England Test Match Tour of India 2024

Rohit & Gill ticked off their respective centuries before the partnership of 171 was broken when Stokes removed India's captain with his first ball of the series, Gill fell to Anderson in the next over, before first Sarfaraz & then Padikkal on debut completed half centuries. Bashir dismissed both batsmen & then took 2 further wickets as he toiled away with Hartley who took 2 of the 3 wickets to fall with only one run scored. India drove home their advantage with the 9th wicket pair adding an unbroken stand of 45,
It is a question of when, & not if India wrap up victory in this match.

(08-03-2024 06:20 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(07-03-2024 05:52 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  India v England 5th Test Dharamsala - Day 3 Session 2
England elected to bat
ENG 218 All out (57.4 overs) Crawley 79 Bairstow 29 Duckett 27 Root 24 Foakes 26 Kuldeep 5-72 Ashwin 4-51
IND 477 (124.1 overs) Rohit 103 Gill 110 Padikkal 65 Jaiswal 57 Sarfaraz 56 Kuldeep 30 Bashir 5-173 Anderson 2-60 Hartley 2-126
ENG 195 All out (35 overs)Root 84 Bairstow 39 Hartley 20 Ashwin 5-77 Bumrah 2-38 Kuldeep 2-40
India won by an innings & 64 runs

Anderson took his 700th Test Match wicket today when he had Kuldeep caught behind for 30. The milestone has taken 187 matches.

Now there has to be some soul - searching about where England are ahead of the summer. I doubt very little will change line up wise, but there now has to be a fresh approach in how we play.

Congrats to Jimmy Anderson on his 700th Test wicket - 1st pace man to reach that milestone.

Well done to the Burnley Express.
This may the milestone that he wants to end his career on.

Not much to say, apart from Ashwin & Bumrah showing their class. Root played an innings that has been all too rare on this tour, & by his own admission he has under achieve in a country where he has had great success.

The most glaring mistake on this tour has been the inability to compile 1st innings totals of any substance, the failure to bat beyond the 2nd session has been all too common, when batting for 4 sessions should be what they are looking at with scores of around 400 should be par in most cases on a 1st or 2nd day wicket.

The Bazball model was the perfect fit in Pakistan, where the fast-forward style of constantly driving the game was key to buy time in order to achieve results on docile pitches. Horses for courses, & a different approach was needed in India with pitches helping spin & at times seam.

The general batting tempo has been all wrong other than the opening pair who have given their side decent starts, although only Duckett was able to cash in, Crawley has been consistent without going on, & Pope has been exposed to spin in the key No.3 slot, perhaps Root would've been a better fit.

The vast experience of the middle order haven't delivered, by comparison to the new look India line-up they have been out-played. Playing smart, playing the situation are just basics, it's all been one-dimensional. Playing yourself in before going through the gears, soaking up pressure when a bowler is having a good smell. I'm not suggesting going into your shell & become shotless like we have in the past when you become a sitting duck. Any bowler & in particular a spinner likes to bowl dots, working over the same batsman. They don't mind getting hit for the odd six if it brings a wickets, what they hate is the constant turning over of the strike which for the most part has been forgotten.

The lack of any sizeable partnerships has been a key difference. Losing wickets in clusters has been as much to do with poor shot selection as it has great bowling.

Playing an attractive brand will only get you so for, yes it brings new fans to the game, but equally existing supporters will want to see results.

Much agree with all that you say, and the comment on the attractive brand will only go so far is one I agree with, I think it will get to a point when it will not endear to existing supporters and will start to walk away.

Should we bat with a shorter tail?

(18-02-2024 22:04 )Snooks Wrote:  Unfortunately some of the batting was rather indiscriminate and not terribly judicious.
Philosophy cannot be for it's own sake.
Selective judgement needs to be applied.
Positive and decisive intent yes.
Indiscriminate recklessness no.

Bit more mindfulness required for me.

Bit of a copy and paste job here me thinks.
England with the bat were just found wanting somewhat.
In India particularly first innings runs are of paramount importance.
That is where the majority of the runs need to be scored.
Boomer is pretty much spot on in his dissection of the series.

Doing things for the sake of a philosophy can make you look pretty silly.
England need to learn that lesson and show some agility of cricketing nous.
For me there has been too much of a feel of self inflicted demise about this series result. A little more bigger picture thinking at critical junctures would have made a heap of difference imo.