Three horse race to be the best team in the world?

[marc71178]

He looked good pretty good at Perth and decent in the adelaide test.

Though he may not have got the wickets to prove it.

Funny how you've written Stuart Broad off then.

 

[centurymaker]

Pissant Sharma is FINISHED!!! end of story

 

[Cevno]

Funny how you've written Stuart Broad off then.

Where did i exactly do that ?

Was just responding to GF calling more than the half of the Indian batting as weak links in England and the England attack as "far,far better than India's".

 

[M0rphin3]

Yeah all fair points. Though, Malinga seems out of favour in Tests, perhaps it's a fitness issue.

I certainly like Tamim but Twatto's having a good run. Mendis/Siddle may depend on conditions (and Malinga-Roach-Mendis would be a nightmare tail with 5 batsmen).

Twattos conversion rate is really woeful, so won't really mind Tamim in for him. But still close call imo.

And Mendis is nowhere near the bowler he used to be, will pick him anyday irrespective of the condition tbh.

 

[Shri]

Dhoni no good in test. I would just pick ABDV and have him keep.

Comparable to other keepers playing atm. Counter attacking is his strength and he just doesn't do it these days and gets bogged down and throws his wicket away doing something he is not good at - defending. Abdv is not a great keeper and could do a job 10 times better as a fielder.

 

[Shri]

Twattos conversion rate is really woeful, so won't really mind Tamim in for him. But still close call imo.

And Mendis is nowhere near the bowler he used to be, will pick him anyday irrespective of the condition tbh.

Watson could be a good opener in Eng/SA if he is given the job to see off the new ball. Almost always does it well.

 

[Blaze 18]

England look like they could be the best team in the world in a year or two.

Agree.

 

[kingjulian]

Certainly...At least a three horse race.

I would add Sri lanka to the list of possible contender as well. They have some very exciting spin bowling prospects in Mendis, Randiv and Herath. They have a talented all-rounder in Angelo Mathews. Their fast bowling battery and batting unit lead by Malinga and Sangakkara respectively is also quite formidable. They have a team as good as anyones at this moment.

 

[Blaze 18]

Nah, India, England and South Africa are comfortably better than Sri Lanka. I would have Australia over Sri Lanka as well.

 

[Debris]

There is going to be an argument and no clear best team for a while I think. All the teams in contention have shown some fragility to leave you with doubts. India probably looks the best at the moment but their batting lineup is, of course getting very old.

We have been spoiled over the last couple of decades with a couple of great sides (quite possible the best two ever) but logically a clear number one should actually be fairly rare.

 

[kingjulian]

Nah, India, England and South Africa are comfortably better than Sri Lanka. I would have Australia over Sri Lanka as well.

That's ridiculous. I, for one, can't wait for Sri Lanka's tour to England. I think there will be at least a couple of egg on face moments that only Test cricket can produce.

Everybody is assuming Sri Lanka will get white washed, but i'd be surprised if there aren't a few hairy moments for England.

 

[kingjulian]

I must say West Indies are looking a lot better than before too....these are good times for Test Cricket. It's alive and kicking...

 

[GotSpin]

I must say West Indies are looking a lot better than before too....these are good times for Test Cricket. It's alive and kicking...

West Indies have some real tough selection issues in the next year or so which will ultimately decide how they fare in the medium term future. But I certainly don't doubt that they have some very good talent on the brink of breaking through.

 

[Blaze 18]

It isn't ridiculous at all, what is ridiculous is to suggest they have a team "as good as anyone's". They are a good team, but they aren't anywhere near the top three. Their team isn't the same now without Muralitharan - they struggled to put away an Indian side that had a number of players missing, and that was in Sri Lanka. Malinga has played thirty tests in six years, so I am not sure what to make of "fast bowling battery led by Malinga".

 

[Furball]

Where did i exactly do that ?

Was just responding to GF calling more than the half of the Indian batting as weak links in England and the England attack as "far,far better than India's".

Tbf, I said "potential" weak links. I expect Gambhir to do well in England, but he looked pretty unconvincing against Morkel in particular and has never played Test cricket in England. I don't see how Pujara/Raina/whoever bats at 6 can, before the series, be regarded as anything other than a weak link given their complete lack of experience. Dravid is out of form. SehWAG is another who I think will gun it, but again you can't say that with any certainty.

And England's attack is far better than India's, that's not up for debate.

 

[George.Hinton]

I I'd also rate Swann way above Harbhajan these days.

.

Based on what exactly ? Swann has only ever had real success
against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh. He's never really troubled Australia that much.

In South Africa, Swann took 21 at 31 last year. Harbhajan just took 15 at 29 so I don't see how Swann is vastly superior on that basis.

 

[Teja.]

My view on the horserace is India is certainly the deserving No.1 based on performance but the English team might actually be a better team at the moment

 

[honestbharani]

Nah, Broad is a consistent bowler. Bowls a bit short, yes, but only a bit too short. He won't leak runs.

That is a good point you bring up.. Ishant can be dominated a lot more than Broad, I guess..

 

[vcs]

Tbf, I said "potential" weak links. I expect Gambhir to do well in England, but he looked pretty unconvincing against Morkel in particular and has never played Test cricket in England. I don't see how Pujara/Raina/whoever bats at 6 can, before the series, be regarded as anything other than a weak link given their complete lack of experience. Dravid is out of form. SehWAG is another who I think will gun it, but again you can't say that with any certainty.

And England's attack is far better than India's, that's not up for debate.

Look, they're better ATM, no one's going to dispute that. India have a habit of pulling out performances when series are on the line though, and often it's the bowlers who make the difference. England's bowling attack has only pulled away from the pack in the last couple of series against Pakistan (poor batting lineup) and Australia (brilliant effort, full credit). Let's see if they can sustain it for a bit longer before calling them the best attack in the world, by far.

 

[Spark]

That is a good point you bring up.. Ishant can be dominated a lot more than Broad, I guess..

Ended the series with the best ER (2.3) - considering he played on the flattest decks and bowled mostly in the one innings where we really did kick on, that's quite good.