Yeah it was a daft declaration. Should have dangled the carrot a bit and given them 270 in 65 overs.
England Cricket 2016/17 - Bangladesh, India & West Indies (ODI's only)
- Thread starter ChrisNelson
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Easy in hindsight, I think Cook made the right call. Make the game safe first
Ffs again it lands nowhere, just bring everyone around the bat.
Good game and good pitch. I don't think we played badly but England were very good.
Need a square turner for next game if we are to have a chance.
Need a square turner for next game if we are to have a chance.
Good innings from Kohli. England will go into the second match with nothing to worry about. Somehow their spinners were better than ours on this wicket.
Don't you think Rashid, Ali, and Ansari would be super effective on a turner?
Very likely as shown by how other spinners have done on such pitches lately but it also gives us a chance at winning.
Good on England. Test match was going no way really but they made it into something by the end. Plus they made Ashwin look rather average, bodes well for the series.
Precisely. It's the first test in a 5 match series. No need to dangle the carrot.
We always seem to raise our game against India.
Looking forward to the rest of the series, I'm more hopeful it'll be a competitive series now.
Looking forward to the rest of the series, I'm more hopeful it'll be a competitive series now.
Not hindsight, just common sense. The run rates in the first three innings were 3.36, 3.01 and 3.44. There was little to no chance of India successfully chasing 270+ in 65 overs in the final two sessions at well above 4 an over. 310 in 50 overs is daft and lacking intent. Yes you won't lose the game but you won't win it either barring a grand collapse. From the position Eng were in overnight they could easily have kicked on this morning and given themselves 15 overs extra to take 10 wickets.
Everyone is sugarcoating this draw as a moral victory for England but this was more like a big opportunity missed imo. India will probably respond with rank turners where Ashwin will thrive.
65 overs 270 might have been slight risky given there wasn't lot happening when England were batting, but 60 overs to India with a target of close to 275 would have been ideal from England point of view. For that, they should have accelerated earlier as well, after seeing out first half an hour.
And give India 55 overs to chase 270? That could've easily gone either way. Hell, Cook's declaration with India needing to get 310 from 49 overs was pretty damn risky by his standards, so I'm not gonna hate on him for that.
30 test centuries is an incredible achievement, though!
No one would attempt that run chase mate on a day 5 pitch. It's suicide. The closest situation was Adelade in Australia where we went for it and lost.
If we had someone like Sehwag then I could understand but Kohli is pretty much the only player who could pull it off. And we had 5 batsman. Worst comes to worst, you could have always spread the field.
Should have declared when he got his century, would have had a couple of overs before lunch and 250 in 2 sessions on a day 5 pitch is never going to happen, but under such a negative Captain it was never going to happen
Yeah agreed, and with players like Kohli on the other side it is completely understandable. Happy with the draw as I expected us to be smashed after the Bangladesh showing.
Rahul played for Karnataka today. Glad to see that.
Can't believe Gambhir's still poking outside off after a career spanning a decade.
Can't believe Gambhir's still poking outside off after a career spanning a decade.
In this day and age.. 270 would have been a touch too risky. 290 perhaps, or 300 would have been sufficient.
Thats not dangling a carrot, thats giving the test away. India would have got those runs. England proved you could still bat on the surface even though there was turn. This is the first match of a series, to play so well and to lose it to a daft declaration would have been silly and hit the morale of the England players. The pundits were saying England needed to set a total of 350. Cook made the right call to make the game safe first.
Oh please, I don't think any captain would have declared setting 250 to chase. You could still bat on the surface as England proved. That's easily getable. This is the first match of a series, Cook was right to make the game safe. No point risking the match after playing so well. The pundits were saying England should set 350!
Not with India batting line up, won't get close to 4 an over
It was a good test match in general even though it ended up in a draw. England can win the series providing that thier spinners have control and discipline. Wickets will always follow on a turning pitch as long as you land it in the right areas. The England batsmen shouldnt be afraid of a rank turner. Root, Cook, Ali, and Hameed (so far) are decent players of spin. However, winning the toss will be crucial and will probably dictate which side comes out on top.
England will still have been wary from Bangladesh, especially run chase in first test.
Quack quack! Good start 
Now hopefully these two don't mess up either
Gambhir and Mishra should have been given another test. They need to stick with players for them to come good.
Mishra should have got another chance, especially as it is turning wicket. Dropping Gambhir is right. He has suspect technique for tests and except for a period of 1-2 years, was never that good in tests. He is already 35 so nothing wrong in bringing Rahul back than keep giving Gambhir chances. Rahul has shown promise to be in team as opener for long term.
Good recovery. Virat is getting into the groove
There's a gully, deep cover and a deep third man. Overall 8 fielders on the offside and Pujara still cuts broad for a boundary
Pujara and Kohli in complete control
Another absolute road.
not really. spinners getting turn already. and there is bounce for the bowlers too
It is as flat as a pancake.
However, unlike the last test, this one looks like it may turn square from day 3.
As such, winning the toss basically wins you the game.
Groundsmen cant seem to win in this situation. As an Indian fan, I would take a rank turner for every test match, however, that will probably result in bitching and moaning.
This pitch, as long as it deteriorates by day 3, will be a very good test wicket.
Other than this type of wicket or a rank turner, theres not much else that can be curated in this part of the world - unless you want a wicket such as the one seen in Nagpur, 2012.
You are probably right TBH. I'm not sure how much scope there is in the sub-continent to make a proper Cricket wicket.
The problem for England is if this starts turning tomorrow
.Also, not sure we will deal with scoreboard pressure as comfortably as India did in the first test.
James Anderson has come of age in his 30s. He used to be ineffective in the sub continent.
It really isn't, this pitch will turn and it certainly won't be as great to bat on when England finally get in. The pitch in Rajkot is the most 'neutral' pitch you'll see this tour...as the series progresses, the pitches will become more and more spin friendly.
Dropped catches screwed India in the 1st test, dropping Kohli has already cost England a 100 runs in the 2nd.
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Did he? Or did we just assume he would be, cause he was seen as a specialist, at the time?
Played around a bit with the cricinfo stats tools and his average in India, before he reached his 30's, seems to be 29.8.
India have too many here, I think.
Pitch doesn't look like it's going to last long enough for England to get in to this.
Pitch doesn't look like it's going to last long enough for England to get in to this.