India Tour of England, June-Sept 2014

[Cricket_Hacker]

Moeen ain't getting dropped after today's knock!

[King Tendulkar]

England should drop Jordan & play stokes' date='drop moeen for a proper spinner.[/quote'] Drop moeen??? You feeling ok?

[rkt.india]

Unpredictability India's strength - Fletcher

Of India's 18-member squad, only MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma have played a Test in England. According to their coach Duncan Fletcher, though, it is this inexperience that might inspire India to play "exciting" cricket in the five-Test series, which begins at Trent Bridge on July 9. Fletcher said unpredictability was one of the strengths of this Indian side, whose defining characteristic is youth. "Without making excuses it is a very, very inexperienced side: If you look at how many Tests our opening batters have played, how many Tests our No. 3 has played, how many Tests our bowlers have played," Fletcher said the day before the first tour match, a three-day game against Leicestershire. "But it is nice sometimes, because being unpredictable they will play some exciting cricket. There are some very, very exciting cricketers in this group who would go on to be very, very good cricketers for India. They might fire from this series and there will be some very, very good cricket played." India and England have been on a topsy-turvy ride since 2011, when Andrew Strauss' men won 4-0 to snatch the No.1 Test ranking off India. A hurt MS Dhoni had said the day before leaving the country that he would "never" forget the tour, in the wake of losing at least ten Indian players to various injuries. The players were hurt, too, and their immediate reaction was that England still had to prove themselves by winning in India. They did that in the winter of 2012-13, when Alastair Cook's side completed a historic 2-1 victory with match-winning performances from Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson and Monty Panesar. Despite being competitive in South Africa and New Zealand, India have not won an away Test for three years. England have also been on the downward slide in the last six months. A 0-5 Ashes whitewash has been followed by a home defeat to Sri Lanka in a hard fought two-Test series, which came on the back of a loss in the ODIs. Before departing India, Fletcher had said it was important to attack Cook and Ian Bell, England's two senior batsmen. Today, Fletcher stressed that India were more keen on winning than on reflecting on what had happened in the past. "Reversing trends is not that important. What is important is that you go out trying to win the series. That's what our objective is - to come here and win the series," he said. Dhoni, sitting next to Fletcher, nodded in agreement. "No not really," he said in response to the question on whether it was a good time to play England. "What you assess is how good a side the opposition is, and I still think England are a fantastic side, which means it will be a tough competition for us. They know the home conditions better than us. It's a long series, five Test matches followed by five ODIs and one T20. Playing a series with five Test matches is something that's entirely new for us. But overall I think it will be really good." Unlike in 2011, when India only played one tour match before the Test series, this time they are playing two and have arrived nearly three weeks before the first Test. The extra time, according to Dhoni, provided the inexperienced players a chance to get acclimatised to the conditions. India landed at Heathrow on Sunday and drove straight to Leicester. They have been involved in light training over the past two days in preparation for the 15-a-side match against Leicestershire. "It's always good to have players who have played in the scenario before but as I've said it's a team that doesn't have too many players in it that have played in England," Dhoni said. "The good thing is a lot of them have played some kind of cricket in England. There are quite a few who were part of the Champions Trophy. There are quite a few who have played in England in other leagues, not just the counties, under-age cricket, maybe the Under-19s. All that really helps but it will be important for those players who have not played too many games to get used to the conditions really quickly. We're here 15 to 20 days before the first Test so that will obviously help."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2014/content/story/755601.html

[BlueBee]

Dafuq wrong with dhobi? :mad: Fletcher is atleast thinking of winning. But Dhoni : England is still a good team...blah blah Why this excuses before the series, Good team, So what? Dhobi dont have the desire and will to win, being defensive before start. Why dont talk of winning it?

[Lord]

Dafuq wrong with dhobi? :mad: Fletcher is atleast thinking of winning. But Dhoni : England is still a good team...blah blah Why this excuses before the series, Good team, So what? Dhobi dont have the desire and will to win, being defensive before start. Why dont talk of winning it?

toh kya bole,England is a pathetic side? agar woh bola toh you'll say hes arrogant and delusional :facepalm:

[BlueBee]

toh kya bole,England is a pathetic side? agar woh bola toh you'll say hes arrogant and delusional :facepalm:

Maine kab bola pathetic side kaho? :poink: I'm just saying that Atleast have that desire to win. Why these excuses ? these simply means you know you're gonna get bashed.

[Lord]

Maine kab bola pathetic side kaho? :poink: I'm just saying that Atleast have that desire to win. Why these excuses ? these simply means you know you're gonna get bashed.

excuse kahaan?good side hi toh bola hai.its all formality.everyone says that. it doesnt mean anything

[BlueBee]

excuse kahaan?good side hi toh bola hai.its all formality.everyone says that. it doesnt mean anything

He said fantastic side :D **** ye Tujhe nahi samjhega :poink:

[BlueBee]

^ Dafuq? I said Cho.D does that mean something else ? :/

[Lord]

He said fantastic side :D **** ye Tujhe nahi samjhega :poink:

tu trolling hi kar,serious discussion tere bas ki baat nahi :poink: kuch bhi bakwaas karta hai :facepalm:

[BlueBee]

tu trolling hi kar,serious discussion tere bas ki baat nahi :poink: kuch bhi bakwaas karta hai :facepalm:

Why you acting like such a buzzkill? :headshake: I'm trying not to troll but you are forcing me to :((

[Lord]

Why you acting like such a buzzkill? :headshake: I'm trying not to troll but you are forcing me to :((

why quit trolling?you are good at it :two_thumbs_up:

[renjith]

these press conferences are mere formality stuff. it has nothing to do with what will actually happen on ground. the kind of comments will depend on cultural difference as well. a mcgrath will say "we will win 5-0 and cook is my bunny for this series" and a dhoni will say. "england is a good team, we cannot under-estimate them" and a mushfiqur rahim will say a more defensive thing.

[BlueBee]

why quit trolling?you are good at it :two_thumbs_up:

I'm not a troll :headshake: I'm a very good and sensible poster. :hatsoff:

[CG]

Dhoni backs Cook ahead of Leicestershire warm-up

While many, including Geoffrey Boycott, are calling for England captain Alastair Cook's head in the wake of the team's 1-0 Test series loss against Sri Lanka, India captain MS Dhoni has surprisingly come out in support of the left-handed batsman. "I think it's very important to back players. It doesn't matter whether he is the captain of the side or a batsman or a bowler," Dhoni told reporters ahead of India's three-day warm-up against Leicestershire starting Thursday. "What's important is for the media to realise what they were saying about him [Alastair Cook] the last time we were here how well he has performed. "A bad phase is something that every player goes through and you just need to back players at the right point because when you are getting those big hundreds and two-hundreds then everybody will be on your side. But the real test of character is when your fans or the media or your team-mates are supporting you when you are not doing well." India coach Duncan Fletcher, who happened to be England coach when Cook made his Test debut in 2006, also backed Cook ahead of a five-Test series against England. "I think he is a very determined individual, which I think most opening bats have to be," Fletcher said. "If you had looked at our batters and picked them on their mental aspect one of them would be that they've got to be determined and stubborn. I think Alastair has got that, and proven with the runs that he has got, that he's a very, very good opening batter and it's like everyone you go through some bad times and some good times. "I agree with MS [Dhoni]. Too many people are happy to knock you off your pedestal. When they go through those bad times they keep knocking them and that's when they need the support," he added." Fletcher also acknowledged India is fielding an inexperienced side this summer but insisted that fact might just work in the team's favour. "Without making excuses it is a very, very inexperienced side: If you look at how many Tests have our opening batters played, how many Tests has our No. 3 has played, how many Tests have our bowlers bowled," he said. But it is nice that sometimes because being unpredictable they will play some exciting cricket. There are some very, very exciting cricketers in this group who would go on to be very, very good cricketers for India. They might fire from this series and there will be some very, very good cricket played," he added. The first India-England Test starts on July 9 at Nottingham, followed by matches at Lord's, Southamption, Old Trafford and Kennington Oval.

:nice::icflove:

[BlueBee]

Both are idiots !

[putrevus]

Dhoni keeps repeating he has learnt lot from that tour and it really hurt. All these two bozos seem to have learnt from that tour is how to get whitewashed if not for rain and jadeja they would have continued that proud tradition of getting white washed atleast on one leg of the tour both in SA and NZ. Dhobi has not won single match on a tour in 3 out of the last four tours .somehow he still is praised as great captain while poor cook is getting roasted.

[Iconoclast]

Am I missing something ... India has been pretty predictable overseas IIRC

[rkt.india]

Dhoni keeps repeating he has learnt lot from that tour and it really hurt. All these two bozos seem to have learnt from that tour is how to get whitewashed if not for rain and jadeja they would have continued that proud tradition of getting white washed atleast on one leg of the tour both in SA and NZ. Dhobi has not won single match on a tour in 3 out of the last four tours .somehow he still is praised as great captain while poor cook is getting roasted.

Because Cook is losing at home that to against SL, not just on tours.

[putrevus]

Because Cook is losing at home that to against SL' date=' not just on tours.[/quote'] Didnt we lose @ home that too against lowly England with noob bowler like monty who should have been spanked. Cook will not be allowed to go down further he will resign or get sacked if he goes any lower than this. I dont think dhoni and moto have reached their bottom yet if they are allowed they find new lows for sure .