***Official*** India in England 2014

[karan316]

I don't understand why Rishi Dhawan is being ignored, his FC performances have been really good. India can use him as a 4th bowler to exploit the good pace bowling conditions or maybe go with 5 bowlers(4 pacers+1spinner) since he is a decent batsmen. Binny's selection is an interesting one, but he has been doing well in the 4 day games as an all rounder.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Looking forward to this one..and all kinds of questions to be answered..

1. Can India shake off their back to back defeats in SA and NZ and actually win this series?

2. have England fully recovered from the drumming they got in Australia?

3. Can Kohli and Pujara continue to impress in these kind of conditions?

4. What will the England spin option be now Swann is gone?

Should be fun to watch.

 

[Contra]

I still believe India's best chance is to play 5 bowlers somehow, 3 seamers + 1 spinner hasn't worked so far, and we've seen 2 potential test match wins turned into draws because we ran out of stream way too early bowling wise (Not trying to take anything away from some of the innings the opposition players played). I think Rohit Sharma is talented and does deserve a place in the side, but for the sake of balance we have to drop him and play with Jadeja + Ashwin and 3 seamers. Both Jadeja and Ashwin together can more than equal Rohit Sharma batting wise.

M Vijay
S Dhawan
C Pujara
V Kohli
A Rahane
MS Dhoni/Ashwin
MS Dhoni/Ashwin
R Jadeja
B Kumar
M Shammi
I Sharma/Pankaj Singh

That would be my line up for the England series.

 

[hendrix]

The problem with that is that I don't think Jadeja is likely to be better than any of the pace bowlers with the ball in English conditions. Hence why I take Pandey over him.

 

[Contra]

The problem with that is that I don't think Jadeja is likely to be better than any of the pace bowlers with the ball in English conditions. Hence why I take Pandey over him.

But you run the risk of having a rather large tail, Jadeja is there for the balance and variety more than anything, and let us not forget his fielding, make no mistake, his fielding along with Rahane was one of the reasons why our bowlers looked so good in parts, some of the catches taken in recent test matches would not have been if the team still had Tendulkar/Laxman/Dravid and co still playing. Ideally India would want a seam bowling all rounder for overseas tours but we don't have that, so our only two all rounders happen to be spinners.

 

[Shri]

How the **** can any of you even consider Ishant for a spot in the XI? Has bowled one good spell in 5 years.

 

[viriya]

India are screwed because Eng will face them after warming up toying with SL.. it's going to be 2011 all over again unless Kohli and co does something special and/or Bhuvi exploits the conditions greatly.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Looking forward to this one..and all kinds of questions to be answered..

1. Can India shake off their back to back defeats in SA and NZ and actually win this series?

2. have England fully recovered from the drumming they got in Australia?

3. Can Kohli and Pujara continue to impress in these kind of conditions?

4. What will the England spin option be now Swann is gone?

Should be fun to watch.

1 No

2 No

3 Yes

4 N/A will win with pace attack.

 

[fredfertang]

There'll be calls for Dravid and Tendulkar to be brought into the squad by the third day of the second Test

 

[hendrix]

How the **** can any of you even consider Ishant for a spot in the XI? Has bowled one good spell in 5 years.

It's a resignation bro. There's simply no way he won't be picked after the NZ series.

 

[hendrix]

But you run the risk of having a rather large tail, Jadeja is there for the balance and variety more than anything, and let us not forget his fielding, make no mistake, his fielding along with Rahane was one of the reasons why our bowlers looked so good in parts, some of the catches taken in recent test matches would not have been if the team still had Tendulkar/Laxman/Dravid and co still playing. Ideally India would want a seam bowling all rounder for overseas tours but we don't have that, so our only two all rounders happen to be spinners.

True

 

[Esperance]

am i the only one wishing to see pravin tambe in action in the longer format?

 

[Contra]

It's a resignation bro. There's simply no way he won't be picked after the NZ series.

Yeah this pretty much lol. I'm not a fan of Ishant at all, I thought maybe he had turned a corner after the first innings of the second test at NZ but his performance in the second innings just confirmed that it wasn't going to last. India won't drop him so there really isn't a point in trying to prove why he shouldn't be in the team I guess. Having said that Pankaj singh is a like for like replacement for Ishant, maybe that could work in his favour.

 

[91Jmay]

Is Ashwin really a good enough number 6? Or are we just assuming that the top 5 + batting till 8 with Jadeja is good enough.

 

[Jassy]

Should be:

1)Dhawan
2)Vijay
3)Pujara
4)Kohli
5)Rahane
6)Dhoni
7)Ashwin
8)Jadeja
9)Bhuvi
10)Pandey/Pankaj
11)Shami

Will be:

1)Dhawan
2)Vijay
3)Pujara
4)Kohli
5)Rohit
6)Rahane
7)Dhoni
8)Jadeja
9)Bhuvi
10)Shami
11)Ishant

Ishant was always going to make the squad. His 6 for 2000 or whatever it was in NZ obviously sealed his spot. India are doomed with the second(likely) line-up. Bhuvi will be ineffective other than with the new ball, Ishant is Ishant, Jadeja is not going to bowl you to test wins in England...so India basically have a one man attack. And despite India doing reasonably well on the batting front in recent overseas tours, I am not too convinced. Pujara and Kohli aside, I am not sure that line-up will do great in England. Rohit Sharma in test cricket is a liability. I know he scored 2 tons vs WI in India and one of them was crucial IIRC, but in England (or similar conditions) he'll play a couple of pleasing drives and get out. I wasn't too sure about Rahane initially but he did very well in SA and NZ so he should be fine here.

Basically Ashwin instead of Rohit will not make a difference at all to the strength of the batting(as ludicrous as it may sound it may even make it stronger in English conditions....it won't weaken it anyway...Ashwin will scored the 20-30 that Rohit will) and while Ashwin may not have set the world on fire outside India, we must remember that he has only played in a handful of tests....(4 is it?)...3 in a place that is a graveyard for spinners and has been over the years...and a solitary test in SA. Surely it won't hurt to give him another 2 tests? India will need all the bowling they can get...they were on the cusp of 2 great overseas test wins (and possibly series too) only to be denied by some very great batting+poor bowling+poor captaincy. India will have to go with 5 bowlers. I suppose that was the rationale behind picking Binny. They probably want him as a third seamer and a number 7. Poor decision really, picking club level IPL trash for tests in England pfft. If his dad who is part of the selection panel had anything to do with it he should be sacked immediately. On the plus side, Mayanti Langer(Mrs.Stu Binny) will probably be going to England as well which can only be a good thing!

Prediction - India will push England in patches and something tells me they'll nick a win somewhere. Probably 3-1 England. Might see Gambhir in for Vijay/Dhawan after the 2nd or 3rd test too.

 

[hendrix]

Mayanti Langer.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Stuart must have an excellent personality.

 

[Viscount Tom]

India Test squad announced. Gutted Zaheer Khan has not been picked. I know he hasn't done as well last couple of tours, BUT he almost single handedly won India the test series when India won 1-0 here 4 years ago.

Last time India were here they got drubbed increase.

 

[Burgey]

Very disappointed Nostrils Yadav wasn't included in that squad.

Batting looks good though, especially from 3-6. Be a decent test for the openers if there's some swing and seam movement.

 

[Jono]

To all Indian fans, I will miss the Lord's test by a few days when I am in London (gutted) so there is at least a chance India can win. Because they don't win test matches when I attend.