England Versus India - 1st Test (9 Nov - 13 Nov)

[Dr Cricket]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016 ... ld-have-a/
lol boycott never seen Rahane or Vijay bat then.

[Gingerfinch]

I thought all teams 'target' the captain? Winding up Kohli could have a negative effect on the rest of the side.

[Dr Cricket]

I thought all teams 'target' the captain? Winding up Kohli could have a negative effect on the rest of the side.

that wasn't the part that was wrong, the one where only Kohli can bat in the side.
the guy not even in the top 3 batsman in the side lol.
ok maybe he is 3rd, but you get the drift.

Very odd from Boycott to forget Rahane considering he rated him when he first saw him in 2011.
Rahane, Vijay are both very good batsman.

Think Telegraph is paywall now, but here the quote.

At the moment India are not blessed with great spinners and have only one exceptional batsman in Kohli.

kohli not even the best batsman in the side.
Rahane averages 50 and scored runs everywhere and best batsman in the side, Vijay very consistent opener and the best player of spin in the side.

not sure india batting is an one man team and he not even close to being exceptional batsman.
Rahane, Vijay are way better test batsman.

[Gingerfinch]

Yeah Rahane always seems to score a few, and his record is better than Kohli's.

[Dr Cricket]

Yeah Rahane always seems to score a few, and his record is better than Kohli's.

Yeah think Rahane the danger man for england, Kohli won't actually be that hard to get out or stop scoring, Vijay, Rahane will be tricky.

Also the funny part is that if you remove kohli last innings, he would probably be struggling and in very poor form, not got the statistics but suspect he averages low 20 lately and only the 2 big double hundred beef his numbers to around 50-60.

Really suspect kohli will struggle if england get the ball to reverse and Anderson, Broad bowling to him and he not that great with spin either, he doesn't actually look that comfortable when the ball spinning a bit and tends to give his wicket away in trying to score boundaries and attack the bowlers.

[Dr Cricket]

Should also be noted Rahane the only batsman in india that actually averages 50 at home, so when you consider the pitches he played and he mostly looked solid and by far the best batsman in the side.
Think england will have the most issue keeping him quiet and dismiss him especially if the spinners have to bowl most of the overs.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Boycott's pretty hopeless as an expert. He always bangs on about knowing Indian cricket too. I thought he was quite popular there.

[Dr Cricket]

Boycott's pretty hopeless as an expert. He always bangs on about knowing Indian cricket too. I thought he was quite popular there.

he commentated in india during the 90s and early naughties hasn't really watched or been to India now unless England tour.

Can imagine him being so funny during the tour, be jokes if the english batsman say to him, Mr Boycott why don't you bat in these conditions with your rhubarb stick.
Can imagine batting in India now is 100 times tougher to what boycott saw/commentated on or played in, he only faced better spinners but on docile pitches where teams will struggle to get a result.
Can imagine him going on about how poor england batting is on very flat decks and how poor england bowling on a deck that is a minefield lol.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Surprisingly, Boycott only played five Tests in India, and very much at the end of his career (the Jubilee Test and one tour). Averaged 47 and scored a ton in Delhi at the age of 42. So he didn't tour against the famous four Indian spinners of the seventies, but mainly batted against Doshi and Shastri. India won the first Test in 81-2 and then there were five extremely dull draws.

From memory, Boycott walked out of the hotel on the eve of one of the Tests in this series, to join a SA rebel tour (having been recruiting from his team mates while in India) and never played for England again. Fittingly going out after a very slow scoring draw. It's likely that Boycs would hve done well there, had he played more, as he was a superb bat. Terribly pundit though, and getting worse every year.

[Dr Cricket]

Surprisingly, Boycott only played five Tests in India, and very much at the end of his career (the Jubilee Test and one tour). Averaged 47 and scored a ton in Delhi at the age of 42. So he didn't tour against the famous four Indian spinners of the seventies, but mainly batted against Doshi and Shastri. India won the first Test in 81-2 and then there were five extremely dull draws.

From memory, Boycott walked out of the hotel on the eve of one of the Tests in this series, to join a SA rebel tour (having been recruiting from his team mates while in India) and never played for England again. Fittingly going out after a very slow scoring draw. It's likely that Boycs would hve done well there, had he played more, as he was a superb bat. Terribly pundit though, and getting worse every year.

So he hasn't actually batted in india where the ball spinning and batting difficult then.
bit awkward when he says batting was so much tougher in his time.
Don't actually mind him as a pundit he quite funny because he so critical of the English team but at the same time hates giving credit to the opposition.

[Arthur Crabtree]

He did bat against Bedi/etc in England (it was against them he got dropped after scoring a double ton too slowly). And at their peak.

Boycott missed them in India in 1976. He missed Lillee and Thomson in 75 and the West Indies in 1976. His choice, and it was his decision to make. But his team mates could have done with him in the side. Given his career, he hasn't got much credibility when criticising the loyalty of present day players.

[Arthur Crabtree]

So he hasn't actually batted in india where the ball spinning and batting difficult then.
bit awkward when he says batting was so much tougher in his time.

He played three Tests in Pakistan and scored heavily against Abdul Qadir, which gives him some credibility.

[Dr Cricket]

So he hasn't actually batted in india where the ball spinning and batting difficult then.
bit awkward when he says batting was so much tougher in his time.

He played three Tests in Pakistan and scored heavily against Abdul Qadir, which gives him some credibility.

true but not sure it is enough credibility to attack the batsman if they fail in india considering he hardly faced the same conditions in his career and should be noted Pakistan decks are also quite flat and dead.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Just looking the series up. Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar batted ten hours for 114 in the first Test! Pretty sure he made the slowest Test ton.

England struggled against Qadir generally. I doubt the pitches were as spin friendly as we're expecting in this series. But it was pretty tough.

[Making_Splinters]

Back in the days of Boycott there weren't exactly a lot of tours to the Subcontinent, and resultantly, there are very few players who've a substantial record over there and those who toured a couple of times had to deal with surfaces that were as tough as today's pitches when the quartet of spinners were playing. I imagine the mighty KB has a good record over there, but can't think of many more who might do.