2nd Test: India v England at Visakhapatnam on Nov 17-21,

[Durhamfootman]

it's getting the balance right, isn't it? Reckless abandon... known these days as 'expressing yourself'...... just won't do, yet there has to be some aggression from the batsmen or Kohli will just have 9 fielders around the bat. Duckett has to learn to pick his shots, but to do that he first has to trust his defensive technique (or has to have some technique... I've never seen him bat so I have no idea). England obviously think he can do it, or they wouldn't have selected him. Hameed has shown ability to resist, Duckett needs to do the same...... chance to make a name for himself

[yuppie]

Bhave do you have to quote posts and put one word for 10 posts? Could all be done in one and no one cares who is right or wrong. It seems like you are just talking to yourself. Clutters the thread as this post does too.

I really think England can draw this, Kohli still finding his way as a captain.

Hameed's wicket might have sent a few shivers through the England camp.

Got a shooter, and i think there will be a few more of them tomorrow. Hard to bat against.

[Dr Cricket]

Bhave do you have to quote posts and put one word for 10 posts? Could all be done in one and no one cares who is right or wrong. It seems like you are just talking to yourself. Clutters the thread as this post does too.

I really think England can draw this, Kohli still finding his way as a captain.

Sorry no idea how to multi quote on this site.

[Arthur Crabtree]

A BBC headline on day 2 said England had a mountain to climb. To me it feels like they have to explore distant uncharted galaxies. Climbing a mountain just feels too doable.

[meninblue]

Duckett's place in the side must be helped by how emphatically Ballance was dropped after BD. And that the alternatives would necessitate rearrangement of the batting. If Buttler came in for him, would he slot in at four? Woakes certainly wouldn't. Bairstow and Stokes would have to be moved up.

Bringing Buttler back in feels like another one of those decisions made around the England set up that either must succeed, or risk making those responsible lack credibility (much like bringing back Moores, or recalling Ballance after he had been dropped and then struggled in CC1). Buttler has played one first class match since he was dropped. He was taken out of the the last county game. He's pretty much stopped playing red ball cricket. And yet he may be recalled into this series in unadvantageous circumstances.

I remember in the West Indies commenting that the England squad felt like it was like a stalemate. That there was a certain genius in how many alternatives provided absolutely no options. If Woakes covers for an injured Broad, there's actually no one among the five remaining names that anyone really wants in the team. Possibly Batty could come in for Ansari, but even that would make the spin options appear pretty whitebread .

It has not been easy to replace Strauss, Trott, Bell and KP. Neither been easy replacing Swann and Monty. Decisions were taken because a change was demanded. Results have to be accepted now even if the replacement are lesser skilled ?

[KipperJohn]

Just catching up - looks a good effort by England today in the field and with the bat.

Of course the toss was important, but England will rue dropping Kohli and then Ashwin in the first innings - this game would likely have been a lot tighter. Goes to show how important those key moments in a game are - especially in these conditions.

Still an uphill task to force a draw - fingers crossed.

[Arthur Crabtree]

And Bell. Maybe England could have done with Colly tomorrow.

They way the openers played seemed quite different from how England normally operate in these situations. Lots of leaves (did India think England would chase the target and so tempted them with wide balls, and put the field back?). Eschewing the supposed reassurance of feeling bat on ball. So maybe the squad has been doing some work on adapting to these sorts of situations.

[Durhamfootman]

lets hope so

I'd be tempted to say "about blooming time" if they have.

[Dr Cricket]

Found this stat from Times today
Ashwin averages 29.1 in first innings and 16.6 in the fourth innings in india.

[rich1uk]

And Bell. Maybe England could have done with Colly tomorrow.

They way the openers played seemed quite different from how England normally operate in these situations. Lots of leaves (did India think England would chase the target and so tempted them with wide balls, and put the field back?). Eschewing the supposed reassurance of feeling bat on ball. So maybe the squad has been doing some work on adapting to these sorts of situations.

alot of it comes down to decision making and approach

there was a discussion during commentary last night about india setting quite defensive fields and trying to bore cook and hameed into making a mistake. cook has never been the type of player who will worry about that and the little i have seen of hameed he seems to have the same attitude. not sure i have much confidence in any of the other batsmen to have that same discipline or patience

[KipperJohn]

in 2012 in the second innings of the final Test in Nagpur, Trott made 143 in 403 balls and Bell 116 not out in 405 balls - thus drawing the game and ensuring a series win.

[meninblue]

And Bell. Maybe England could have done with Colly tomorrow.

They way the openers played seemed quite different from how England normally operate in these situations. Lots of leaves (did India think England would chase the target and so tempted them with wide balls, and put the field back?). Eschewing the supposed reassurance of feeling bat on ball. So maybe the squad has been doing some work on adapting to these sorts of situations.

And Cook's sacking was also demanded by many !

I watched Compton on last tour here. He had a good reach and good knee bent while trying to smother spin by reaching pitch of the ball.

However, Haseeb is more impressive imo than Compton at least in Asia. He has the patience and is not tempted easily in playing due to his patience. Yes, he will also lose patience but he has it lot better than other strokeplayers in this team who will get irritated and lose patience after few dot balls or overs.

[Dr Cricket]

Broad got no issues with the pitch which is nice to hear and actually enjoyed bowling on it.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-eng ... 67494.html

[sussexpob]

End of the day, Hameed might have a brilliant defensive technique and a will to bat till the end of time, but he has also over this last two tests missed out on a lot of poor balls because he is so in the mood to not give anything away. If he continues to play like that then he wont make it in cricket, you have to take the easy runs when they are there. I think it was a Yadav ball in the first innings that was a rank half volley, and he patted it back to the bowler.

He is clearly hard to remove, but being that defensive, is he encouraging bowlers to simply bowl at him.

[rich1uk]

End of the day, Hameed might have a brilliant defensive technique and a will to bat till the end of time, but he has also over this last two tests missed out on a lot of poor balls because he is so in the mood to not give anything away. If he continues to play like that then he wont make it in cricket, you have to take the easy runs when they are there. I think it was a Yadav ball in the first innings that was a rank half volley, and he patted it back to the bowler.

He is clearly hard to remove, but being that defensive, is he encouraging bowlers to simply bowl at him.

i would agree with that but i'd prefer to see a young player coming into test cricket putting that much value on his wicket and then looking for ways to add to his game over time than be too aggressive at first and then have to try and learn how to occupy the crease

he kinda reminds me a little of kraigg brathwaite when he first came into the WI team, his sole focus was to avoid getting out and any runs he may score along the way were purely incidental