India Tour of England, June-Sept 2014

[rkt.india]

Heard good things about kl rahul too. Karnataka is producing good talents nowadays. Even punjab' date=' guj & Baroda, are producing decent talents. But mumbai has really gone down the drains. They have very few good young players coming up. The Mumbai ranji team is now filled with old has beens nothing exciting about them just oldies holding on to their places.[/quote'] Siddhesh Lad is a good talent coming up from Mumbai and also Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jafar.

[saneindian]

What they clearly show is that the seam bowling attack is relatively weak and we should stop over hyping a Pandey/Pankaj/Aaron vs Ishant and Bhuvi. Pankaj had 2/107 Pandey had 0/65 Aaron had 0/76 Doesn't inspire much confidence at all. I hope when they do get their chances, they grab those and pick lots of wickets but so far IMO it looks highly unlikely. Batting should do well compared to the last tour and if Dhawan clicks, we could even post 400+ totals consistently. The young batting line up does look capable of scoring 350+ consistently and should put up a better fight than last time. Finally, Dhoni's stale captaincy will continue to hurt us. Not sure how much of a say Dravid has in strtagey planning but I will hope Dhoni does listen to the ideas given by RD and puts some of those to a good use.

[Zestian]

Team I'd Pick - G. Gambhir A. Rahane C. Pujara V. Kohli MS. Dhoni R. Jadeja S. Binny / R. Sharma/ R. Ashwin B. Kumar I. Sharma M. Shami V. Aaron Would love to see V. Aaron Playing - Aggressive, Not much experienced, Pacy, Bouncy tracks so we need 4 Pacers to exploit conditions and be able to pick 20 wickets in the game. Confused in selection of Binny and R. Sharma, its on the captain whether he would like to have more depth in batting or in bowling. Even R. Ashwin might fit in coz, he is > R. Sharma and Binny in batting and he can bowl some off spinners....:giggle:

[rkt.india]

What they clearly show is that the seam bowling attack is relatively weak and we should stop over hyping a Pandey/Pankaj/Aaron vs Ishant and Bhuvi. Pankaj had 2/107 Pandey had 1/65 Aaron had 0/76 Doesn't inspire much confidence at all. I hope when they do get their chances, they grab those and pick lots of wickets but so far IMO it looks highly unlikely. Batting should do well compared to the last tour and if Dhawan clicks, we could even post 400+ totals consistently. The young batting line up does look capable of scoring 350+ consistently and should put up a better fight than last time. Finally, Dhoni's stale captaincy will continue to hurt us. Not sure how much of a say Dravid has in strtagey planning but I will hope Dhoni does listen to the ideas given by RD and puts some of those to a good use.

No one is hyping them up, but doing same thing again and again expecting different result is insanity. No one has any question on BK but Ishant. With the way he has bowled in warmups, he was the worst bowler among all, but he will still play. BTW, neither Shami, Ishant, BK picked up lots of wickets in warmups.

[BeautifulGame]

Vijay Dhawan Pujara Kohli Rahane Binny Dhoni Jadeja Bhuvi Shami Aaron Probably Dhoni will pick Ishant instead of Aaron.Otherwise most likely IX imo

[Old guy]

He is far better than Kohli against spin in test cricket. You forgot his innings at Delhi on a minefield while chasing. He made that pitch look like batting paradise.

:agree: on turning track sooner or later you will get out but pujara has shown every time that he uses feet well and scores quickly against spinners he is much better player of spin than kohli

[Austin 3:!6]

:agree: on turning track sooner or later you will get out but pujara has shown every time that he uses feet well and scores quickly against spinners he is much better player of spin than kohli

Lol...no

[FischerTal]

Lol...no

lol yeah

[Old guy]

Lol...no

lol..yes

[Old guy]

lol yeah

MCBC :mad:

[FischerTal]

MCBC :mad:

:icflove:

[CSK Fan]

lol..yes

Have seen Kohli play Ajmal with ease which very few batsmen do

[FischerTal]

Have seen Kohli play Ajmal with ease which very few batsmen do

did you see pujara play monty and swann in mumbai? not demeaning kohli, but pujara is better than kohli against spin, but kohli is easily better against bounce

[Old guy]

Have seen Kohli play Ajmal with ease which very few batsmen do

he reads him well and he has tendency to pick apart bowlers with mystery on unorthodox action..its same with sehwag :winky: also it will be totally different in tests even against ajmal on dry track and i will back pujara to do well even there ... i have not checked stats but i wont be surprised if kohli is better against pace than spin in tests and better away from home than home

[Austin 3:!6]

lol yeah

lol..yes

[rkt.india]

Have seen Kohli play Ajmal with ease which very few batsmen do

tell me one good Kohli innings against spin in tests on rank turners. Kohli is good in ODIs against spin on good pitches and reading them but that is totally different to play spin on rank turners and minefields. Kohli has a great aggressive game against spin, but his defense is not as solid. I have seen him get out on nothing balls in tests against spinners.

[King Tendulkar]

Startling people suggesting binny should be in test team!

[Zestian]

Binny will never be a test player but looking at his current form, conditions and his Dad's influence, he might get a chance...:((

[King Tendulkar]

Binny will never be a test player but looking at his current form' date=' conditions and his Dad's influence, he might get a chance...:(([/quote'] What current form? Cheap wickets and runs against pathetic teams in bangla and second string 11!! O Please ILP fanatics have forgotten what test cricket is about. 5 days of tough cricket, were your cricket skills are tested to te max, weaknesses ruthlessly exposed and exploited. Looks fans will have to lean the hard way over eng and aus tours to understand and wake up to what test cricket is all about! Binny is decent FC player. That's it. That does not make you international player. He is in for one reason, Daddy!! Watch him play. Pathetic dibbly dobbly bowler and average batsman, even without watching him, look at his FC stats, just sooooo average. Disgrace in squad, let alone being in team

[diga]

Defensive captains to be tested over 5 tests - Sid Monga in Cricinfo

Roger Waters might well have been thinking of Alastair Cook when he wrote in Time that "hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way". :haha:Take some license and add MS Dhoni to it, for their stories as captains have a lot in common. Starting July 9, over 42 days packed with 25 possible days of Test cricket in England, the two captains will be under intense scrutiny. Knowing them as captains, they are likely to hang on and on until the desperation is not quiet anymore. Cook and Dhoni both like order, set-pieces so to speak. The ball is 60 overs old; let's get a spinner and a part-timer on. The opposition is six down; let's attack only the tailender. Let's not change batting orders mid-series. Even in personal lives, the highs and lows of cricket don't seem to be a matter of life and death. Both men are conscious of not expressing too much despair or joy on the field; neither wants attention on himself. At the best of times, they bring this predictability to their operation that calms their teams down. No wild celebrations on winning, no rockets given after losses. When the cricket is over, Cook goes to his farm and tends to sheep; Dhoni opens up bikes and reassembles them, gets acquainted with army weapons and army ways. They won't be able to get away over the next month and a half. They have had massive highs and lows. Dhoni has won the World Cup, World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy, but he has also gone three years without an overseas Test win, or a defining contribution with the bat over these 13 Tests. Cook has won an Ashes each off his bat and as a captain, has done the unthinkable by leading a series win in India, which are probably two of the most cherished results in England cricket, but he has also overseen the devastating whitewash in Australia, has done the unthinkable by losing a home series to Sri Lanka, and has now gone 25 innings without a century. Over this English summer, they must lay themselves bare on the field. One of them, or both, or even neither, will get the monkey off the back. You can imagine Dhoni and Cook will like each other over a drink. They might love to discuss how not many in the outside world understand their ways. Surely they believe there is merit to what almost the whole world considers defensive, non-instinctive captaincy? "A hundred and eighty-seven Tests between us, and people are still questioning us." "A hundred and eighty-seven Tests between them, and they are still letting Tests drift on the field." They might even enjoy a game of poker, sitting expression-less, keeping their cards close to their chest, not letting anyone know what they are thinking. Except there won't be a lot of raising done. They could spend hours talking about Duncan Fletcher, who holds both of them dear. They might discuss how one of them was saved by his board president, and how the other's boss considers him and his family "the sort of people we need". They might even enjoy a game of poker, sitting expression-less, keeping their cards close to their chest, not letting anyone know what they are thinking. Except there won't be a lot of raising done Cook and Dhoni. Dhoni and Cook. Possible mates. Possible nemeses. For Cook has given Dhoni as much grief as anyone else in international cricket. Piling on those runs in the home series, leading a side that consigned India to their most rueful Test defeat in recent memory, winning after conceding 325 on the Bombay Bunsen. Dhoni had his own back when he pulled out an Ishant Sharma-sized rabbit out of his hat in the Champions Trophy last year, cruelly ending England's quest for their first big title in 50-over cricket. Even when Shane Warne says that the fourth day against Sri Lanka at Headingley was the worst bit of captaincy he has ever seen in Test cricket, Dhoni can pull out a few examples of his own to steal that thunder from Cook. Wonder if Dhoni found that fourth day all too familiar. Then again, Cook can claim Dhoni doesn't have such days at home. It takes a really awful day of cricket to be able to manage this in home conditions. Consequently Cook will be under more pressure than Dhoni, who still has the limited-overs success to fall back on. After all he did survive the two whitewashes and the home series loss to England. Cook's selectors and public are not likely to be that forgiving. Cook need not look past Dhoni if this feels like pressure. It matters nought to Dhoni what the public or the pundits think. It doesn't affect his game, it doesn't affect his team's game. They won the Champions Trophy weeks after the biggest scandal in Indian cricket in this century, and it had involved Dhoni's IPL team and his biggest supporter in India, N Srinivasan. Srinivasan does his bit by protecting the team, by making sure nobody who will criticise them - like Shane Warne or anyone at Sky might England - will be employed by the host broadcaster. It is still unlikely Warne will be able to send Dhoni into a public meltdown. You need a thick skin to be India captain for this long. It's not all doom and gloom for the series, though. It won't all start at 11am in Nottingham with third man, deep point, deep cover and deep midwicket as the brave new version of three slips and a gully. These two are exceptional international cricketers, and you don't achieve what they have achieved in their careers without mental strength. When Cook hammered India in 2011, it was part of a resurgence after almost a summer where he couldn't buy a run. Dhoni began India's turnaround at home with a series-turning double-century against Australia. Michael Clarke and Mark Taylor might not approve of this, but with both the captains evenly matched as tacticians, preferring attrition to assault, this has the makings of a tight series. The duration of it will allow the leaders to reassess the strategies, or provide enough time to get thoroughly exposed. The stakes - surely higher for Cook than Dhoni, but he has the better bowlers - could even make the captains come out of their shells. Just as long as a proper batsman is not batting with a tailender.