India v England: Fourth Test, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 8-12 December

[knocky1]

Just goes to show the difference in skill sets between India and England......mind you I would like to see India facing Anderson and Broad on the first day at Headingly and see how they cope with swing.

I saw Moheen take 6-67 in the second innings against India at the Rose Bowl a couple of years back and England won by 266 runs. Half the Indian team that day have played this series including Vijay, Kohli and Jadeja andthey were captained by Dohni.
Look forward to them coming over here. Should be a good battle unlike this current series.

 

[whitelion]

Surprised not to see this thread on the front page after England lost by an innings and 36 runs.

I guess the early risers didn't bother to watch the half hour of play it took to lose the last four wickets. Embarrassing.

 

[jakarta]

W*nk indeed...

 

[knocky1]

The England Circus moves on to Chennai with little to play for. Pride has long gone. Great effort by India will they now relax or give any players a rest, I wonder. After that England can forget their overseas spinning nightmare for a couple of years.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Surprised not to see this thread on the front page after England lost by an innings and 36 runs.

I guess the early risers didn't bother to watch the half hour of play it took to lose the last four wickets. Embarrassing.

Embarrassing and predictable.
All you hear is...." wait til we get them back to England ".....pathetic response. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some application. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some decent technique against spin. The quality of Test cricket continues to go down the drain whilst T20 screws the bollocks out of everything.

 

[spring hall convert]

I saw Moheen take 6-67 in the second innings against India at the Rose Bowl a couple of years back and England won by 266 runs. Half the Indian team that day have played this series including Vijay, Kohli and Jadeja andthey were captained by Dohni.
Look forward to them coming over here. Should be a good battle unlike this current series.

I think there's a difference which goes someway to explaining Moeen's lack of effectiveness. When the Indians are over here, they know a seamer's going to bowl one that has their number on it, therefore, they go after the spinner knowing that is probably their best bet and often get themselves out.

When the effectiveness of seam bowling is taken out of the equation, they are free to milk Mooen (and to a lesser extent Rashid.) all day.

However, Graham Swann's don't grow on trees. To be honest I'd probably settle for a Monty Panesar or Phil Tufnell at the moment.

 

[knocky1]

I'm not embarrassed because it was predictable. Looking forward to India coming here in 2018 as they are a great side and have the best captain around.

The best result is Joe Root being Captain of the team by next Summer. Cook will be telling Strauss he has nothing more to offer in the week before Christmas. Cook has had his moments and been a good ambassador but time to concentrate on batting and the family.

 

[vegster]

It's really not fair. India have spinners who can spin the ball and we have spinners who usually can't.

 

[El Presidente]

Stop moaning. We've got great camaraderie in the dressing room, and that's what matters most.

 

[GT49er]

Playing India in Indian conditions has always been a tough task. Now that India are the number 1 test team in the world, it's an even harder task, so losing the series is no great shock. We've actually done quite well at times in this series, but the all too regular batting collapses are a concern, obviously - and the main difference between the teams.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I can't really think that this is embarrassing - it is disappointing, in part because we have been competing much better than expected, have been in three of the four test matches, but couldn't quite hold that tough chance when it came or get a bit of DRS luck at the right time, and because some of the selection decisions have hamstrung us in these last two games

The negatives are in the best players, the failures of Cook and Root to push on from starts to get big scores and the injury to Broad who could have made the difference in he last two games when an extra wicket at the right time could have completely switched the game on its head. Overall there have been many positives, the emergence of Hameed and Jennings, the return of Buttler to the test team and him taking that chance, the continued rise of Stokes, Rashid finally escaping his promise and becoming a good test bowler.

And yet we've lost, but really, we've come up against the clear number one bowler in the world in Ashwin, and one of the best batsman in the world at the height of form in Kohli, and any team would struggle against those two. Class wins out and those two are absolute class. Pujara and Shami have also been excellent, Shami has surprised me with his pace, line, movement, he could be brilliant in British or Australian conditions. India are on top of their game right now, so we have to let hem have this one.

So we weren't expected to win, but have put up a good fight, and thats whats most disappointing I suppose. An extra spinner, the ball thrown to a new lad like Dawson or Leach, a fit Broad, Rashid hangs on to a Kohli chance - could have been different.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think people are over-reacting. The truth is England were never going to win this series because we went in with batsmen that couldn't play spin (Balance, Duckett), spinners that couldn't spin the ball (Ansari, Batty, Ali) and we were playing against a home side who are brilliant at home with Ashwin and Kohli in the form of their lives.

If you look back to the 2012/13 four-test tour that we won you'll see we had Graeme Swann (20 wkts @ 25) and Monty (17 wkts @ 27) bowling beautifully in tandem, a younger Jimmy reverse swinging it and Cook weighing in with a massive 562 runs. THAT is what it takes to win in India.

I think the fifth test should be Cook's last in charge - let him enjoy it, let everyone know Root will be taking over for the next series. That way England will get a more positive, energetic captain while Cook will be able to focus on his own game and forge an opening partnership with whoever of Hameed or Jennings they choose to go with.

 

[maltaseagull]

Embarrassing and predictable.
All you hear is...." wait til we get them back to England ".....pathetic response. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some application. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some decent technique against spin. The quality of Test cricket continues to go down the drain whilst T20 screws the bollocks out of everything.

India has a massive investment in 20-20 but it doesn't seem to hurt their test team.

 

[maltaseagull]

I can't really think that this is embarrassing - it is disappointing, in part because we have been competing much better than expected, have been in three of the four test matches, but couldn't quite hold that tough chance when it came or get a bit of DRS luck at the right time, and because some of the selection decisions have hamstrung us in these last two games

The negatives are in the best players, the failures of Cook and Root to push on from starts to get big scores and the injury to Broad who could have made the difference in he last two games when an extra wicket at the right time could have completely switched the game on its head. Overall there have been many positives, the emergence of Hameed and Jennings, the return of Buttler to the test team and him taking that chance, the continued rise of Stokes, Rashid finally escaping his promise and becoming a good test bowler.

And yet we've lost, but really, we've come up against the clear number one bowler in the world in Ashwin, and one of the best batsman in the world at the height of form in Kohli, and any team would struggle against those two. Class wins out and those two are absolute class. Pujara and Shami have also been excellent, Shami has surprised me with his pace, line, movement, he could be brilliant in British or Australian conditions. India are on top of their game right now, so we have to let hem have this one.

So we weren't expected to win, but have put up a good fight, and thats whats most disappointing I suppose. An extra spinner, the ball thrown to a new lad like Dawson or Leach, a fit Broad, Rashid hangs on to a Kohli chance - could have been different.

I can't find it on the BBC site now but this morning there was a comment from a listener saying we are improving.
2nd test, lost 5 wickets in 70 balls, 3rd test 71 and this test 72!!