Best England can hope for is running through India for about 330 and someone playing a blinder, even then I think parity is about as good as they can get. Feels like Pant will bat England properly out of the match in an hour and India will roll England over twice, all over in 3 days.
England in India 2021
- Thread starter TheGame
- Start date
Great cricket viewing that for many reasons. India in control for me. Ashwin will be too much here.
He's not resting because he's tired. He needs time away from bubbles so he doesn't go mad. If his mental health deteriorates it's not likely to recover in time for the ashes.
If Ashwin doesn't get 10+ in the match then call me Shirley.
To be fair Englands schedule this year is truly mental and Buttler plays all 3 formats so it's inevitable he needs to be rested now and then. Especially with them having to live in various bubbles.
Better to tackle an issue before it's actually an issue when it comes to Mental health.
If buttler himself asked for it then fair enough. I thought it was just random changes by the selectors. Still Bess one is weird, unless there is some injury issues with him.
They said specifically Bess was dropped.
The issue with Bess is that he is shit.
important point overlookedIf you play all three formats for England this is your 2021 potential schedule with no rest:
January - Sri Lanka tour
February - March - India tour
April - May - IPL?
June - New Zealand @ home
June - July - ODIs/T20s vs Sri Lanka & Pakistan @ home
August - September - India @ home
October - November - Pakistan T20 tour & ICC T20 World Cup in India
November - January - Full Ashes tour.
All in bubbles too. England are completely correct with their rotation policy and they are definitely acting on feedback from the players.
Still looked better than Ali. And also contributed with the bat.
Although I do personally think it's a bit weird to leave in the middle of a back to back test, fly home for three weeks and then fly back for the limited overs stuff, but maybe that's just me being weird about flying. I know the T20s are important as we are building up to a world cup, but seems to me if you'd waited maybe a test longer you could have given him a much longer period of rest.
On talent Ali is lightyears ahead. On form not so much.
Anyway I'm being harsh on Bess, its early days for him but I've not seen anything particularly interesting from him.
I like Bess, he's not massively talented but he definitely has something about him.
He gets very funny flukey wickets too.
He gets very funny flukey wickets too.
With the T20 World Cup being in India I get why perhaps England want all of their main guys available for that leg, especially if a few are opting out of the IPL this year.
Yes this year will be gruesome for many cricketers. I feel it is important to have a big squad and rotate frequently. Don't blame England for prioritizing ashes and t20 wc, just that ashes is still far away and England has a good chance of beating india in India especially having won the first test.
Disagree tbh mate, players' wellbeing comes first. Being in those bubbles for months at a time must be awfully tough.
Yeah as I said if it was something players themselves requested then it is a fair call. I didn't know it was related to mental health that he was sent home.
Kid's birthday? Wanted to spend Valentine's with his partner? Stuff you usually accept you have to miss sometimes but might matter a lot more when you've been in such a weird environment. I think it'd be quite sensible if England are being a little flexible around things like that.
Not sure if Buttler himself requested it, I think the ECB are doing it with all the 3 format players in particular.
I still don't think England should be written off in this game. In root and stokes they have two game changers. Stokes can easily do a pietersen and play a blinder.
I think the players have definitely influenced it, this was Eoin Morgan in October:
Kohli's face after getting bowled is so so funny.
He looks shocked, baffled and offended
He looks shocked, baffled and offended
No worries mate. It hasn't been that well-covered by the media but by all accounts the bubble life is a real problem for the players.
I think our best hope is to get within 100 runs of India, bowl them out for 100 and somehow chase down the runs. Only have to bowl a side out cheaply once, as Nass always says.
I live for the day when Kohli reviews being bowled
It must be so shit.
One of the joys of touring these countries must be being able to go out and about and enjoy the place and unwind.
Yeah, you're both right. I'd have just wanted longer off I were him and given its Buttler who has played more T20 cricket there than most that seems the most 'natural' window.
Tbh, though, I don't really know how any of them are managing it. I've barely been able to put my socks on some days, so the fact these guys are able to fly to the other side of the world and perform like elite sportsmen is herculean in its own right.
Is it not the case these types of pitches sometimes calm down a bit on day 2 and early day 3 then spice up for the last two days?
Totally. Being a cricketer must be ace with all the travel you get to do. Must be so frustrating for them at the moment.
Finally, finished work and watched the days play. Toss in India has historically been important. As for that decision, we’ll, growing up in the 80s both umpires would be from the home nation and there were quite a few home decisions shall we say but the WI umpires were just out and out cheats. This wasn’t great but it won’t happen again for a long time plus Jinxy didn’t go on to make more than one run or so.
if pant has an aggressive 45mins - hour, best England can hope for is a draw.
if pant has an aggressive 45mins - hour, best England can hope for is a draw.
India probably already have played a match winning, however I don’t think the pitch was as difficult to play on (yet..) as is being made out. Some of India’s dismissals were very poor. India should actually be in a better position. The question will be how quickly will the pitch deteriorate? Rohit played brilliantly anyway. Special mention for Stones, he’s a proper fast bowler. He caused problems for all of the batsman and was England’s best bowler. Accurate 90mph aggressive bowling on a slow pitch, imagine what facing him will be like at the Gabba!
Well he’s lost his way a bit as a centre half so pleased hes picking his bowling up ;-)
There is no draw on this pitch. Agree with Rams, India threw away a few wickets today.
Completely agree, but that’s the best they can hope for.
Kohli definitely tops the list on that one.
Kohli was so shocked at his dismissal, I thought he might put the bails back on a take guard again. If Pant sticks around for 20 or so overs and plays the way he does it would put India massively in the driving seat. England will need a special knock or two I feel.