England conquering in Australia and India,What was More impressive series win?

[Niall]

Straight forward question.

The win in Australia was pretty comprehensive 3-1 and some of the beatings were fierce, but for me after Pujara batted them to death in the first test England coming back was more impressive.

Doubt India or Australia fans would say that their sides were up to much at the time, maybe India a little stronger?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Considering the win in Aus has been book-ended by two 5-nils and 4-nil that seems to be the one that stands out to me

 

[Spark]

English fans are the ones to ask about this but the series win in England certainly was the more unlikely imo, especially after getting hammered in the first game. There can't be too many instances of sides coming back to win in India having gone down 1-0.

 

[vcs]

That Indian team played some appalling cricket that series. I think Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Harbhajan all played in that series? They all needed replacing by that point. Team became much better after it was freshened up a bit and they then went on to beat Australia 4-0.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Winning in India was better as Australia were crap.

 

[Cabinet96]

Considering the win in Aus has been book-ended by two 5-nils and 4-nil that seems to be the one that stands out to me

We've only played one test series in India since and lost it 4-0. Both have looked more impressive with what has happened since.

 

[Cabinet96]

The way I see it is that the 10/11 Ashes was probably the better team, and they were probably more dominant in that series than they were in India. But India was probably the bigger achievement. A lot of England fans actually expected to win in Australia given the state the Aussies were in. That certainly wasn't the case when going to India. The series is kind of viewed as a big part of England's golden era but it was already in decline by then. They only won three of their first 12 tests in 2012, with West Indies at home being the only series win. Was looking like the year would end up being an all time disaster/humiliation - given they went into it as the number one side - until that win in Mumbai, which was surely the least expected England test win since Edgbaston 05.

 

[Cabinet96]

Another thing I'll add is the conditions. In Australia it was quite a wet/cool summer, and there were actually a couple of tests where England won the toss, correctly bowled first and basically rolled the Aussies because there was grass on the pitch. In 2012 India basically had it in their mind that they'd been screwed over by unfair conditions in their overseas tours to England and Australia, and responded by trying to produce extreme turners. Only it backfired and England's spinners significantly out-bowled India's. That feels like way more of a once in a generation occurrence than England bowling Australia out on some of the seaming wickets and cold days the 10/11 Ashes was played in.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Another thing I'll add is the conditions. In Australia it was quite a wet/cool summer, and there were actually a couple of tests where England won the toss, correctly bowled first and basically rolled the Aussies because there was grass on the pitch. In 2012 India basically had it in their mind that they'd been screwed over by unfair conditions in their overseas tours to England and Australia, and responded by trying to produce extreme turners. Only it backfired and England's spinners significantly out-bowled India's. That feels like way more of a once in a generation occurrence than England bowling Australia out on some of the seaming wickets and cold days the 10/11 Ashes was played in.

Lost 3 out of 4 tosses that series and still won

 

[Adders]

In terms of cricketing achievement I think India 2012 for sure. But for bragging rights and sheer joy, you can't beat 10/11......it's the Ashes.

 

[GIMH]

10/11, Steve Smith only averaged about 12. Miraculous

 

[Cabinet96]

He averaged 32 actually (helped by 50 not out 2nd dig at Sydney). His ability to get runs has pretty much always surpassed people's perception of him.

 

[stephen]

He averaged 32 actually (helped by 50 not out 2nd dig at Sydney). His ability to get runs has pretty much always surpassed people's perception of him.

Typical red ink hunting dubber.

 

[GIMH]

He averaged 32 actually (helped by 50 not out 2nd dig at Sydney). His ability to get runs has pretty much always surpassed people's perception of him.

Yeah after making the post I was thinking about that Sydney innings (which was a good if meaningless innings) and figured his numbers would be better than I recalled

 

[Spark]

Another thing I'll add is the conditions. In Australia it was quite a wet/cool summer, and there were actually a couple of tests where England won the toss, correctly bowled first and basically rolled the Aussies because there was grass on the pitch. In 2012 India basically had it in their mind that they'd been screwed over by unfair conditions in their overseas tours to England and Australia, and responded by trying to produce extreme turners. Only it backfired and England's spinners significantly out-bowled India's. That feels like way more of a once in a generation occurrence than England bowling Australia out on some of the seaming wickets and cold days the 10/11 Ashes was played in.

It's also worth directly comparing the performances of some of the key players in both series too. What Cook and, to a lesser extent, Anderson did to Aus in 10/11 is probably more famous amongst your average English supporter and fair enough too because it's the Ashes and all, but from a purely cricketing POV what both did in India in 2012 is probably much more impressive. Anderson especially bowled about as well as it's reasonable to expect a fast bowler to bowl in those conditions.

 

[OverratedSanity]

That Indian team played some appalling cricket that series. I think Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Harbhajan all played in that series? They all needed replacing by that point. Team became much better after it was freshened up a bit and they then went on to beat Australia 4-0.

It's also the worst Ashwin has ever bowled in his career by a country mile.

 

[Spark]

It's also the worst Ashwin has ever bowled in his career by a country mile.

"Okay, Alastair Cook is really good at the cut shot and has scored about three hundred runs already with it, but if I bowl it short and wide one more time..."

 

[Burgey]

It's also the worst Ashwin has ever bowled in his career by a country mile.

You’d have to add the caveat “in India” wouldn’t you? Because he’s been utterly woeful a couple of times out here. I can’t imagine he could bowl worse.

 

[OverratedSanity]

You’d have to add the caveat “in India” wouldn’t you? Because he’s been utterly woeful a couple of times out here. I can’t imagine he could bowl worse.

No he was worse. Ashwin overseas is toothless for the most part but doesn't try to bowl 3 carrom balls an over like he did back in 2012.

 

[GIMH]

I think we can all agree that they were the two finest cricketing achievements of the century to date