[rrsteer]

Off Topic: In case anyone is interested in watching the India - Pak T20 world cup classic, here is the link to the full match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmY_WoTztJ8

[PPS]

Originally Posted by AtheK

No idea what Rohit sharma is doing in this setup, he is non deserving as a player itself, let alone captain.

Completely baffled why Ashwin didn't open the bowling in the 4th innings. Mukesh Kumar never looked like getting a wicket in the 1st innings so why open with him in the 2nd innings.

Originally Posted by rajeevsulu

The look on Ben Stokes face after getting cleaned up was fun.

Stokes just missed a straight delivery & gave an exaggerated reaction! Agreed, the ball kept slightly low.

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

As much as I respect and love Ashwin, his performance has been pretty ordinary especially in this test so far.

Surely Ashwin would have something up his sleeve considering he's known for his cricketing brain. England batters have thrown him off with their attacking intent & array of sweeps/reverse sweeps.

Originally Posted by kavensri

Don't we have a better wicketkeeper-batsman than Bharat in the country, with Pant still not available? Already into his 7th match, but I am not still not convinced about Bharat, be it his keeping or his batting.

We keep talking of depth in Indian Cricket & Bharat is the best keeper that we've got. Won't be surprised if Jurel plays the 4th or 5th Test since the Team also needs a contribution with the bat.

Even Gill, after scoring century he should have simply played his natural attacking game.

Gill being a set batsman should be disappointed that he missed that. But credit goes to Stokes as he set a heavily stacked leg-side field which made Gill play the reverse sweep out of the blue.

[Rahkehs]

This current crop of Indian Test batsmen are very poor players of spin bowling. The way these rookie English Spinners are troubling our batsmen is just shameful.
I had high hopes with Shreyas and Rohit who are good players of spin bowling but they are not playing their natural game and defending too much.

The two greatest Spin bowlers of Test history, Warne & Murlai, were always treated with disdain by our batsmen of yesteryear and thus it hurts when our current batmen play so poorly against spin.

[harry10]

Tomorrow will be a good day.

Either England will Bazball there way to win or India will steam rolled them.

If India loses Rohit and Dravid should be sacked. We use to win by an innings in Home games and now struggling against the worst bowling attack we have seen in ages.

However if India wins then most of the cracks and issues will be ignored as usual until they come to bite them again.

Whatever may, will be a fun day of cricket.

[NPV]

England 194/6, chasing 399 for a win in the second test. Seems almost impossible but they still have Stokes who can do seemingly impossible things in the least expected situations.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by harry10

Come on. Please realise he is about to reach 500 wickets in test cricket. It's a very very small club of 8 people with 500 wickets and you don't reach that with being an ordinary bowler. ..

He has 496 wickets at an average of 23.92. That's Elite level stats in test match bowling. Add his 3242 runs with bat at an average of 27 with 5 centuries and 14 fifties and he becomes one of the biggest match winners India has played in test match ever.

I'm not doubting his legendary status nor am I saying he is not one of India's all time greats. All I said was he seemed pedestrian in this test so far, to which he has properly responded by picking up 3 wickets.

As for ICC rankings, honestly they don't mean jack.
Ashwin is a great bowler, no doubt, but he should be picking these English batters off like a walk in the park, esp. when relatively juniors like Kuldeep and Axar are doing it with ease.

[NPV]

Stokes and Foakes gone, last 2 English wickets now needed for an India win to level the series.

[Eddy]

In my book, all that criticism of Bazzball is unwarranted. The very fact that we were scared the England batters, who were sitting ducks earlier, would chase 400 against our spinners is a testament to the success of Bazzball. The opposition is scared. Remember Australia started the Ashes series with fielders on the boundary in the first over?

Well done McCullum & Stokes!

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by Eddy

...all that criticism of Bazzball is unwarranted. The very fact that we were scared the England batters, who were sitting ducks earlier, would chase 400 against our spinners is a testament to the success of Bazzball. The opposition is scared. Remember Australia started the Ashes series with fielders on the boundary in the first over?

Well done McCullum & Stokes!

Oh, totally concur! Anderson's comment that "We were ready to chase 600 and we will look to chasing 400 easily" was kinda scary.

The fact this approach has altered everyone's standard plans is a testimony to Bazball and the positive effect on cricket.

PS: India win

[PPS]

The entire credit for the win in this 2nd Test collectively goes to - Bumrah,Jaiswal & Gill ! England erred by picking 3 spinners, should have played Robinson. They also scored more in the 4th innings than what India did in the 3rd innings shows just how poor our batting unit is! Indian Team is clearly rattled especially our spinners but the only way I see them winning the series is if Kohli & KL return and make some runs.

[RoadTiger]

Quite a decent performance by the English team, despite the loss. They scored a fair bit more in the 4th innings than India in the third - that tells a story.

Without Jaiswal's double in the first innings & Gill's 100+ in the second innings, India's score would've been a joke. Most of the batting lineup - particularly 'seniors' like Shreyas & Rohit - have been disappointing. IMHO, time to look beyond KS Bharat for a better keeper-batsman. Hope Pant makes a comeback soon.

Bumrah & Kuldeep look penetrative at most times - Axar, Ashwin do when conditions are favourable.

[creative420]

Originally Posted by RoadTiger

Quite a decent performance by the English team, despite the loss. They scored a fair bit more in the 4th innings than India in the third - that tells a story.

Without Jaiswal's double in the first innings & Gill's 100+ in the second innings, India's score would've been a joke. Most of the batting lineup - particularly 'seniors' like Shreyas & Rohit - have been disappointing. IMHO, time to look beyond KS Bharat for a better keeper-batsman. Hope Pant makes a comeback soon.

Bumrah & Kuldeep look penetrative at most times - Axar, Ashwin do when conditions are favourable.

Can a keeper be picked up mid Ranji season? If yes, then the TN keeper N Jagadeeshan has already scored a 245, 321 and 75 in his last 4 innings.

[PreludeSH]

Rohit Sharma looks like the weaker link in the team and you have him commenting on others

Not sure if Mukesh Kumar can be a long term prospect. Ashwin was under pressure and did a great job. KL can continue keeping if Tests don't last 4 or 5 days.

[kavensri]

I am still furious with the loss in the first test. Imagine if we had won that game and now leading the series 2-0. I know, ENG did play exceptionally well with their bazball approach, but all the talks would have been different if the scoreline would have been 2-0.
Having said that, I am disappointed with the batters Rohit, Iyer, Gill (inspite of century), wicket keeper Bharat and then management decision to play Mukesh instead of another batter.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by creative420

Can a keeper be picked up mid Ranji season? If yes, then the TN keeper N Jagadeeshan has already scored a 245, 321 and 75 in his last 4 innings.

We have Jurel in squad, can be a good idea to give him a chance.

KL instead of Iyer and maybe sarfarz instead of patidar for next match.