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According to the media this test will be one for the spinners so making India favourites but England's performance in the first test will certainly have shortened the odds. Team changes seem probable as Cook has already made it clear he wants Anderson back playing ASAP. and Mishra might be replaced but by whom?

hopeforthebest wrote:According to the media this test will be one for the spinners so making India favourites but England's performance in the first test will certainly have shortened the odds. Team changes seem probable as Cook has already made it clear he wants Anderson back playing ASAP. and Mishra might be replaced but by whom?

they have couple of days ago the price for india winning 1-0 after 2 test was around 3.5.
Suspect Mishra replaced by Nair if the pitch is a rank turner.
might place 115 pounds on India win, couple of days ago was quite interested with india winning in Vizag if the deck was a rank turner and expected england to shorten because of Rajkot.
India 1.53 so the price actually stayed the same with india starting longer in the first test after the toss, england shortened though they are 5.00 for the win and 5.00 for the draw but prices will change when the media actually see the pitch.

Edit might stay out of the bet, not a great price can imagine getting a better price if India bat first and Gambhir is removed quickly.

imo Mishra will be dropped.

Who Anderson comes in for is a difficult one. Logically it would be Woakes to keep the same balance in the side, but that would significantly weaken our batting. Ansari would be the other choice, given he's not exactly flourished with the ball, but if the pitch turns as much as expected then three spinners might be justifiable.

Making_Splinters wrote:Who Anderson comes in for is a difficult one. Logically it would be Woakes to keep the same balance in the side, but that would significantly weaken our batting. Ansari would be the other choice, given he's not exactly flourished with the ball, but if the pitch turns as much as expected then three spinners might be justifiable.

The only other possibility is the rotation of Broad which is unlikely after only one test. It has to be Woakes as we've seen how few overs Cook has used pace in this game. It will be the wrong decision as it should be Broad but Woakes is still seen as a 12th man player by Cook.

hopeforthebest wrote:

Making_Splinters wrote:Who Anderson comes in for is a difficult one. Logically it would be Woakes to keep the same balance in the side, but that would significantly weaken our batting. Ansari would be the other choice, given he's not exactly flourished with the ball, but if the pitch turns as much as expected then three spinners might be justifiable.

The only other possibility is the rotation of Broad which is unlikely after only one test. It has to be Woakes as we've seen how few overs Cook has used pace in this game. It will be the wrong decision as it should be Broad but Woakes is still seen as a 12th man player by Cook.

I'd add the caveat, "In the subcontinent" to that last sentence, Hope.

Dropping Ansari does make a weird sort of logic even if we're expecting a dustbowl. Maybe England expected a long haul in Rajkot and needed to bowl a lot of overs. On a bowlers' pitch, that bulk of overs will not be bowled. Actually though Ansari's runs were very useful...

I'd go for three spinners because England are not using Rashid much for the early overs in the first innings, and may see him as a second innings bowler and someone to bowl at the tail in the first knock. So they need someone to bowl with the newer ball. And because we're expecting a turner, that's no good reason to play four seamers. As many as two of the pace bowlers won't actually get to bowl.

England can't leave out Duckett as they are already a batter light on what they choose at home. They have to make a tough decision on Woakes and Broad. I'd go for Woakes and his extra hostility, plus he could play a match turning innings (in a match where the pace bowlers might actually hardly bowl). I might play Batty ahead of Ansari though.

There might be a hypothetical case for just picking Anderson, Stokes, Rashid and Moeen, and including an extra batter, if the pitch looks a real mess. But the only option they have is Ballance.

Splinters won't like this. Agnew anticipates Haseeb's debut being an 'I was there' moment!

Some are saying we should not build him up too soon, or put too much pressure on his shoulders, but you cannot ignore the fact he can bat. He has enormous potential, and whether he succeeds or fails is now entirely up to him.

However, in terms of the four-year search for an opener to partner Cook that England have been on since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012, Hameed looks to be far and away the best of the 10 candidates we have seen.

Can Root not be our third spinner? That said, having four seamers in India seems like one too many.

Maybe his ongoing back problem will be a risk.

I wouldn't drop any of the seamers who have done well for a bloke who hasn't bowled a ball in anger for 4 months. If Anderson is to come in, it has to be for a spinner. Or else they could just delay his comeback if its a dustbowl. Though worth pointing out Morkel and Abbott took a lot of wickets for SA last year on turners last year. If there is excessive dust, there will definitely be seam movement off the track and reverse swing will also become a big factor.

hopeforthebest wrote:According to the media this test will be one for the spinners so making India favourites but England's performance in the first test will certainly have shortened the odds. Team changes seem probable as Cook has already made it clear he wants Anderson back playing ASAP. and Mishra might be replaced but by whom?

Hope it backfires spectacularly like Mumbai 2012. The confidence by England batsmen from scoring runs and dominating their spinners even on a flat pitch cannot be underestimated IMO.

Looks like someone changed teams again what happened to your support for BCCI ahead of ECB in this series.

bhaveshgor wrote:Looks like someone changed teams again what happened to your support for BCCI ahead of ECB in this series.

I am not fond of either. But BCCI fans (not talking about the fans on here except one ) are absolutely unbearable. No better sight than seeing them lose and crib.

BTW not talking about you Adi or Red.