A fantastic away performance by the team built by dhoni...green top plan boomeranged on england...their first test plan of flat pitch helped them get the draw they wanted...
The 2nd test is very interestingly poised and unless rain intervene a result is certain, may be in four days ! Considering that English have better attack they seem to be nose ahead but it all will depend upon how well our batters bat especially the young middle order which looks a bit brittle in these conditions.However with the wicket expected to improve may be our batters will do well.Food for thought: Virat Kohli can come at no.3 and Pujara at no.4. Agreed Pujara is a solid bat with ‘wall’ like defence but he is slowing down scoring to bare minimum and not able to dominate the bowling resulting in the entire batting coming under pressure. Virat Kohli on the other hand is a dominating batsman by nature and that could relieve some pressure from the batting line up.Pujara can come at no.4 and will be in a much better position to play his shots and do well.
It seems Cook and Dhoni are competing in a race of 'goofing up' and letting off the hook the opponents. It remains to be seen who races ahead to see his side go down 0-1 in the series at Lords! As things stand it is difficult to say who is better in making things difficult for their own side but Cook seems to be ahead of Dhoni considering the advantage he got of a green top wicket in addition to winning the Toss! Right from the Trentbridge Tests to the 2nd day at LORDs the pattern of the the proceedings have striking similarity.Coming to the 2nd day India yet again failed to capitalize with Ishat Sharma maintaining his consistency of inconsistence bowling from a brilliant spell to very ordinary fare for the nth time when the situation demanded! It was just not possible for a poor Bhuvi alone to fight a lonely battle.Jadeja and Binny too did put up some spirited fight but they have their limitations. Except for the spark from Bhuvi it was a very dull and boring two sessions with both Ishant and Shami looking completely drained out with no spring in their steps. No wonder they could not come up with some fresh variations of rising shorter deliveries etc. which they are capable of. The match is delicately balanced and unless rain plays spoilsport result is certain. Considering that the English have better bowling attack they appear to be nose ahead . But India can take comfort that Cook is leading Dhoni in goof ups.
Re: Interesting series...
by Om Shanti on Jul 19, 2014 01:18 PM
One is the king of the empire who invented the game and the other the most obedient slave_who popularised a game which is played for five days to get a result of draw without any winner.And there can be five such 5 day games all ending in draws,totalling 25 days,and even after almost one month period,the result is a draw.
Re: Re: Interesting series...
by Ravi on Jul 20, 2014 08:47 AM
I like Test cricket any day as compared to the T20.
I don't understand why they have bowlers in T20 format to start with. Just place a remotely controlled bowling machine instead.
Test cricket is about strategy, temperament, stamina and concentration. No restrictions on both teams. Even pulling off a draw can be an achievement in many cases.
Dhoni was always a poor batsman with no technique but survived due to good players in team need long rest. Mr.Virat kolhi needs to be addressed whether is interest is with flirting relationship with bollywood heronies or he chose cricket as his career.
Re: on Dhoni and Virat kolhi
by Ravi on Jul 19, 2014 09:18 AM
Deepak, And you need to be addressed not to comment on this forum if you don't have a valid point to make.
Re: Re: on Dhoni and Virat kolhi
by AN INDIAN on Jul 19, 2014 12:11 PM
What has he said that is so wrong? Dhoni is a average batsman and kohli is distracted due to Anushka. Why don't you make your address your point.
