England XI v India **spoilers**

Looks like I missed some real fireworks at the end. From when Dravid was out India went at over 7 an over for over 10 overs. Unless some of the big hitters stayed around for 60 or 70 balls each then the total was always out of reach. I reckon Dravid and Jaffer went too slowly and should have hit the accelerate button a little earlier. Jaffer and Dravid have built two century partnerships in this match but both of them are players who like to play as anchors rather than the aggressor. Shame Sehwag had such a poor match, on a pitch like this I would have expected better but England had real thought out plans for him which they executed to perfection.

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Everyone had been writing off England but when you have such a good side you can never write them off. Can't wait for the match in Punjab, hopefully played in the same spirit and I hope Monty gets a good reception there as well.

Also just been annouced Yuvraj back in the squad and Munaf Patel in as well, Munaf impressed in the A match with a 10 wicket haul. Yuvraj has to play but I'm not sure who he is gonna replace, a real selection headache here!
 
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JohnnyG said:
Is Patel the left hand seamer? & Where the hell has Jaffer been, I thought he was excellent throughout!
When Monty bowled Dravid there was a massive cheer, were they cheering for Monty :confused:
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Munaf Patel is a right hand seamer. A few years back he was hailed as the next big thing because unlike most of the pie chuckers that come out of India he could bowl quite fast, there had been talk of him bowling in the mid nineties so there was lots of hype about him. Problem was he couldn't control his line or length and at the top stage as players like Akhtar and Lee have found out when they are off colour, it doesn't matter if you bowl at 95mph because top players will smack it to the boundary faster than you bowled it! Recently he got injured and he had his bowling action remodelled. Now he is in more control of his action. He played against England just a few weeks ago and he had match figures of 10-91 which is pretty good. Though that was just a warm up match for him. He spent some time with Dennis Lillee, who as everyone knows is a great bowling coach, and he helped him focus on how to bowl i.e. to worry about his line and length and make sure his fitness was up to scratch. Looks like he has taken his advice and hope that he becomes a top bowler because it is a joke India does not have even one world class seamer in their team. Shambolic considering they liked to think they are 2nd only to the Aussies!

As for Wasim Jaffer he was once tipped for great things and drafted into the national side when they weren't exactly at their best. He was then introduced to a rampant Alan Donald and Shaun Pollock who were just too good for him. He did have some okish knocks but I think test cricket was too much for him then, he has played against England in England as well but didn't do that well. Now recently his domestic form has been very very good and he has ironed out many of his problems so he has been bought in because except for Sehwag the rest of the Indian openers just aren't good enough, so considering his domestic form he deserved his chance and I hope he keeps it going. Opening with Dravid is just stupid because he has been the most consistent no.3 in the world over the last 5 years.

As for Monty, are you sure they cheered when he bowled him or they cheered when Pathan came out? Maybe they were getting bored and were happy he was out ;) I doubt they were cheering for Monty though, in Mohali maybe I could understand some cheers for him but not in Nagpur.
 
Fair enough, who's the bleedin' left handed seamer I remember seeing a while ago then?:p
He was good & I was surprised (glad) he wasn't playing to be honest.
They *could* of been cheering for Pathan, but it started immediately Dravid was bowled & no-one knew he was coming out to bat then:)
 
JohnnyG said:
Fair enough, who's the bleedin' left handed seamer I remember seeing a while ago then?:p
He was good & I was surprised (glad) he wasn't playing to be honest.
They *could* of been cheering for Pathan, but it started immediately Dravid was bowled & no-one knew he was coming out to bat then:)
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RP Singh? Zaheer Khan? Ashish Nehra? Those are the only other left hand seamers I know.

TBH mate I haven't seen any of the action today so can't say anything but I seriously doubt they would be cheering for him. Maybe even cheering in anticipation of Tendulkar who usually comes out next? I dunno......
 
Zaheer Khan, that's the lad:)
Is he in the squad?

Edit: Just watched the highlights & the crowd definitely went mad as soon as Monty bowled Dravid, it was instantaneous & they had to be cheering him:/
 
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JohnnyG said:
Zaheer Khan, that's the lad:)
Is he in the squad?

Edit: Just watched the highlights & the crowd definitely went mad as soon as Monty bowled Dravid, it was instantaneous & they had to be cheering him:/
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Naah Zaheer not in the squad anymore. 3 or 4 years ago he was bowling with real fire and pace but really has lost it. Much slower now and just doesn't get any wickets so had to be dropped.

They might of cheered mate, don't know tbh as I missed the highlights as well :o
 
Reports are that it'll seam a bit for the first 2 days or so, so Plunkett looks likely to come in for Blackwell.
Sreesanth is a doubt for them, he's got viral fever whatever that is.

Edit: VVS & Kaif are dropped too.
 
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We lost Strauss & Cook early on after a delayed start due to rain then Bell & KP got us to 117 before Bell was bamboozled by Kumble. Then bad light took them off but they've just come back out again. I don't see the point in having floodlights if they can't use them :confused:

Edit: KP goes for 64, 157-4:(
 
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Need another couple of big innings from Fred and Colly to pull us out of this one. Good move bringing Plunkett in I feel, can't be any worse than Blackwell and we have to play to our strengths which is a good seam attack. Does mean there's going to be quite a lot of pressure on Panesar during their two innings though.
 
India were all out for 338 & we're currently 55-3, where's the bad light when you want it?
Getting a bit worrying...

Edit: Now 88-4:(
In other news, Australia are currently 409-4 v SA off 48 overs, Ponting getting 164 off 105 :eek:
 
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Not looking good for England right now and Kumble was tormenting Flintoff there as well and it looked a matter of time before he got him. The unsung hero Kumble yet again performs for India when they most needed him. Really is one of the great players but doesn't get the credit he deserves.

JohnnyG said:
I think the old record was Sri Lanka's 398 or so against Kenya, 434-4 against SA is in a different league altogether :eek:
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I couldn't believe it either, that was an absoulte stunning innings from Ponting. Graeme Smith talks the talk but his team sure doesn't walk the walk, the guy thinks he is gonna get under their skin by making all these comments in the press but he is being made to look like a right mug, he was upset that they were sledging him on the pitch but is he any better? He was saying the Aussies are a bunch of chokers earlier this week but it looks more like they are choking SA here! To do something like that in South Africa, especially considering that the Aussies were 2-0 down in this series and look like they are gonna win it 3-2 now!
 
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