Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Fri, 20 Jun '25
1st Test • Leeds, June 20 - 24, 2025, India tour of England
England
India

Wed, 02 Jul '25
2nd Test • Birmingham, July 02 - 06, 2025, India tour of England
England
India

Thu, 10 Jul '25
3rd Test • Lord's, July 10 - 14, 2025, India tour of England
England
India

Wed, 23 Jul '25
4th Test • Manchester, July 23 - 27, 2025, India tour of England
England
India

Thu, 31 Jul '25
5th Test • The Oval, July 31 - August 04, 2025, India tour of England
England
India

Any predictions?

I'll put a tanner on England 3-2 India.

Well, actually I think 4-1 but don't want to be trenchant.

Maybe I mean provocative.

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.

So no Acko still. Or Cook.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Any predictions?

Mark Wood headlines saying "he will be fit for the second half of the series" changing to "fresh injury setback in Wood's recovery, wont play again in 2025"....

The international career of Jofra Archer is even more just a story of injury. He's 30 now. One day he'll retire and I'll wonder what from.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Well, actually I think 4-1.

Although this weather is making me think again.

Its objectively hard to see India winning the series. I don't think India have won in England since 2007, and that was a time where England's post-Fletcher/Moores decline met India's greatest ever batting line up somewhere near its peak, and even then England were scuppered by rain and left 1 wicket hanging at the end of one of the tests to draw the series. Much better India teams after that have come and been battered, and have played less convincing teams. India losing in 2018 for instance was a big loss. India taking a draw 2-2 against the pre-bazzer England batting line up setting record historical lows was another very poor result.

If Indian teams who don't lose for a decade at home have struggled to come play in English conditions, then its hard for me to see a team shedding legends all over the place and having to rely on a few past players they decided werent up for it, mixed with some others that have question marks, after Fortress India was not only stormed up humiliatingly ransacked by a blood thirsty Kiwi mob.... I just can't see anything but a lopsided England victory. Bumrah possibility not being fit to be a factor all series is also going to be a huge loss.

I really hope I am wrong, and India find a new spark under Gill. Would be good to see a close series, but I reckon 3/4 England wins is more probable.

Now Gill is captain he really needs to step up with the bat

Gotta love a Ravi shastri coin toss!

England win the toss and bowl first

I know stats say bowl but a 30 degree day if don't get early wickets it's gonna be a long day

Maybe the pitch has been left green so it doesn't crumble at the back end of the game?

Seems an odd choice otherwise.

India side. Numbers three and 11 are new to me.

Yashasvi Jaiswal
KL Rahul
Sai Sudharsan
Shubman Gill
Rishabh Pant
Karun Nair
Ravindra Jadeja
Shardul Thakur
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Siraj
Prasidh Krishna

I see Nair has six caps over 9 years, and a top Test score of 303*. So a mixed picture.

Nope not green at all....

Sudharasan was next cab off the rank good player very good player useful at number 3....and Krishna is a tall guy good pace again very useful they won't let the side down

Hopefully we'll get a look at Krishna's batting sometime before lunch.

I don't like carse taking the new ball, I didn't like it in the odis and I don't like it in tests either....we have plenty of new ball bowlers and he isn't one of them