India are missing half a team. If they had Kohli, Rahul, Pant, Jadeja and Shami available, things could get messy. Pant himself wins Test matches from moments that favour the opposition.
Root just cannot play Baz ball and Baz ball it seems can't accommodate Root. I have no idea why, but a calm Root innings in amongst the madness might have got us over the line today.
People are forgetting that root had been exceptional at times under baz ball. He's having a lean run and maybe his innovative approach is exacerbating that but when he was on form it made him look even better. Remember him reverse ramping the first ball of the day for six in the summer?
People are forgetting that root had been exceptional at times under baz ball. He's having a lean run and maybe his innovative approach is exacerbating that but when he was on form it made him look even better. Remember him reverse ramping the first ball of the day for six in the summer?
I think you're suffering from the Mandela effect. He did reverse ramp the first ball on day 4 at Edgbaston. But missed it.
It was a close match with a couple of top performances by Indian players being the difference. Same as the first innings but the other way round. I think England are well in this and with the inexperience of our bowling attack, it should be commended.
People are forgetting that root had been exceptional at times under baz ball. He's having a lean run and maybe his innovative approach is exacerbating that but when he was on form it made him look even better. Remember him reverse ramping the first ball of the day for six in the summer?
Yeah I do. And he looked so uncomfortable when he hit it.
The point is someone like Zak Crawley was Averaging 28.4 before the last Ashes series and it was only a daddy hundred or two which pushed it up to 28 odd. His little mate Ben Duckett who used to believe the drinks are on Jimmy Anderson has become a really good opening partnership with Zak and Duckett's test average is not too shabby at 41.7.
Baz and Ben have total belief in Zak and he looked better and in both innings against India in the last test he's making so many better decisions despite being encouraged from day one to embrace the Jeopardy. Up to 34 average and at 26 years old still has a higher ceiling to reach. Turn the 70's into 100's.
Root has scored 11,654 test runs at 49.64 and Joe really didn't need any radical change to his game. No problem with the odd reverse sweep against spinners but nothing drastic was needed.
People are forgetting that root had been exceptional at times under baz ball. He's having a lean run and maybe his innovative approach is exacerbating that but when he was on form it made him look even better. Remember him reverse ramping the first ball of the day for six in the summer?
I think you're suffering from the Mandela effect. He did reverse ramp the first ball on day 4 at Edgbaston. But missed it.
Joe Root is just completely out of knick. He is good enough to play however he wants when he's firing. We take him for granted as he's been immense for so many years. Don't think his injured finger helped in that 4th innings.
I do not believe that, in Indian conditions, our current squad is capable, due to our lack of experience in the spin department, even with Leach coming back, of beating a side of Sharma, Jaiswal, Gill, Kohli, Rahul, Pant, Axar, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami & Bumrah. The ultimate result will be determined by how many of those in bold end up playing a meaningful part in the series with the good news being that the chances are that at least one of those will probably play no part at all with a doubt about a couple of the others too.
Fantastic game in the semi-final between India and SA. Chasing 245, India were 32-4 at one point but ended up winning by 2 wickets with 7 balls to spare. SA have only themselves to blame though - they had a ridiculous 182 dot balls in their innings and gave away 25 wides and no balls with the ball.
Remember the name, Kwena Maphaka. He's already played for South Africa A and a member of the Paarl Royals squad, he has demolished many an U19 opposition in this WC to be the leading bowler with a record of 21 wickets at 9.71 apiece. And he's still only 17.
Some nice statistical analysis from Andy Zaltsman. Really interesting that England's spinners have a better average and have taken more wickets than India's so far.
Australia win by 1 wicket with 5 balls to spare thanks to an inside edge that went down to the fine leg boundary. Pakistan had bowled their overs too slowly and were penalised by being forced to bring another fielder into the ring. No guesses as to which fielder Pakistan opted to move!
Apart from his health issues, has a spinner ever had such an injury plagued career?
I believe that his health issues have probably contributed far more to Leach's career, overall, than his injuries. He has talked about how draining having Crohn's disease is and how it affects his immune system which adds to his frustration at not being able to even train as the other player's do:
"Not being able to do what other teammates can do from a training perspective, over time I've learnt how to manage it and save myself for the times out in the middle. Obviously there are worries of will it have an impact on the amount you're available.
"I've had times where I've lost my place in the team and someone comes in and takes that place and you don't know whether you're going to get it back. Those things that you feel like you can't control are frustrating."
This is reflected in the number of games Leach has played in his career - 33 in June and has only 194 matches in total in all forms of the game. Someone like Simon Harmer, for example, is 20 months older but has almost 300 more matches to his name. Equally, Graeme Swann retired from the game when just 18 months older than Leach and played almost 600 more games.
That looks a more balanced team to me. With Bumrah being so lethal in the last game, I can see this series being more balanced between seam and spin than the last one in India, where they prepared ridiculous pitches.
Four changes for India: - Sarfaraz Khan (debutant) in for Shreyas Iyer, - Ravindra Jadeja in for Axar Patel, - Dhruv Jurel (debutant) in for Srikar Bharat and - Mohammed Siraj in for Mukesh Kumar.
One change for England: - Mark Wood in for Shoaib Bashir.
Comments
I have no idea why, but a calm Root innings in amongst the madness might have got us over the line today.
Baz and Ben have total belief in Zak and he looked better and in both innings against India in the last test he's making so many better decisions despite being encouraged from day one to embrace the Jeopardy. Up to 34 average and at 26 years old still has a higher ceiling to reach. Turn the 70's into 100's.
Root has scored 11,654 test runs at 49.64 and Joe really didn't need any radical change to his game. No problem with the odd reverse sweep against spinners but nothing drastic was needed.
Remember the name, Kwena Maphaka. He's already played for South Africa A and a member of the Paarl Royals squad, he has demolished many an U19 opposition in this WC to be the leading bowler with a record of 21 wickets at 9.71 apiece. And he's still only 17.
Some nice statistical analysis from Andy Zaltsman. Really interesting that England's spinners have a better average and have taken more wickets than India's so far.
Australia will meet India in the Final on Sunday
Kohli out of the series. Jadeja and KL Rahul back in the squad.
"Not being able to do what other teammates can do from a training perspective, over time I've learnt how to manage it and save myself for the times out in the middle. Obviously there are worries of will it have an impact on the amount you're available.
"I've had times where I've lost my place in the team and someone comes in and takes that place and you don't know whether you're going to get it back. Those things that you feel like you can't control are frustrating."
This is reflected in the number of games Leach has played in his career - 33 in June and has only 194 matches in total in all forms of the game. Someone like Simon Harmer, for example, is 20 months older but has almost 300 more matches to his name. Equally, Graeme Swann retired from the game when just 18 months older than Leach and played almost 600 more games.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/68272666
- Sarfaraz Khan (debutant) in for Shreyas Iyer,
- Ravindra Jadeja in for Axar Patel,
- Dhruv Jurel (debutant) in for Srikar Bharat and
- Mohammed Siraj in for Mukesh Kumar.
One change for England:
- Mark Wood in for Shoaib Bashir.