***Official*** England in India

[Trichromatic]

Originally Posted by hazsa19

****ing pathetic can't even be arsed to have hawk-eye for analysis

check cricinfo

[hazsa19]

Do you take the new ball?

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by hazsa19

Do you take the new ball?

I was talking to Spark about it a few overs ago and said no at the time, but I'd almost be tempted to take it and just keep Swann on anyway.

[shankar]

Would 400 be enough for India?

[Teja.]

I recon if Swann bowls 15 more balls to Yuvraj, he'll smoke him out.

[duffer]

Yuvi lucky there.

[hazsa19]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

I was talking to Spark about it a few overs ago and said no at the time, but I'd almost be tempted to take it and just keep Swann on anyway.

Yuvraj looks like a gonner against Swann so I wouldn't want to change anything, but I hope Swann is given the new ball as and when it is taken.

[smalishah84]

England will be in trouble if this wicket isn't as flat as it looks and starts taking spin later on

[Daemon]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

I was talking to Spark about it a few overs ago and said no at the time, but I'd almost be tempted to take it and just keep Swann on anyway.

Don't think there's any point in that, the new ball hardly swung today morning and changing to a new hard ball would just mean it'd come on the bat nicely for Pujara and Yuvraj. Yuvraj especially is looking pretty uncomfortable out there against the turn so I wouldn't want to change anything.

If they don't get another breakthrough soon then it may be worth letting Anderson have a go with the new ball for a couple of overs before stumps but I personally would stick with this one till tomorrow.

[smalishah84]

said it....England should have gone with Monty

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by hazsa19

Yuvraj looks like a gonner against Swann so I wouldn't want to change anything, but I hope Swann is given the new ball as and when it is taken.

Regardless of whether the new ball is taken or not, I don't think bowling Patel to Yuvraj early in his innings is really the best plan.

[duffer]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Regardless of whether the new ball is taken or not, I don't think bowling Patel to Yuvraj early in his innings is really the best plan.

First time I've seen Patel play and he doesn't seem much. Does he offer anything?

[hazsa19]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Regardless of whether the new ball is taken or not, I don't think bowling Patel to Yuvraj early in his innings is really the best plan.

Tbf he's looked more threatening in this spell

edit- threatening's probably not the word. He's maintained the pressure at the other end, which is more than the seamers managed.

[Teja.]

I'm now thinking the new ball with Anderson against Pujara would be a good idea.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by duffer

First time I've seen Patel play and he doesn't seem much. Does he offer anything?

He's a batsman basically - and realistically, probably not a Test standard one. It's probably harsh to judge him too much on his bowling because even in the context of this side he's been picked as a batsman first, but he's not up to the bowling role that he's been given IMO and England have a couple of better specialist batsmen available.

He's a decent limited overs bowling option because he bowls that full length that just gets driven for singles and is hard to really get under, but he's bowled that same length here for the mostpart and it's entirely toothless in four+ day cricket, as his FC record will testify to. His second spell has actually been a bit quite a bit better in terms of length but he's not really putting anything on the ball in terms of either side spin or overspin. The more I watch him bowl in Test cricket, the more I'm convinced he's a essentially a batsman only in this format unless he makes some serious changes.