India V England 2021 Tour

I am surprised they didn't declare once they where 350 in front and have 2 hours bowling at Indian at the end of the day the way the ball was turning we could have had them 3 down, Root is always plays things to safe, [/quote]

maybe it is better to be safe thsan having to say sorry in chucking away a great opportunity. I get the the feeling tomorrow we will hasvew to seork very hard to get the win the way the pitch is behaving.

Modern day captains almost always declare late. Root has got burned once by West Indies. Scores of around 400 are getting chased down more than in the past. India did it in Australia, & this India side have the type of batting order equipped to repeat that feat. All England's 2nd innings was lacking was one more quickfire inning from someone like Buttler or Stokes & the declaration could've come much sooner. Credit to India, they bowled pretty well.

^^ true but i think he should have took the pitch into account i would be surprised if india make 250 on last day 300 maybe if a couple get in, he should back his bowlers to do the job,
i think the test championship is coursing more of this as sides dont want to lose the points they get for a draw, it was meant to make tests more exciting but think its doing opposite,

(07-02-2021 22:38 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  I respect you know your place well & I would expect you to defend your county. Lanner did sack your groundsman because the wicket was too flat & you were docked points for a poor pitch in the title decider against Essex. Waller deserves a run, I agree, but lets face facts leg-spinners are seen as white ball bowlers, there's only that has played regularly in 4 day cricket in the last 10 years before injuries put him back, & Gale couldn't set fields for his bowling, Rashid was hated by Yorkshires fast bowlers, because he took most of the easy tail-end wickets & even so he's not mastered Test cricket despite being the best in England by a mile.
England have Crane & Parkinson as covid reserves on this tour, as bad as you believe Bess is, god help us if Leach or Bess get injured & we have to call on them, they hardly play first class cricket, it's a joke that they are there.
India have Kuldeep their chinaman, but have played it safe & played 2 off-spinners, because they can't trust him. Shane Warne has made leg-spin popular, every t20 side has at least 1 or 2 on the staff, but historically barely half a dozen leggies have prospered at test level. The bad ball goes for 4, in T20 the bad ball can get a wicket.
Not long ago off-spin was going to be dead at test match level, but that hasn't happened. even after the stopped them throwing the doosra. Ashwin is one of the few that has a delivery that goes the other way.
I forgot to say that Taunton is on my bucket list, then I can see for myself how much it turns. I'm pro Somerset & have been cheering them on to win a 4 day title, sad that Tres couldn't quite do it, a top bloke.
I have no problem when a pitch turns, good for the game, far better than a green-seamer. It isn't our fault that it swings some times at Headingley, our bowlers exploit it & we win back to back Championships & the administrators change the time honored Laws of the game & invent an uncontested toss system to prevent a home side from batting first most of the time, designed to stop us winning.
I'll defend my own county, up to a point, but in light of the Rafiq claims, I can't condone any racism that has blighted our game.

sorry to have a bit of a go mate, just get a bit tired of fans from seemly every outer county saying that we are always up to something dodgy at somerset,
and yes you would love taunton its a great day out, its good being so close to the play,
i like watching your lot and the fans know a lot,

I always thought Taunton was a good wicket I had heard/red in the past it was known a featherbed wicket.

As far as tomorrow goes, we have to breakthrough early with a quick wicket or two to really put the cat amongst the pigeons in the indian batting line up and just hope Root makes the right bowling switches at the right time and put the Indian batsman under pressure.

A key early breakthrough with Leach removing Pujara. Still far to many loose balls from the spinners. Gill is another young batsman who looks full of confidence for someone early in their Test match career.

India 144-6 with Kohli & Ashwin at the crease. A sensational spell from Anderson with 3 top wickets, just the bonus England need, this should take the pressure of the spinner, knowing that they don't have to take all 10 in the innings.
They might have to work hard now, with the hardness going out of the ball, & any slim chance of an India win has gone. It's all about extending the match as far as possible. Kohli will want some time at the crease, going into the next match with just 3 days between.

I'm making an early call ahead of the 2nd test, regardless of this result, Moeen Ali for Bess. I'm not even sure that he will score more runs than Bess who has really applied himself with the bat, but we can't carry on with a bowler who is so inconsistent. I actually think that Bess has taken a step back with his bowling performance. Saying all that England like to back their players & with Foakes coming in for the departing Buttler & Broad expected to be rotated back in for Anderson, they wont want more changes. The way Bess has bowled is not even up to a part-time standard, a club cricketer would be embarrassed by all the full-tosses, take him out the firing-line & get him in the nets to sort it out.

You can't bowl too many full tosses and not expect to get away woth not being smacked around the ground I wonder if the other pitch for the second Test will be any different to this one? Good that Anderson got 3 wickets he has bowled well.