India should not be proud.

One of the worst England batting line ups in decades
Lack of pace in the pace bowling lineup
Rashid being a spare part
Couple of the wickets were almost sub continent wickets

Yet they still lost 4-1.

I fancy Anderson to over take Kumble and with a better record.. If Anderson carries on like this he will average 25 or just under by the end of his career.. Amazing talent. He will bowl well in Sri-lanka and the west indies.

India had many opportunities to win games but failed to take them. Their selection policy was woeful from the very first test when both Pujara and Jadeja were not in the eleven.
Winning the series 4-1 flattered England and may encourage them to ignore the gaping failures in the batting lineup.

India fought hard on the last day and looked for a while they may have a slight chance of making the impossible possible and chasing the target but in the end it was a comfortable win for England. 4-1 great result for England overall but of course the batting overall was a huge concern and they will have to find a great replacement for Cook which will be tricky.

I have seen very similar games before. The target is a very big one and we have one partnership that looks threatening and people start thinking that the history will be made. The reality is to win a test match you need to outplay the opposition for a period of 5 days. India were not in this game for 4 days. The rest is all fantasy.

IMO I don’t think this has been a series where India should even use the rationale that they competed and the scoreline could have been the opposite. This is a missed opportunity as many england fans will say this has to be their weakest side.

This bunch of Indian players have gone through their transition phase in 13-14 and they should all be at their prime. I would actually say all the series we have had this year are against a very weak SA and England team and England are only going to get better from here with experience. Can’t see India ever coming close in these conditions.

Anderson has a decent chance of breaking Kumble’s record. But for the happen he will inevitably have to play till next years ashes as a minimum, probably much longer than that. But I think next years Ashes might be his final series. What better way to bow out before the home crowd and probably a series victory?

Jimmy got his 500th wicket last September against the Windies 1 year on another 64 wickets, if he retires after next years Ashes he'll have 3 Sri Lankan tests, 3 Windies tests away, a home 4 day test against Ireland, then a 5 test series against the old enemy, I'm pretty sure he'll get the 600 wickets, and be near Kumble, he's currently 55 behind...

India suffered from having Kumar injured and Umesh ineffective. In this test there were signs that the quicks ran out of steam after 5 games in relatively quick succession.

comment by virudagreat- beating India in india is ..... (U8738)
posted 9 hours, 50 minutes ago
I have seen very similar games before. The target is a very big one and we have one partnership that looks threatening and people start thinking that the history will be made. The reality is to win a test match you need to outplay the opposition for a period of 5 days. India were not in this game for 4 days. The rest is all fantasy.

IMO I don’t think this has been a series where India should even use the rationale that they competed and the scoreline could have been the opposite. This is a missed opportunity as many england fans will say this has to be their weakest side.

This bunch of Indian players have gone through their transition phase in 13-14 and they should all be at their prime. I would actually say all the series we have had this year are against a very weak SA and England team and England are only going to get better from here with experience. Can’t see India ever coming close in these conditions.

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Spot on as always Viru

Afridi, I thought the indian bowlers were exceptional I this series, yet again the batsmen let them down, ( Kohli apart ) ... Can't really see many Away wins in test cricket for many nations in the future...

Kohli has scored almost 600 runs this series. Best bowling attack in years. Pujara did ok. KL Rahul and Pant score fighting 100s on the last day. India still lose the series 4-1. That Coach Shastri is a genius

Listen to Shastri's comments after the win at Trentbridge. He said something like India are the best touring team in test cricket

I have to be honest and say I felt Alastair Cook was lucky to be in the side for the last test. Yes he was retiring and had a fabulous game but all summer and all last winter he was poor. One disadvantage of the Central Contract scheme seems to be that players with one are almost undroppable no matter how badly they're playing.

However, I don't blame Cook alone for our batting problems. The fact is the entire top order consistently failed to perform and even Joe Root's form was down partly I think thanks to the sheer pressure of coming in at 4 when there's less than fifty on the board all too often.

In truth I still believe giving Joe the captaincy was the wrong move. Like Flintoff and Botham before him Root is a brilliant natural talent. Don't add the pressures of tactics, strategy, team selection etc to players of that ilk. Just hand them the bat or the ball and tell them to enjoy themselves.

I realise it's still going to be met with howls of protest and incredulity but I would have given and still would give the captaincy to Jimmy Anderson. He's a very senior member of the side who enjoys the undivided respect of everyone in the England team including the coaches and I think he still has at least two more years of playing in him. I'd bring in Bairstow as the vice captain ready to take over when Jimmy calls it a day. I think Joe Root is a marvellous player and should simply be allowed to play his way, the captaincy has hurt his form but not his ability.

Anderson as skipper would be an OK short term move, but bowlers as captains don't usually work out. It's a big ask for someone to chuck down 20 overs in a day and then have to keep up their mental acuity when in the field. Even when the team is batting the skipper has to keep an eye on things and manage batting order/declaration etc, whereas ordinarily a fast bowler would simply switch off and recharge. I think Jimmy himself often sleeps most of the day when we're batting.

Personally I wouldn't let Bairstow anywhere near the captaincy after his sulk at losing the gloves for one test. A professional doesn't hold his management to ransom like that. Not at all impressive.

I agree though, Root needs replacing as captain. In terms of replacement options, we're thin on the ground. I personally think Burns is as good a candidate as any - captained Surrey to what looks like the championship while leading from the front. His form has thrived under pressure. It's a bit of a Graeme Smith leap of faith, but that's what I'd do. The team as it stands lacks obvious leaders, which is why Root got it in the first place.

Jimmy wouldn't be a bad choice by any means and I'd be okay with him taking it in the short term if Root was to relinquish the captaincy. He's not going to do that after a 4-1 win though.

I'd keep an eye on Buttler's progress over the next year or so. Ed Smith was very keen to get him into the side and having been our most prolific batsman this summer in testing batting conditions, he's cemented a place in the side for the time being.

Smith talks up Buttler's leadership qualities and the fact that he's generally so calm under pressure. He's vice captain across all 3 formats now and has captained both the T20i and ODI sides. It's not the right time for him now but in a year or so he could be a potential candidate. Obviously he could have a terrible series or 2 and calls for him to be dropped so worth giving it some time.

Imagine Bairstow's reaction if Buttler got the captaincy ahead of him...

Then again maybe he'd be happy as long as he gets to keep the gloves. But then imagine if Ben Foakes came into the team in future and Buttler was made skipper - Bairstow left with no captaincy and no keeper's gloves!

comment by luckyPeterpiper (U3827)

posted 7 hours, 54 minutes ago

I have to be honest and say I felt Alastair Cook was lucky to be in the side for the last test. Yes he was retiring and had a fabulous game but all summer and all last winter he was poor. One disadvantage of the Central Contract scheme seems to be that players with one are almost undroppable no matter how badly they're playing.

However, I don't blame Cook alone for our batting problems. The fact is the entire top order consistently failed to perform and even Joe Root's form was down partly I think thanks to the sheer pressure of coming in at 4 when there's less than fifty on the board all too often.

In truth I still believe giving Joe the captaincy was the wrong move. Like Flintoff and Botham before him Root is a brilliant natural talent. Don't add the pressures of tactics, strategy, team selection etc to players of that ilk. Just hand them the bat or the ball and tell them to enjoy themselves.

I realise it's still going to be met with howls of protest and incredulity but I would have given and still would give the captaincy to Jimmy Anderson. He's a very senior member of the side who enjoys the undivided respect of everyone in the England team including the coaches and I think he still has at least two more years of playing in him. I'd bring in Bairstow as the vice captain ready to take over when Jimmy calls it a day. I think Joe Root is a marvellous player and should simply be allowed to play his way, the captaincy has hurt his form but not his ability.
======================================

This is one of the best post I've read on this board

Really? I mean, it's all true, fair enough - but it's just a summary of what most people have been saying for a year now... more in the case of the Root-captaincy stuff, since people were concerned about that before he was even made skipper.

All accurate enough, but hardly revelatory stuff, y'know?

comment by HaaK (U11574)
posted 19 minutes ago
Imagine Bairstow's reaction if Buttler got the captaincy ahead of him...

Then again maybe he'd be happy as long as he gets to keep the gloves. But then imagine if Ben Foakes came into the team in future and Buttler was made skipper - Bairstow left with no captaincy and no keeper's gloves!
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Pray for Jonny.

comment by HaaK (U11574)
posted 11 minutes ago
Really? I mean, it's all true, fair enough - but it's just a summary of what most people have been saying for a year now... more in the case of the Root-captaincy stuff, since people were concerned about that before he was even made skipper.

All accurate enough, but hardly revelatory stuff, y'know?
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Fragile Ego

comment by Edinspur (U1109)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by HaaK (U11574)
posted 11 minutes ago
Really? I mean, it's all true, fair enough - but it's just a summary of what most people have been saying for a year now... more in the case of the Root-captaincy stuff, since people were concerned about that before he was even made skipper.

All accurate enough, but hardly revelatory stuff, y'know?
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Fragile Ego
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Just thought it was a weird post to laud that highly

Another 50 for Rory Burns

58 so far at a healthy strike rate for Mark Stoneman too... Surrey looking good so far to chase down 272 and win the championship today.

I think Burns is nailed on for Sri Lanka, now. Only question is whether there's another top order spot available, whether it be at 2 (instead of Jennings) or at 3 (if they decide against keeping Moeen there).

If there's another spot available, there's no standout candidate to take it at the minute. No-one other than Burns has kept their form up.

Stoneman gone for 59.

Burns certain to replace Cook. Looks like it'll be him and Jennings somehow.

After his 66 today he's up to 1,225 runs for the season, with 2 matches still to come... average is now just north of 72

He'd better not balls it all up when he pulls on the England shirt