India in England, summer of 2021

[Kumar]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/covi ... es-1276511

possibility is that Shastri was infected the day before the first day of the fourth Test, on September 1, when he released his book - Stargazing: The Players in My Life - at the team hotel. The Indian travelling contingent had attended the event, and it is understood that a few outsiders were present too.

Hopefully players don’t turn positive.

Shami will play if not injured. If Shami can’t go, PK will play.

[Atithee]

Shastri had to stage his book release session now? I give up with this man’s craziness. Read the following just now:

The Times of India said the Board of Control for Cricket in India was angry because captain Virat Kohli and other players had not sought approval to attend the launch of Shastri's book before the fourth Test.

[Kumar]

Not sure if this was posted here. There are rumors that Shastri will not reapply for the coaching position. For all his faults, i think he has been reasonably good and I have mixed feelings if he decides not to apply. This news is 4 weeks old.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/ ... 43004.html

However, according to the top officials of the BCCI, Shastri is not keen on continuing after the T20 World Cup. Even bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar are expected to part ways with batting coach Vikram Rathour.

[prasen9]

Huh, maybe Shastri got word from Ganguly or read the tealeaves. They sort of do not see each other eye to eye.

[PKBasu]

Shastri had to stage his book release session now? I give up with this man’s craziness. Read the following just now:

The Times of India said the Board of Control for Cricket in India was angry because captain Virat Kohli and other players had not sought approval to attend the launch of Shastri's book before the fourth Test.

What the hell is this idiot Ravi Shastri thinking? A book launch event in the middle of a pandemic is utter idiocy. He has actively got himself infected!

Typically silly title for the book as well

[PKBasu]

Ashwin's chances of playing at Old Trafford are pretty slim, especially after he was left out at the Oval. I suspect India will go in with Bumrah, Shami, Umesh, Shardul and Jadeja. I think Ashwin should come in for either Shardul or Umesh (probably the former), but I don't think it is going to happen.

I presume Rahane will be dropped, and replaced by Suryakumar Yadav -- although the management might (foolishly) pick Vihari.

[Kumar]

Another article that shows how Ashwin has improved since 2015 in SENA

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/how- ... er-1276448

[prasen9]

But, it also shows that the difference between Ashwin and Jadeja is minimal. And, Ashwin by himself is not an out and out matchwinner. If this is the difference, I would go with Jadeja hands down. Better bat. Better fielder. And if Ashwin is going to get wickets at 30, then I'd rather have Siraj or Shami, etc. The four pacer strategy is the right thing to do. Now, to Ashwin's credit, we can say that a bunch of these tests were on flat pitches (but bouncy) in Australia. Hence, his numbers should be better than this in English conditions.

Anyway, the point is that the team management will not play him. So, we'd rather move on and focus on what will happen. I would like Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane to be dropped too and the next gen built up. As we saw in Australia, we have good backup strength and we can win now as well as build for the future with the next gen bats. But, that is not going to happen. So, I will not mention it for the next test.

[Kumar]

Could england play three spinners including part time spin of root?

https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/1 ... ricbuzzcom

Leach's return to the squad suggests England are considering either replacing Moeen Ali, who had a difficult match at the Oval, or playing two spinners at Old Trafford. The weather in the lead-up to the game is forecast to be hot and the Manchester pitch has traditionally been a place where spin can play a part. Kent wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings, called-up as cover for Buttler, has been released from the squa

[prasen9]

There is no way they will play Moeen and Leach together. Yes, some spinners did well in the last few years but the pacers did much better. And, they cannot further weaken their batting. The MO is shaky.

If you look at the English batting, a whole bunch are between 30 and 35 and only Root is above 35. Hameed 35.9 (okay, slightly above 35), Bairstow 33.7, Buttler 33.2, Burns 32.3, Pope 32.16, and a bunch below 30: Malan 28.62, Moeen 28.29, Lawrence 27.23. That is a weak batting lineup. I think they should continue with Pope though. But, I think they will keep Malan instead. Buttler will return.

[Kumar]

Looks like Shami will be fit. So Siraj will be replaced by Shami.

Still no word on Rohit and Pujara. Ankles are always a difficult injury to predict.

[PKBasu]

Another member of the support staff has tested positive, so the final test may not be played.

What's this about checking career averages rather than recent performance to judge Ashwin. By that criterion, Ishant should always be excluded. Ashwin was the top wicket-taker in the WTC final, and he wasn't expensive either. So the management has to justify how and why they can leave him out for each of the subsequent tests. India has a remarkable ability to do this to some of its best performers. I remember Irfan was dropped (almost for good) from the test squad after he was MoM in a famous victory against Australia at WACA. And Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played a test since winning us the Johannesburg test against South Africa over 3 and a half years ago. The same thing is being attempted against Ashwin here: ensuring that he will never play another test in England, Australia or NZ for no good reason.

[suresh]

The book release function was a really a reckless idea.

[prasen9]

Sheer stupidity.

[Kumar]

ECb wants india to give walk over and I agree ! This was sheer recklessness from indian team.

So the test match may still happen.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spo ... 068870.cms



India may end up not playing Rohit, Pujara, Shami, Jadeja who all worked with the above mentioned physio.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng- ... 19-1276999

The concerning issue for the Indian team is that Parmar has been testing several players suffering various niggles including Rohit Sharma (knee), Cheteshwar Pujara (ankle) and Ravindra Jadeja (knee), as well as the pair of Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma w

In this article, ECB js giving an even mire reasonable option of playing it next year, which BCCi is not fond of.
https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricke ... 2021-09-09