England v India Predictions

[Singh Is King]

Predicitions for the Test and ODI series in the summer? 5 matches each.
Tests: 3-1 England (maybe 2-2 if we learn how to bowl)
ODIs: 3-2 India

What England need to know for the Summer:
- Dhoni despite how successful he is goes defensive too early.
- Kohli scores 100s for fun abroad in Tests and ODIs in any situation, and in my opinion is the most talented young cricketer I have ever seen (Im 21). He really is something else. Could be an argument for him being the best batsman in the world.
- Pujara, Rahane, Dhawan have all proven they can play very well abroad (Though Dhawan has a weakness against the short ball)
- Jadeja promising as he is with the ball is still learning his trade away from home, could sort it out in time for England but wouldn't hold my breath. Hes hit Triple Hundreds in domestic cricket but havent seen that form him in Tests. He is work in progress in the Test format.
- The seam attack....well what can I say. Shami is promising. If Zaheer Khan doesn't return to his old ways it could be a long summer for the Indian bowlers. Out of the top test nations Khan average in England is his best, 27.96 at an economy of 2.92
- Dont let Dhoni play his natural game in tests (not that he will argh ).What puzzles me about Dhoni is why he dont play in ODI mode in Tests. I would say he is number 1 or deinitely in top 3 for ODI batsman in the world. Widely regarded as the best finisher along with Michael Bevan.
Classic case of someone who needs to play their natural game

 

[flibbertyjibber]

England to win test series comfortably and don't care about the rest.

 

[morgieb]

3-1 England. India still aren't good with the ball, while England still have Broad and Anderson to take plenty of poles.

Having only a few players without question marks and with experience though.....

 

[theegyptian]

I think it could be quite interesting and close and could go either way. England's problems with a load of untested players v India's problems away from home. Under normal circumstances you'd say India and SL at home should be easy wins for Eng and with a 5 test series it could be one sided but things have evened up. I'd actually go with India to win the tests or at least draw the tests. Players like Taylor and Ballance aren't just gonna start scoring lots of runs and injury to Broad or Anderson leaves england heavily exposed. There are a load of areas of concern for England. Could be a really exciting summer imo unlike most 5 test series in recent times. India's winter in test cricket hasn't been too bad. Competed well with SA and NZ even if there are concerns over their bowlers. There will be more in the wickets for their spin bowler in England than NZ or SA and their batsmen are starting to put together performances overseas.

 

[ImpatientLime]

James Taylor to play and ton up at least two times.

 

[smash84]

Giving a 2-2 scoreline to the series at this point in time would seem extremely optimistic from an Indian POV.

 

[Shri]

Tests: 3-0 England
ODIs: 3-2 India

 

[Adders]

Considering at this point in time you can only count on probably 5 certain starters for England it is just about impossible to predict anything for our summer at this stage.

I think we need to wait until some early county games to see who is on good nick and who is likely to play before making any calls at all. Also agree with thegyptian.......an injury to Broad or Jimmy and England are well and truly screwed.

 

[hendrix]

If India pick their young pace bowlers they could cause an upset.
Otherwise, I can't see them taking 20 wickets in a test. Cook, Root, Stokes should score runs, and then there's the guys like Taylor and Balance who'll have the perfect opportunity to find their feet at Test level.
Unfortunately for India, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan took the wickets for them this series, despite it being patently obvious to everyone watching that Shami was far and away their best bowler.

OTOH, there are actually some pitches in England that are conducive to spin. I'm not sure Jadeja is good enough to totally exploit them, but you never know. Get Ojha in there.

India's team selections are frustrating, to say the least.

 

[Furball]

If India pick their young pace bowlers they could cause an upset.

By keeping England to less than 450?

 

[hendrix]

By keeping England to less than 450?

They did bowl NZ out for 105 and 194.

But yeah, if they are to take 20 wickets and Jadeja isn't a wicket taking threat (which, let's face it, he isn't) then they'll need 2 seamers to take 7 wickets and one to take 6 in the test. The only one of them likely to take 7 wickets is Shami, and then you're asking for a huge effort from Ishant and Zaheer who just aren't good enough to do that.

 

[Flem274*]

India are a better chance than they're being given credit for but I can't pick this series. England don't even know what their best team is atm and are busy imploding, but India are finding new and novel ways to be worse overseas than they should be.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

In home conditions, I would back England to not lose a single test.

 

[GIMH]

We'll still struggle to make big totals but Broad will destroy India again

 

[hendrix]

India's batting lineup is much stronger now than it was then, IMO.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah no doubt about that, just think Broad is reaching his peak as a bowler and will have a great summer

 

[GIMH]

That being said on paper that batting line up was one of the greats. Broad's performance makes it look like one that had aged but there was no real sign of it before the series

 

[hendrix]

True that. Yeah, Broad is bowling pretty damn well at the moment.

 

[GIMH]

True that. Yeah, Broad is bowling pretty damn well at the moment.

I don't want to sound like a broken record but it has been largely overlooked, not so much on these forums but in the media etc, as to just how well he bowled in Australia a lot of the time. I mean you could argue his stats are boosted by the declaration gimmes he got but on the flip side he was bowling to 300 deficits in most games which is a hiding to nothing

Our best bowler now

 

[Flem274*]

Stating the obvious but England need Cook and one of Jimmy or Broad to really fire unless someone does a McCullum and shows hidden depths no one thought existed.

India need to play Shami and Yadav. They might get away with Bhuvi in England too I guess.