Headingley in Leeds (Yorkshire) is more seamer-friendly. Edgbaston pitch is similar to Lord's. Conditions are traditionally batsman friendly and have seen some massive scores in the recent past.
With Ehsan Bhai's hometown hosting the next match i expect him to observe 24/7 "ibadat" during Ramzan for India to lose the 3rd Test too :D
Edgbaston pitch has changed recently and is now seamer friendly.
I intend going there over the weekend to celebrate England's series win and the number one status. :D
England also just finished a tough series against Sri lanka...so India cant use fatigue excuse....the way india has been defeated also put sri-lankan team's performance in context....they batted really well to draw 2 test matches...
we pakistanis are master of living in self denial and blame everything on conspiracy but when we are defeated in ground we dont make excuses...Indians unfortunately are worst when it comes to defeat...excuses excuses excuses...plus i just dont understand this whole IPL issue....give me a ****in break...so you are telling me that tendulkar, laxman, dravid, harbhajan, zaheer khan and dhoni - who by the way have played almost 700 test matches and i repeat 700 test matches - got sidetracked by IPL and now need to "work on the longer format"?plus most of Sri lankans were playing IPL as well (dilshan, sanga, jaywardana etc) but they switched to test cricket mode in days..not in weeks in days...... and batted for long phases in england in test matches to save 2 test for SL...any possible explanation?
speaking of injuries, only ZK got injured and it has nothing to do with IPL..after 12 years in international cricket he acted like an idiot...took break from WI tour and did not do any exercise for months...look at his waistline...hello!
plus the fatigue excuse is not that valid either... england has just finished a tough series against SL team plus English players play county cricket as well which is even more demanding than IPL…
Staying on top is not easy. You win some , you lose some.
While England is clearly better (under English conditins as GA would add), I believe the 1st Test could have been drawn. Two key LBWs in 2nd innning against India did not help.
In the 2nd Test, as GA pointed out, the momentum shifted when India lost 3 quick wickets to a hattrick. Bajji was not out. If that decision was reversed, and KP - who was out at ~ 49 was given out, I see a draw. I get the feeling Harper (in previous series I think) and the South African umps were trying to prove a point - that India deserves what she gets due to DRS issue. Get me 2 Pakistan umpires, and I fancy our chances in the next 2 Tests.
I truly believe with fair umpiring Indiaq's chances are good. Anyway, Kohli for Yuvraj can only be an improvement. Kohli wil stay in there and fight, and not succumb to short balls as Yuvraj. Ohja can only be an improvement vs. Harbhajan.
Well if u take Fatigue as excuse then the english have every right to lament
lemme just line up what they played since June 2010
5 ODIs against Aussies
4 Tests against Pakistan
5 ODIs against Pakistan
6-7 Weeks break and then heading down-under
3 Warm-up Matches in Australia
5 Tests in Australia
7 ODIs in Australia
Short break and then heading to sub-continent for the WC
7 ODIs in the WC and i think 2 for the Warm-up Phase
3 Tests against SL
5 ODIs against SL
2 Tests sofar against India
Now that is 16 Tests and 31 ODIs in roughly 12-13 months and if u consider that they'll head to the subcontinent for possibly 6 Tests (vs. Pakistan and SL ) coming winter it's actually them who should start lamenting ..... hey had injuries but over the years they've built bench strenght when it comes to Fast Bowling which u need to win Tests ..... India failed in this regard ..... the last two years of India's preparations were heavily focused on ODIs which eventually paid of in the WC win but for Tests they look underprepared
Staying on top is not easy. You win some , you lose some.
While England is clearly better (under English conditins as GA would add), I believe the 1st Test could have been drawn. Two key LBWs in 2nd innning against India did not help.
In the 2nd Test, as GA pointed out, the momentum shifted when India lost 3 quick wickets to a hattrick. Bajji was not out. If that decision was reversed, and KP - who was out at ~ 49 was given out, I see a draw. I get the feeling Harper (in previous series I think) and the South African umps were trying to prove a point - that India deserves what she gets due to DRS issue. Get me 2 Pakistan umpires, and I fancy our chances in the next 2 Tests.
I truly believe with fair umpiring Indiaq's chances are good. Anyway, Kohli for Yuvraj can only be an improvement. Kohli wil stay in there and fight, and not succumb to short balls as Yuvraj. Ohja can only be an improvement vs. Harbhajan.
If that had happened and if that decision had not gone against India etc. etc. etc. The margin of thrashing is so great in both tests and especially in the second test that all this would not have mattered. Bottom line you cannot be world number one with a club standard bowling attack. Either accept that and work on it or keep looking for excuses. Also not playing Kohli does not make sense.
Staying on top is not easy. You win some , you lose some.
While England is clearly better (under English conditins as GA would add), I believe the 1st Test could have been drawn. Two key LBWs in 2nd innning against India did not help.
In the 2nd Test, as GA pointed out, the momentum shifted when India lost 3 quick wickets to a hattrick. Bajji was not out. If that decision was reversed, and KP - who was out at ~ 49 was given out, I see a draw. I get the feeling Harper (in previous series I think) and the South African umps were trying to prove a point - that India deserves what she gets due to DRS issue. Get me 2 Pakistan umpires, and I fancy our chances in the next 2 Tests.
I truly believe with fair umpiring Indiaq's chances are good. Anyway, Kohli for Yuvraj can only be an improvement. Kohli wil stay in there and fight, and not succumb to short balls as Yuvraj. Ohja can only be an improvement vs. Harbhajan.
add these to the list too...
had Ganguly not retired...
had Kumble not retired...
had...
had...
I guess point is simple. England played much better cricket for more sessions during these 2 tests than India did and hence they lost by big margins. There is no harm accepting it.
Edgbaston pitch has changed recently and is now seamer friendly.
I intend going there over the weekend to celebrate England's series win and the number one status. :D
I expect England to play with four seamers and I also expect India to play with four seamers too. It should be a seamer shoot out.
I think with the imminent return of Sehwag and Gambhir at the top, India will be able to fight with counter punches when down.. Mukund dude could not do anything except block or edge..
had Ganguly not retired...
had Kumble not retired...
had...
had...
I guess point is simple. England played much better cricket for more sessions during these 2 tests than India did and hence they lost by big margins. There is no harm accepting it.
I have accepted England is a better team. I also have accepted our bowling is weak. My gut instincts tell me Harper and the South African umpire had a point to make re: DRS and were quick to give decisions against India. In any game, there are momentum shifting moments. IMO, these momentum shifting moments were accompanied by dubious calls - each going against India. That does not mean I have not accepted England is the far better team.
And yes, if Ganguly, Kumble and Kapil Dev had not retired.......
it's more to do with bad performance with india,with 128 for 8 giving away cheap runs,again those quick wickets.
india could have won by same margin has england did,one thing england has huge upper hand is their depth in batting and all rounders
it's more to do with bad performance with india,with 128 for 8 giving away cheap runs,again those quick wickets.
india could have won by same margin has england did,one thing england has huge upper hand is their depth in batting and all rounders
Away series for india after long time, They didnt win in Africa either.
Yes, I am in support of use of technology when it can assist with the right call. While i am not fully familiar with DRS intricacies, my understanding is it greatly helps the umpires getting the calls correct.
If that is Ball of thge Year then Aamir removing Aussie Mitchell Johnson in the 2nd Test (1st innings) in England last Year must be the Ball of year 2010
note it at 1:18
Laxman mostly looks like this when he is bowled … Nothing to take away from Anderson but this the same bowler who was crap during the World cup but a lion at home
Southie, take it easy with the excuses. Umpiring decisions will always go one way or another. That's part of the game. The what iffs are a waste of time.
Suggesting that certain umpires might be intentionally giving bad decisions to India because the BCCI is not pro DRS, is absolutely wrong. As long as I am on umpires, it must be said that Asad Rauf is now the best umpire in the world IMO.
Fact is that England has played much better than India in THIS series and deserve to have the chance to become #1 in tests if this form continues from both sides for the remainder of the series.
Regarding some folks jumping up and down with joy dissing India every chance they get.. Enjoy yourselves.. these moments don't come very often these days :D
