India in England

 Its a full strength for India, though Sehwag still not back to 100% fitness and could be missing the first Test.

 Saha could be deemed as lucky over here, thought Parthiv Patel would get the nod for the back-up keeper berth. Dhoni's very close to a suspension having already been charged twice inside six months for slow over-rate, which means one more inside the next six months and he could face an immediate one Test ban. Which means Saha could well be getting a chance to debut in England. Not ideal,  Parthiv would've been a slightly better option.

  Again if it were upto me RP Singh would've featured in the 17. Still a better option than Munaf and Praveen, sadly don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon. Praveen though could be handful given the conditions suits him perfect, though he ain't gonna be giving anyone sleepless nights. Still think Sreesanth would be the third seamer come the first Test.

Pujara again unfortunate to miss out  due to injury. May not be a game changer yet , but the exposure would've nourished his growth.

Excluding against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, except for against Pakistan in 2004, India have not won more than 1 test in an overseas series since 1986, that is last 25 years. 

Edited by sam_ahmed - 11 July 2011 at 6:03pm

Mikey, the way Ravi Rampaul is bowling now, it's not just reasonably good.  Hitting the deck hard with movement and pace is high quality stuff!

Originally posted by spin wizard Mikey, the way Ravi Rampaul is bowling now, it's not just reasonably good.  Hitting the deck hard with movement and pace is high quality stuff!

 Yes. Add Fidel and Bishoo to that too.

fair point v4p but considering one series in last 25 years (excluding ZIM and BAN) is quite an astonishing stat, I didn't knew this until my friend pointed out to me a few days ago.

Originally posted by sam_ahmed fair point v4p but considering one series in last 25 years (excluding ZIM and BAN) is quite an astonishing stat, I didn't knew this until my friend pointed out to me a few days ago.

 Shouldn't really have come as a Big surprise Sam. No secret that India were really poor travellers esp during the 90's. The team and players during that period lacked professionalism, the necessary fitness levels and more pertinently the mental strength or toughness. They've struggled to put up a decent show abroad to even win a single test let alone two.

 But things, started to take a turn for the better by the start of this century, thanks mainly to two guys. Then India's newly appointed captain Sourav Ganguly and India's first foreign coach John Wright.

 John injected the much needed professional ethos and made them much aware of the importance of match fitness and worked towards it. Ganguly brought about a change in the mental approach and attitude. He forced them to believe, to take the bull by the horns. For me that partnership was a significant turning point in Indian cricket and the dawn of a new era our cricketing history. Since then we've done a lot better overseas and have now painted a much better picture afield. Touch wood

I have to admit for me this is a highly anticipated series, not least as I have tickets to day 4 at the Oval, with 11 of my friends all coming too! If it goes to day 5 there I've got that day booked off of work.

To add a bit of icing to the cake, the wife won tickets through Wisden to the Lords test day 4, needless to say, I'm over the moon! I was relishing the prospect of hoping to see the Little Master in action, but now I have 2 chances to see him!

Really can't wait for next Saturday now...

SOM 241/1 and a big struggle for Indian bowlers first up, they have got some bowling practice though but will have to perform much better when the real things starts this thursday. Good warm up innings indeed for Strauss.

And I don't think they will start with Sreesanth and Munaaf anyways - so there is nothing much in that performance that I see.

well perhaps the wicket isn't as flat afterall, IND 117/6, although it is just a warm up this is not a good start for team India.

Might be Clobs, I think India is reaching a stage where their ODI side is well settled with all the youngsters doing well but the test side is a bit scratchy, the youngsters are not able to cement their places and don't seem to have the temperament to play test cricket and T20 might have a lot to do with this. India's test match troubles might start very very soon because the seniors are on the verge of retirement.

Pujara is injured and is out for at least 4 months Clobs, but then I don't think they would have selected him anyways esp after Yuvraj's good showing at the WC.

Not an ideal warm up for the Indians , but I'm not reading too much into it.  Straussy will be feeling a whole lot better ahead of Lords after two fine knocks.  I just hope that elusive thing called the English summer shows up !
         Bresnan gets the nod over Finn in the 12 selected for the first test. Maybe a little harsh on Finn , who afterall knows the famous slope better than most.  If the pitches have some grass on them I see a series victory by England , but probably not enough to take them to the top of the rankings.


Edited by Sledger - 18 July 2011 at 6:20am

I'd have surely gone with Munaf but I have a feeling Dhoni might opt for Praveen, I do not think Sreesanth will get the nod.

The 3rd seamer will be important because for some years now Lords has been a batsman's dream. Sreesanth can be a real handful or a liability and I think v4p's right , they need someone to contain the batsmen , so he could well be carrying the drinks.
               Anyone got a magic potion whereby the rain gods take a holiday ?