England tour of India, Jan 25 - March 11

[sussexpob]

50 partnership off 12 overs. No real pressure, but they've not chucked it away.

Foakes chips one back to Bumrah.... good partnership comes to an end

[Arthur Crabtree]

Nice if the two new boys can take this down to double figures...

[sussexpob]

TMS updates blamed Foakes!

Not allowed to criticise the supreme leader, I guess.... but yes, Ben rather sauntered to the other end without any urgency and didnt get the dive in that would have saved him. Was all very pedestrian... although really, the fielder (Iyer) did excellent

[mikesiva]

England 292 all out

Crawley 73
Foakes 36
Hartley 36

Ashwin 3-72
Bumrah 3-46

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well deserved win. Jaiswal the obvious POTM, but good work by Bumrah too.

Some good stuff from England, but they need to bat better in the first innings.

[Durhamfootman]

seemingly, no visiting side has ever scored 300 in the 4th innings of a test in India, so England had the weight of history against them.

The run out of Stokes probably kept that stat alive, but Bumrah came back to seal the win. India batted almost as long in their first innings as England did in the match

series is alive, so that's good, at least

[andy]

106 runs suggests heavy defeat, however the fact that scored nearly 300 in 4th innings in India, and were never really out of it, suggests this defeat really isn't the end of the world, think they can hold their heads high, and i would say India have more worries than England do right now

[sussexpob]

i would say India have more worries than England do right now

Pre-series, I would have said England being 1-1 after 2 test was about as best we could hope for, but this Indian batting line up suddenly feels very vulnerable. Gill may have bagged a score finally, but he doesn't fill you with confidence, and he got worked over by Anderson's quality and was a little fortunate. Jaiswal did well, but the rest at current you feel England can get at. Sharma looks all out of sorts, KS looks rubbish, and Iyer reminds me of Buttler trying to be defensive and technically correct, but there isnt much point playing a slogger in the middle order to play a different game to what he is accustomed to. A lot of Indians think the new lad Patidar has some quality, but I think again hes a LO banger trying to play correct test cricket, so not sure if he is suited to the test game.

A returning Kohli makes it a different proposition. Shami or Siraj are instantly better second seamers, or a returning Jadeja as the third spinner are more daunting prospects. Even Rahul is an imporovement on bharat, although Rahul has kept badly in recent games I have seen.

Some of the selections from India haven't worked out. Not sure why they persisted with Bharat when Ishan Kishan did well in his only opportunity in the Windies last year. The move to shut out Chet at 3 hasn't worked over the long term, and you wonder if he was playing if he improves the top order (he was right up there in FC cricket last year around the world for most runs, but hasnt played since 2022).

One non-selection I dont understand is Agrawal, who again is banging runs for fun in domestic cricket. Averaged 75 odd last year, and averages over 40 for the national team in a good range of matches. How is he not getting in the side ahead of 2-3 of these players is beyond me. Sadly Agrawal is in hospital now, so wont feature anytime soon. Apparently mistook a poisonous substance left on his seat on a flight for water, drank it, and the pilot ended up having to land the plane and get him to the emergency room a couple of days ago. He is apparently recovering well, but is still recovering. Still, Id have had him there for this series.

[sussexpob]

Was glad to hear that Risbah Pant is slowly recovering too. Read an interview with him which was quite shocking, as I was not aware that the car crash he had was anywhere near as bad as I originally read about. The leg injury he received sounded horrific, and he's lucky he didn't end up losing it. But he is slowly getting back to the point of being able to play..... I really hope this very talented cricketer can recover his previous potential, because he is a really gifted talent...would be horrible if he lost an elite career to a freak accident.

In general, I think Indian test cricket is really at a bad place coming up in the next few years. A lot of players have reached the sort of age where you expect them to retire, all at once. Could see 4-5 great players call it a day very quickly, all of which have been excellent test players for India.

[sussexpob]

OK start. Cook and Finn talking as if this is on. OK, they should know plenty about cricket, but maybe their optimism is because being realistic turns listeners off. Surely they know that even on their best day, England lose by 100 runs

Aside from Liverpool fans in the media, I dont think there is anything as annoying as the English cricket press' self-glorification when England look like a good team. The BBC team aren't the only ones to get carried away with England's recent success, there is a boiserious arrogance to most cricket writers in England at the moment all over the spectrum, and its getting back to the Flower-era levels borefest turn offs.

Stokes and McCullum have done a great job, I wont take that away from them, but it doesnt mean we cant discuss or acknowledge situations in matches or decisions they make that are negative. No one is perfect, so its pretty normal in the context of sporting discussions.... but the English press seem of the opinion that no situation is now a lost one, and no decision however bizarre is an incorrect one from our supreme leaders. Its quite nauseating....

The Barmy Army/England Cricket social media accounts are the worst. It made me chuckle a couple of days ago that England's official social media account posted on Facebook that the team needed 399 to win, but would be throwing caution to the win and would be going for the win..... before the list of comments proclaimed what an amazingly daring and couragous thing this was to do.

Has there every been a team batting on day 3 of a test in the 4 innings that hasn't been looking to chase down the total? Or are we supposed to believe that Stokes is unique in the history of cricket for wanting to win games... which is er.... quite a bizarre thing to assume

[Durhamfootman]

but the English press seem of the opinion that no situation is now a lost one

It's a funny thing, but I looked at the target, saw that it was a 100 runs more than any visiting side had ever scored in the 4th innings of a test match in India and thought they had absolutely no chance... 'they couldn't possibly do it'........ yet in the very dark recesses in the back of my mind I also very quietly added 'could they?'

[meninblue]

i would say India have more worries than England do right now

Pre-series, I would have said England being 1-1 after 2 test was about as best we could hope for, but this Indian batting line up suddenly feels very vulnerable. Gill may have bagged a score finally, but he doesn't fill you with confidence, and he got worked over by Anderson's quality and was a little fortunate. Jaiswal did well, but the rest at current you feel England can get at. Sharma looks all out of sorts, KS looks rubbish, and Iyer reminds me of Buttler trying to be defensive and technically correct, but there isnt much point playing a slogger in the middle order to play a different game to what he is accustomed to. A lot of Indians think the new lad Patidar has some quality, but I think again hes a LO banger trying to play correct test cricket, so not sure if he is suited to the test game.

A returning Kohli makes it a different proposition. Shami or Siraj are instantly better second seamers, or a returning Jadeja as the third spinner are more daunting prospects. Even Rahul is an imporovement on bharat, although Rahul has kept badly in recent games I have seen.

Some of the selections from India haven't worked out. Not sure why they persisted with Bharat when Ishan Kishan did well in his only opportunity in the Windies last year. The move to shut out Chet at 3 hasn't worked over the long term, and you wonder if he was playing if he improves the top order (he was right up there in FC cricket last year around the world for most runs, but hasnt played since 2022).

One non-selection I dont understand is Agrawal, who again is banging runs for fun in domestic cricket. Averaged 75 odd last year, and averages over 40 for the national team in a good range of matches. How is he not getting in the side ahead of 2-3 of these players is beyond me. Sadly Agrawal is in hospital now, so wont feature anytime soon. Apparently mistook a poisonous substance left on his seat on a flight for water, drank it, and the pilot ended up having to land the plane and get him to the emergency room a couple of days ago. He is apparently recovering well, but is still recovering. Still, Id have had him there for this series.

Yes, this Indian batting lineup is very vulnerable and as a team incapable of putting up massive scores.

Ishan asked and was given rest for personal reasons during SA tour. Later he did not play any domestic cricket, which ahs irked the team management a bit. He has been clearly told to play some cricket and then only he would be considered for selection. I guess Dhruv Jurel would be selected in squad.

Jaddu's injury is a major blow in test squad. He is being missed.

Mukesh Kumar should make way for a specialist spinner. Srikhar Bharat should make way for another keeper batsman. Rajat Patidar likely to be replaced in case KL Rahul is fit.

[sussexpob]

Adi...

Why have India completely ignored Agrawal? His record is good in tests, surely he has to be a better player than some getting a game last test?

[bigfluffylemon]

but the English press seem of the opinion that no situation is now a lost one

It's a funny thing, but I looked at the target, saw that it was a 100 runs more than any visiting side had ever scored in the 4th innings of a test match in India and thought they had absolutely no chance... 'they couldn't possibly do it'........ yet in the very dark recesses in the back of my mind I also very quietly added 'could they?'

Me too.

To be fair, England's 292 is the second highest 4th innings score ever by a visiting team in India. Highest successful chase here was 276 by the West Indies in 1987, when they were the best team in the world and India were, to put it mildly, not.

That innings was the only successful chase by a visiting side in India of over 210. And only five times in history has 150 or more been chased by a visiting side here.

Moral of the story (which we all knew): to win away in India, win the toss and bat.

[andy]

Adi...

Why have India completely ignored Agrawal? His record is good in tests, surely he has to be a better player than some getting a game last test?

In hospital i believe?