3rd Test: India v England at Mohali on Nov 26-30

[rich1uk]

buttler hasn't been a disaster as a #7, i just think its seen as being so poor as he has so much talent that he just hasn't lived up to

[Dr Cricket]

Awkward moment when people thought this pitch was flat, good toss to win or that in Vizag the pitch was totally flat on Day 1 and the bowlers couldn't do anything about it.

Just turns outs indian bowlers are better and the england bowlers can't take wicket or threaten in similar conditions.

This has been england incompetence

Indeed, the pitch is actually disappointing again. I can't understand why we are not producing pitches that offer assistance to the spinners from the start.

If Eng had batted well Ind would be up against it

However, 3 drops from Ind have really cost us, especially the Bairstow drop which would have left Eng at about 150-6 - now it's 208-5 and nothing much happening.

Not sure I can agree with this these pitches are quite perfect at the moment enough help for the bowlers and Enough pace and carry and consistent bounce/spin so that batsman can score.
The pitches had enough help considering India took 7 wicket.
If England don't bowl well India could get a massive lead here.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Da! Done it again.

[rich1uk]

well didn't expect us to last the day after that suicidal first session so getting to the close is something i suppose

when you are playing against a better team in conditions that favour them you cant make so many unforced errors and expect to win games, disappointing that 4 or 5 of the wickets that fell today were from mistakes we made rather than good bowling

[Arthur Crabtree]

Looks like a great day for India (well done to them for getting their overs in too). And further evidence that Bairstow is a real player at Test level now.

Doesn't feel like a situation where you'll say we'll know if that's a good score when both sides have batted. It just feels like a poor performance by the England batters.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I suppose the reverse swing India got will encourage England (I'm reading the outfield is less lush than previously).

[Arthur Crabtree]

Still, having had the best of the conditions may prove in England's favour, should their bowlers be good enough to exploit them.

Woakes has a 34 Test average after 15 Test, but only two fifties. I suppose he won't get many opportunities to achieve milestones down at 8/9. And he is consistent in making contributions. But useful twenties and thirties is what England got from Ashley Giles. It would feel a bit of a waste if England got no more from Woakes than that.

[rich1uk]

there is no place to move woakes up the order tho

we are already imo picking one bowler too many because we have ali and stokes also batting in the top 6/7. we cant keep saying a player is too good to bat at #8 because someone has to bat in the bottom 4 spots.

[meninblue]

Anything under 300 batting first would be poor. 400 should have been scored to get hopes of some lead or give less lead. Indias day imo

[Arthur Crabtree]

It's one of those good problems to have, I suppose. But the opportunity he has isn't equal to his talent (arguably he could have batted at seven in this game). He can go two ways. Adapt to the lack of responsibility by becoming the position he bats in, like Stuart Broad. Or consistently pressing for advancement due to quality of performances which are eventually granted, like Moeen (sort of), or maybe more like Ashwin.

It might help if Woakes got to play for Warks, and batted in the top order (as I used to think for Broad with Notts) but that won't happen now.

[rich1uk]

It's one of those good problems to have, I suppose. But the opportunity he has isn't equal to his talent (arguably he could have batted at seven in this game). He can go two ways. Adapt to the lack of responsibility by becoming the position he bats in, like Stuart Broad. Or consistently pressing for advancement due to quality of performances which are eventually granted, like Moeen (sort of), or maybe more like Ashwin.

It might help if Woakes got to play for Warks, and batted in the top order (as I used to think for Broad with Notts) but that won't happen now.

if you pick ali, stokes and woakes all in the top 7 are you then going to pick 4 bowlers at 8-11 and have 7 bowlers in the team ?

surely we want decent batsmen coming in down the order and they just need to accept that rather than this attitude that player X is too good to bat at #8 or #9 and end up unbalancing the XI

[Arthur Crabtree]

Anything under 300 batting first would be poor. 400 should have been scored to get hopes of some lead or give less lead. Indias day imo :india

Yes, good day for India. With a proviso that the Indian batting hasn't so far quite looked the intimidating prospect it did in the days of the fab four.

[Arthur Crabtree]

It's one of those good problems to have, I suppose. But the opportunity he has isn't equal to his talent (arguably he could have batted at seven in this game). He can go two ways. Adapt to the lack of responsibility by becoming the position he bats in, like Stuart Broad. Or consistently pressing for advancement due to quality of performances which are eventually granted, like Moeen (sort of), or maybe more like Ashwin.

It might help if Woakes got to play for Warks, and batted in the top order (as I used to think for Broad with Notts) but that won't happen now.

if you pick ali, stokes and woakes all in the top 7 are you then going to pick 4 bowlers at 8-11 and have 7 bowlers in the team ?

Could pick another spinner and view Moeen as a support bowler like SA do with JPD. A keeper plus four bowlers, plus Stokes an all rounder. That still puts Woakes at eight. I suppose the best he's likely to get is if Stokes is injured/rested and he moves up to seven. Or if he bats ahead of a specialist keeper should JB1 play as a bat-only.

[rich1uk]

It's one of those good problems to have, I suppose. But the opportunity he has isn't equal to his talent (arguably he could have batted at seven in this game). He can go two ways. Adapt to the lack of responsibility by becoming the position he bats in, like Stuart Broad. Or consistently pressing for advancement due to quality of performances which are eventually granted, like Moeen (sort of), or maybe more like Ashwin.

It might help if Woakes got to play for Warks, and batted in the top order (as I used to think for Broad with Notts) but that won't happen now.

if you pick ali, stokes and woakes all in the top 7 are you then going to pick 4 bowlers at 8-11 and have 7 bowlers in the team ?

Could pick another spinner and view Moeen as a support bowler like SA do with JPD. A keeper plus four bowlers, plus Stokes an all rounder. That still puts Woakes at eight. I suppose the best he's likely to get is if Stokes is injured/rested and he moves up to seven. Or if he bats ahead of a specialist keeper should JB1 play as a bat-only.

but we dont view moeen as a support bowler, arguably he is still being picked as the first choice spinner

surely its pretty self-defeating to pick him as a specialist batsman and only use him as a backup bowler if he is actually a better option than the extra spinner you bring in, just to avoid having to tell someone that they have to bat at #8

[Durhamfootman]

I'm guessing that that wasn't part of the plan

I've seen headlines about dropping phones down the cracks in the pitch, so is this as poor a performance as the score suggests?