Cant believe Indians perfomring superbly in cricket these days. Historic Test win over World champion Aus 2-0 and now insulting England in ODIs (already 2-0)......

So what do u think? Are Indians finally replacing Aussies in world Cricket? I would love to see this happening...

No. England have rarely been a good side in One day matches despite there last win against South Africa. History suggest that. Don't forget the 3 crutial LBW decision India got in their favor today.   Test match between England and India will be a better suggestion that who is where. I think England are very strong test team and even India in their home ground will find it hard to beat them.

Second thing, the whole selection of English team selection is nothing more than a farce. What are players like Bell and Prior doing starting the innings or even being selected in one day matches. Where are players like GRAHAM NAPIER and Dimitri Mascarenas. I know most of you havenot even heard or seen Graham Napier. I have seen him. He is dashing and one of the cleanest striker of cricket ball.  If Napier and mascharanas were there even total of 100 runs in last 10 overs wouldnot have been impossible to chase.  Why Ravi Bopara is batting at number 8. Just recently Bopara hit double century in a one day match . And here he comes in international match and bats at number 8. inexplicable.  England need to get their team right.

And India-Australia series was much closer than 2-0 suggest. The last test match could well have been draw had Australia played for a draw. They went for a win to score about 370 runs in last day and lost the match.

And don't forget India just lost to Sri Lanka Badly. Tendulkar and Gaguly cannot even make total 100 runs in whole series.

 India is aging team. When it come to test match. As soon as Tenulkar, Dravid, laxman leaves there will be a big hole. Bowing isnt very special outside India. Harbhajan is less effective in foreign soil. I just can't see India beating South Africa in test matches.


Last thing, it is just 2 matches and  series is far from over. KP and his boys surely have something in store.

I hate Indians and Indian Cricket. In Cricket, I support all the team except these f*****g indians.

it's too early to say that. winning just a few games/series at home,a cricket team can't be judged.india need to win overseas series{both TESTS and ODIs}for at least 2-3  years to replace australia from no. 1 ranking

No Quiero i dont think ur watching the games,and u dont have any idea what ur talking about  .In this team mostly eveyone is under 25   tendulkar isnt playing  ganguly retired.

NQ, I think yr analysis is fine but I think its different facing international team and handling pressure in foreign land, that too chasing big total. That might case of Ravi Bopra n others. Have u seen ODI records? He has played 30 matches (Batted in 26 of them) and scored just 3 half centuries..

Anyway I wish good luck to England coz then only we can see tough match. If England plays like this (first two matches) Im sure it will be clean sweep..

---------
Yep as Uniscom said its too early to judge after few home matches but I was just too happy to see them in a winning track.. I hope its a good beginning........

Well,  30 matches are too early to judge bopara.

In 26 Innings total of 20 innings he have played in the position 7 and 8. Hardly a position to hit half centuries. 2 of those three half centuries as come in number 7 and 8. He is a real talent unfortunately england are just wasting it.

I have seen him play domestic one day matches for the Essex against real international blowers. So I have a very high regard for him. Just few months earlier he hit a one day double hundred against Leicestershire scroing 201*.

He simply is wasted in number 8. I am sure he will probably come at number 3 or even open the innings from now on.

India is indeed winning matches on regular basis. Pace bowlers ticked against Aussie and part time spinners are doing a great job now. Gambhir looks like a mature batsman. Shewag can win the match if he stays for first 15 overs. They did well in test against No 1 side, and are doing well under MS Dhoni in ODI.
However, its bit early to say they may gain No 1 spot ... South Africa is a better team in ODI and England is still one of the best test side, and lets not forget Australia is still the dominant force in cricket even though they are declining. India have problems away from home although its beeen improving.

In my view, England seem to have some management problem.They can play better if they reorganise the batting order. Pietersen must come at 3, and they need to find better opening pair than Bell and Prior. Bell is good number 4, I dont know if Proir can bat well in any position. Trying Bopara and Shah for opening seems drastic but both can hit the ball hard and play long innings too. Freddy and Colly at 5 & 6 can play sensibly and change the gear when needed. Samit Patel is a good allrounder to have at 7. Even Broad can bat.

You do need a specialist spinner in Indian condition. Get rid of Swann, bring Monty again. I cnat understand whu, Pietersen isnt using Bopara as an bowling option. Why bit surprised why he didnt try a couple of overs when things were not going right at Rajkot?

------------
Graham Napier & Mascheranas are better than few players in the team. As NQ said, they deserve a chance to serve their country.

Lets watch India play overseas for a while and decide if they are any good. They play shite outside India. Lets take the test series in Sri Lanka for example, they were nowhere to be considered good.

i have not seen Napier played. Mascarenas definitely is a force to reckon... isnt it him who teared Y. Singh apart in one of those matches in t20WC?
English selectors definitely needs to rethink their team.

Now, as far as India taking the no.1 spot is concerned, there is a long way to go. its just 1 test series and 2 matches.... we need to see them play outside the sub continent..

I absolutely agree with NQ... once tendulkar, dravid, laxman go out, there will definitely be a BIG hole in the lineup.

Dhoni.... i guess he is talented, but right now, his stars are on the top....

only time will tell when the stars will shoot down .....

This Indian team is on the rise. No question about it. They have climbed up to number 2 in ICC test rankings. Now, are they going to replace the Aussies? Can't reach that conclusion right now. It is too soon to make that call. But make no mistake about it. They are within striking distance and they are a very strong side. Current home matches against England and coming away tours will probably give us a better picture.

For those doubting India's chances abroad, you might be in for a surprise. Just take a look at their recent away record. They have already beaten England (though narrowly ) in England. I think they won the Natwest trophy (ODIS) too. They lost to Aussies 2-1 (though narrowly)in tests but came back and won the ODI triangular. They lost to Sri Lanka (2-1) in tests. But then won the ODIs.

With Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, they have a formidible pace duo. In the back up, there is Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and so on. I think their pace attack is pretty well stocked up (for a change). And yes India's spin attack does not look theatening away from the subcontinent pitches. Nevetheless Habhajan Singh would probably make it in every international test side barring Sri Lanka. Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawala, and Pragyan Ojha are largly untested but have shown enough potential to be good to quality spinners in whatever chances they have received.

I doubt Laxman, Tendulkar and Dravid exit test cricket together. Their exit will creat big holes in indian batting line up no doubt. But If you look at Indian batting reserves, you would be inclined to think that next generation wouldn't fare all that bad crop either. Watchout for the likes of Yuvraj, Rohit, Y.Pathan (ala A.Symonds), M.Vijay and others. Again as long as the three don't exit together, India should be fine.

I would watch out for Sri Lanka amongst others in coming months. I think they have a very good bowling unit (Malinga, Vass, Murali, Mendes, Mahroof). They are a decent batting side as well. So in coming months, I would say Australia (they are still the team to beat), India, Sri Lanka, S.Africa (despite 4-0 against England) are the teams to watchout. England and Pakistan have a fair chance too but I think those are the teams to beat right now.      

As far as England and the current tour is concerned, they need to fix their opening batsmen. Openers with strike rates in mid and low seventies just ain't cut for ODI cricket in India's flat tracks. I believe at least 3 of their bowlers, spin or pace, need to perform well in a match to defeat the Indians.

 

NQ, I saw his profile once again, is he British Indian? Glad to know that English team represent even minority, are there other players too? (except Ravi and the other Punjabi spinner?)

--------
Gyanguru bro, really good analysis yaar, your matured explanation shows how keen cricketer you are :-)  I hope Indians will do better even in away games  :-)

----
Nepali chhoro, agreed :-) Im not fan of Dhoni but seems stars are on his side and he has young and talented players..
------
Live wire dude, wow, ya u r right, Indians are not that bad in away series too....Just they got defeated in Sri Lanka.  But one thing, do u mean its Sri Lanka that can give tougher fight than India to any other team?

Amazing bro...
Current England squad contains few from Asian Minority... Ravi Bopara, Owash Shah, Samit Patel
There are quiet a few we got the break into national team..... Vikram Solanki, ..... i forgot the name pace bowler  ( he is cousin of Amir Khan, the boxer)
Monty Panesar is only in test squad these days..... Masceranas represents Black British community...

An interesting topic, nevertheless.

Looking back at the history of the game, specially since the retirement of the Don, the only two teams that dominated world cricket for more than a decade were West Indies, late 70s to mid 80s and Australia, from 95 to 2004.

I will touch upon West indies later, but Australia, after the simultaneous exit of big 3, Greg Chappel, Rodney marsh and Dennis Lillee went into a phase of rebuilding with a captain AB (Allan Border) and they identified a core group of players that they persisted with, like Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh and so on. But the throne was literally captured in 1995 when Australia defeated WI in there own backyard with Steve Waugh scoring that famous double hubdred. Since then Mark Waugh changed the way test cricket was played, he played for results and Steve Waugh started a trend that would see them score almost 4 runs an over at will.

I still say the Australian team until the retirement of Steve Waugh was the best. Because after he left, the standard of world cricket was so depleted that Australia was barely challenged, apart from the Ashes of 2005. Any team could win against Australia ONLY IF THEY PLAYED EXTRAORDINARY CRICKET, like Sachin in Chennai, 155 n.o. in 2nd innings, VVS in kolkata 281 n.o., and Lara in WI, 151 n.o. and another double hubdred.

The team of Steve Wwaugh was a champion and perhaps better in versatility than the WI team of 70-80s in a way that it had the finest leg spinner who knew only one game..attack, the finest wicket keeper batsma..Gilchrist, perhaps the best batsman from Australia in terms of merit, grace, and elegance after Don in my eyes..Mark Waugh, an immaculate fast bowler Mc Grath, tearway fast bowler Brett Lee, and superb pace bowler on his day..Gillespie..add to that Ponting, Damien Martin, Justin langer...and yes..the UNSUNG HERO...ONE OF THE MOST ATTACKING BATSMAN TEST CRICKET HAS EVER SEEN, A VERY VERY UNDERRATED EXCEPTIONAL BATSMAN...MICHAEL SLATER, who has scripted many famous wins against some of the ferocious attacks in world cricket in those days.Pity, he succumbed to personal problems.

Then you had some of the best catchers. One can't see a better slip catcher than Mark Waugh, followed by Mark Taylor and Warne in order of extraordinary slip catching.

The point is: this team not only won consistently, but they had players who were all time greats, once in a generation players...and they performed against not these so called great bowling attacks of todays cricket..but the finest bowling attacks..Akram/Waqar, Ambrose/Walsh, Donald, all at there peak and yet score so quickly and kept raising bar of test cricket that it was then compared with the Don's Invincibles.

well, though India is winning, or even Ricky's team was winning, unless a team has 90 percent of cricketers who are all time greats, unless a team has a great and versatile bowling attack in terms of both spin and pace, unless a team has attacking batsmen like Mark Waugh, Ponting, Slater, Hayden and Gilchrist all playing in the same team, there can be no becoming Australia.

This Indian team is nevertheless blessed with bowlers like Ishant Sharma who troubles best of batsmen in worst of pitches, Zaheer Khan who is reverse swinging the ball at high pace and Virender Sehwag who if plays for more than 2 hours certainly changes the game. But this team needs Sachin, Dravid, Laxman at full form which is highly unlikely as they are on the verge of retirement and some great catchers who can instill confidence in spinners...then it can be the new Australia. At the m oment  even Australia team doesn't look like getting close to being what it was under Waugh.

 

 

NQ like you said after trios like tendulkar, laxman and dravid there will be a big hole. its really confusing. first they have not retired yet. lets not go there. but if they retire i guess india got too many back up for themselves unlike australians. after langer retired no one has supported hayden. gilchrist will not be replace for long time and ofcourse who can replace mcgrath and bevan. but india really got some talent. kaif is in the back seat rite now but eventually he will be given a chance. there was a question after srinath who will be the spearhead but zaheer took it and ofcourse pathan, patel, sreesanth and not to forget agarkar is lining up. agarkar although conceeds somes runs but his striking ability both will ball and bat we cant just forget it. i am not keeping up with too much cricket rite now but india has some hidden talent. australia have been playing with the regular team for years. ponting, hayden, lee, symonds, even husseys are well up in there 30's. as far as england is concerned after knick and trescothick there has not been a genuine opener who can blast through the first 15 movers. trescothick was a killer. players like grahan thorpe, atherton, nasser hussein's exit has made a great hole and not to metion gough, caddick. where ashley giles anyway. 

Australia bowled out for 214 in their own home ground in the first test. against New Zealand. So lets now jump into conclusion.  India win against Australia might just be an empty pretend because Australia might  not very strong team as everybody thought.

Don't forget India's embarrassing display against quality spinners in Sri Lanka. Nobody barring Shewag was able to read the spinners. True they won the second test but Shewag made 200 runs out of 300 india made in that test. Others including Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly had no clue at all. In the other two test there was no fight at all.  A champion team doesnot buckle down easily.  Remember the series lost by Australia during this 10 years.  Srilanka in 1999, India in 2001 and England in 2005 , all were pretty close and hard fought.

It was nice to see Ravi Bopara opening today. He justified with nicely made 60. He was simply wasted at number 8. He really is a very talented batsman.

Cant say much either Australia was bowled out coz of Kiwis brilliance or their own weakness. I think its more the brilliance of Kiwi rather than Aussie weakness. They still have a decent and similar batting line up, as they had couple of years ago. Their bowling is definately going through a big change.
NZ got a decent pace attack backed up by a quality spinner in Vittori. Southee, is definately the next big thing, He is just playing his third test, but can go a long road. Lets see how will Kiwis deal with the relatively weaker bowling Australian side.

..................................

It was nice to see Bopara opening along side Bell. I still think Bell should be at no. 4 and Owash Shah should open the inning. Nice to see, Flintoff back with some decent spell, and some run from top order batsman.

However India win the match, they employed a bit of negative technique. Dhoni is thinking of winning the match at any cost, the technique Australia have employed previously. I think he is doing his job, he is there to make India win matches, and he is doing it brilliantly.

----------------------
Bangladesh is fighting hard on day 2 to come back after the disastrous day 1. Sakib-al-Hasan seems to be a boon for struggling tigers. He had a good day out there in middle picking  5 wickets. Its now upto the batsman to chase and make is effort countable.
--------------------
Zimbawe had a disastrous collaspe of 7 wicket for 3 runs. Thanks to Murli and Mendis.

 

Look at the Zeros in zimbabwe Score Card. Incredible. I think this must be some kind of record, most consecutive zero's by position.

India clinch series in curtailed game:

India innings (22 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		V Sehwag	c Anderson b Swann	69	57	9	3	121.05
		SR Tendulkar	b Broad	11	21	2	0	52.38
		G Gambhir	c Anderson b Swann	40	37	7	0	108.10
		Yuvraj Singh	not out	25	11	0	3	227.27
		MS Dhoni	b Patel	9	5	0	1	180.00
		YK Pathan	not out	6	1	0	1	600.00
		Extras	(b 1, lb 1, w 4)	6
		Total	(4 wickets; 22 overs)	166	(7.54 runs per over)

Did not bat SK Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, I Sharma, MM Patel

Fall of wickets1-38 (Tendulkar, 7.5 ov), 2-117 (Sehwag, 18.1 ov), 3-142 (Gambhir, 20.2 ov), 4-160 (Dhoni, 21.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JM Anderson	5	0	33	0	6.60	(1w)
	SCJ Broad	6	1	49	1	8.16
	A Flintoff	5	0	20	0	4.00	(2w)
	SR Patel	3	0	24	1	8.00
	GP Swann	2	0	21	2	10.50
	KP Pietersen	1	0	17	0	17.00	(1w)

	England innings (target: 198 runs from 22 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		RS Bopara	c Sharma b Patel	1	7	0	0	14.28
		IR Bell	b Harbhajan Singh	12	15	1	0	80.00
		OA Shah	c Tendulkar b Khan	72	48	9	3	150.00
		KP Pietersen	b Sharma	5	5	1	0	100.00
		A Flintoff	c Khan b Sharma	41	30	3	1	136.66
		PD Collingwood	c Tendulkar b Patel	22	14	3	0	157.14
		SR Patel	c Gambhir b Khan	11	9	1	0	122.22
		GP Swann	run out (Patel)	5	4	1	0	125.00
		MJ Prior	not out	0	0	0	0	-
		SCJ Broad	not out	0	1	0	0	0.00
		Extras	(b 3, lb 2, w 3, nb 1)	9
		Total	(8 wickets; 22 overs)	178	(8.09 runs per over)

Did not bat JM Anderson

Fall of wickets1-1 (Bopara, 1.2 ov), 2-44 (Bell, 7.4 ov), 3-52 (Pietersen, 8.5 ov), 4-134 (Shah, 16.5 ov), 5-141 (Flintoff, 17.4 ov), 6-161 (Patel, 19.6 ov), 7-178 (Swann, 21.4 ov), 8-178 (Collingwood, 21.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Z Khan	5	0	20	2	4.00
	MM Patel	4	1	22	2	5.50	(1w)
	I Sharma	5	0	41	2	8.20	(1nb, 1w)
	YK Pathan	1	0	17	0	17.00
	Harbhajan Singh	4	0	42	1	10.50
	Yuvraj Singh	3	0	31	0	10.33	(1w)

yeah amazing bro! there came the reason for you to be happy.they clinch the series.me too,dislike india for lots of reasons.but for cricket,team india become the my favourite. go india go........still a long way ahead.......