England Test Match Tour of India 2024

(23-02-2024 19:26 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  You get a whole 5 days to get a result in a Test, so unless it's the flattest of wickets, there's no hurry. I see Root put the reverse scoop shot away, maybe played one reverse all day. Rooty could've had another 5 or 6 tons in the bazball era if he'd have played his own game, which happened to be one with a very decent strike rate. Williamson scored 3 tons in 2 Testa against South Africa, that is the model that Root should be looking at.

Slight caveat! - SA depleted, and - in large part - Root has played the way he did today (Williamson approach), for the majority of his career! We were told that Bazball was not just hit and hit harder, but always playing the positive option. Sometimes, the positive option is playing the conditions, match situation and the oppo (context) you are facing in the match! Maybe this slight tweak to the all or nothing definition of what Bazball has become, is something England need to factor more! Let the players you pick do the job that best suits their strengths, in all circumstances (except maybe a run chase or a closure/declaration)

(23-02-2024 18:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  India v England 4th Test - Ranchi - Day 2 Close
England elected to bat
ENG 353 (104.5 overs) Root 122 no Robinson 58 Foakes 47 Crawley 42 Bairstow 38 Jadeia 4-667 Akash Deep 3-83 Siraj 2-78
IND 219-7 (73 overs) Jaiswal 73 Gill 38 Jurel 30 no Bashir 4-84 Hartley 2-47

An 8th wicket hundred partnership between Robinson & Root got England to within striking distance of a competitive 350 score. Sadly the innings fell away when Robinson played an unnecessary risky shot soon after reaching his maiden Test 50. Root finished unbeaten, but was robbed of a chance of some late hitting.
Anderson remove captain Rohit early & then it was over to the spinners as Bashir bowled a marathon 31 over spell which contained 4 wickets, including danger man Jaiswal for a hard fought 73, he was backed up well by Hartley. Jural & Kuldeep showed some resistance adding an unbroken 42 stand. With the 2nd new ball 7 overs away England will be hoping for anything in the region of a hundred lead on a pitch that will not get any better.

(24-02-2024 07:05 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(23-02-2024 18:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  India v England 4th Test - Ranchi - Day 3 Close
England elected to bat
ENG 353 (104.5 overs) Root 122 no Robinson 58 Foakes 47 Crawley 42 Bairstow 38 Jadeia 4-667 Akash Deep 3-83 Siraj 2-78
IND 307 (103.2 overs) Jural 90 Jaiswal 73 Gill 38 Kuldeep 28 Bashir 5-119 Hartley 3-68 Anderson 2-48
ENG 145 (53.5 overs) Crawley 60 Bairstow 30 Ashwin 5-51 Kuldeep 4-22
IND 40-0 (8 overs) Rohit 24 no Jaiswal 18 no
Target 192

Ashwin & Jadeja show their class, extracting much more turn than the England's novice spinners.

Yet another test series flushed down the toilet by brainless batting and atrocious bowling.

Trouble is in India you need to be on it all the time. One or two bad sessions can prove really costly in conditions where one team has more experience than the other.
Pretty much everyone needs to be on their game and not make mistakes.
Unfortunately it was just a bad, bad day where England didn't get enough of a first innings lead and subsided badly with the bat.
It can so easily happen and with that a good position can slip away.
It's sad but not entirely a surprise.

(25-02-2024 09:32 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(24-02-2024 07:05 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(23-02-2024 18:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  India v England 4th Test - Ranchi - Day 4
England elected to bat
ENG 353 (104.5 overs) Root 122 no Robinson 58 Foakes 47 Crawley 42 Bairstow 38 Jadeia 4-667 Akash Deep 3-83 Siraj 2-78
IND 307 (103.2 overs) Jural 90 Jaiswal 73 Gill 38 Kuldeep 28 Bashir 5-119 Hartley 3-68 Anderson 2-48
ENG 145 (53.5 overs) Crawley 60 Bairstow 30 Ashwin 5-51 Kuldeep 4-22
IND 192-5 (61 overs) Rohit 55 Gill 52 no Jurel 39 no Jaiswal 37 Bashir 3-79
India won by 5 wickets

England had their chances in this match to level the series with better game management. Mistakes were made, catches dropped & some strange tactical errors. The Robinson selection looks a bad choice with hindsight, yet he had no gametime for 7 months, he bowled medium pace & looked pedestrian compared with the 41 year old Anderson. His 50 aside, his 13 wicketless overs was a poor return. Atkinson has ability with the bat, but his raw pace could've been a point of difference. Otherwise Lawrence would've lengthened a week tail that didn't contribute aside from Robinson's 50. The off-spin of Lawrence, with a quirky action may have chipped in with wickets.
Yesterday's collapse proved pivotal, 7 wickets for 35 runs in 25 overs was Bazball in reverse. The curious stand between Foakes & Bashir produced 12 runs in 12 overs, neither one thing or the other, Foakes has the shots to take the game on but threw no punches at all until his dismissal. With Bairstow approaching his 100th Test cap, Foakes will always suffer by comparison, despite his far superior keeping. I expect Bairstow to compete for the gloves in the summer with Brook set to return, despite underperforming so far on this tour.
Last evening when England overlooked Anderson gave India a flyer, & trimmed the target below 150. Anderson has dismissed Rohit in the 1st innings so was worth 2 or 3 over, instead the spinners served up a series of gift full-tosses. That momentum carried over into today as the stand was extended to 84, before 5 wickets fell for 36 runs. Sadly they were unable to make any further breakthroughs. Gill played a knock against his natural instinct as a stroke-player, with a 50 that contained no boundaries. Jurel has the game to put pressure on Pant when he returns, he must surely be his natural successor in time.

^ Agree Boomer but I must say I thought it was a great test to watch and always held my interest. I do like the look of Bashir - seems to have a great temperament along with skill