Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Haunebu]

Didn't expect England to reach 205 after Stokes got out at 121. Lower order batsmen played well to provide their bowlers a fighting total.

Advantage is with India though in my opinion since they have many in-form batsmen currently(Ashwin and Sundar themselves are great batsmen). I am pretty expecting them to give England a lead of around 50-100 runs in the 1st innings.

[onrise]

Didn't expect England to reach 205 after Stokes got out at 121. Lower order batsmen played well to provide their bowlers a fighting total.

Advantage is with India though in my opinion since they have many in-form batsmen currently(Ashwin and Sundar themselves are great batsmen). I am pretty expecting them to give England a lead of around 50-100 runs in the 1st innings.

Stokes made 55 runs. Pope and Lawrence did contribute with the bat which helped them to reach 205. India got a perfect start to the test match as getting England out early and if they can take a lead of 150+runs then it would not be a difficult chase for India in fourth innings. Was expecting Gil to play a long innings but unfortunately went for a duck.  Rohit if can stay on the pitch for an hour tommorrow then India could have a good first innings lead too.

[bryant.coleman]

Didn't expect England to reach 205 after Stokes got out at 121. Lower order batsmen played well to provide their bowlers a fighting total.

Advantage is with India though in my opinion since they have many in-form batsmen currently(Ashwin and Sundar themselves are great batsmen). I am pretty expecting them to give England a lead of around 50-100 runs in the 1st innings.

The pitch seems to be more conductive to batting this time. The spinners (Ashwin and Axar) didn't got any unusual support from the surface. That is the reason why I think that the performance from England was below par. They could have scored at least 250-300 on this surface, but fell short by some 50 runs. This total is not enough to challenge the Indian batsmen, who are well suited to these conditions.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

Stokes made 55 runs. Pope and Lawrence did contribute with the bat which helped them to reach 205.

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes started the recovery process after England loosing three wickets and they were playing attacking cricket but after the lunch break Bairstow lost his wicket to an incredible delivery from Mohammed Siraj and the Indian bowlers dominated the game.

India got a perfect start to the test match as getting England out early and if they can take a lead of 150+runs then it would not be a difficult chase for India in fourth innings. Was expecting Gil to play a long innings but unfortunately went for a duck.  Rohit if can stay on the pitch for an hour tommorrow then India could have a good first innings lead too.

India needs to be careful in the morning sessions and they need to bat longer and take a substantial lead and push England to bat in the final two days of the match and ask them to chase a total of above 250 runs and that would be a great scene for the expert team of Michael Vaughan and company  .

[Vishnu.Reang]

India needs to be careful in the morning sessions and they need to bat longer and take a substantial lead and push England to bat in the final two days of the match and ask them to chase a total of above 250 runs and that would be a great scene for the expert team of Michael Vaughan and company  .

LOL.. final two days of the match? You are overestimating the England batsmen. India can bat for another one and half days and they need another half a day to bowl out England for the second time. I don't think that the match will extend to the 4th day. I would give them some credit for making a decent total. 205 was at least 75 runs more than what I expected from them in the first innings.

[JSRAW]

India needs to be careful in the morning sessions and they need to bat longer and take a substantial lead and push England to bat in the final two days of the match and ask them to chase a total of above 250 runs and that would be a great scene for the expert team of Michael Vaughan and company  .

LOL.. final two days of the match? You are overestimating the England batsmen. India can bat for another one and half days and they need another half a day to bowl out England for the second time. I don't think that the match will extend to the 4th day. I would give them some credit for making a decent total. 205 was at least 75 runs more than what I expected from them in the first innings.

Too early to say because Indian batting line up is not performing according to their reputation, except Rohit. guess he's averaging 92ish 80 + in India.

I would be very happy if India bat for full 5 sessions or if they want to broke opposition's soul then they should bat for full 7 sessions  , tough task to ask but not impossible, Indians did same with the visitors (SA)on their last tour. Take the heavy lead and forget about the 4th inning.

[vella85]

Another poor performance by England once again, they have lost all confidence in their batting and India is taking full advantage of it. England couldn't put partnerships together long enough to get them a higher score. The middle order at least made some runs to give them some chance but now India can take their time batting and pile on the runs. The morning session will be more vital for England as they need quick wickets to stay in this match.

[ene1980]

Another poor performance by England once again, they have lost all confidence in their batting and India is taking full advantage of it. England couldn't put partnerships together long enough to get them a higher score. The middle order at least made some runs to give them some chance but now India can take their time batting and pile on the runs. The morning session will be more vital for England as they need quick wickets to stay in this match.

Except for the first match England did not show any chance of a fighting spirit and India looked dominating and India is repeating their performance they showcased against Australia in the last series, failing miserably in the first match so that everyone doubts whether they can be competitive in the series and then produce incredible cricket for the rest of the series .

[romero121]

Another poor performance by England once again, they have lost all confidence in their batting and India is taking full advantage of it. England couldn't put partnerships together long enough to get them a higher score. The middle order at least made some runs to give them some chance but now India can take their time batting and pile on the runs. The morning session will be more vital for England as they need quick wickets to stay in this match.

Except for the first match England did not show any chance of a fighting spirit and India looked dominating and India is repeating their performance they showcased against Australia in the last series, failing miserably in the first match so that everyone doubts whether they can be competitive in the series and then produce incredible cricket for the rest of the series .

Past two matches were under the hands of spinners. Axar Patel and Ashwin have once again took four and three wickets. During the previous match England didn't had any option of spin bowlers, and Joe Root took the role. This time England have taken spinners, possibly this match can be same as the previous match. This time I expect it to be over within four days, and the winning isn't assured for India right now.

[Sithara007]

Except for the first match England did not show any chance of a fighting spirit and India looked dominating and India is repeating their performance they showcased against Australia in the last series, failing miserably in the first match so that everyone doubts whether they can be competitive in the series and then produce incredible cricket for the rest of the series .

I guess their defeat in the second match was the turning point. After their win in the first match, the morale within the England team was high. But the crushing defeat that followed in the second match left a lot of despair and doom. Their selection policies were also not up to the mark. They were picking 3-4 pacers in the playing XI, even after knowing that spinners will be bowling the vast majority of the overs.

[pakhitheboss]

Except for the first match England did not show any chance of a fighting spirit and India looked dominating and India is repeating their performance they showcased against Australia in the last series, failing miserably in the first match so that everyone doubts whether they can be competitive in the series and then produce incredible cricket for the rest of the series .

I guess their defeat in the second match was the turning point. After their win in the first match, the morale within the England team was high. But the crushing defeat that followed in the second match left a lot of despair and doom. Their selection policies were also not up to the mark. They were picking 3-4 pacers in the playing XI, even after knowing that spinners will be bowling the vast majority of the overs.

The way England team has been playing this match, it shows they have no idea what they need to do against India. I too agree after their morale is down and players are not so agressive on the field. Indian batsmen are playing well and both pujara and rohit should stick to the wicket.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Except for the first match England did not show any chance of a fighting spirit and India looked dominating and India is repeating their performance they showcased against Australia in the last series, failing miserably in the first match so that everyone doubts whether they can be competitive in the series and then produce incredible cricket for the rest of the series .

I guess their defeat in the second match was the turning point. After their win in the first match, the morale within the England team was high. But the crushing defeat that followed in the second match left a lot of despair and doom. Their selection policies were also not up to the mark. They were picking 3-4 pacers in the playing XI, even after knowing that spinners will be bowling the vast majority of the overs.

The morale of the England players is completely shattered. Moreover, they are not able to adapt to the environment and the pitch of India. We have never seen such a terrible performance of England before. I doubt if they will win the last Test either. Although England lost all their wickets for just 205 runs, I think they are able to win this match. They have the ability to win this match.

[Sithara007]

What is going on? India in some sort of trouble, after a decent start yesterday. They are now struggling at 41/3. Rohit Sharma is still there, but he is also not looking in good form. Rohit has so far made 22 runs from 85 balls. I haven't seen him batting with such a subdued manner for a long long time. Ben Stokes is really bowling well, which is surprising. Because he hardly bowls nowadays and concentrate more on batting.

[7788bitcoin]

The morale of the England players is completely shattered. Moreover, they are not able to adapt to the environment and the pitch of India. We have never seen such a terrible performance of England before. I doubt if they will win the last Test either. Although England lost all their wickets for just 205 runs, I think they are able to win this match. They have the ability to win this match.

England is struggling with the bat but now they have picked two early wickets in the morning and Virat Kohli is gone for a duck and if England could pick the wicket of Rohit Sharma then India will be in the back foot if not Rohit Sharma have the capability of changing the match single handedly.

James Anderson is bowling a dream spell with 8 maidens and the pitch looks different from the last match as it is helping the fast bowlers as well.

[JSRAW]

How bad Indian middle order (Pujra-Kohli-Rahane) performing in this series?

Indian fans should forget about 100+ lead, would consider them lucky if it happens. India's batting line up is deep but i won't rule out another collapse either.

[Vishnu.Reang]

How bad Indian middle order (Pujra-Kohli-Rahane) performing in this series?

Indian fans should forget about 100+ lead, would consider them lucky if it happens. India's batting line up is deep but i won't rule out another collapse either.

Most of the times, it was the lower order batsmen who rescued them. Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar added crucial runs during difficult situations, while the top order batsmen such as Rahane and Pujara didn't lived up to their expectation so far in this series. When was the last time that Pujara scored a century? Rahane has scored 85 runs so far, from 5 innings.

[JSRAW]

How bad Indian middle order (Pujra-Kohli-Rahane) performing in this series?

Indian fans should forget about 100+ lead, would consider them lucky if it happens. India's batting line up is deep but i won't rule out another collapse either.

Most of the times, it was the lower order batsmen who rescued them. Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar added crucial runs during difficult situations, while the top order batsmen such as Rahane and Pujara didn't lived up to their expectation so far in this series. When was the last time that Pujara scored a century? Rahane has scored 85 runs so far, from 5 innings.

I wasn't expecting big things from Rahane as he's only Indian batsman who has a history of struggle in India but Pujara and Kohli continuous failure is bit surprising here i guess you have to give credit to English bowlers.

Don't want to jinx anything but when game started i waged on 50s for both Rohit and Pant, let's see what happens. 

[bryant.coleman]

It is surprising to see Indians struggling against the pace of Anderson and Stokes, while playing very comfortably against the spin of Bess and Leach. Anderson has conceded just 11 runs from his 14 overs and he has picked up 2 wickets. Stokes got the wicket of Kohli. On the other hand, the England spinners conceded 58 runs from their 17 overs, and got just 1 wicket.

[Haunebu]

I wasn't expecting big things from Rahane as he's only Indian batsman who has a history of struggle in India but Pujara and Kohli continuous failure is bit surprising here i guess you have to give credit to English bowlers.

Was surprised to see Kohli getting out for a duck. His form continues to go down the drain these days. Rohit is the only top order batsman performing consistently while Pant, Ashwin and Sundar are the consistent middle and lower order batsmen recently.

It is surprising to see Indians struggling against the pace of Anderson and Stokes, while playing very comfortably against the spin of Bess and Leach. Anderson has conceded just 11 runs from his 14 overs and he has picked up 2 wickets. Stokes got the wicket of Kohli. On the other hand, the England spinners conceded 58 runs from their 17 overs, and got just 1 wicket.

India could end up giving them a lead of 10-20 runs or could even trail by 10-20 runs at this stage. Disappointing performance by several Indian batsmen.

[eaLiTy]

How bad Indian middle order (Pujra-Kohli-Rahane) performing in this series?

The middle order is struggling in this series as well as in the last series against Australia, the tail end players put a good fight in Australia and Rahane did not play that well in the final two matches even though his captaincy was great.

Indian fans should forget about 100+ lead, would consider them lucky if it happens. India's batting line up is deep but i won't rule out another collapse either.

The fast bowlers are picking the wickets for England as James Anderson and Ben Stokes picked couple of wickets each and the fast bowlers are getting good bounce in this wicket which is amazing to see and the match is really tight as India is still trailing by 70 runs and the tail end players need to play well to safe guard the team.