Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

Indian scored only 191 runs and after 3 wickets down England only trail by 138. Day 2 can be different, as English batsmen only need to create a good partnership. Yes, England has lost 3 important wickets but they still have a lot of wickets in hand. If they again repeat their performance then the Indians will lose this match too.

If Joe Root was there, then there was a chance. But he is also gone. The England lower and middle order is not in good form right now. Dawid Malan looks good, but Ollie Pope is having a highest score of 34 in 12 innings he played so far this year. And apart from one half century at Lord's, Jonny Bairstow hasn't been troubling the scorers. Moeen Ali picked up some crucial wickets, but the less talked about his batting that better. Now coming to the lower order and tail, they haven't contributed anything significant so far.

[Iranus]

Indian scored only 191 runs and after 3 wickets down England only trail by 138. Day 2 can be different, as English batsmen only need to create a good partnership. Yes, England has lost 3 important wickets but they still have a lot of wickets in hand. If they again repeat their performance then the Indians will lose this match too.

If Joe Root was there, then there was a chance. But he is also gone. The England lower and middle order is not in good form right now. Dawid Malan looks good, but Ollie Pope is having a highest score of 34 in 12 innings he played so far this year. And apart from one half century at Lord's, Jonny Bairstow hasn't been troubling the scorers. Moeen Ali picked up some crucial wickets, but the less talked about his batting that better. Now coming to the lower order and tail, they haven't contributed anything significant so far.

I agree with you. The Indian bowlers have ample opportunity to control the match now. But I am skeptical about how successful they will be. As we have seen in previous Tests, the bowlers in India have completely failed to resist the England team.

[JSRAW]

~snip~

Bowling department need a big raise.

Hahah surprising thing is that bowlers have played their part in the whole series be it with the bat or with the ball.
KL Rahul was really lucky to get a century in the first match or he would definitely had been the first blood spiled and counting the number of chances he has got I am doubtful he would have got another.

Talking about match now, I think tomorrow is going to be very important day, if England manages to score a big score tomorrow could take the match one sided but if even England scores less runs then it will once again be a short yet close encounter.

True

They are carrying the whole team, not just this series. Bowlers bailed out in Australia and doing exactly same here in the Oval. I was skeptical about KL Rahul due to his last pathetic tour. It was the time when our scorecard always looked like 20/2 but he did come along nicely.

First session is very important for the both team, condition would be good for the bowling in first hour and if India gets breakthrough early then there is possibility of another English batting collapse. They have deep batting line up but they are not in great form either expect Malan. Pitch is going to get better to bat on later tho so Indian bowlers shouldn't offer any freebies.

From Indian point of view it would be excellent if they restrict them under 150 if not then at least try not to give away 50+ runs lead to England.

[kro55]

First session is very important for the both team, condition would be good for the bowling in first hour and if India gets breakthrough early then there is possibility of another English batting collapse. They have deep batting line up but they are not in great form either expect Malan. Pitch is going to get better to bat on later tho so Indian bowlers shouldn't offer any freebies.

From Indian point of view it would be excellent if they restrict them under 150 if not then at least try not to give away 50+ runs lead to England.

The first session is very important. If England starts losing wickets early in the first session, they will lose all their wickets very quickly. I have such an idea. Because middle-order batsmen are not in good form. However, if England does not lose any wickets in the first session, they will be able to take a lead of at least 100+ runs. If England takes a lead of more than 100, it will be difficult for India to draw this match.

[BALIK]

First session is very important for the both team, condition would be good for the bowling in first hour and if India gets breakthrough early then there is possibility of another English batting collapse. They have deep batting line up but they are not in great form either expect Malan. Pitch is going to get better to bat on later tho so Indian bowlers shouldn't offer any freebies.

From Indian point of view it would be excellent if they restrict them under 150 if not then at least try not to give away 50+ runs lead to England.

The first session is very important. If England starts losing wickets early in the first session, they will lose all their wickets very quickly. I have such an idea. Because middle-order batsmen are not in good form. However, if England does not lose any wickets in the first session, they will be able to take a lead of at least 100+ runs. If England takes a lead of more than 100, it will be difficult for India to draw this match.

England lost two wickets of Overton and Malan at the beginning of the session. But, with the help of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow, they are now in a stable position. England collected 135, lost 5 wickets. England trail by 56 runs. I think England will be able to collect more than 230 runs.

[7788bitcoin]

~
England lost two wickets of Overton and Malan at the beginning of the session. But, with the help of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow, they are now in a stable position. England collected 135, lost 5 wickets. England trail by 56 runs. I think England will be able to collect more than 230 runs.

Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope tried to build a good parternship but now Jonny Bairstow is gone and Moeen Ali is in the crease along with Ollie Pope, all they need to do is build a solid partnership and extend the lead and get the upper hand in the match. I am surprised to see that Mohammed Shami is not included in the team. I hope he is not injured and they just replaced him to include Umesh Yadav or Shardul Thakur.

[JSRAW]

Uff India had their chances but Ollie pope and Bairstow did all the damage, now every run going to hurt India's cause.

Batsmen need to step up in the second inning and if middle order fails again then its time to clean up all the mess.

[GbitG]

Uff India had their chances but Ollie pope and Bairstow did all the damage, now every run going to hurt India's cause.

Batsmen need to step up in the second inning and if middle order fails again then its time to clean up all the mess.

@JSRAW you are right because 63/5 and now 255/9 is really hurting Indian cause now in second inning they need to give some better result if they want to stay alive Bairstow, Pope and Ali done serious damage but still its balanced because we are in second day and England have to bat in fourth inning.

[LittleBitFunny]

Uff India had their chances but Ollie pope and Bairstow did all the damage, now every run going to hurt India's cause.

Batsmen need to step up in the second inning and if middle order fails again then its time to clean up all the mess.

@JSRAW you are right because 63/5 and now 255/9 is really hurting Indian cause now in second inning they need to give some better result if they want to stay alive Bairstow, Pope and Ali done serious damage but still its balanced because we are in second day and England have to bat in fourth inning.

Today is the day of the whole of England. The start of the day though was in India. India took 2 wickets at the beginning of the session. As a result of a remarkable partnership between Pope and Bairstow, England's collection is now 266/9. If Chris Woakes stays at the crease for a while longer, England will be able to collect 20/30 more runs.

[JSRAW]

Lead is 99 freaking runs..

Once again England in very strong position they needed a sizable lead because batting last will not be cakewalk so this lead is very handy. India need to put at least 350 runs on the board now otherwise their chances are slim.

350 runs -- Wishful thinking-- 

[Haunebu]

Lead is 99 freaking runs..

Once again England in very strong position they needed a sizable lead because batting last will not be cakewalk so this lead is very handy. India need to put at least 350 runs on the board now otherwise their chances are slim.

350 runs -- Wishful thinking-- 

Am seriously disappointed with the Indian bowlers. The tables completely flipped with several English batsmen who were out of form in recent times performing well. Woakes was an excellent replacement since he is performing with both bat and ball.

I don't see the Indian team scoring 300+ runs unless their out of form batsmen step up and perform well just like the English batsmen.

[kro55]

India scored only 191 runs in the first innings. England, on the other hand, scored 290 in their first innings. The Indian bowlers could have done a little better but they failed. If India's top-order batsmen perform poorly today, then India will lose this match as well. However, India scored 43 runs without losing a wicket.

[Mahdirakib]

~snip~
I don't see the Indian team scoring 300+ runs unless their out of form batsmen step up and perform well just like the English batsmen.

India has made a good start of their second innings. 300+ runs is possible if they play in the same way on tomorrow. Although a collapse in their batting lineup may change the game which we have seen in the third test. India has scored 43 runs today and they didn't lose any wicket yet. I'm expecting that India will set a good target without repeating the same scenery like previous match.

[ene1980]

~
Am seriously disappointed with the Indian bowlers. The tables completely flipped with several English batsmen who were out of form in recent times performing well. Woakes was an excellent replacement since he is performing with both bat and ball.

I don't see the Indian team scoring 300+ runs unless their out of form batsmen step up and perform well just like the English batsmen.

England counter attacked and full credits to Ollie Pope who was instrumental in building partenerships along with Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes who was attacking the Indian bowlers and they were able to get to a comfortable lead and 3 days left in the match and India is still trailing by 56 runs and the openers are still in the crease, how long India is able to bat determines the match.

[eaLiTy]

~
3 days left in the match and India is still trailing by 56 runs and the openers are still in the crease, how long India is able to bat determines the match.

The openers are the only hope, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should bat for a much longer period of time, i am not confident of the middle order as they always fail and Virat Kohli is also not in the best of form, if he reaches a half century that would be great and Rahane is struggling throughout the series and i am not expecting much from him either. Pujara showed some signs of recovering his rhythm and lets see how he is going to perform.

From this position i expect England to win the match easily.

[bryant.coleman]

Lead is 99 freaking runs..

Once again England in very strong position they needed a sizable lead because batting last will not be cakewalk so this lead is very handy. India need to put at least 350 runs on the board now otherwise their chances are slim.

350 runs -- Wishful thinking--  

Given the lack of form from the middle and lower order, that is almost impossible. BTW, there has been a lot of controversy over the omission of Ravichandran Ashwin from the team. Michael Vaughan has stated that it is just "madness" to leave out Ashwin from the playing XI. In the social media a lot of the users have been urging Ashwin to retire in protest. We are talking about an individual who is currently no.2 in the ICC test bowler ranking, and having 413 test wickets and 2,685 test runs to his name (including five centuries). 

[teosanru]

~
3 days left in the match and India is still trailing by 56 runs and the openers are still in the crease, how long India is able to bat determines the match.

The openers are the only hope, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should bat for a much longer period of time, i am not confident of the middle order as they always fail and Virat Kohli is also not in the best of form, if he reaches a half century that would be great and Rahane is struggling throughout the series and i am not expecting much from him either. Pujara showed some signs of recovering his rhythm and lets see how he is going to perform.

From this position i expect England to win the match easily.

True that! Unless you see a good 100 run partnership at the top of the order the rest of the batsmen will always feel a lot of pressure leading them to play under pressure which would just make things much more difficult for India. If Rohit and Rahul are able to make at least 100 for the first wicket only then the ritual of just one in-form batsmen per inning could break. Also this innings is going to mean a lot for a lot of batsmen like Rahane, Pujara, and Pant because if they fail to make an impact this time, they might see themselves on the bench in the next match.

[pakhitheboss]

~
3 days left in the match and India is still trailing by 56 runs and the openers are still in the crease, how long India is able to bat determines the match.

The openers are the only hope, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should bat for a much longer period of time, i am not confident of the middle order as they always fail and Virat Kohli is also not in the best of form, if he reaches a half century that would be great and Rahane is struggling throughout the series and i am not expecting much from him either. Pujara showed some signs of recovering his rhythm and lets see how he is going to perform.

From this position i expect England to win the match easily.

True that! Unless you see a good 100 run partnership at the top of the order the rest of the batsmen will always feel a lot of pressure leading them to play under pressure which would just make things much more difficult for India. If Rohit and Rahul are able to make at least 100 for the first wicket only then the ritual of just one in-form batsmen per inning could break. Also this innings is going to mean a lot for a lot of batsmen like Rahane, Pujara, and Pant because if they fail to make an impact this time, they might see themselves on the bench in the next match.

Absolutely how long Indian is able to bat will determine the match. The way the openers are playing shows that they would like to stay on the pitch as long as they can. India only trail by 56 runs and now Day 3 will determine who wins the match. Indian batsmen would try to utilize the whole day 3. Of course most Indian batsmen are not in form so it would be very difficult for them to utilize the whole day.

[Lordshiva]

~
3 days left in the match and India is still trailing by 56 runs and the openers are still in the crease, how long India is able to bat determines the match.

The openers are the only hope, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should bat for a much longer period of time, i am not confident of the middle order as they always fail and Virat Kohli is also not in the best of form, if he reaches a half century that would be great and Rahane is struggling throughout the series and i am not expecting much from him either. Pujara showed some signs of recovering his rhythm and lets see how he is going to perform.

From this position i expect England to win the match easily.

True that! Unless you see a good 100 run partnership at the top of the order the rest of the batsmen will always feel a lot of pressure leading them to play under pressure which would just make things much more difficult for India. If Rohit and Rahul are able to make at least 100 for the first wicket only then the ritual of just one in-form batsmen per inning could break. Also this innings is going to mean a lot for a lot of batsmen like Rahane, Pujara, and Pant because if they fail to make an impact this time, they might see themselves on the bench in the next match.

Absolutely how long Indian is able to bat will determine the match. The way the openers are playing shows that they would like to stay on the pitch as long as they can. India only trail by 56 runs and now Day 3 will determine who wins the match. Indian batsmen would try to utilize the whole day 3. Of course most Indian batsmen are not in form so it would be very difficult for them to utilize the whole day.

Indian batsman needs to bat atleast the whole Day 3 and need atleast 300 Runs on the board, that is the minmum they want so stand any chance in this match. I really hope KL Rahul and Rohit bat bit more longer and one of them need to go big may be  a 100 from Rohit is missing.

[Sithara007]

Indian batsman needs to bat atleast the whole Day 3 and need atleast 300 Runs on the board, that is the minmum they want so stand any chance in this match. I really hope KL Rahul and Rohit bat bit more longer and one of them need to go big may be  a 100 from Rohit is missing.

The problem is not with KL Rahul and Rohit, but with the batsmen to follow after one of them get out. Kohli has been out of form for sometime, and Pujara/Rahane are completely hopeless. I don't even want to mention Pant, because he has proved again and again that his batting style is not suitable for test cricket (especially in SENA conditions). Shardul may add some strength to the lower order, but the absence of Ashwin is going to backfire on the Indian team. A 100 plus opening stand would give a good start to India, but a total of 300 may be too much to ask for.