India vs England | 3rd Test | Kolkota| 07/12/12 | Day 3

[musaarthali]

Little bit disappointing day...match went bit different path than i predicted..still there will be better tomorrow

if we get them below 400..then Viru can smash quick century and we will be right back in match..

 

[adnanulhaq97]

Trott looking in some form, i predict he's gonna make some 70/80 runs

 

[rockers2012]

Oh gosh ...if they could take their cricket seriously on the field as much as they do in their ads.

 

[khanz141]

Indians are getting COOCKED

 

[khanz141]

I predict an innings defeat on the cards

 

[Marshland]

Trott is a grinder, always knew he'd be up for some runs at some stage. Also scored a ton in Lanka if I recall.

As for India, this will be a historic day, negatively for them. Hopefully will lead to a change in personnel and all that.

 

[James]

To be honest India already have a tough task just avoiding defeat.

 

[Marshland]

I also love the fact that Fletcher's reputation is eroding by the day.

Never thought of him as a bright guy ever.

 

[saj786]

never rated the indian spinners, s. africa A sorry englands dominance in the last 2 test doesnt surprise me, ajmal rehman different league to the indian spinners, and i c compton is another of the s.african born brigade

 

[leatherface58]

Indians desperately need a purging. Fletcher needs to be sacked. Has overseen 3 whitewashes now. Worst coach ever?

 

[James]

Never mind get rid of him after the whitewashes. tbh fans from England and Australia will have been gobsmacked when Fletcher even got offered another job. The Ashes 2006 was an utter debacle which runs far deeper than most of you guys will have read.

 

[Marshland]

Never mind get rid of him after the whitewashes. tbh fans from England and Australia will have been gobsmacked when Fletcher even got offered another job. The Ashes 2006 was an utter debacle which runs far deeper than most of you guys will have read.

He was just at the right place at the right time when he got offered the job with England in 1999. The only way they could go was up, and he enjoyed the ride while it lasted.

 

[Buffet]

To be honest India already have a tough task just avoiding defeat.

England will win this game. Almost 90% there. India won't be able to bat out time specially on 4th/5th day pitch when it starts turning.

 

[musaarthali]

England will win this game. Almost 90% there. India won't be able to bat out time specially on 4th/5th day pitch when it starts turning.

England can collapse tomorrow..who knows

we will score above 500 in 2nd innings

 

[shan]

After today i cant see India winning or drawing. 200+ lead is on the cards, which mean India need to win the last test to draw the series.

 

[rooster]

It's a blessing in disguise that the new ball is due after 10 overs. Both Cook and Trott have 10 overs to get the touch back before the new ball.

Our usual method, top 3 to hung in there, frustrate the bowling and grind some runs and our middle order to score quick runs. Sometimes it doesn't work but it's a flat pitch so there's every possibility that our batting lineup will click as a whole tomorrow and who knows we may score really big tomorrow if luck's with us. A double from Cook will be the icing on the cake.

At the same time every chance that India will comeback tomorrow and restrict us under 100 run lead.

It's a great opportunity to go 2-1 into the series and I'm pretty sure the team management is talking the same as well. One good thing about England in this match is they ain't showing desperation even though they are close to taking the lead in the series. They are really calm and focused about the job in the hand.

 

[James]

India totally wasted the first new ball. Sharma and Zak were embarrassingly wide, medium pace and innocuous. Even if in the morning Trott goes to Ojha and Cook nicks Zak behind, look at the batting to come

 

[shan]

KP will destroy India in this match. At least in Mumbai the ball was spinning, here its complete road.

 

[Marshland]

India totally wasted the first new ball. Sharma and Zak were embarrassingly wide, medium pace and innocuous. Even if in the morning Trott goes to Ojha and Cook nicks Zak behind, look at the batting to come

Ian Bell and Samit Patel?

 

[James]

Nah KP has had his epic for the series, usually he just puts in a short innings on the flat pitches. He saves his best for the hopeless situations and sticky wickets.

 

[James]

Ian Bell and Samit Patel?

At least one of them will get a fifty. Bet you a pint.
These are Ian-friendly match conditions remember.

Also KP, Prior and Swann to come as well.

 

[musaarthali]

At least one of them will get a fifty. Bet you a pint.
These are Ian-friendly match conditions remember.

Also KP, Prior and Swann to come as well.

you forgot Finn and Anderson

 

[IAJ]

Allright, England off to a very strong start, but a collapse might be right the corner.

England should think to bat sessions and don't throw away the wickets like some of the indians did. They would be delighted if they could end day 3 with 500+ on the board and some wickets in hand. On day 4 another 100 runs and you are talking about a possible innings victory. Let's see..

 

[James]

Gosh how I would love to see Monty and Swann bowling at India on the 4th day with a big lead and men around the bat. Would help to make up for the zillions of occasions when our own batsmen have got themselves slaughtered in the same situation lol.

 

[BANFAN]

If Eng survives the morning tomorrow, it will be difficult for them to not to win ..

 

[Legend Killer]

India always used to be lions at home and Lambs away but now it seems they are Lambs even at home

 

[adnanulhaq97]

Half School Day towmorrow, cant wait too see Cook bat of he's there

 

[SL_Fan]

Another brilliant 100 by captain Cook. Wadda player!
Eng in a commading position atm but if India can take a few wickets early on tomorrow, especially Cook's wicket, then things will get interesting. Apart from Cook, KP and Prior don't have much hope for the rest of the Eng bats.

 

[Buffet]

England can collapse tomorrow..who knows

we will score above 500 in 2nd innings

Yaah, pigs will fly first. Except Pujara none have batted for long time in recept past so I doubt India can bat big on 4th/5th day pitch. If they can bat then it will be fine effort from them.

England can collapse, that's a possibility.

 

[SL_Fan]

Half School Day towmorrow, cant wait too see Cook bat of he's there

Stop wagging school Adnan. Not a smart move.

 

[Saurav]

I also love the fact that Fletcher's reputation is eroding by the day.

Never thought of him as a bright guy ever.

yeah I called it a pathetic selection wen he was chosen.has proved me right

 

[Executioner]

to be honest very boring cricket has been displayed so far. not much competitiveness so far in this serious.

Expected better performance from India from all 3 departments. It will be safe to say that they failed miserably

 

[Buffet]

it's a flat pitch so there's every possibility that our batting lineup will click as a whole tomorrow and who knows we may score really big tomorrow if luck's with us.

From 200+ with only one wicket down, it will be criminal to not big score from this platform on this flat pitch.

 

[James]

Look at the argument from probability.

England are a minute 100 runs behind with a huge 9 wickets in hand, so probability states that they will at least get some kind of a lead in the worst case scenario. In better scenarios, the lead will be significant. The chances are greater of England scoring big than collapsing, and even if England do collapse then the chances are equal or greater that India would also collapse. And if England don't collapse, the chances of India collapsing in turn just increase.

Basically everything's against India here, so to even draw would take a mighty performance.

 

[Saurav]

To be honest India already have a tough task just avoiding defeat.

agree.barring a miracle the match n series is England's

 

[SL_Fan]

Look at the argument from probability.

England are a minute 100 runs behind with a huge 9 wickets in hand, so probability states that they will at least get some kind of a lead in the worst case scenario. In better scenarios, the lead will be significant. The chances are greater of England scoring big than collapsing, and even if England do collapse then the chances are equal or greater that India would also collapse. And if England don't collapse, the chances of India collapsing in turn just increase.

Basically everything's against India here, so to even draw would take a mighty performance.

That just confused the heck out of me.

 

[Ruri]

As delighted as I am by this position. It could have been much worse, Cook should have been taken early on that catch and a 100 runs would have been averted.

Seriously, someone needs to slap the Indian fielders awake. You do not drop Cook.

 

[Saurav]

To be honest India already have a tough task just avoiding defeat.

As delighted as I am by this position. It could have been much worse, Cook should have been taken early on that catch and a 100 runs would have been averted.

Seriously, someone needs to slap the Indian fielders awake. You do not drop Cook.

it was pathetic captaincy by

getting a short leg with pads on into the slips

Viru is much better there

 

[Ruri]

it was pathetic captaincy by

getting a short leg with pads on into the slips

Viru is much better there

Maybe Sehwag told Dhoni that he couldn't bend over the fat paunch he calls a stomach to field low catches.

 

[James]

A low slip catch. It was a village drop by Sehwag. Even in domestic cricket those are usually taken.

 

[waqar_ahmad]

Cricinfo says the pitch was flat. That true?

How in the world did India get knocked over quickly if it is a flat pitch?

 

[sam_ahm]

ENG are high on confidence, I don't really see a collapse here in this test, ENG victory looks likely because it doesn' rain during this time of the year in india, with 3 days left and a pitch that is expected to assist spineers on day 4 and 5, that too significantly, I really don't see much hope for india in this test.

IND can still win at Nagpur and level the series though, but even then it'll be a great result for England.

 

[Ruri]

A low slip catch. It was a village drop by Sehwag. Even in domestic cricket those are usually taken.

Pujara dropped it.

Was wearing battle armor it looked like. Stupid choice.

 

[James]

^As in the second Test, England bowled brilliantly after losing the toss. The fielding is getting back to decent levels too.

Though Swann for the first time in this series took a back seat. Monty outbowled every other spinner on the park once again, while Finn bowled well and Anderson finally delivered in reversing conditions.

 

[Ruri]

Cricinfo says the pitch was flat. That true?

How in the world did India get knocked over quickly if it is a flat pitch?

They're in the Christmas mood and handing out wickets?

And Monty bowled a good line and they got choked, Jimmy bowled a good spell of reverse that Sharma and Khan haven't managed to replicate.

 

[Ruri]

^As in the second Test, England bowled brilliantly after losing the toss. The fielding is getting back to decent levels too.

Though Swann for the first time in this series took a back seat. Monty outbowled every other spinner on the park once again, while Finn bowled well and Anderson finally delivered in reversing conditions.

Nagpur is pace friendly right?

Looking forward to that. Finn and Anderson there might be a bit more effective.

 

[murphyslaw79]

forget the batting and bowling today. It is a flat track, what really shocked me was India's fielding today.

I have worked with Trevor Penney previously and i can tell you he is an awesome fielding coach. How to approach the ball, point of release etc. But also concentrates on getting players to back up all the time.

The Indians today were just pure lazy, Sehwag should have been backing Dhoni up all the time, but was cemented in his position. Even Kohli, should know that he needs to move back to back up properly.

Also why have Sachin and Zaheer at Mid on and Mid off? They are not the fastest guys in the field. Cook and Compton were running singles for fun to both of them.

very poor stuff. I though Zaheer bowled pretty well today, but with "padman Pujara" unable to move, he cost India big time.

 

[Ruri]

forget the batting and bowling today. It is a flat track, what really shocked me was India's fielding today.

I have worked with Trevor Penney previously and i can tell you he is an awesome fielding coach. How to approach the ball, point of release etc. But also concentrates on getting players to back up all the time.

The Indians today were just pure lazy, Sehwag should have been backing Dhoni up all the time, but was cemented in his position. Even Kohli, should know that he needs to move back to back up properly.

Also why have Sachin and Zaheer at Mid on and Mid off? They are not the fastest guys in the field. Cook and Compton were running singles for fun to both of them.

very poor stuff. I though Zaheer bowled pretty well today, but with "padman Pujara" unable to move, he cost India big time.

Khan just bowled too many four balls to relieve the pressure. I thought Sharma, apart from some terrible overs, was more probing.

 

[adnanulhaq97]

So is the pitch expected to remain batting friendly or get some spin and bounce??

 

[Ruri]

So is the pitch expected to remain batting friendly or get some spin and bounce??

I think they said it will be good for batting tomorrow as well, and then start to break apart day 4 and 5 making it good for spin. Also supposed to get variable bounce for the pacemen by then.

But at this point, scoreboard pressure is what creeps in to effect on day 4 and day 5.

 

[James]

The odd one in the evening was turning and bouncing for Ojha. Swann and Monty will have enjoyed those.

Basically this will just follow a similar path to the Mumbai Test unless India have bowled England out by Tea tomorrow.

NB though, as we saw in Mumbai it doesn't matter if you're bowling in a sea of mud - you still need quality bowlers to take 20 wickets. We have four who work together, and India have one or two who are part of a disjointed attack.

 

[ace58]

Cricinfo says the pitch was flat. That true?

How in the world did India get knocked over quickly if it is a flat pitch?

Pitch is ridiculously flat. India were 200 runs short of a good total. India at the moment only have one good batsman in Pujara and he can't bail india out every time.

 

[Saurav]

India need 4 wickets in morning session tomorrow to hv any chance

 

[Ruri]

The odd one in the evening was turning and bouncing for Ojha. Swann and Monty will have enjoyed those.

Basically this will just follow a similar path to the Mumbai Test unless India have bowled England out by Tea tomorrow.

England need to step up the pace a bit. Almost hoping Trott will give Cook just enough company to reach parity and then get out. KP, Prior and Ian the-Ginger-who-only-performs-without-pressure Bell can then accelerate the pace.

And Fatel will cop a bad decision like usual on a first baller.

 

[adnanulhaq97]

I think they said it will be good for batting tomorrow as well, and then start to break apart day 4 and 5 making it good for spin. Also supposed to get variable bounce for the pacemen by then.

But at this point, scoreboard pressure is what creeps in to effect on day 4 and day 5.

So England Bat all of towmorrow, get a big lead, then bowl to India on a spinning pitch

 

[Buffet]

The odd one in the evening was turning and bouncing for Ojha. Swann and Monty will have enjoyed those.

Basically this will just follow a similar path to the Mumbai Test unless India have bowled England out by Tea tomorrow.

NB though, as we saw in Mumbai it doesn't matter if you're bowling in a sea of mud - you still need quality bowlers to take 20 wickets. We have four who work together, and India have one or two who are part of a disjointed attack.

Even by tea, Eng should take 100+ lead. I expect England to win easily because India can't bat out time.

 

[James]

Kohli and Pujara both played really poor shots. Gambhir also ran out the far superior Sehwag, then threw his own wicket away too when he should have been bedding in for a hundred. The YUVI did the same as Gambhir. Such poor judgment.

You just can't hope to win Test matches when you gift five top wickets in the first innings.

 

[Ruri]

Kohli and Pujara both played really poor shots. Gambhir also ran out the far superior Sehwag, then threw his own wicket away too when he should have been bedding in for a hundred. The YUVI did the same as Gambhir. Such poor judgment.

You just can't hope to win Test matches when you gift five top wickets in the first innings.

IF England gets a sizable lead, Sehwag will be among the first to go. Pujara will stick around, and perhaps Tendulkar, but I don't see grafters in the rest of the squad.

 

[Buffet]

Kohli and Pujara both played really poor shots. Gambhir also ran out the far superior Sehwag, then threw his own wicket away too when he should have been bedding in for a hundred. The YUVI did the same as Gambhir. Such poor judgment.

You just can't hope to win Test matches when you gift five top wickets in the first innings.

That's the reason , I say India can't bat out time. In normal case, Test had draw or Indian win written over it due to India batting first on this flat pitch. England didn't bowl that well , it was more a case of India doing bad batting. Now in 4th/5th day, England bowling bit better , I don't see any hope for India to bat out time.

 

[Marshland]

My only worry for England would be that they bat rather too slowly. They should be looking at a declaration sometime tomorrow but at their rate it probably won't happen, unless KP tons up again - as he is the only one who can do so rather quickly. The likes of Cook, Prior, Trott et al are all rather one-paced in comparison.

 

[BHM :D]

Absolutely class batting from Cook today hopefully he can continue.

 

[Ruri]

My only worry for England would be that they bat rather too slowly. They should be looking at a declaration sometime tomorrow but at their rate it probably won't happen, unless KP tons up again - as he is the only one who can do so rather quickly. The likes of Cook, Prior, Trott et al are all rather one-paced in comparison.

I'll give you Cook and Trott.

Prior on the other hand has a career SR just .12 below KP.

He's our counterattacking player, and comes in for quick runs.

 

[James]

England didn't bowl that well , it was more a case of India doing bad batting.

Disagree, England made India bat badly.
They bowled to very tight lines to create pressure, using the little bit of spin and reverse swing that was on offer.

 

[James]

My only worry for England would be that they bat rather too slowly. They should be looking at a declaration sometime tomorrow but at their rate it probably won't happen, unless KP tons up again - as he is the only one who can do so rather quickly. The likes of Cook, Prior, Trott et al are all rather one-paced in comparison.

Agree that sometimes we bat slowly, but you can't put Prior in with this. His SR is very high even in Tests.

 

[Buffet]

Disagree, England made India bat badly.
They bowled to very tight lines to create pressure, using the little bit of spin and reverse swing that was on offer.

India has been batting badly for long time now. Only Pujara has played a big inning in recent past. England did bowl well but I think it is more case of Indians batting badly for a while not only this series. Credit goes for bowling tight for sure but in past I have seen many tight bowling going for chasing ball for couple of days in India.

 

[GentleMan]

i didnt watch the match..woke up in the morning and before going to cricinfo i expected a headline like Cook hundred floors India..and got deja vu once again to see the headline.. now i have given up on this test series and i am not following it anymore..will erase it from my memory like that 0-8..shame on england for not playing like england..

 

[James]

Still disagree. India usually end up batting first at Eden Gardens and I read that their last five such team scores here (in order of most recent to least recent) were 600, 600, 550, 450, and 400.

So if the last three times India batted first at this ground they got 550+, an all out of 316 goes down as a mighty effort from England.

 

[mystical man]

Whole sale changes needed in this team otherwise we are going down.this is definitely worse than the 90's and we need youngsters along with a coach in the Greg Chappel Mould...Yes and hopefully India loses this test along with the series...

 

[Gunther]

Well you either get rid of guys like Sachin, Zaheer and Viru or you do not complain about fthe fielding standards.

 

[jeezymalik]

no way india winning this match nw, England to win easily.

 

[Namak_Halaal]

Sehwag looks hillarious in the OP!

Sums up India's game thus far!

 

[90MPH]

Only lunatic IPL fans like musaarthali believe India will come back from here.

 

[PAF]

Only lunatic IPL fans like musaarthali believe India will come back from here.

And what if they come back from here? Many teams have done before. England can collapse tomorrow.

 

[leatherface58]

Its not about winning or losing. Its about how you play the game. And the disinterest and boredom with which India have played, they deserve to lose the series. Will be a massive egg on the face and hopefully Jabba the Hutt will be sacked.

 

[Random Aussie]

if India lose this Test, BCCI need to do a thorough review of the system.

Players are not fit
Players dont seem to care
Players like to blame everything other than themselves in media

4-0 to England, 4-0 to Australia and now looking down the barrell of a home Test series loss to England.

 

[Random Aussie]

India have mentally lost it

 

[musaarthali]

Few quick wickets in morning...everything will change fassssst

 

[Buffet]

Few quick wickets in morning...everything will change fassssst

And if no quick wickets then what do you suggest Lead of 150+ or 200+ ?

 

[Buffet]

if India lose this Test, BCCI need to do a thorough review of the system.

Players are not fit
Players dont seem to care
Players like to blame everything other than themselves in media

4-0 to England, 4-0 to Australia and now looking down the barrell of a home Test series loss to England.

I personally think losing this series will help Indians in long term. This team is not playing tough and serious cricket. Dhoni keep giving this non sense pitch reports. Just play the game and focus. England bowled tight but nothing exceptional here.

England just need to not do anything stupid. Game is won 90% already. 9 wickets in hand and 3rd day pitch. Just go for a decent lead and then on deteriorating pitch, India won't be able to bat time to draw it. Unless some one plays really out of his skin , I don't see India saving this game on 4th/5th day pitch.

 

[James]

Are there many Indian fans like musaarthali? Because IMHO that sort of attitude is endemic of the wider problems in Indian cricket at the moment.