[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I am a little confused by the playing 11

- We are worried about the English seamers with the pink ball and hence strengthened the batting with Washington.
- At the same time, we are playing only two seamers and three spinners.

One of the two teams has screwed up the playing 11, lets see which one.

Seeing what has happened so far, India have done alright with their selection. But like in any test match, we shouldn't come to any conclusion until both teams have finished their first innings of batting.

[NPV]

Axar Patel and Ashwin pretty much cleaned up the England innings, now let's see how our batting fares against pink ball pace bowling and Leach's spin. Hope the demons of Adelaide don't haunt us this time

Originally Posted by Eddy

One of the two teams has screwed up the playing 11, lets see which one.

I think India got the playing 11 right, seems like a good track for the spinners going by the success of Axar and Ashwin's bowling in the first innings of the match.
I hope the Indian batting struggle against pace with the pink ball isn't a consistent/repeating issue.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

We are worried about the English seamers with the pink ball and hence strengthened the batting with Washington.

English Seamers will only get some help in the 3rd session under lights I guess. Other times they should be manageable, not sure how much the pink ball reverse swings though!

[vibbs]

I think England batsmen were simply overawed by the occasion.
The deliveries they got out to were mostly traight ones! Probably over compensated for the turning ones :P

I know over simplification. But still

[landcruiser123]

Axar Patel has really gone all guns blazing in this series. I, for one, never regarded him highly in limited overs, but it seems like he has the ingredients to be a quality bowler even on not-so-helpful surfaces. Nice flight + accuracy by Patel.

The English side didn't pick the right 11. Had they had Leach, Bess, and Ali bowling well, I'm reasonably sure India would have been 5 wickets down O/N.

Originally Posted by vibbs

The deliveries they got out to were mostly traight ones! Probably over compensated for the turning ones :P

That is what excessive spin or variable bounce does to you. Batsmen tend to overcompensate

***---***---***---***

On a lighter note, here's England proving Virender Sehwag wrong
https://www.espncricinfo.com/magazin...te/591470.html

We have to work hard to take 20 English wickets. They are not Bangladesh.

[Emvi]

I'm hoping for a lead of 150-200 runs for India in the first innings. Chasing in the 4th innings is never easy in a test and on this wicket, even a target of around 125-150 seems enough to spice up things. However if India manage to score around 375-400 runs in the first innings, I don't see England stretching this match on to the 4th day(or the 4th night)!

[creative420]

Watching Vijay Hazare Mumbai vs. Pondicherry match. While Shaw scored a double ton, it was amazing to watch SKY bat. Man oozes confidence. Looking forward to see him in the upcoming T20 series against England. Hope Virat picks him up. 😂

[Oxy]

We are already 3 down and the deficit is not wiped out yet. Anything under a 200 run lead is not acceptable in my opinion considering England have gone with only one spinner. Our bowlers have done an excellent job, need the batsmen to do theirs now.

[KPR]

Can I expect Rahane to score atleast a 50 today?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Oxy

Anything under a 200 run lead is not acceptable in my opinion considering England have gone with only one spinner. Our bowlers have done an excellent job, need the batsmen to do theirs now.

We need our batsmen to really apply themselves and play well to get to a 200+ run lead, batting the fourth innings on this track will be very tricky.

Despite the recent shows of batting strength especially lower down the order, I still have the fear at the back of my mind that this batting lineup may just crumble sometime without any warning, don't want to see that happen. Maybe it's that 36 all out in 1 session that's playing on the mind!

[KPR]

Originally Posted by KPR

Can I expect Rahane to score atleast a 50 today?

No hope whatsoever. Failure after failure yet India win those matches. Now I feel pity for Rahul for what he has done to bench.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by KPR

Can I expect Rahane to score atleast a 50 today?

We continue to wait for Rahane to score that one Impact innings per series, he has already completed the failure part.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by AtheK

We continue wait for Rahane to score that one Impact innings per series, he has already completed the failure part.

I think we need to seriously consider KL or Hanuma or anyone else for Rahane's spot. About time.
I wonder how many more innings can he skate by on the basis of the second test century against Aus.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by NPV

Despite the recent shows of batting strength especially lower down the order, I still have the fear at the back of my mind that this batting lineup may just crumble sometime without any warning, don't want to see that happen.

Part of my bad dream has already come true, India struggling at 121 for 6

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by NPV

Part of my bad dream has already come true, India struggling at 121 for 6

Make it 8, what a pathetic batting display.