INDIA VS ENGLAND SOUTHAMPTON

27 JULY

After an epic win at Lord's,India wil look to maintain its momentum.But the english side must not be underestimated.The likes of Mohammed Shami,Virat Kohli,Shikhar Dhawan and Ms Dhoni who havent fired so far in this series must step up.

Can INDIA do to ENGLAND what ENGLAND did to them in 2011.

Lessons from Trent Bridge-Bowling

16 july 2014
Its  the eve of the second test of the 5 test series between India and England.The Indian bowlers had their share of moments and at a stage in the game looked like they had won the game for the team.But a few mistakes against a counter attacking english tail order resulted in a draw.
Here a few lessons,the indian bowlers can take home.

RAVINDRA JADEJA-
On a pitch not favouring spin,Jadeja was successful in checking the run flow.But if he had bowled more from over the wicket to the right hander and set a packed off side,he would have been less predictable and could have picked up a wicket or two as evena small degree of turn from that angle could induce an edge.When the pitch behaved slow,tossing the ball and inviting the drive would have been more rewarding rather than bowling quick and flat.

STUART BINNY
Taken into the side as a seaming alrounder,Binny failed to impress with the ball.Dhoni too failed to utilize Binny.Binny should have bowled a fuller length and dhoni should have gone with a semi attcking field with some cover in the deep.

ISHANT SHARMA
He was the best bowler in the first half of the bowling innings removing Robson,Ballance and Bell.But he became very predictable against Broad and Anderson.The short pitched bowling to anderson should have been used as a surprise weapon and Ishant should stuck to the basics by bowling outside off stump at a good length.The bouncers were not directed properly too .This mistake cost India nearly a 100 runs.


MOHAMMED SHAMI
Shami can be said to be the biggest disappointment in the bowlig line up.He picked up Cook and Moeen Ali, but the dismissals were due to the batsmen making a mess around pretty normal deliveries.One wondered where the Shami of the kolkata test of 2013 was,where he got tremendous reverse swing at healthy pace.Shami should look to swing the ball more rather than just bowl seam.His yorkers ,both quick and slower ones would be handy and so would his bouncers.

All we Indian fans hope that Indian would take a 1-0 lead at Lord's and would go on to win the series.

The English Challenge

8th july 2014

From tomorrow,the Indian and English crickets teams will locks horns for what could easily expected to be a fascinating contest.Both the teams have points to prove and records to set right.While Alastair Cooks captaincy has received copious amounts of cricism and the loss of the home series against the lankans only adding to it,Mahendra singh dhoni and his boys will be desperate to get rid of the OVERSEAS LAMBS tag which has haunted them since mid 2011.

England would expect a lot out of seasoned and in form bowling aces like Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.Liam Plunketts form would a huge bonus.
In the batting arsenal,Cook needs to regain touch and Bell would have to play big.Young opener ROBSON and Gary Ballance have shone in the recent times and justified their place in the side.

Coming to the Indian contingent,a lot depends on skipper Dhoni who holds the innings together so often in shorter versions of the game and tests in the subcontinents.He could well be the difference between a draw and victory for India.Dhoni had made it clear that this time ,he would take an aggressive approach and not try to be ''proper batsman'',which is good news for indian fans.

India have always relied on big opening starts to win tests in the last one and half decade.In the absence of Sehwag and Gambhir,the onus will be on Shikhar dhawan and Murali vijay,both of whom have done well in the recent past.But the biggest expectation are on the No.3 and No.4 ie Chateshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.

The bowling department has talent in bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Shami,but they are to be complemented well by a third specialist quick,which is mostly likely going to be Ishant Sharma,who took a pasting in the just concluded 3 day games.

Stuart Binny is mostly to be the seaming allrounder of the side,while ''sir Jadeja would be the lone spinner.It would be intersting to see who would fill up no.5 slot.Ajinkya Rahane had good tours of South Africa and New Zealand unlike Rohit Sharma who failed to impress but can be an additional
spinner in case the pitch is turning.