India v England T/20 series

[not_english]

Bloody Hell I think India batting first will win them the test.
This pitch is going to be unplayable in a few days.

England may still get them out for under 400. There is hope

They may not reach 300 at this rate

[Anonymous 1]

250 for 5

[Anonymous 1]

Bloody Hell I think India batting first will win them the test.
This pitch is going to be unplayable in a few days.

England may still get them out for under 400. There is hope

They may not reach 300 at this rate

England taking wickets just before the new ball is a real bonus

[ScarfaceClaw]

Bloody Hell I think India batting first will win them the test.
This pitch is going to be unplayable in a few days.

England may still get them out for under 400. There is hope

They may not reach 300 at this rate

They will do if the third umpire keeps going like this.

[C69]

Bloody Hell I think India batting first will win them the test.
This pitch is going to be unplayable in a few days.

England may still get them out for under 400. There is hope

They may not reach 300 at this rate

300 will be a good score on this wicket

[not_english]

I like the look of Foakes as wicketkeeper

[not_english]

6 down now. Root looking very dangerous

[not_english]

Moeen is killing England's chances with his rubbish bowling

[Anonymous 1]

301 for 8

Great start to the day for England. 2 wickets first over

[Tehui]

England 23/3. There must be a power shortage at Anon's house because he hasn't posted an update recently.

[Ali's Choice]

Fair to say that Rishabh Pant has perfected the 'annoying Indian wicketkeeper' chatter?

[Ali's Choice]

Dan Lawrence goes with the final ball before lunch. 39-4.

This pitch looks like an absolute minefield. The ball is doing crazy things.

[Ali's Choice]

What a great catch up Pant. Amazing really.

England 87-6

[inactionman]

Not looking so good.

Pitch seems a bit broken up for the second morning, and it ain't getting much better from here - not a great toss to lose.

[Kiwias]

What a great catch up Pant. Amazing really.

England 87-6

That was Siraj’s first ball in test cricket in India.

[Ali's Choice]

What a great catch up Pant. Amazing really.

England 87-6

That was Siraj’s first ball in test cricket in India.

Yeah there is a lot to like about him.

Of course Ella Fan labelled him a "f**king grub" and a liar because he made a complaint about racist crowd comments in Sydney.

[ovalball]

England dead and buried here. Bowled poorly in the 1st innings.

Not sure winning the toss would have helped much. India wanted a wicket that would spin from day 1 so that England, had they won the toss, couldn't pile up another 500. They have better spinners than us and are better batsmen on such dust bowls.

However, Foakes showed that it isn't impossible to bat. The top order did not acquit themselves well.

On the plus side. Stone bowled well with some real pace - and hasn't broken down yet. Foakes kept superbly (although he just missed a really tough stumping chance) and batted very well.

I suspect the remaining tests will be played on rank bunsens now.

[Anonymous 1]

I thought they were showing highlights and England were still batting

[not_english]

No way was he playing a shot there

[merry!]

ffs, if root doesn't rack up a score we struggle.

clearly needs more yorkshire.

[terryfinch]

No way was he playing a shot there

Does seem there are some very odd third umpire decisions. Betting syndicate involved?

[ovalball]

No way was he playing a shot there

Does seem there are some very odd third umpire decisions. Betting syndicate involved?

Yep 3 clear wickets turned down by the TMO - don't think it would have changed the outcome but I do think the England management need to be asking some serious questions of the authorities. It feels like it is back to the bad old days when Indian umpires were incredibly biased in favour of their own team.

[mdaclarke]

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/crick ... grace.html

I find this an extremely strange article.

"Yet who would want to watch this, if it was what Test cricket became? Pitches prepared for the hosts, by the hosts, eschewing the concept of the battle between bat and ball."

Don't all teams do this to some degree? I wonder if he would be complaining if England prepare their pitch to suit their bowlers?

[dam0]

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/crick ... grace.html

I find this an extremely strange article.

"Yet who would want to watch this, if it was what Test cricket became? Pitches prepared for the hosts, by the hosts, eschewing the concept of the battle between bat and ball."

Don't all teams do this to some degree? I wonder if he would be complaining if England prepare their pitch to suit their bowlers?

That's an odd article indeed. The pitch is taking turn but that's not uncommon for Indian pitches.

When teams tour here they have to face green wickets and pace and bounce they aren't used to. In England the ball swings for a long time, often late in the innings all 5 days. They even use a special ball to ensure their swing bowlers have maximum advantage. In OZ the pitches are fast and uncompromising (and took turn when they had Warne.

This pitch isn't that bad. When the ball gets older it is possible to score runs.

[ovalball]

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/crick ... grace.html

I find this an extremely strange article.

"Yet who would want to watch this, if it was what Test cricket became? Pitches prepared for the hosts, by the hosts, eschewing the concept of the battle between bat and ball."

Don't all teams do this to some degree? I wonder if he would be complaining if England prepare their pitch to suit their bowlers?

That's an odd article indeed. The pitch is taking turn but that's not uncommon for Indian pitches.

When teams tour here they have to face green wickets and pace and bounce they aren't used to. In England the ball swings for a long time, often late in the innings all 5 days. They even use a special ball to ensure their swing bowlers have maximum advantage. In OZ the pitches are fast and uncompromising (and took turn when they had Warne.

This pitch isn't that bad. When the ball gets older it is possible to score runs.

It's a bit of a myth that England prepare 'green' pitches. It's mostly swing bowling that benefits pace bowlers over here in test matches - and that has nothing to do with the pitch. It's why Anderson is such a brilliant bowler - the vast majority of his wickets in the UK are due to him swinging the ball with great control. You expect variations in how pitches play, over 5 days, due to local conditions. It's hot and dry in India so you'd expect the pitch to dry out more than in the UK - and then spin more. That's a bit different than preparing a pitch that is more like a 5th day pitch and turns sharply on day 1.

Having said that - we could have bowled and batted much better. We haven't used the conditions at all well.

[Ali's Choice]

The criticism of this pitch is ridiculous. If England were leading by 366 runs I guarantee you that the media wouldn't be obsessing about the pitch. they'd be talking about how well England were playing.

Australian pitches are hard and bouncy, to suit their attack. NZ's pitches were so green this summer that on one occasion I couldn't tell where the pitch ended and the grass started, it was all the same colour.

[Kiwias]

The review for caught behind when Ashwin was facing has to be the worst review in history. You could drive a small truck through the gap between bat and ball.

[dam0]

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/crick ... grace.html

I find this an extremely strange article.

"Yet who would want to watch this, if it was what Test cricket became? Pitches prepared for the hosts, by the hosts, eschewing the concept of the battle between bat and ball."

Don't all teams do this to some degree? I wonder if he would be complaining if England prepare their pitch to suit their bowlers?

That's an odd article indeed. The pitch is taking turn but that's not uncommon for Indian pitches.

When teams tour here they have to face green wickets and pace and bounce they aren't used to. In England the ball swings for a long time, often late in the innings all 5 days. They even use a special ball to ensure their swing bowlers have maximum advantage. In OZ the pitches are fast and uncompromising (and took turn when they had Warne.

This pitch isn't that bad. When the ball gets older it is possible to score runs.

It's a bit of a myth that England prepare 'green' pitches. It's mostly swing bowling that benefits pace bowlers over here in test matches - and that has nothing to do with the pitch. It's why Anderson is such a brilliant bowler - the vast majority of his wickets in the UK are due to him swinging the ball with great control. You expect variations in how pitches play, over 5 days, due to local conditions. It's hot and dry in India so you'd expect the pitch to dry out more than in the UK - and then spin more. That's a bit different than preparing a pitch that is more like a 5th day pitch and turns sharply on day 1.

Having said that - we could have bowled and batted much better. We haven't used the conditions at all well.

I didn't say that england prepared green pitches. I did say that English conditions are conducive to swing bowling. Lush outfields, less abrasive pitches and a unique ball plays into Englands strength of having excellent swing bowlers.

This pitch is turning, but it's hardly a minefield. Particularly when the ball gets older it's not too hard to score. It isn't all that atypical from what you see in India regularly.

[Ali's Choice]

Do you think India are think of declaring at all, or will they bat until they are bowled out? There is still a lot of time left in this match.

[dam0]

The criticism of this pitch is ridiculous. If England were leading by 366 runs I guarantee you that the media wouldn't be obsessing about the pitch. they'd be talking about how well England were playing.

Australian pitches are hard and bouncy, to suit their attack. NZ's pitches were so green this summer that on one occasion I couldn't tell where the pitch ended and the grass started, it was all the same colour.

Ha ha yeah. That was the test against the Windies at the Basin Reserve. Even on day 2 it was hard to work out which was the pitch and which was the block. We still managed to score relatively big on it. From memory we lost 3 or 4 of the tosses this summer.

[Monkey Magic]

Do you think India are think of declaring at all, or will they bat until they are bowled out? There is still a lot of time left in this match.

Unless there is bad weather about they may as well just put more miles into the English bowlers legs. At worst they will have two full days to bowl them out

[Ali's Choice]

The criticism of this pitch is ridiculous. If England were leading by 366 runs I guarantee you that the media wouldn't be obsessing about the pitch. they'd be talking about how well England were playing.

Australian pitches are hard and bouncy, to suit their attack. NZ's pitches were so green this summer that on one occasion I couldn't tell where the pitch ended and the grass started, it was all the same colour.

Ha ha yeah. That was the test against the Windies at the Basin Reserve. Even on day 2 it was hard to work out which was the pitch and which was the block. We still managed to score relatively big on it. From memory we lost 3 or 4 of the tosses this summer.

That was the greenest test pitch I've ever seen in my life. Tbh it didn't play as 'green' as it looked. I just think some parts of the media are being unfair on India. Every nation shamelessly creates pitches to suit their teams, but it only works if the visiting team has weaknesses that can be exploited. Imagine Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill bowling in tandem on this pitch? It wouldn't have worked against that touring Australian team.

[dam0]

Do you think India are think of declaring at all, or will they bat until they are bowled out? There is still a lot of time left in this match.

Just bat till stumps if they can. Pitch is getting worse to bat on each day so the longer they are out there the harder it will be for England. 2 days should be enough to bowl them out.

Declaring early doesn't achieve much except leave the door open for Root and Stokes to go mad and pull off a ridiculous win.

[Ali's Choice]

I was very impressed with Ashwin's mental fortitude during India's recent tour of Australia, and he's backed that up in this test match with both bat and ball. He's just an impressive character.

[dam0]

India should look to up the scoring rate with the last 18 overs of the old ball though. History of this game suggests they should make hay while they can. The new ball willost likely bring wickets.

[dam0]

Ashwin should be hogging the strike. Mad that they took a single of the last ball of the over to give Kuldeep a whole over.

[Muttonbirds]

A gallant England look to have restricted India. Should get these runs in a canter.

[Anonymous 1]

After winning 6 away tests in a row I suppose I shouldn't be to downhearted

[Muttonbirds]

Congrats to Ashwin. A century on his home ground batting at eight. I can see why the SCG crowd wanted to put him off his game with racist taunts.

[Ali's Choice]

After winning 6 away tests in a row I suppose I shouldn't be to downhearted