What's new

India v England | 3rd Test | February 24-28 | Ahmedabad | Pre-match discussion

R

RamLakhan

First Class Captain
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Runs
5,532
Post of the Week
1
With 1-1 standing at the end of 2nd Test Match. India should be careful about 3rd Test - Pink Ball which is a day-night affair! With the nightmarish memories from last such test, it is better to concentrate thoroughly for this one. England would be happy to take advantage of it and they wouldn't mind ending this series 2-2 even if they lose the last match again with a big margin!

Hence I prefer the following team for the 3rd Test:

Rohit
Gill/Rahul (not sure if Gill's injury is serious, also I won't mind playing Rahul who can surprisingly come good)
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Pant
Pandya
Ashwin
Axar
Bumrah
Ishant

This way we will have the balance between pace & spin and also additional cushion to the batting. Wouldn't bother even if India draws this match though victory is the first priority!

If Jadeja was available I would have preferred a proper seamer instead of Pandya!
 
With news of Mohammed Shami joining the squad, can we play him as third seamer in place of a spinner?
 
Rahane will be a sitting duck in pink ball test. I'd rather go with Mayank, Rahul or Washi. But that won't happen considering our joke of a captain.
 
Rohit
Kannaur Lokesh Rahul( if Gill is injured)
Pujara
Kohli(c)
Rahane
Pants(wkt)
Axar
Ashwin
Ishant
Shami( or Yadav or Siraj)
Bumrah

We are playing at home, shouldn't worry of batting. With a lethal five man attack, job will be done.
 
Ab Fan said:
Rohit
Kannaur Lokesh Rahul( if Gill is injured)
Pujara
Kohli(c)
Rahane
Pants(wkt)
Axar
Ashwin
Ishant
Shami( or Yadav or Siraj)
Bumrah

We are playing at home, shouldn't worry of batting. With a lethal five man attack, job will be done.
Click to expand...

Is Shami fit? Siraj is better option for this series
 
Pandya only if he can bowl a bit! Is he completely done with this bowling? Then he should not be in the test squad anymore! Pant is already doing what Pandya can do (with the bat) and that's enough for tests! Pandya should be in the reckoning only if can bowl few overs in a day! He can then play in those matches where we have to play a bit safe...
 
Last edited:
Moeen ali is rested for the 3rd test.

This england rotation policy is turning out to be slightly absurd
 
I doubt england will get anything other than a dustbowl from hereon in.
England are a superior team in seaming conditions so India will look to prepare another spinning track but that then makes the toss awfully important.
 
Moeen Ali has decided to go home so he won't be part of the Test series anymore.
 
England's squad for the final two Tests against India:

Joe Root (C), Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence, Bairstow, Foakes, Pope, Stokes, Woakes, Bess, Leach, Anderson, Broad, Archer, Stone and Mark Wood.
 
Virat Kohli lost 9 successive tosses in Tests against England and lost all 6 tosses against Root before the 2nd Test.

Had Virat lost again, he would have been first captain to lose 10 consecutive tosses in Tests against a team.

:rabada2

Lets wait for Pink ball test.
 
King_Kohli said:
Virat Kohli lost 9 successive tosses in Tests against England and lost all 6 tosses against Root before the 2nd Test.

Had Virat lost again, he would have been first captain to lose 10 consecutive tosses in Tests against a team.

:rabada2

Lets wait for Pink ball test.
Click to expand...

In India toss doesn't matter. England won 3 out of 4 tosses in 2016 still lost 0-3
Post 2000, opposing teams have won 6 matches after winning the toss and lost 31, in India.
 
King_Kohli said:
Virat Kohli lost 9 successive tosses in Tests against England and lost all 6 tosses against Root before the 2nd Test.

Had Virat lost again, he would have been first captain to lose 10 consecutive tosses in Tests against a team.

:rabada2

Lets wait for Pink ball test.
Click to expand...

LOL. I think Rahane should replace Kohli as specialist Captain (Only for Toss). I dont think other than absurd selection of final 11, Virat is doing any bad a captain. He himself said that he is rigid and sometimes fails to learn from his own mistakes and wrong approach.

Virat said this in post match presentation
"I've taken a lot of pride in correcting mistakes quickly, which I haven't done in the past because I'm rigid. But, I want to correct those quickly now."
 
ethan hunt said:
I doubt england will get anything other than a dustbowl from hereon in.
England are a superior team in seaming conditions so India will look to prepare another spinning track but that then makes the toss awfully important.
Click to expand...

India will most probably win on a turner or a normal Indian pitch even if England win the toss. Toss is hugely over rated in India. It only helps the overseas team compete a bit better if they win the toss but doesn't make a big difference to the out come.

As I said before only 6 times have a team won in a India after winning the toss while losing 32 matches (post 2000)
First match was an anomaly.
 
It is a bit of a shame, but also entirely understandable for family reasons, that Moeen is leaving the bubble and flying home at this point.

England will need to make quite a few team changes next week, both due to concerns over performance and also for the specific pink ball day-night conditions.

This would be my XI personally:

Crawley
Sibley
Bairstow
Root*
Stokes
Pope
Foakes+
Woakes
Leach
Wood
Anderson.
 
England Men have named a 17-strong squad for the third Test against India starting in Ahmedabad on Wednesday 24 February.

Moeen Ali will return to England for a break while Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood join the squad having been rested for the first two Tests.

England squad for Third Test: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/2031556
 
Ab Fan said:
Rohit
Kannaur Lokesh Rahul( if Gill is injured)
Pujara
Kohli(c)
Rahane
Pants(wkt)
Axar
Ashwin
Ishant
Shami( or Yadav or Siraj)
Bumrah

We are playing at home, shouldn't worry of batting. With a lethal five man attack, job will be done.
Click to expand...

Perfect pick.

What about Sundar over Axar?
 
Last edited:
King_Kohli said:
Perfect pick.

What about Sundar over Axar?
Click to expand...

Axar's 5-fers not withstanding, Sundar is a better bet in the team as he provides us with a stable tail.
another alternative would be if Gill is injured why not experiment with Pant as an opener and retain Axar.
 
King_Kohli said:
Perfect pick.

What about Sundar over Axar?
Click to expand...

Sundar may probably have to wait till Ashwin phases out, in between he may get some chances here & there to learn (he could anyhow be an important part in LOIs from hereon!) Also to establish in test format he has to learn lot more variations. Anyhow he can still be part of the current team if he develops his batting to such an extent that he picks up a batsman's spot (opener spot is already open!)
 
OMB said:
Axar's 5-fers not withstanding, Sundar is a better bet in the team as he provides us with a stable tail.
another alternative would be if Gill is injured why not experiment with Pant as an opener and retain Axar.
Click to expand...

Axar lessened the work load on Ashwin in this match... Left arm spinner is a must in Indian Tests to tackle the right hand batsmen (who are the majority compared to left hands) That's why Jadeja became so successful...!
 
RamLakhan said:
With 1-1 standing at the end of 2nd Test Match. India should be careful about 3rd Test - Pink Ball which is a day-night affair! With the nightmarish memories from last such test, it is better to concentrate thoroughly for this one. England would be happy to take advantage of it and they wouldn't mind ending this series 2-2 even if they lose the last match again with a big margin!

Hence I prefer the following team for the 3rd Test:

Rohit
Gill/Rahul (not sure if Gill's injury is serious, also I won't mind playing Rahul who can surprisingly come good)
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Pant
Pandya
Ashwin
Axar
Bumrah
Ishant

This way we will have the balance between pace & spin and also additional cushion to the batting. Wouldn't bother even if India draws this match though victory is the first priority!

If Jadeja was available I would have preferred a proper seamer instead of Pandya!
Click to expand...

Is Pandya allowed to bowl? I don't think he can handle test match bowling right now, looking at the fact that he did not feature in the test series in Australia.

Shardul Thakur is a better option there, considering that he did well in Australia.
 
JaDed said:
He is just meant from fitness perspective
Click to expand...
Ok. But the last injury suffered wasn't due to him being unfit. It was just a freak injury which could've happened to anyone.
 
From what I understand, if India win 2-1 they qualify for final, for England to qualify its 3-1 series win.

What about other results??

1-1 who qulifies
2 - 2 ?
 
MP2011 said:
Do you really think Axar will be dropped after taking 7 wickets in his debut test?
Click to expand...

I honestly don't think his bowling will be a factor in a pink ball test and Sundar is a far superior bat anyways. He is decent but not a special prospect for future. We should be using him on horses for courses basis.

Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair were breakout performers during last Eng series, do you see them playing again?
 
King_Kohli said:
Perfect pick.

What about Sundar over Axar?
Click to expand...

Actually, Kohli has already mentioned that he will not pick similar type of bowlers. With Ashwin as main bowler, India will always go with another one who takes the bowl away from the right handed batsman. Hence Axar over Sundar.

This is also the reason why Axar bowled most of the overs alongside Ashwin and Kuldeep hardly bowled much or Kuldeep wasn't picked in first test ahead of Shahbaz.

For overseas test, I think we may go with Sundar ahead of Axar because batting will be more required there although Jadeja will be preferred over both but in India(even in pink ball test), don't think so.
 
Ami said:
From what I understand, if India win 2-1 they qualify for final, for England to qualify its 3-1 series win.

What about other results??

1-1 who qulifies
2 - 2 ?
Click to expand...

Aus would qualify in case of 2-2 I guess, not sure though.
 
Ami said:
From what I understand, if India win 2-1 they qualify for final, for England to qualify its 3-1 series win.

What about other results??

1-1 who qulifies
2 - 2 ?
Click to expand...

In that case Australia will qualify for WTC final.
 
Ab Fan said:
Actually, Kohli has already mentioned that he will not pick similar type of bowlers. With Ashwin as main bowler, India will always go with another one who takes the bowl away from the right handed batsman. Hence Axar over Sundar.

This is also the reason why Axar bowled most of the overs alongside Ashwin and Kuldeep hardly bowled much or Kuldeep wasn't picked in first test ahead of Shahbaz.

For overseas test, I think we may go with Sundar ahead of Axar because batting will be more required there although Jadeja will be preferred over both but in India(even in pink ball test), don't think so.
Click to expand...

Hmm, makes sense though. Still I think pacers will be a bigger factor and we would definitely need a decent lower order for the pink ball test and with Jaddu missing Sundar is the key to that.
 
Hyperion66 said:
Hmm, makes sense though. Still I think pacers will be a bigger factor and we would definitely need a decent lower order for the pink ball test and with Jaddu missing Sundar is the key to that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if spinners will have just a support role, then India preferably should go with Sundar or even Pandya. It is hard to say now as we have played only one pink ball test at home and that too vs Bangladesh.
 
Ab Fan said:
Actually, Kohli has already mentioned that he will not pick similar type of bowlers. With Ashwin as main bowler, India will always go with another one who takes the bowl away from the right handed batsman. Hence Axar over Sundar.

This is also the reason why Axar bowled most of the overs alongside Ashwin and Kuldeep hardly bowled much or Kuldeep wasn't picked in first test ahead of Shahbaz.

For overseas test, I think we may go with Sundar ahead of Axar because batting will be more required there although Jadeja will be preferred over both but in India(even in pink ball test), don't think so.
Click to expand...

It sounds logical and make sense.
 
Hyperion66 said:
Hmm, makes sense though. Still I think pacers will be a bigger factor and we would definitely need a decent lower order for the pink ball test and with Jaddu missing Sundar is the key to that.
Click to expand...

Why cant Hardhik? (If he bowl):)
 
King_Kohli said:
Why cant Hardhik? (If he bowl):)
Click to expand...

True, but will he bowl though? If he does, not sure how effective he will be after this long gap. I do not doubt his ability though but this is a must win test for us and need to pick the absolute best XI possible.
 
Last edited:
Hyperion66 said:
True, but will he bowl though? If he does, not sure how effective he will be after this long gap. I do not doubt his ability though but this is a must win test for us and need to pick the absolute best XI possible.
Click to expand...

Agree.
 
Sourav Ganguly confirms that tickets of Pink Ball Test match between India and England at Motera Stadium is completely sold out.

:48:
 
Ab Fan said:
Rohit
Kannaur Lokesh Rahul( if Gill is injured)
Pujara
Kohli(c)
Rahane
Pants(wkt)
Axar
Ashwin
Ishant
Shami( or Yadav or Siraj)
Bumrah

We are playing at home, shouldn't worry of batting. With a lethal five man attack, job will be done.
Click to expand...

Tail starts from Rahane. That batting lineup will be exposed quicky.
 
guna said:
Tail starts from Rahane. That batting lineup will be exposed quicky.
Click to expand...

Rahane is good against pace. Pants has three 88+ scores in four consecutive tests. Ashwin scored a century a day ago. But if you say so, then maybe.
 
Rohit
Gill
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Pant
Pandya (if he can bowl 7 or 8 overs a day)
Sundar
Ashwin
Shami (If fit)
Bumrah

In Pink ball test, spinners will not be much of a factor. Sundar is there to lend support to batting lineup.
Shami and Bumrah along with Ashwin are enough to get 20 wickets.

India needs a strong batting lineup because they need it against Anderson under lights. But knowing Kohli, he will put up a pathetic batting lineup.
 
Bairstow,Archer, Anderson, and Bess will all come into the team more than likely. That is 4 changes. England's rotation policy is ridiculous. How can you make 3/4 changes in each test so far and expect to be a successful side

I get rotation of fast bowlers but there was no need to rotate Bairstow and Buttler as both were in good form. Even if Anderson played this game, he would have 9 days rest for the next game.
 
India should prepare low and slow track for pink ball test to minimize the English seamers to supporting role. Providing green track would mean offering match to England on silver platter as our batsmen are not equipped to face Anderson and co on such track under lights. It would be 36 AO over again.
 
Hasan123 said:
Bairstow,Archer, Anderson, and Bess will all come into the team more than likely. That is 4 changes. England's rotation policy is ridiculous. How can you make 3/4 changes in each test so far and expect to be a successful side

I get rotation of fast bowlers but there was no need to rotate Bairstow and Buttler as both were in good form. Even if Anderson played this game, he would have 9 days rest for the next game.
Click to expand...

Bess might not get a chance in pink test.
 
Part of most Test victories by Indians :

Tendulkar - 72
Dravid - 56
Pujara - 48*
Laxman - 47
Virat Kohli - 45*
Ishant Sharma - 45*
Ravi Ashwin - 44*
 
King_Kohli said:
50% only.
But 50% is huge considering the overall capacity.
Click to expand...

Yeah. But most of them will attend only in the night session after working hours.

We'll most likely see vast sea of empty seats in the first two sessions.
 
India squad for the final two Tests against England:

Virat Kohli (C),
Rahane (VC),
Pant (WK),
Saha (WK),
Rohit,
Mayank,
Pujara,
Gill,
KL Rahul,
Hardik Pandya,
Ashwin,
Kuldeep Yadav,
Axar Patel,
Washington Sundar,
Ishant,
Siraj and
Jasprit Bumrah.
 
King_Kohli said:
3rd bowler spot Umesh vs Siraj
Click to expand...

yeah tough call.. But Umesh has been a beast with SG Ball and he bowled well in the Pink test in Australia as well and in Melbourne Test.
Given the way Team management thinks.. if we go with 3 pacers it will be Ishant/Bumrah/Umesh. Decent attack with 2 spinners... Ashwin and Axar.
 
hoshiarpurexpress said:
yeah tough call.. But Umesh has been a beast with SG Ball and he bowled well in the Pink test in Australia as well and in Melbourne Test.
Given the way Team management thinks.. if we go with 3 pacers it will be Ishant/Bumrah/Umesh. Decent attack with 2 spinners... Ashwin and Axar.
Click to expand...

Agree. He deserves a chance in pink test.
 
King_Kohli said:
Agree. He deserves a chance in pink test.
Click to expand...

Not really sure about that. On song Umesh is absolutely lethal, got all the ingredients of a proper fast bowler like strength, stamina, conventional as well as reverse swing. On the other hand Siraj I feel is more accurate and disciplined and can execute a plan better. Really tough call for a must match.
 
Will be interesting to see how swing friendly it will actually be.

If it is swing friendly, England may consider playing their home conditons attack in broad, anderson and woakes. Stokes should bowl more, the last test showed that england really need an active 5th bowler
 
Hyperion66 said:
Not really sure about that. On song Umesh is absolutely lethal, got all the ingredients of a proper fast bowler like strength, stamina, conventional as well as reverse swing. On the other hand Siraj I feel is more accurate and disciplined and can execute a plan better. Really tough call for a must match.
Click to expand...

Yes really tough call.
 
Conditions at the new Motera will be vastly different from Chennai. The pitch will have grass cover, a requisite for pink-ball Tests.

The ground has both red soil and black soil pitches and as of now a decent grass cover is there on both types of pitches. Pink-ball needs grass and the pitches are fresh.

In late February, dew could be a factor. “What happens here, when the dew is heavy, the wet ball also becomes heavy. So it stops to swing, conventional or reverse. Spinners also struggle to grip the ball. Weather at the moment is a little hot and humid in the morning, but it’s getting cooler in the evening. Dew could be a factor if it’s heavy,” Gohel said.
 
At Adelaide Oval, 11mm grass is routine. At Eden Gardens, the venue that hosted India’s first-ever pink-ball Test in November 2019, curator Sujan Mukherjee had left 6mm live grass on the strip. Extra coat of lacquer means more swing. Grass on the pitch means lateral movement off the seam. Then there’s the twilight period, when batsmen face difficulty to pick the ball.
 
On the evidence of SMAT held at Motera last month, there will be bounce in the pitch. And seam.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">India have announced their squad for the last two Tests against England in Ahmedabad:<br><br>&#55357;&#56633; Shahbaz Nadeem and Shardul Thakur released<br>&#55357;&#56633; Umesh Yadav to join after a fitness assessment <a href="https://t.co/ZBJbWSfZu7">pic.twitter.com/ZBJbWSfZu7</a></p>— ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1361979010742247426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Crawley
Sibley
Baistrow
Root
Stokes
Pope
Fowkes
Bess
Archer
Anderson
Broad
 
King_Kohli said:
Virat Kohli lost 9 successive tosses in Tests against England and lost all 6 tosses against Root before the 2nd Test.

Had Virat lost again, he would have been first captain to lose 10 consecutive tosses in Tests against a team.

:rabada2

Lets wait for Pink ball test.
Click to expand...

Naah these are basic stats. You have set a pretty high standard. Give us some interesting stats like how many runs Kohli has scored against bowlers who have tattoo on their arms. :inti
 
Picture of the 3rd Test pitch (5 days before game) - Courtesy of the ECB

EulHBYDWQAAhh5Y
 
Last edited:
MenInG said:
Picture of the 3rd Test pitch (5 days before game) - Courtesy of the ECB

EulHBYDWQAAhh5Y
Click to expand...

So ECB done this 5-days ahead in case the grass completely disappears and is replaced by gravel...
 
Hyperion66 said:
There is still more than enough time remaining, it would look a lot different by the time Anderson gets to bowl.
Click to expand...

Not a lot different. Mandatory to keep live grass on pitch in DN matches featuring pink balls. How much grass would be kept is the question. At Eden Garden, the venue of first pink ball test, it was 6 mm of grass. It should be the same here.
 
AMSS said:
Not a lot different. Mandatory to keep live grass on pitch in DN matches featuring pink balls. How much grass would be kept is the question. At Eden Garden, the venue of first pink ball test, it was 6 mm of grass. It should be the same here.
Click to expand...

I agree, but even with 6mm grass this pitch would look a lot different. Right now it looks same as the outfield which definitely would not be the case on the match day.
 
Last edited:
Hyperion66 said:
I agree, but even with 6mm grass this pitch would look a lot different. Right now it looks same as the outfield which definitely would not be the case on the match day.
Click to expand...

You're right. I think it's an inch or longer right now. After trimming it should look a normal, straw colored pitch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Bhaijaan
  • Locked
England vs India | 3rd Test | Lord's | July 10-14 | Pre-Match Discussion
2
Replies
152
Views
5K
Nikhil_cric
N
The Bald Eagle
  • Locked
England vs India | 1st Test | Headingley | June 20-24 | Pre-Match Discussion
2
Replies
80
Views
2K
Rajdeep
R
Cricket Warrior
  • Locked
England vs India | 4th Test | Manchester | July 23-27 | Pre-Match Discussion
2 3 4
Replies
285
Views
7K
sweep_shot
sweep_shot
Cricket Warrior
India (518/5d & 124/3) defeat West Indies (248 & 390 (f/o) by 7 wickets in second Test to complete a clean sweep in the 2-match Test series
2 3
Replies
237
Views
4K
giri26
G
BouncerGuy
  • Locked
England vs India | 2nd Test | Edgbaston | July 02-06 | Pre-Match Discussion
2
Replies
152
Views
5K
mominsaigol
mominsaigol
Back
Top