Roll on Trent Bridge
England's cricketers have no time to reflect on their
They must instead switch their attention to the impending , starting on Friday, and remind themselves that they did an excellent job in the first match of the series.
In particular, the bowlers were terrific.
Bereft of any of the Ashes 鈥渂ig guns鈥, and largely written off as being too green to take on India's ultra-experienced batsmen, they reduced them to 201 and 282-9 before cruelly being denied victory.
But rather than wail with indignation or gnash their teeth with frustration - who to blame, umpire Steve Bucknor for failing to give Sree Santh out lbw to Monty Panesar? The weather? - now they must produce another barnstorming performance at Trent Bridge. They may not get as much help from conditions. But the ball will swing provided there is overhead assistance, and given the summer we have had so far one can barely expect wall-to-wall sunshine for five days.
If there is any concern, it will be among the batsmen, who relied too heavily on Andrew Strauss's 96 on day one and on day four.
India, having got out of jail at Lord's, may get some sort of psychological boost.
But worries will remain that their big-name performers are not at the top of their form at the moment.
Despite the agonies it caused the home supporters, the climax of the Lord's Test had everything.
Impending rain clouds gathered, the light faded fast, and wickets tumbled - but not quite quickly enough.
There was all the familiar tension we had experienced at the climax of three Tests in the epic 2005 Ashes series.
And perhaps some of the sport's more itinerant observers - put off by the terrible World Cup and some one-sided matches both in Australia over the winter and recently against West Indies - might have caught the cricket bug again.
is clearly going to be the Indian batsman to watch in the remainder of the Tests, and particularly the exhausting one-day series - which takes in seven matches.
It is not that he is necessarily going to be the heaviest scorer - and there will certainly be occasions when he does not enjoy the level of fortune he did on Monday.
But he is India's Pietersen, a born entertainer blessed with idiosyncratic shots. One Indian writer described his innings as "heroic".
And with age beginning to take its toll on - perhaps even Rahul Dravid - Dhoni could prove to be the man England's bowlers most want to take on.
What will make future jousts all the more absorbing will be that Jimmy Anderson, Monty Panesar and co will fancy their chances against him because of the risks he likes to take.
Roll on Trent Bridge.
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Roll on Trent Bridge indeed. Forecast looks good for friday onwards. Thanks to the bbc for all the great coverage and comments.
If weather holds, these two teams should provide a result!
India fell way short in the first innings and all the "Galacticos' failed to deliver in both innings.
Who would bet against that happening again?
Yuvraj Singh needs to replace Laxman.
Jaffer, despite the first innings half century, should be replaced by Gambhir. (Although i would much prefer Sehwag to be flown in). With Sehwag in the team, it would reduce the passive nervousness of the current crop of batsman.
Shuffle the order to this format:
Ganguly and Karthik to open. Followed by Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, RP Singh, Kumble, Khan, Sreesanth.
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It appears that we have developed a mindset of blaming someone or something else for our failures (or lack of achievements).
Everyone knew the rain was coming at the start of the day. The batsmen knew. The bowlers knew. And the capatains knew. The fact is that we just couldn't finish off the indian tail. So we did not win.
"Weather denied victory to England" means Vaughn did not know the rain band was approaching. This is unlikely given the quality of our forecasts and online radar images available to coaches. The fact is that we could not get the opposition out before the rain arrived.
During his last visit Ganguly said, "I do not understand the meaning of moral victories". So the next game is a different game. So try to win it.
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Idiots who decided to leave Sehwag out and instead have half-baked cricketers like Jaffer & Gambhir. I honestly think the second test match will be close, though my money will be on India.
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Would disagree that englands 1st knock relied on strauss scoring 96, when vaughen scored 79. yet again another poor report from a bbc reporter.
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Thanks 大象传媒 for the excellent coverage.I'm in Toky and your internet coverage is a Godsend!
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Is there anyway that indian fans can vote to bring sehwag back in for Friday?
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The apparent lack of urgency and the somewhat illogical decision to keep fielders in the deep when trying to prise out the last wicket didn't help England's cause. Surely more pressure, and intensity at both ends ( think Aussie ) would have done the trick. Rather than waiting for the last two balls of the over every fielder should have been trying to save singles encouraging Dhoni to hit over the top. A great game !
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I believe too much is being made out of England almost winning this game; celebrations are tantamount to winning Ashes when really, except for the 1st session of England 1st innings, the teams appear equal. What's got be frustrating for England is not the rain, but that they let a wicketkeeper hang out for so long. Dhoni may not be a guarenteed scorer but he is sure to inflict damage when it matters. If India wins toss at Trent Bridge, I reckon India will rack up 350+ and have England in all sorts of trouble. Then what will you have to say about Anderson ?
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Sachin is right. Also that was a very good toss to win for England and that first day was to their advantage.
I doubt that all of the "Galacticos" will fail to click a second time.
I really believe that India will win the 2nd Test.
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I agree with jukkha that India should bring back Sehwag. There will be a LOT more juice in the contest. He is experienced, and if he gets going it will be day-time crackers.
More than the entertainment value, India's current opening partership is very bad. Both Jaffer and Karthik like to play slow, close to 50 scoring rate, and bore each other out. If they both get going together, there's not more boring site to watch in any sport. So, to complement, one of the openers should be of an attacking kind - not always attacking, but whenever possible (as compared to necessary).
Unfortunately, I guess, both openers have done enough to keep their places. Hope the Indian team realizez the importance of partnerships.
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Avy what are you talking about?
Both umpires are considered to be the best in the world - if all we can find fault with is one or two occasions where technology disputes their decision then I think we are doing well.
Remove the chip from your shoulder. It has nothing to do with India (both Pakistan and Sri Lanka also make a fuss about umpires) and everything to do with the direction of luck in the game. England can hardly blame the umpires for our drubbing against Australia even though there were some shockers.
This series is going to be exciting as both teams are closely pitched. Let's enjoy it ...
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HOW I SAW THE MATCH:
- INDIAN STAR BATSMEN DIDN'T PERFORM IN THIS MATCH
- ENGLAND BOWLERS IN PARTICULAR WERE FANTASTIC
- INDIA MISSED MUNAF PATEL
- KP STARRED
I would like to talk about england's bowling a bit more. I thought they were brilliant- very good line, excellent lengths- bouncers to push batsmen back and then a ball on good/ silightly full length to get an edge, very well controled swing bowling except for few anderson's inswinging deliveries to right handers.
And after all that i beileve that england very fortunate to loose harmison, mahmood and plunkett. These three on their day can be really good with their bouncers etc. However, sidebottom, anderson and tremlett showed that if you can bowl on a good length and with some control you can trouble the best of batsmen AND you don't need to be around 90mph to be good.
As a indian supporter i would rather have sidebottom/ anderson in my team than harmison/ mahmood/ plunkett. But obviously that is only my opinion.
However, i think england need to ensure that they are up to task for the second test as i am sure the indian batsmen will exhibit a far better performance in comparison to their first test one. Also i think they need to bring back M. Patel (WHO IS NOT INJURED) as he gets amazing bounce and very good at reverse swinging the ball late on in the match. He has a brilliant line and length and with RP & Sri who are very new to international cricket as a whole (with sri only being a fats bowler from the age of 19) and RP hardly getting games with india, they need someone like Munaf/ Agarkar with them to help them....
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I am sorry but i think oliver and many other people who watch cricket are starting to make big mistakes by keep thinking that the age is taking toll on sachin/ dravid etc. This topic keeps coming up when they do not perform for even a single game- not that i saw much of bell/ collingwood in the game- perhaps they are too 'old' now as well...
You will be eating your words come end of the series- that is my promise. Sachin/ Dravid will not disappoint- sachin in the last few months has shown his old best- against the lions where he played tremlett, broad and onions- who i know aren't the worst of bowlers for sure and scored 171. Gavaskar even said he thinks he is back to his best- and i rather take his ( a legend in the game and knows more about cricket than this cricket writers) word than reading too much into this article.
And also against the SAns he played amazingly well- best i have seen of him for a long time. So i think true cricket fans are up for a treat in the coming tests...
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"giving Rahul Dravid & Sourav Ganguly purposely LBW to make favor for English team".
2 Points:
it would be a problem if Bucknor was giving people out by accident - then he really would be getting old!
The suggestion that the umpires were trying to 'make favour' with the English team is ridiculous. Selective memory is a great thing - remember Dhoni getting hit on the elbow when everyone, including the England team, thought he'd gloved it...Look back after the series and I reckon you'll see a balance.
Using umpires as an excuse is unintelligent when neither team is complaing. India were outplayed by what was generally agreed to be the best bowling performance since the Ashes -no shame there.
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To the Indian fans who believe the Indian 'Galacticos' won't all fail again well the weight of evidence suggests otherwise.
Dravid apart most of them have performed quite badly in the last few years against quality opposition (if you exclude the scores from the games against Bangladesh the averages are distinctly average for the last couple of years - not what you'd expect of a supposedly world class batting line up).
I think to a certain extent, in terms of both remaining selected and intimidating opposition bowlers, are relying purely on their reputation.
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I reckon Collingwood is beginning to struggle both with the bat and in the field because his mind is elsewhere on the captaincy of the onedayers- with 7 on the horizon.
People will say mine is a knee jerk reaction. But I wonder how long it will be before the natural leader Vaughan takes back the helm of both sides (knee willing)
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Oliver wrote "Bereft of any of the Ashes 鈥渂ig guns鈥, and largely written off as being too green to take on India's ultra-experienced batsmen..."
Does England manufacture separate Ashes bowlers and B-string bowlers for 'other' Tests? The so-called Ashes big-guns (Flintoff, Harmison, Hoggard, Giles)... well, except for Simon Jones; played the first 2 Ashes Tests Down Under... and Giles was replaced by Monty from Test 3 onwards. Result? 5-0 whitewash!
It is intriguing to observe that British journalists vividly recall the Ashes of 2005, but are in denial about the very recent Ashes of 2006-07; and pretend it never happened!!!
If non-Big-guns are to be labelled B-string bowlers, I think the Ashes attack ought to be labelled the G-string bowlers. They have been barely adequate and made the team look very vulnerable and exposed. Harmison and Giles in particular, have been dreadful over the past 10 and more Tets; wihle Flintoff can neither bat at 6 or be one of 4 bowlers.
England fans must be praying the big guns never return for the their team ever again!
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The other 2 players that should be drafted in are Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan.
I doubt they are both injured now?
They only problem is, who would they replace?
Maybe rotate with Sreesanth, although, i thought he did a decent job.
RP Singh and Zaheer were very good (after day 1).
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Amanda's comment at 12.02 is spot on. Despite being an avid Indian supporter, one has to be realistic about umpiring decisions. They are fallible, like all human beings. They are not out to get Indians, but simply to give a fair decision as they see it - and they have a split second in which to see the action and make the decision. We do not hear the Indian team complaining - and nor should we.
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A lot have been said about the batting of Strauss, Vaughn and KP and bowling of all English bowlers and I agree they deserve every praise they get. But there are few facts that the author conveniently overlooked.
1. Strauss and Vaughn made those runs on the first day when the weather and the pitch was perfect for batting and Indian bowlers were trying to get used to swinging conditions here as well as the famous Lords slope. As soon as they got grips of the conditions and surface, they never let English batsmen get on top of them (except KP, who I thought played an outstanding innings). So Indian bowlers deserve some praise especially the way they came back an skittled out England's middle and lower order in the first innings.
2. Apart from the first day (when batting was at its easiest best and KP's innings, there isnt a lot different between the two teams). Mind you, England are the home side.
3. Despite KP's brilliant hundered, India scored the same amount of runs batting last under difficult conditions and enormous pressure and all credit to them. If they hadnt done well, they would have easily folded before lunch and wouldnt give weather a chance to intervene.
3. Is it different rules to Tendulkar and Dravid? when they dont score, its because of their age. What about collingood and Bell? I didnt see them score a lot but they are not being criticised as "old". Tendulkar has scored well in recent ODI's against SA (A quality bowling side) and Lions. One failure (and there werent many scores more than 37) and calls for him being dropped. Arent we too harsh? Are there many proven players waiting in the wings who can top his performance?
4. The way England collapsed in the first innings is it test standard? I shall let you judge on that.
SO ENgland made the best of the conditions familiar to them and India are trying to learn.Both teams have postitives and negatives to take out of this match.
And lastly, to those Indian supporters crying for sehwag, he was dropped because he was not performing at all for the last couple of years. He has had enough and more chances but he wouldnt curb his instincts and play accorting to the situation. I cant imagine him facing sidebottom and Anderson when the ball is swinging and seaming like this. He wouldnt even last an over. Laxman did play well in the second innings and it was a beauty that got rid of him. Gambhir hasnt got the technique or temperement to sustain as a test opener.
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G'day Oliver
Yes am an aussie now but am ex-pat Notts. Is Ryan Sidebottom named in the team / squad. Seems like the last time England played here, not so long ago, they missed his bowling!!
Would be good to see him out there or is the Squad being picked according to "one's school old chap.." once again????
Regards
Roger, Melb, MCC
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Although i also was shocked at Sehwag's absence, i have seen Karthik and Jaffer give India decent starts. I would prefer Sehwag as he is more attacking. Can someone tell me why Patel and Pathan are not in the squad? Surely they give India another dimension in the flat bowling attack?
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Age taking its toll on Dravid too now eh? Nevermind the fact that he got a beauty of a delivery in the first innings that would have got most good batsmen out or the fact that he copped a bad decision in the second innings.
Yes India got themselves out of a hole thanks mainly to the weather, but things COULD have been very different if Dravid not been wrongly given out. India could well have given England a scare, as remote as that might seem. In any case, ifs and buts don't matter very much. England fans should just put things in perspective before laying the blame on Bucknor for not giving Sree out.
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Bijusportsfan:
The Indian 1st innings collapse was pretty poor too. Would you recommend also removing Test status from India?
You labour under the same misconception as many fans: conditions were only better for batting on the first day because the Indian bowling was so poor. There was the same cloud cover on day one as on other days, but the bowlers just did not use it effectively, so batsmen prospered. India bowled badly. England cashed in. Had India batted they would probably have been dismissed for about the same score as they made eventually. No bad luck with the toss at all; just bad play.
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Firstly Allan Donald should be made bowling coach permanently. Also I think England need to get ahead in the series at Trent Bridge, while its still humid and the ball is still swinging. Who knows what the weather will be doing by The Oval.
India's two glaring weaknesses are the openers and the quick bowlers, at least looking at the first test. You would have to back England to get one of the Indian openers out quickly and be into the middle order early and be able to put some pressure on the big names in India's middle order. The Indian bowlers made a better fist of it in the second innings but looked poor in thefirst innings.
I like England's chances at Trent Bridge. I am less certain about the Oval but England shouldn't lose the series at least.
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Bemused,
I didnt say England should be stripped of the test status. I agree India batted poorly in the first innings but I was just high lighting the fact that England also did poorly after tea the first day. There is no doubt that the weather was best the first day as it was bright and the pitch was unused. All the experts said it was a batting beauty and to xombine wih it the weather was sunny. The picth wears down as days progresses and that is why batting is most difficult the last day. I am not making any excuses for India. They indeed bowled poorly the first day (wrong lines) but they made up for it over the course of the match and there is no mentinon about their effort. All that is being said is about English bowling and poor Indian batting and I just wanted to say , Indian bowlers also did well but failed to get any recognition and English batsmen apart from KP (and the first day) didnt do much. After all England are the home side and they should make use of the home conditions better than the visitors. And saying that had India batted first they might have been bowled out for the same score is not right. What if the opposite happened? You never know. All I said was the first day was best for batting otherwise why didnt England make merry in their second innings (I repeat KP's was an exceptionaly brilliant innings).
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India needs to take the attack to Anderson and Panesar. They are making a Mcgrath out of Jimmy Anderson. This is where we miss Sehwag. Same goes for Monty. Take some chances and don't let him get in the groove.
India should play Yuvraj and Gambhir in place of Laxman and Jaffer. I'd prefer the order to be Karthik, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Dhoni, Kumble, Zaheer, RP, Sreesanth.
England should give a serious considertaion to play Bopara in place of Collingwood if he fails again in this test.
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One match and you are writing Tendulkar and Dravid off, Oliver?!
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One of the best test matches I've seen for some time. Good that England were made to work for their wickets. Monty shows again that his hunger and desire are an equal to anybody else's. I'm so glad that this Sikh's playing for us and not India. Anybody who get's the little master out twice is got to be something special. Great bowling attack from Anders and Slider!!, but I did think that Tremlet looked slightly out of it at times.
Roll on the other tests. How ever will Freddie and the others get back in now!!!!
PS - Please, somebody tell The King of Spain that his International Career's over!!!!!
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Good game at lords, i'm looking forward to the 2nd test.
England should have won at lords, but we can't control the elements.
There were a few dodgy decisions(namely cook and dravid being hit outside the line and being wrongly given out).
The worst decision(and most important one)had to be monty's plumb LBW being turned down right before they went off for bad light.
That was obviously the most important decision in the match because that would have meant "game over".
England would have won.
At least with the Cook and Dravid mistakes, there were plenty of batsman left to come in.
But the Monty one, what a shocker!!!!
I still blame the weather though, not the umpires.
Should be a close series.
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how come when sky sports show highlights of a previos match due to the rain they always show matches which england have won and never lost???
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How anyone except other umpires can criticise is beyond me, untill you have you have no right to make judgement, myself i umpire every week sometimes twice a week, all umpiring is is best guesses, even on things such as giving a wide i looks like millimeters from where you stand as an umpire, its all about consistancy, both teams got some decisions go thier way and some against. People should go away and umpire a game before passing judgement. This game was robbed a result by weather not bad decisions nor was it a result of bad captaincy, again that is a hard job, how any captain can enjoy playing is beyond me, I have done this once and althouh it is rewarding it does now allow you to enjoy the game as you might.
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While it is true that Indians were lucky to get out of jail, England batsmen with the exception of KP in the second innings have not done a grat job either against an inexperienced bowling. Indian bowlers are not exactly in the class of Mcgrath/Lee/Clark but still managed to get the hosts under 300 in both innings. You can whine as much as you want about Seesanth being not given LBW, but don't forget Dravid was worngly given out as well.
Panesar will be a marked man so far as Sachin is concerned. Lets wait till the second test unfolds.
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you brits only talk about yourselves...sree not given out by bucknor...could have won the match...but on the flip side dravid was given lbw to a ball that was friggin going off to sri lanka...so there are ups and down .....stop whinning ....it's only a game...there are more important things in life...chill !!
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Ashim:
We have pout up with days of grating whining from Indians about biased umpiring, deliberate decisions against India, etc. You have the monopoly of bad decisions? A few people have tried to point out that your totally oine-eyed perspective is just ludicrous. The marginal decisions in the match were evenly split, as Hawkeye confirmed.
Incidentally, Dravid's lbw was MARGINAL. It was nowhere near Sri Lanka and could only be seen to be wrong, like the not out against Dhoni, with the benefit of replays.
Get a life.
Get a perspective.
Posts like yours turn thousands of fans against India. Your team deserves better supporters. Don't Indians believe in fair play?
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PhilWestern, you're about the only person to have spoken any sense tonight!
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Steve bucknor is the worst umpire I saw in my life. Toffel now joined his company. How many of his LBW decisions were right.Especially Dravids
it would have been a different story then. Bucknor is just a ponting fan. Like to know statistcs of bucknor giving lbw to ponting
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I,m full of praise for the England bowlers but a little cincerned with the batting and bringing back
Trescothic would be aboon.
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I think Indians were too defensive in their batting approach.That is why they made the english bowling attack look more brilliant than what it actually was..
The aussies are simply the best as they never let the opposition bowling dominate themselves.They would have surely attacked Sidebottom and Anderson to unsettle their rhythms.I do not even think that Indians are comfortable against spin anymore.They could not even hit Monty for a six.I remember how Monty was treated by Gilly in the Perth test even though he got a 5 wicket haul there.
My money is definitely on England even though I am
an Indian fan.I do not think Indians are gonna be saved by the weather everytime if they play that badly.
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The Indian big guns are players who often bounce back after poor performances with mammoth totals however that is the problem- they can get huge scores but rarely get off to a good start (or at least I hope so as an Indian!)
Yes i admit we were outplayed at Lords but all we need is the greatest batter (SR Tendulkar- although you wouldnt guess by his current form!) to come good and get 200 and we will be set for a good score...
I agree Sewag should be flown in but he is also inconsistent
Karthik is finally the answer to India's worry for an opener so now they drop the other opener!!?! Where is the logic in the selection...shame we don't actually have a coach!
I disagree that Englands bowlers were fantastic- I htink Indian batsmen just failed
Treat the next game as a new game...Despite England being favourites I think 1 of our big guns will fire and win us the game at Trent Bridge
England should start worrying now about the ODIs after their dismal performances against WI and the score Dhoni got in the 1st test!
THe test series is not very long- they can win that by luck...THe skill will come out in the ODIs!
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People talk about how great the inexperienced english bowlers were. What about Sreesanth and RP Singh?
"Rain denied victory to England!". I do not believe that. Everybody knew the rain was coming. It is just that England was unable to finish the Indian tail off. So from my point of view they do not deserve to win that test match.
Indians are perhaps lucky with the weather. But that luck was available only after 5pm on the last day. So all they had to do is to hold on for only two sessions on the last day. They did well to do so. So I believe they deserve to draw the match. By saying "poor weather helped us", Rahul is giving a false sense of security to Vaughn et al.
Anderson and Tremlet were experienced enough to take advantage of swing conditions, compared to sreesanth and RP singh. I hope the English bowlers can repeat their performance in Trent Bridge to make it an interesting test series.
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umpiring is not so bad in this test match. In fact the conditions were very difficult for umpires with the ball swinging and bouncing.
I think they have done a good job. However, as a premier league umpire, I can say that in our premier league many umpires would not have given certain LBW decisions given in this test match.
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Indian batsmen are English conditions. The bowlers are also likely to bowl better. Hence England may not find it as easy to win the next two tests unless the Indian play badly.
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hi ...i think england has on of the most great cricket team aruond of the wolrd ..i hope english team will won the next 2 test matches against india ...
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So England's young bowling attack was terrific?
Yes, they played very well, but ultimately India batted out 96 overs in their 2nd innings which is one of the most ever.
On the other hand, India's bowling attack which was missing Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel managed to take 10 English wickets, yet their not even mentioned here?
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Hello PPL
Personally i think there should not be any replacement with the current line up rather have a shuffling of players..my combination for the second test should be, 1.Jaffer 2.Karthik 3.Laxman 4.Tendulkar 5.Dravid 6.Dhoni 7.Kumble 8.Zaheer 9.RP Singh 10.Sreesanth.
If Dravid is pushed down the order, even if the wickets falls early.. he will be in a position to guide Dhoni and the tail to follow.
Ravindra.C
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Michael Vaughan is England cricket captain not a weather forecaster. Even the "experts" get it wrong a lot of the time - this summer was forecast to be the hottest ever!
You can gaurantee Vaughan would have been slated if he'd declared on Sunday, the rain didn't come and India had chased down 300!
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What can I say, but I know one thing for sure none of you whining cricket junkies have to endure what I do, I am the ONLY westerner (English) working in an Indian company. I arrived Monday evening to Mumbai and was duly greeted by the news of the draw, ot make matters worse, when I got to the office of some 200+ Indians (all fans of course), I was greeted by a banner saying India 1, England 0 their victory was a victory of the rains! Like one of my colleagues said, "we sent the rains over express mail", he could of course be correct, as its monsoon season here and in the 48 hrs since my arrival, not a drop of the stuff, guess its all on little of Blighty!!! Com'on England Friday, I have a kick-off with management...
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I definitely agree that England was in a very good shape to win the 1st test but it is also true there are many factors that play role / roles in the win and defeats. There is no point in blaming weather, umpires, playing conditions, players etc. We need to take everything in positive way to go farwards and enjoy the game etc
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Hi Oliver,
Nice write up. But yes cricket is a game of uncertainity. We can not blame on anything and take the case of Dravid's verdict on the second innings. He was not out and if he had been there, then result should have been something else. But it's all in the game :).. and thats why we all love the game.
Long live cricket.....
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Full marks to English bowlers. I see most of the Sports journalists harping on the unfortunate lbw decision against Srisanth.Why are they not talking about an equally bad decision that went against Dravid?Let us get real guys!
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England could have easily won this match had bowled few more overs !!! Thay had a chance and a choice 2 do that .
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The bottem line is England out played India in atleast bowling part if not all.
Indians DID NOT played well when it mattered and England deserved to WIN.
For the Indian batting form, I think if they keep their head together then they can beat any team on any surface and thats with out the doubt. Thats because unargubelly they dont have lack of talent.
In bowling part I think they should get rid of Shreesanth because I think he flashes a lot and doesnt do much.
I too recon that Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra can do well on this surface.
Forget about Sehwag, he is not inform and it could be dangerous to get him into the team at this stage.
But for there is no need to get so puffed about the whole series just after 1st game. There is lots of cricket left and it is too early to make comments about who is best and whoz not!!!
p.
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The bottem line is England out played India in atleast bowling part if not all.
Indians DID NOT played well when it mattered and England deserved to WIN.
For the Indian batting form, I think if they keep their head together then they can beat any team on any surface and thats with out the doubt. Thats because unargubelly they dont have lack of talent.
In bowling part I think they should get rid of Shreesanth because I think he flashes a lot and doesnt do much.
I too recon that Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra can do well on this surface.
Forget about Sehwag, he is not inform and it could be dangerous to get him into the team at this stage.
But for there is no need to get so puffed about the whole series just after 1st game. There is lots of cricket left and it is too early to make comments about who is best and whoz not!!!
p.
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England were indeed unlucky not to get Sreesanth LBW. However India's No 1 batsman Rahul Dravid should not have been given out LBW in India's 2nd Innings.
Tendulkar has had surgeries to his elbow, shoulder , foot, and has suffered lower back trouble. He may not be the player he once was, but it is good to see him battle on. The indian reserves are poor and there is no one to replace him.
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what do i have to write so you can post my comments..
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I think India need to get rid of Jaffer, the guy is absolutely useless. He takes ages and ages, but still only manages 58. Okay, so atleast he managed 58 whilst others couldn't match it but I think that Laxman is class and his class will come through for us.
Yuvraj needs to be playing as well, he's on good form.
Jaffer also seems to completely dose off when there's a run.
Either him or Karthik need to go.
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Can anybody has the guts to drop the Great Sachin Tendulkar for the 2nd Test ? Can anybody tell me when he played the crucial innings India requires of his stature. (esp. in 4th innings when it is really mattered ?)
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"Englands cricketers ... excellent job [at Lord's]
Bowlers terrific ... written off as being too green ... cruelly denied victory
Who to blame ... Steve Bucknor ... the weather
Any concern ... [only] among the batsmen
India ... got out of jail ... big-name performers not at the top of their form
Dhoni ... clearly going to be the Indian batsman to watch
Age beginning to take its toll on Sachin Tendulkar"
This isn't a comment directed at any particular person, but why do so many sports writers limit the construction of their articles to expressing the prevailing mainstream sentiment? No matter how illogical, how speculative, how self-servingly biassed this sentiment may be, no matter how likely it is that next week's facts may demonstrate its absurdity; despite all this, virtually the entire UK sporting press corps conform to the same blueprint. I appreciate that they are to some extent governed by the need to attract readers, but can it really be the case that the majority of readers are only looking for "authoritative" confirmation of their own prejudices? I can't believe that writers such as Hugh McIlvanney think this way.
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SO Dhoni saved the team from defeat atleast.I can't understand why Batsmen like LAXMAN,SACHIN,DRAVID fail to score.I really admire the way V.V.S bats i love his style.
I must say i was really looking fore some cover drives in particular from laxman.I hope that i see some at the second test
INDIA best of luck i think nthey need it
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Trent Bridge should be entertaining as India's big guns will be looking to improve their performances as they looked disappointing at Lords.
i think that England should be given credit for the way they performed without the likes on Freddy, Harmy and Tresco. i think that the england attach looks strong and impressive and should give India another tough game at trent bridge.
I think India need to bring in Gambhir and yuvraj back into the squad to strengthen their batting line up. my India line up would be:
Gambhir, Karthik, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kumble, RP Singh, Khan and Sree santh
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The Indian cricket team has the "top" 3 (excl Dravid) who no one wishes to take any decision.Sachin can yet come good for 2-3 years at least ,but he needs to be dropped as anyone else too if he does not perform ,may be he will come back. Actually Sanjay Manjrekar had given some good constructive criticism on him which was negated by all incl Sachin who should have taken what was useful in those remarks and kept quite.Laxman-if he does not succes in the 2nd test should make way. Ganguly -same. Since this is not a World cup or any great series ,why not play with some 2-3 promising youngsters and rotate the others.
J.pereira
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I've just read "Tremlett looks for mean streak" on the 大象传媒 sport website. I'd just like to say that the only "mean streak" evident in the Lords test was in Tremlett's pants when he was facing the Indian bowling attack and earning himself a juicy pair. I thank you.
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the match is going to be great but indias batting order should swap jaffer and tandalkar
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First of all I dont think Indians are missing sehwag.
In these kind of typical wet English conditions sehwag is very less likely to survive. The major flaw in Sehwag is he offers regular chances to bowling team; although his asset is runs keep flowing when he is on the pitch. But surely Sehwag isnt a option when balls swinging heywire and this guy being failing succesively in los angeles tournament.
Rather than Sehwag Indians might prefer Yuvraj, as he besides his great form with the bat in the one dayers he can field too. So, Yuvraj singh can enter by removing laxman in the side.
As far as english bowling goes i still think its very timid. And the likes of tendulkars will definately on top of them when he likes to play in trent bridge.
Jaffer deserves a one more chance after his mature half century in difficult conditions under pressure.
I think for the 2nd test match indians are on edge. And my player of the match is tendulkar.
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It's painfully simple : of India's erstwhile "Fab4", namely, Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS & Ganguly, only Dravid remains a force to reckon with. The Indian batting falls & rises with him. The others have been passengers since WC 03 but we, in India, fail to admit that...
Closer looks at , particularly, Tendulkar's dismissals, in recent uears will show how the footwork & reflexes have deserted him. And what's this talk of him being in or out of form ? He's running amok against lesser attacks everyday - that should reveal the truth of the matter !
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Points we all cricket fans have overlooked about Lords draw..
1. Indians were going after the target of 380 instead of defending & waiting for rain. Ravi Shastri confirmed it while talking on air on Day 5, saying he met Dravid who hoped to finish the match by Tea.
2. First 4 batters for India are right handed. That is helping Sidebottom to cruve the ball into them, & also James Anderson who loves bowling outswingers to righties..
3. Lords was India's first real battle field for Indian cricketers who traditionally don't play well on overseas tours.
NOW, Given that our Indian boys managed to not reach Trent Bridge being 1-nil down, they'll be in much better frame of mind.
Lets stop banging on players like Sehwag, Munaf & Irfan not being there on the tour. There's enough fire power in Indian XI to trouble England. Don't forget - test match bowlers become doubly dangerous when your batters pile on long scores like 500 odd.
The team who reach that sort of score first at Trent Bridge - will have the advantage.
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I wonder what the fuss is all about? Why not English press give some credit to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, that he literally stood between Victory and Loss. Rain helped ofcourse but he was the man England could not get out and so the result. English press is often blamed of being biased to Indian batsmen. Maybe its an English ego that they cannot accept the fact that India has got the BEST batting line up in the world, after all the recent or past failures we have. It takes a lot to score 30,000 runs in tests, ask any Brian Lara or Ricky Ponting and they will tell you.
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Please please please India do us proud and lets wrap this test up.lets show the world how important cricket is to India
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