, turn and bounce batsman found it hard to play these three. Ashwin on the other hand tried to use his mystery far too often. He played like a T20 bowler. Every delivery was something different and seldom did he hit the same spot four or five times in a row. His teamate on the other hand just flighted it on the off stump line and turned the ball. Batsman had to defend and it was difficult to get away scoring. This created pressure and this in turn gave him wickets. 3) If it wasn't obvious already, it now is: Matt Prior is the best wicketkeeper/batsman since Adam Gilchrist. In test cricket anyway. How many times have you seen England collapse to 100/5 and then Matt Prior comes up with a run and ball half century or century? In the UAE against Pakistan in the first innings, Prior scored more than the top six put together. When the cards fall, Prior always stands tall. To average 44 at a strike rate of 64 is just incredible especially when he bats at number 7. We've seen how wicket-keeping can affect a batsman. Just look at the respective stats of AB-Devilliers and Kumar Sangakarra. Their averages drop almost 10 runs to their non-keeping batting average due to the burden of keeping. 4) There is too much dead wood in the India side No offense to the people here, but are the Indian selectors genuinelly stupid? We England fans know Yuvraj Singh is not a test player. Indian fans know that Yuvraj Singh is not a test player. All the pundits know he is not a test player. And we've all known it for atleast a few years. So why, pray tell, do the selectors INSIST on picking him. He looked like a Deer caught in headlights when he was batting against Swann. He did not know whether to attack or defend, whether to come down the track or to play on the back foot. Eventually he sort of did a mix between the two and ended up edging it to point. He's a fantastic player in ODI's and T20's but the test arena just isn't his forte. Can't somebody slap the selectors? Tendulkar needs to retire. He's an all time great, no doubt about that whatsoever but he is doing nothing but harming him own legacy here but ploughing on what seems to be an empty tank. He was on the great players of spin. To watch him become Monty Panesar's bunny is depressing, even for an England fan. His reactions are not there anymore either. He doesn't think in time to deal with a chance in circumstances. Please do the right thing retire Sachin, because I know for a fact everyone loves you far too much to even suggest to drop you. Do what is right for India and give a youngster a chance. Gautum Gambhir needs to be dropped. It's as simple as. Four years ago his average was touching the fifties. Now his batting average has fallen between forty five. Simply put, he isn't that good anymore. The arrogance and complacency doesn't always help him either. He is nicknamed "The angry dwarf" by England and Australian fans and for good reason. Constructive critisicm seems to enter one ear and exit through the next. Please somebody do the right thing and drop him. India have quite a few batsman coming through. Give one of Tiwary or Ajinka Rahane a chance. I watched Rahane in the England-India ODI series in England in 2011 and he impressed me quite a bit. I think there is a chance he will do well. But please don't drop Gambhir and replace him with "Nohit" Sharma. 5) England have battings woes of their own. When Jonathan Trott debuted for England in the 2009 ashes series he was a breath of fresh air. In all my life of watching England, we've always had talented but underachieving number 3's. We had Nasser Hussain who, as good a captain as he was, wasn't good enough to be the No.3 of a test team such as England. We had Michael Vaughan who was mightily pleasing to the eye but sometimes just could not cope with the pressure. We experimented with various numbers threes, from Ian Bell who did not perform as well as he did lower down the order to downright embarrasing choices such as Ravi Bopara who should never again but the England whites ever again. When Trott strolled in against the Aussies and scored an untroubled century, I thought we had hit gold. And we did. From 2009, his debut, to 2011 just before the India series he had the highest batting average outside of Donald Bradman. He had Gritt, determination, a wonderful defensive technique and a great cover drive. Now his average has fallen below fifty and hasn't made a century since 2011 against the Sri Lankans. He needs to get in form again because when he was at his best he was simply marvellous and the closest thing to Rahul Dravid in terms of defensive solidarity. Now he struggles to get out of single figures and when he does, he usually falls in the 20's and 30's. Please Trott, get back in form. If you do, then you solve so much of our problems. England's number 6 is also a problem. Samit Patel is not a test quality player. I've said this before and I'll say it even now. I don't know why Morgan cannot perform in the test arena. In ODI's his temperament and defensive technique is solid and the way he treats the spinners is a joy to watch. Sweeps, Reverse sweeps, Reverse-Reverse-Sweeps, he has so many ways to kill a spinner on paper, he should be England's best player of spin. Which is so strange given he has been so awful against spin in test matches. Him and Ian Bell, on paper should be our two best players of spin due to their excellent footwork and wide variety of strokes. But they're the worst. I don't know much of Jonny Baristow to comment. But I hope either Morgan achieves his potential in the test arena or Bairstow excels. Bell isn't a liability. Although he seems to be innocuous in the subcontinent, he is still fantastic in home pitches and his shots and so well timed and aestheticlaly pleasing. To wrap this point up, Nick Compton hasn't had the best of starts yet. But hopefully his 30 from 28 balls will given him the much needed confidence that will make him excel. The bloke averaged 99.89 in county cricket last season so the quality is definetely there. But can he apply it is the question. 6) Captain Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh Cook isn't the most talented of batsman. He doesn't have the booming covers drives perfectly timed by Ian Bell nor the 'loft over the bowlers head for 6' destructive power that Pietersen has. But he is so damn efficient and he takes so much responsibility. He has the never say die gritty attitude that reminded me of Waugh. His wicket is always so hard to take and his concentration levels never seem to falter, as does his stamina and concentration. Let's put it this way: The man does not sweat. It doesn't matter the situation the team is in, he does not give up and does not give into adversary. His professionalism off the field is also unmatched. Many thought that Cook taking over the captaincy will be an extra burden to him, but it has been the complete opposite. Responsibility seem to make him excel further. As captain of England he averages 116.50 in the test arena and in ODI's, he averages 47.30 at a strike rate of 89 as captain. Those are some staggering stats. It seems that the so called burden of captaincy makes him strive even more to lead by example and that is exactly what he has done. 7) Kohli isn't ready yet, Pujara looks quality Let's start with Pujara. There hasn't been much hype about him but boy does this kid look good. He seems technically impeccable and his temperament is also admirable. He stands when others fall and that in itself is a gift. He reminds me alot like Dravid. His defensive technique and his footwork is also excellent. He was cheaply dismissed in the second innings in Mumbai but that was the spinners excellency as opposed to his own deficiency. He hasn't been hyped to the stars but he has quietly and almost indeed selflessly perfomed as his country requires. Kohli is the sheer opposite. He has been hyped to be the next Tendulkar and in ODI's certainly seems to be fufilling that but there has been something missing about him in test match cricket. The way he got out to the Swann full toss was almost embarassing. However, I'm willing to bet had that been an ODI match that would have been dispatched for four at the minimum. It seems that Kohli is nervous and scared in test matches. I think India should organize a few test matches against Sri Lanka. That would certainly improve Kohli's confidence as he is probably the biggest Sri Lanka basher in the world. 8) There is nobody like Pietersen. This isn't really a new observation but I feel it appropriate to be here. There is nobody in the world who is as destructive, ruthless and talented as Pietersen. Sehwag in the subcontinent is certainly admirable but oversea's he is a sitting duck and nowhere near as effective. Pietersen performs everywhere. He smashed two of the greatest bowlers of all time in his debut series at the Oval (Warne and Mcgrath). He annihalted one of the greatest spinners of all time (Murali). At Headingly, he treated the best bowler of this generation like filth. In Comlumbo, he smashed Sri Lanka's spinners on a turner. Now in Mumbai, on a bunsen burner, he dispatched Ashwin, Ojha and Harbhajan so easily it wasn't even funny. There is nobody in the world currently like Pietersen. You might be a fan of Amla, Sachin, De Villiers, Ponting, Clarke. But nobody, none of these are able to reproduce the sheer exilleration of KP when he is at his best. He is the closest thing to Viv Richards out of the current generation.

[MechEng]

There is nobody like Pietersen.

[MechEng]

Captain Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[maniac]

:hysterical: Typical English overreaction.. You know intact we shouldn't laugh at them because eating humble pies after bragging is more of a tradition for English fans and it is not ethical to laugh at other traditions

[Cricketics]

I don't think seamers have been given proper chance. I know Anderson and Co have been crap in the past in subcontinent but you can't rule out their chances of doing well on these placid tracks. They weren't the ball to bowl much. Panesar, patel and Swann pretty much bowled the most.

[Sachin=GOD]

tl;dr

[indiaregulator]

Captain Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh

Typical English overreaction.. You know intact we shouldn't laugh at them because eating humble pies after bragging is more of a tradition for English fans and it is not ethical to laugh at other traditions

Tell me which part consists of bragging or is an overreaction? That Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh? Let's put it this way. Unless something seriously wrong happens, Cook will end up with more centuries, more runs than Steve Waugh. Did you even read it? I never even said that they are of similiar stats. I said that they are of similar style. You obviously didn't read it. And name one player currently playing who plays like KP. I dare you to do that.

[maniac]

Tell me which part consists of bragging or is an overreaction? That Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh? Let's put it this way. Unless something seriously wrong happens, Cook will end up with more centuries, more runs than Steve Waugh. Did you even read it? I never even said that they are of similiar stats. I said that they are of similar style. You obviously didn't read it. And name one player currently playing who plays like KP. I dare you to do that.

The fact that your team was thoroughly out played in the first game and of course Kudos for playing exceptional cricket in the 2nd test but you could have waited a little more to shower your praises....One good test and all of a sudden Kp is Richards and Cook is steve waugh.....what next Monty is the 2nd coming of Warne and Swann the 2nd coming of Murali

[indiaregulator]

but you could have waited a little more to shower your praises....One good test and all of a sudden Kp is Richards and Cook is steve waugh.....what next Monty is the 2nd coming of Warne and Swann the 2nd coming of Murali

"There is nobody like KP currently playing" = "KP IS RICHARDS!!!11!1Zomg!11!!one!!!!!11!1!" "Cook's batting style reminds me of Waugh" = "COOK IS CURRENTLY AS GOOD AS STEVE WAUGH" Yes. 1 + 1 = 3. I doubt you read anything other than the bolded titles.

[panther]

Great post :hatsoff:

[MechEng]

"There is nobody like KP currently playing" = "KP IS RICHARDS!!!11!1Zomg!11!!one!!!!!11!1!" "Cook's batting style reminds me of Waugh" = "COOK IS CURRENTLY AS GOOD AS STEVE WAUGH" Yes. 1 + 1 = 3. I doubt you read anything other than the bolded titles.

You think Cook has the balls to face this fellow?

[The Outsider]

Too harsh an assessment of Yadav. He has been by far the stand out fast bowler of the series. He picked up wickets, but besides that was constantly troubling the batsmen with his reverse swing. Too bad he is out for the next match, and maybe the series because the Calcutta pitch would have suited him more. Finn needs to come in from England's point of view, but with Bresnan already out I am no sure if England will lengthen their tail even further by dropping Broad. Not that Broad has been doing much with the bat. Agree with you about mystery spinners and Prior. Regarding the Indian batting, the squad has already been announced, so there are not going to be any changes except perhaps Rahane getting a game in place of Yuvraj. Your expectations of Trott seemed to have been higher than his abilities. It was difficult to envisage Trott having a 50+ career forget about sustaining the kind of start he had. It's more a Gambhir like situation for him where the initial start to the career led to very high expectations perhaps, but then he was always going to come down to the mid 40s level. I have never understood the rationale behind people touting Bell as a good player of spin and Morgan is a joke of a test batsman. Kohli needs to bat at number 4 even if Tendulkar is going to play. India goes from 2 to 3 down in no time, when he comes in. And that's certainly not an excuse for an experienced batsman to underperform, a new batsman at the test stage is going to feel the pressure. He also needs to start placing his drives better, so that instead of hitting it powerfully and straight to fielders he can get some more singles and rotate the strike. At the moment he is getting stuck at one end for too long. Not sure what to make of your Cook and Waugh comparison. Frankly, Waugh was just a much much better batsman than Cook and it's too early to give a verdict on Cook's captaincy. Pietersen praise is way over the top. Sehwag has scored at a much faster rate than Pietersen over his career and done it opening the batting. Yeah, Sehwag failed on his previous tours to South Africa, Australia, and England but he has scored runs and centuries in all these countries in the past. And Pietersen's record is not too flash in a lot of countries either - he typically has one superb innings per series. His average in Asia is 40 and has failed in South Africa. Not sure how he is clearly better than Sehwag.

[indiaregulator]

You think Cook has the balls to face this fellow?

I don't see how this is relevant whatsoever. Does Tendulkar have the balls to whack out Steyn and Morkel in a bouncer war? No, but KP did. Does not mean KP > Sachin. Never once did I mention that Cook was as good a batsman as Waugh. I said that their STYLES were similar. Gritty, never say die attitude and the personal responsibility as a captain.

[Clarke]

Not bad, agree on half the stuff i.e. Indian dead wood (lol), Prior, seamers on many Indian wickets & English batting woes. - Bhajji never was a mystery bowler. He sort of had the doosra although I rarely saw that appear as much of a legspinner as Saqlain/Ajmal could deliver. Then again, a mystery bowler completely changes his action to deliver leg spin. Ashwin on the other hand showed some promise with conventional off spin in a spell or two in Australia. - Too early to judge Cook as captain. - Kohli, still early days wrt tests. He was good to watch in Aus not in terms of scores & averages but how he improved across the series against decent fast bowling. - KP still has this "on his day" tag. He is world class, that's when he gets going. - The thing about seamers, I recall even Hoggard got a 7 for some years back. If one can generate some reverse swing which can be really difficult to handle, there are a number of wickets to be grabbed.

[MechEng]

I don't see how this is relevant whatsoever. Does Tendulkar have the balls to whack out Steyn and Morkel in a bouncer war? No, but KP did. Does not mean KP > Sachin. Never once did I mention that Cook was as good a batsman as Waugh. I said that their STYLES were similar. Gritty, never say die attitude and the personal responsibility as a captain.

cdZNF9hzoMU

[saneindian]

If the gap between the two sides was as yawning as the OP would like us to believe, then England should go onto win 3-1. More chances of the reverse happening. Huge credit to England. but complacency in our camp led to the downfall at Mumbai, expect a better performance at Kolkata.

[NareshK]

Unless you are really special, you can't do much as a seamer Anderson, Broad and Bresnan were listless in the 1st test and clearly Zaheer and Umesh outbowled them. They got half the side out and got as many wickets as spinners in the 2nd innings. In the second test, it was the spinners who won the match for England. Seamers didnt do anything. So in this series so far, Indian seamers > England seamers. Captain Cook reminds me of Steve Waugh Let's wait a few more years before we make comparisons, shall we ? This is only his first year as test captain. There is too much dead wood in the India side England have battings woes of their own. I agree with these two points.

[SLICKR392]

I don't see how this is relevant whatsoever. Does Tendulkar have the balls to whack out Steyn and Morkel in a bouncer war? No, but KP did. Does not mean KP > Sachin. Never once did I mention that Cook was as good a batsman as Waugh. I said that their STYLES were similar. Gritty, never say die attitude and the personal responsibility as a captain.

cdZNF9hzoMU

[indiaregulator]

1) You well know I meant test matches. 2) Well done, he hooked it for a six. Morne Morkel and Steyn were launching bouncer after bouncer at him at headingly and he was dispatching them for sixes and fours one after the other.

[SLICKR392]

1) You well know I meant test matches. 2) Well done, he hooked it for a six. Morne Morkel and Steyn were launching bouncer after bouncer at him at headingly and he was dispatching them for sixes and fours one after the other.

That's poor bowling! Any batsman can hit boundaries if you keep spraying short balls at them!!!