England Tour of India

29 knocked off.. all easy too.. free runs.. no pressure..
poor from England

The field to Rohit is ambitious, everyone up on the leg side against one of the best players of spin they have. He’s picking it off.
 
The key for England tonight was to just keep it tight and nick 1/2. Worst possible start really.
 
Gavaskar dropping some real knowledge, apparently you need to land the ball on this pitch, unlike most other pitches i suppose where full tosses are the way to go. Truly insightful analysis.
 
England will bowl better tomorrow and the pitch will give them chances but this session has been terminal. It’s all it takes.
 
England wouldn’t have had a better chance of winning a series in India. Just lost a lot of big moments
 
There’s a lot of pressure for spinners in the 4th innings in the sub continent, Hartley dealt with in the first test but hasn’t dealt with it so far in this one.
 
England wouldn’t have had a better chance of winning a series in India. Just lost a lot of big moments

When you consider the inexperience of the spin attack it’s no surprise really. Better bowling attack who are more used to the conditions is always going to come through in the end, chuck in Jaiswal’s series for the ages and yeah. Annoying but not really much else you can do about it.
 
When you consider the inexperience of the spin attack it’s no surprise really. Better bowling attack who are more used to the conditions is always going to come through in the end, chuck in Jaiswal’s series for the ages and yeah. Annoying but not really much else you can do about it.

Agree about the spinners but batters are the bigger culprits for me. At all the big moments the batting has collapsed
 
We need to play some bazball in the 1st session, that's when batting has been easiest in the day before the ball has gone soft.
 
India's spinners shone today but England have missed out on a golden opportunity here. Shame that's the series over.
 
Agree about the spinners but batters are the bigger culprits for me. At all the big moments the batting has collapsed

A few of the shots in the last test annoyed me, today I’m putting more in the good bowling/tactics basket rather than bad batting. I think India have figured out how to react to England’s batting the more the series has gone on and England haven’t really been able to deviate from their tactics.
 
Have to say this has been a great series so far. Sky regretting not broadcasting this.

England are playing very similar to our tour here in 2018 where we lost 3-1 but were always faltering at key moments.
 
Have to say this has been a great series so far. Sky regretting not broadcasting this.

England are playing very similar to our tour here in 2018 where we lost 3-1 but were always faltering at key moments.

I was thinking that, was 4-1 in the end too! A bunch of crucial Sam Curran knocks made a massive difference.
 
This pitch hasn’t had that much apart from for Kuldeep, England were in a great position at 110/3 and should have got atleast 200. Think India will chase it pretty comfortably tomorrow
 
The batting has let them down although India bowled really well.Frustrating but on the whole England have been really competitive, credit to India though for finding away through when they looked down and out, it helps when your spinners are so much better though that's the difference as we thought it would be.
 
This pitch hasn’t had that much apart from for Kuldeep, England were in a great position at 110/3 and should have got atleast 200. Think India will chase it pretty comfortably tomorrow

It’s the variable bounce, which wrist spinners are more capable of inducing. That 40 at the end of the day has killed the game for me.
 
Very funny, but a slight difference from yesterday, we are back to you can't win it here but you might lose it if you shit the bed rather than you don't perform we are done as it was today.

I know, just have to play it smart and pick the bad balls off, which you assume you will get.
 
This pitch hasn’t had that much apart from for Kuldeep, England were in a great position at 110/3 and should have got atleast 200. Think India will chase it pretty comfortably tomorrow

Yeah, England needed a lead of 250 minimum - and even then it would probably have been gettable. Got to feel for England bowlers having to get back out there today to defend such a low total.
 
I do think that Foakes innings means he’s done under McCullum/Stokes. He was playing the situation ok and it was hard but to bat 70 odd balls for 17 runs, I get why you’d want someone a bit more proactive in that spot.

England batted 25 overs for their last 35 runs. India knocked off 40 in the last 7 overs of the day. Of course the bowling disparity was large but England should have landed a few more punches in that time period. Foakes not being able to is reflective of the bowling/field setting and also his skill set. He got the time, he didn’t do anything with it.
 
I think other big teams are able to compete 11 vs 11 against India but once it gets to outside the 11 there is no competition. England are missing Brook here and have got so little outside to replace him. This is no disrespect to the likes of Lawrence but he is unlikely to have a top career. If England were missing the number of players India are missing then it would be a very average team
 
It was good to see ashwin with his 5 wickets. He needed that and more importantly India needed it. Don't remember when was the last time he looked so underwhelming in India. Also, quite surprised rohit never opened the ball with him.

Eitherway missed opportunity for England.
 
Hadn't seen the score since England were 100-3, ffs!

Easy to say now but in a 2nd innings like this I'd prefer to see Foakes switch positions with Bairstow who's more suited to batting with the tail. Foakes doesn't really have that ability to go aggressive.
 
Apart from maybe trying for boundaries, I don't see anything wrong in Foakes approach.

Like Jurel did.
 
Apart from maybe trying for boundaries, I don't see anything wrong in Foakes approach.

Like Jurel did.

If you can’t hit boundaries, take 2’s. He did neither. He got 12.2 overs with Bashir and they added 12, Jurel got 12.3 overs with Deep and they added 40.

Generally, I do think England have wavered in their approach in the face of some very good bowling and smart field setting. India have dared them to look stupid going for big shots and they have refused. They have not only refused but then they also failed to take advantage of the field being out by running aggressively. They won’t cop it from the media this time but they batted themselves into a standstill and left some runs out there. It’s first gear or fifth gear out there for England. The middle order folding every match doesn’t help because the lower order feels compelled to dig in then.
 
If you can’t hit boundaries, take 2’s. He did neither. He got 12.2 overs with Bashir and they added 12, Jurel got 12.3 overs with Deep and they added 40.

Generally, I do think England have wavered in their approach in the face of some very good bowling and smart field setting. India have dared them to look stupid going for big shots and they have refused. They have not only refused but then they also failed to take advantage of the field being out by running aggressively. They won’t cop it from the media this time but they batted themselves into a standstill and left some runs out there. It’s first gear or fifth gear out there for England. The middle order folding every match doesn’t help because the lower order feels compelled to dig in then.

Jurel took one 2 in the whole partnership. It was mostly boundaries and singles.
 
Jurel took one 2 in the whole partnership. It was mostly boundaries and singles.

Which is my point. Foakes isn’t a massive boundary hitter, if you can’t hit boundaries because the field is out you have to find another way to apply pressure. I expected him to be a bit busier, I will note that perhaps Bashir wasn’t able to push 2s and that’s perhaps why he didn’t open the bowling too.
 
If you're going to have a go at Foakes today, you ought to first aim criticism at Bairstow and Stokes. Both played the spinners like they'd never faced spin bowlers before. Bairstow's ability to go from imperious to all over the place was again an issue. He's been rubbish since his injury in all honesty.

England lack of depth in the tail meant Foakes was having to protect the other end more than he normally should. Robinson lasted 3 balls and in a close game Anderson and Bashir are pretty poor batting options to have coming in (not that you should be overly reliant on 10/11, but they did manage 1 run between them all match).
 
Great turnaround by India today. Jurel played a great knock and their spinners are much better than Englands which showed. They’ve started the chase well and can’t see them losing it now. Just another frustrating opportunity lost for England in a winning position.
 
Which is my point. Foakes isn’t a massive boundary hitter, if you can’t hit boundaries because the field is out you have to find another way to apply pressure. I expected him to be a bit busier, I will note that perhaps Bashir wasn’t able to push 2s and that’s perhaps why he didn’t open the bowling too.

I don't think there was much opportunity for doubles given the field was out for him. He should have tried for boundaries more. He's top level batsman. Should be having that game.
 
If you're going to have a go at Foakes today, you ought to first aim criticism at Bairstow and Stokes. Both played the spinners like they'd never faced spin bowlers before. Bairstow's ability to go from imperious to all over the place was again an issue. He's been rubbish since his injury in all honesty.

England lack of depth in the tail meant Foakes was having to protect the other end more than he normally should. Robinson lasted 3 balls and in a close game Anderson and Bashir are pretty poor batting options to have coming in (not that you should be overly reliant on 10/11, but they did manage 1 run between them all match).

I think I acknowledged the middle order folding means the lower order feels compelled to dig in. But again, it’s possible to protect an end and do more than go at 1 an over. It’s harsh I know, everything is scrutinised more in a tight test but today I kind of saw why McCullum/Stokes aren’t all in on Foakes.
 
Just saw that England scored 35 for 7 wickets in their last 25 overs. Kuldeep bowled ridiculously well.
 
I don't think there was much opportunity for doubles given the field was out for him. He should have tried for boundaries more. He's top level batsman. Should be having that game.

He’s a touch player, there were plenty of 2’s on, I counted 3 he could have got that they didn’t push and that’s even without him really looking for them. The only thing I concluded is Bashir couldn’t run aggressively so they didn’t try. He did the same last test, got out and then Wood came out and smashed 30 off 10 balls. I don’t expect Foakes to do that but it does reflect on his skill set as a bat quite poorly.
 
Just saw that England scored 35 for 7 wickets in their last 25 overs.

Again a point I made above. Testament to the bowling/field setting, but you expect England to score more in that time period.
 
We need to play some bazball in the 1st session, that's when batting has been easiest in the day before the ball has gone soft.
Yes, if anything is needed from England over the last two tests, it’s more Bazball.
 
Again a point I made above. Testament to the bowling/field setting, but you expect England to score more in that time period.

In terms of the difference between the bowling I think that in the 50 overs that England batted there wasn’t a single leg stump half volley from the spinners. It was impossible for the batsmen when facing Jadeja or Kuldeep to hit a ball through mid wicket or mid on while Rohit got 4-5 freebies in 3 overs. The relentless nature of Indian attack is kind of unappreciated