Skip to main content

India vs. England: bullet point preview

Not going to have the time to do an in-depth preview of what looks to be a fascinating series so here are some (not very organised) thoughts, primarily from an Indian perspective -

  • England are not going to be anywhere near the underdogs that they are being made out to be by the likes of George Dobell and Sourav Ganguly. They have the best record against India (home and away) in recent years for a very good reason and will pose a stiff challenge.
  • The absence of two arguably first choice batters now in KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma will be a big factor in England's favour and make the batting line-ups much more evenly matched. That said, this Indian side does bat deeper (especially in home conditions) than a lot of recent India sides.
  • India have a history of doing poorly against unfancied spinners at home. Shaun Udal, Nicky Boje, Michael Clarke for heaven's sake! I wouldn't be writing Moeen Ali and co off at all.
  • The contest between Kohli and Root will be interesting to watch. They are clearly the "star" batsmen now for their teams but don't be surprised if the under-rated Rahane and ever resilient Cook come away with the batting honours.
  • The all-rounders will be the MVPs as usual though. Ben Stokes was the difference between a 0-2 defeat to Bangladesh and a more respectable drawn outcome. If he can stay fit and firing through the five Tests, England will swing with him. Similarly, India's fortunes move quite closely with Ashwin's form with ball (and bat recently).
  • The toss. Such an important factor and Kohli's remarkable luck so far has to give. If England can win tosses and bat first, they will fancy their chances. It will also even up the contest and make for great viewing.
All in all, lots to look forward to, even if the two teams are not quite as good as those ranked #1 and #4 should be. Anything less than a 3-1 victory will be a poor result for India and a good one for England. My vote for best batsmen and bowlers of the series for either side -

England: Cook, Broad
India: Rahane, Ashwin

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Et tu?

As a single sport website, I think Cricinfo has brought about a revolution and the fact that they were bought by ESPN is testament to how highly valued they've become. Their editing and approach to articles/opinion has been refreshing to say the least and even though they seem to have had a lot of editorial staff movement they've usually maintained very high standards. Off late though, both in their headline styles as well as in actual content, there seems to be an occasional slippage of standards and an inching towards the modern media sensationalism which is a bit of a pity. This piece  by Siddharth Monga is a classic example. Granted that the last two press conferences by Dhoni and Sehwag  indicated clearly that the captain and his deputy did not agree on this aspect of selection but "discord", "dissent", "public sniping" feels rather presumptuous and heavy handed. Yes, it is a team sport but there is no reason why everyone on the team needs ...
1 comment
Read more

Quick singles: Why the double standards?

I'm no fan of David Warner's but for once, I'm firmly and squarely on his side . Sportspersons are probably treated the most unfairly by public opinion (and often the media) whenever they are involved in pay disputes. "Oh, look these millionaires are complaining about not getting paid enough" seems to be the gist of the general reactions. I find this attitude inexplicable at best and grossly hypocritical if I'm feeling less charitable. Like the rest of us, all athletes have the right to fight for what they think they should be paid. That is the fundamental part. In addition (and unlike many of the rest of us), most sportspersons operate in the knowledge that they only have a short period available as a performer, and therefore only a short period to maximise earnings. Most people that I know would behave exactly the same as Warner and his colleagues are doing. So why all the hue and cry?
Post a Comment
Read more

Much ado about a run-out

Judging by the amount that's been said and written about Ian Bell's run-out-that-wasn't at Trent Bridge, you would think that it has been the most significant occurrence of the series so far when nothing could be further from the truth. Andrew Miller  and Samir Chopra seem to be of the opinion that it was the crucial turning point in the match, which I completely disagree with (the post-tea sessions on days one and two were far more critical and momentum shifting). Andy Flower says that if Tendulkar had been run-out similarly in Bombay, it would have caused an international incident. He's clearly feeling the effects of having been in the England cricket set-up for too long given that a) its very improbable that Tendulkar would do something as daft as Bell did, and b) when a controversial run-out (but within the laws) did happen to him (against Pakistan at Eden Gardens no less), Tendulkar went out to the crowd and appealed to them to calm down and let the game proceed...
Post a Comment
Read more