Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

The first match was competitive, the scorecard suggests that (28 runs winning margin).

But 2nd and 3rd matches were competitive in patches only and the winning margins were 106 and freaking 435 runs (their biggest defeat in 100 years). It was a similar story for the 4th test match, Poms had their moment but failed to strengthen their positions when the Indians were down.

Overall competitive series and at times they raised the bar by putting tremendous pressure but now we have enough data that BAZBALL can't sustain for long against top teams like Australia and India, especially in the 5-test match series. IMO BGT 2017 was better.

I agree with the assessment. First match was tightly fought and won by England. India won the second and third by big margins and I felt that the matches were lop-sided. Fourth match was tight and England could have won. But then some stupid captaincy tactics and blistering batting from Dhruv Jurel made things really bad for England. Now the 5th match is just a formality. A win can help England in the WTC points table. But by now it is proven that only Australia can be competitive in Indian pitches. No other team can challenge India at home.

[libert19]

Nothing concrete but I'm hearing on Twitter with sources as 'reports' that Patidar will play 5th test, if he's indeed going to play that makes Padikkal's inclusion in playing XI questionable and I don't think there is anyone else who would sit out.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Did you even watch the recent India-England tests? None of them were one-sided so far thanks to twists and turns on a regular basis which entertained a lot of viewers across the world.

For example, everyone thought India would win the first test, but England literally pulled off a heist. Am not expecting the final test to be one-sided for these reasons.

The first match was competitive, the scorecard suggests that (28 runs winning margin).

But 2nd and 3rd matches were competitive in patches only and the winning margins were 106 and freaking 435 runs (their biggest defeat in 100 years). It was a similar story for the 4th test match, Poms had their moment but failed to strengthen their positions when the Indians were down.

Overall competitive series and at times they raised the bar by putting tremendous pressure but now we have enough data that BAZBALL can't sustain for long against top teams like Australia and India, especially in the 5-test match series. IMO BGT 2017 was better.

This series is more entertaining that's for sure but the results are much expected that India will win because they have been dominating every bilateral series for the last 10 years.

ENG gave fights but they didn't play sensibly enough to win matches or else they could made the results into more favor of them but making test format entertaining seems to be the primary goal of ENG that is superb for the future of test format cause its already dying and very few nations are concentrating to keep it alive.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Source: Espncricinfo

The England team is going to face India today in the fifth and final Test match of the series. England started the series with a fantastic win in the first match. But even then England lost three matches in a row and lost the series as well. England lost every match due to poor batting. The batsmen are not able to do well against the Indian bowlers on this Indian pitch.

In the last match we saw that the England players batted well in the first innings. They collected 353 runs. But in the second innings England team lost all the wickets to collect only 145 runs. and gave a target of only 192 runs. It is impossible to win against India by giving such a small target. Naturally, India won very easily.

India team played against Australia on this pitch of Dharmashala in 2017. And India won the match by 8 wickets. It is difficult to bat well in the second innings on this pitch. If the batsmen of England bat badly in this match as in the previous matches, then the team will lose the series 4-1. The batsmen must play well if England are to win.

[Patrol69]

Source: Espncricinfo

The England team is going to face India today in the fifth and final Test match of the series. England started the series with a fantastic win in the first match. But even then England lost three matches in a row and lost the series as well. England lost every match due to poor batting. The batsmen are not able to do well against the Indian bowlers on this Indian pitch.

In the last match we saw that the England players batted well in the first innings. They collected 353 runs. But in the second innings England team lost all the wickets to collect only 145 runs. and gave a target of only 192 runs. It is impossible to win against India by giving such a small target. Naturally, India won very easily.

India team played against Australia on this pitch of Dharmashala in 2017. And India won the match by 8 wickets. It is difficult to bat well in the second innings on this pitch. If the batsmen of England bat badly in this match as in the previous matches, then the team will lose the series 4-1. The batsmen must play well if England are to win.

The host India will take on England today in the fifth and final Test match of the series. Team India has already lost three out of four matches and won three consecutive matches to seal the series. The win-loss of the fifth Test match will not affect the series win as India has already won the series. Having won three matches in a row, Team India is much ahead of England in terms of confidence. Team India will look to perform in the fifth and final T20 match as they have done in the last three matches. If the performance is normal then the result of the fifth Test match is more likely to go in favor of India.

[libert19]

England wins the toss and gonna bat first. From India's side there are two changes; first being, Patidar goes out and Padikkal is in (Patidar got injured last evening, lol), and Bumrah is back in place of Akash Deep. From England's side change were already announced beforehand, Wood is in at place of Ollie Robinson.

Some notable moments this match: 1) Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow playing their 100th test match 2) with Padikkal's debut, now there have been 5 debutants in this series 3) James Anderson needs 2 more wickets to complete his 700 wickets milestone.

[AirtelBuzz]

The host India will take on England today in the fifth and final Test match of the series. Team India has already lost three out of four matches and won three consecutive matches to seal the series. The win-loss of the fifth Test match will not affect the series win as India has already won the series. Having won three matches in a row, Team India is much ahead of England in terms of confidence. Team India will look to perform in the fifth and final T20 match as they have done in the last three matches. If the performance is normal then the result of the fifth Test match is more likely to go in favor of India.

Yes today is the final match between host India and England in their Test series. When the Test series between England and India started England showed their strength by defeating India in the first Test match. But after that, the Indian team showed how strong they are by winning three consecutive Test matches and taking the series. Today's test match is just a formality for India as whichever team wins today's test match will have no bearing on the series win.

[JSRAW]

Notorious Indian management manufactures another injury, just to drop Patidar lol. Could be a genuine injury but the management's record is not great in this regard, hence the doubt.

Atm this deck looks like a fine road to me. Can we expect big score in the first inning, very much possible IMO.

[onecall123]

England wins the toss and gonna bat first. From India's side there are two changes; first being, Patidar goes out and Padikkal is in (Patidar got injured last evening, lol), and Bumrah is back in place of Akash Deep. From England's side change were already announced beforehand, Wood is in at place of Ollie Robinson.

Devdutt Padikkal is making his debut today, Akash Deep is making room for Jasprit Bumrah.Akash Deep showed his excellence, and players like him should be acknowledged early in their careers. It's really disappointing that they dropped him today; being benched despite performing well can really shake your confidence. I think it would have been fair to include Akash Deep alongside Siraj for today's test match, considering it's just a formality for India.

[JSRAW]

Fascinating first hour of play. England are lucky to go wicketless, the way Bumrah was bowling there were lots of ooh, aah and ouch from the slip, bowlers and batters as well.

The pitch looks too good to bat on despite record swing and seam because of the high altitude. Would be a crime if Poms are not touching 400 in the first inning.

[Bureau]

Fascinating first hour of play. England are lucky to go wicketless, the way Bumrah was bowling there were lots of ooh, aah and ouch from the slip, bowlers and batters as well.

The pitch looks too good to bat on despite record swing and seam because of the high altitude. Would be a crime if Poms are not touching 400 in the first inning.

It was 8 degree early in the morning. Somewhat similar condition for the England team. Both Bhumrah and Shiraj were getting good swing. The openers did a good job to not fall for the swing balls. They have started well and you are right they need to get to 400 runs as the pitch looks good for batting.

[WatChe]

It was 8 degree early in the morning. Somewhat similar condition for the England team. Both Bhumrah and Shiraj were getting good swing. The openers did a good job to not fall for the swing balls. They have started well and you are right they need to get to 400 runs as the pitch looks good for batting.

It's lunch and England are unlucky to lose second wicket of Ollie Pope just before lunch. Zak Crawley is in hurry of scoring runs, 61 of 71 balls. Openers have done a decent job by scoring 64 runs. Both pacers are wicket less and both wickets are picked by Kuldeep Yadav, this tells the story that wicket is supporting spinners. England need to be careful as Ravindra Jadeja is still to come for bowling.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Notorious Indian management manufactures another injury, just to drop Patidar lol. Could be a genuine injury but the management's record is not great in this regard, hence the doubt.

Atm this deck looks like a fine road to me. Can we expect big score in the first inning, very much possible IMO.

England openers were so lucky to get past so many outside edges from Indian pacers in the first one hour period then the spin came into the attack and Pope gifted his wicket before the Lunch. Still England played decent enough and post lunch will be good to score runs which means the first innings score is going to be huge unless they starts gifting wickets like Pope did.

As expected two changes but Rohit mentioned Patidar unfortunately got injured yesterday at the time of toss is kind of hilarious because as well all know he didn't prove with performance in all the 6 innings so they could be bold enough to state that he is not in the good form.

[AirtelBuzz]

It was 8 degree early in the morning. Somewhat similar condition for the England team. Both Bhumrah and Shiraj were getting good swing. The openers did a good job to not fall for the swing balls. They have started well and you are right they need to get to 400 runs as the pitch looks good for batting.

Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bhumra have been swinging the ball well but they are yet to take any England wickets, India's spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav picked up the two wickets that England lost. We have seen the batting failure of the England team in the previous three Test matches so if the pitch in today's Test match is batting friendly it will help England. If England want to win the fifth Test match to save their honour, they must bat very well and give India a tough target.The way England are batting now, they are batting well, they have already lost two wickets within 100 runs, but Jack Crowley is giving them hope.

[Bureau]

I never expected Shubhman Gill to take the catch of Duckett as that was not an ordinary catch. India was able to break the opening partnership because of that catch. The second wicket was another amazing wicket keeping by Jurel. Not to forget both wickets were taken by Kuldeep Yadav. When none of the bowlers work Kuldeep comes up some kind of balls that forces the batter to commit and lose their wickets.

[3kpk3]

Dharmshala Cricket Stadium! Love this stadium. England started well thanks to Crawley and Duckett, but Kuldeep turned the tides as usual. Crawley looks like he might finally convert a good start into something big.

I hope England puts on a proper show and don't just handover the match to the Indians easily despite losing the series.

[noormcs5]

It was 8 degree early in the morning. Somewhat similar condition for the England team. Both Bhumrah and Shiraj were getting good swing. The openers did a good job to not fall for the swing balls. They have started well and you are right they need to get to 400 runs as the pitch looks good for batting.

It's lunch and England are unlucky to lose second wicket of Ollie Pope just before lunch. Zak Crawley is in hurry of scoring runs, 61 of 71 balls. Openers have done a decent job by scoring 64 runs. Both pacers are wicket less and both wickets are picked by Kuldeep Yadav, this tells the story that wicket is supporting spinners. England need to be careful as Ravindra Jadeja is still to come for bowling.

Even if they lose the 2nd wicket before lunch, still i believe that England team have a good start today at Dharamsala. Zak Crawley is playing at 78 and he is the one mainly responsible for making runs today. 78 not out and still we are in the 2nd session of the first day today. Although Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope are out cheaply but still England team have some batting depth. They only need to support Zak Crawley who is looking in a nice touch today.

This series stands at 3-1 in the favor of India and they have already won the series. This can be one factor where we might see India a bit reluctant as they have in the back of their mind that they have won the series already. However, i guess Indian fans would be more pleased to see 4-1 after the end of the series rather than 3-2.

By the way, you can check the consistency for  Zak Crawley in this test series and he already crossed 400 runs in the series. Though this series may not be good for the England team but for him, it is a memorable one. He is achieving his own milestones and the England team will be hoping to also achieve a winning milestone in this test match.

[Cheema02]

England wins the toss and gonna bat first. From India's side there are two changes; first being, Patidar goes out and Padikkal is in (Patidar got injured last evening, lol), and Bumrah is back in place of Akash Deep. From England's side change were already announced beforehand, Wood is in at place of Ollie Robinson.

In the fifth test match England current score is 133 runs in a loss of 3 wickets in the second season of day 1. From England Zak Crawley played an outstanding innings last of 79 runs from just 108 balls, unfortunately missed his well-deserved century by a few runs short. India's bowling performance is good so far in this test match all three wickets were picked by Yadav. Yadav brilliant with the bowl picked up 3 important wickets by giving 41 runs.

[fuguebtc]

England wins the toss and gonna bat first. From India's side there are two changes; first being, Patidar goes out and Padikkal is in (Patidar got injured last evening, lol), and Bumrah is back in place of Akash Deep. From England's side change were already announced beforehand, Wood is in at place of Ollie Robinson.

In the fifth test match England current score is 133 runs in a loss of 3 wickets in the second season of day 1. From England Zak Crawley played an outstanding innings last of 79 runs from just 108 balls, unfortunately missed his well-deserved century by a few runs short. India's bowling performance is good so far in this test match all three wickets were picked by Yadav. Yadav brilliant with the bowl picked up 3 important wickets by giving 41 runs.

I saw the scoreboard of the Australia vs India match before Dharmashala's pitch. And I think this pitch helps the batsmen in the first innings. High scores are possible on this pitch in the first innings. But gradually the pitch started to slow down, helping the bowlers on this pitch on the third and fourth day. And this is why I would say that if England want to win the fifth Test, they must play well in the first innings. If they fail to score high in the first innings, like the fourth Test match, England will lose this match.



England lost three top order batsmen for 137 runs. Zak Crawley batted brilliantly. Crawley got out after collecting 79 runs from 108 balls. But Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope's batting was not good. Duckett scored 27 runs and Pope scored 11 runs. Now England's collection is 168 runs with the loss of 3 wickets. The two batsmen at the crease Joe Root and Bairstwo are batting responsibly. If these two batsmen can stay at the crease, it will not be a difficult task for England to collect 350+.

[Iranus]

England wins the toss and gonna bat first. From India's side there are two changes; first being, Patidar goes out and Padikkal is in (Patidar got injured last evening, lol), and Bumrah is back in place of Akash Deep. From England's side change were already announced beforehand, Wood is in at place of Ollie Robinson.

In the fifth test match England current score is 133 runs in a loss of 3 wickets in the second season of day 1. From England Zak Crawley played an outstanding innings last of 79 runs from just 108 balls, unfortunately missed his well-deserved century by a few runs short. India's bowling performance is good so far in this test match all three wickets were picked by Yadav. Yadav brilliant with the bowl picked up 3 important wickets by giving 41 runs.

I saw the scoreboard of the Australia vs India match before Dharmashala's pitch. And I think this pitch helps the batsmen in the first innings. High scores are possible on this pitch in the first innings. But gradually the pitch started to slow down, helping the bowlers on this pitch on the third and fourth day. And this is why I would say that if England want to win the fifth Test, they must play well in the first innings. If they fail to score high in the first innings, like the fourth Test match, England will lose this match.
~
England lost three top order batsmen for 137 runs. Zak Crawley batted brilliantly. Crawley got out after collecting 79 runs from 108 balls. But Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope's batting was not good. Duckett scored 27 runs and Pope scored 11 runs. Now England's collection is 168 runs with the loss of 3 wickets. The two batsmen at the crease Joe Root and Bairstwo are batting responsibly. If these two batsmen can stay at the crease, it will not be a difficult task for England to collect 350+.

England's batsmen disappointed me again today. I think the England team is going to lose in the fifth match like the previous matches.
Zak Crawley was able to get off to a great start today. Zak Crawley got out after collecting 79 runs. He played very well. But the subsequent batsmen could not maintain this consistency. Especially England's middle order batsmen have batted very badly. England team lost the fourth wicket for 175 runs. And they lost the sixth wicket for 178 runs. Ben Stokes failed to add any runs to the scoreboard today. Root returned to the dressing room with 26 runs and Bairstw 29 runs.

I don't expect much from England in today's match. If England lose all wickets less than 300 then England will definitely be defeated. Indian players are in very good form. Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley's partnership must be prolonged. Otherwise it will not be possible for England to collect big.