*** West Indies vs India *** 2nd Test Live

Tuesday, June 28, Bridgetown
Start time 1000 (1400 GMT, 1930 IST)

Team news as per cricinfo...
MS Dhoni has hinted that India could go in with three quick bowlers, which means Amit Mishra is likely to be sidelined despite a reasonable show in the first Test. Munaf Patel, who is recovering from his elbow problem, is likely to take Mishra's spot. Though Badrinath and Parthiv Patel are waiting in the wings, India will probably stick with the same batting line-up from Jamaica.

India: (probable) 1 Abhinav Mukund, 2 M Vijay, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Munaf Patel

West Indies' problem in the first Test was their batting, something they have tried to address by dropping their misfiring vice-captain Nash. That opens up a place for Samuels in the middle order. Another decision for West Indies is the make-up of their fast bowling, needing to pick two out of Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards.

West Indies (probable) 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Fidel Edwards / Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo

Pitch and conditions
The Barbados track is likely to have plenty of bounce, testing the technique of the batsmen. The Kensington Oval has generally been a result-oriented venue over the past decade, though the weather could play spoilsport over the next week, with showers predicted every day.

Preview link....
http://www.espncricinfo.com/west-indies-v-india-2011/content/current/story/520988.html


Your say .......

Tough Test for India ,specially youngsters.

Kohli should score runs in this Test and I hope openers will give us better start.

I think India should have a rethink about their batting lineup. Only Dravid, VVS and Dhoni are experienced hands in the lineup. Don't think its a good idea to have Dravid and Laxman slated one ofter the other in the order. If they fall early, then that will be too much pressure on the youngsters such Kohli and Raina. So may be VVS should bat at his usual position of 5 and let Kohli come in between the 2 veterans.
Time Amit Mishra gets dropped. he bowled rather poorly in the first match alongside Harbhajan. The track is one that would need 3 pacers at least, and although there is nothing much different between Bhaji and Mishra with the ball of late, Harbhajan is a better bat, and is experienced. Think since Munaf is injured, Abhimanyu Mithun should get another chance. the young man was impressive in Lanka.

West Indies haven't lost a test at this venue for 59 years! WI stuck India into bat and they are 1/1 already losing Mukund off the bowling of Ravi Rampaul.

Ravi Rampaul has torn India apart. 44/4 and figures of 8-5-4-3 at the time of writing.

India's inexperienced top order has been blwon away. Now Laxman will have to play one of those Very Very Special innings on a dificult pitch.
69-4 at Kingston, 44-4 here. the top order hasn't even lasted a session.
Pretty good effort from the West Indies bowlers. Rampaul just goes from strength to strength. The only disappointment has been Fidel who got carried away a bit.

Just shows that the depth of Indian cricket doesn't match that of England.

Duty281 wrote:Just shows that the depth of Indian cricket doesn't match that of England.

Don't think so. If England are playing without Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, and James Anderson, I don't think they can just go and find class replacements right away. who's there? Bopara? We all know what happened with him don't we? Taylor? has to be tested. Stokes and Vince haven't had enough of even First Class cricket.
The bowling reserves are better though. Shahzad, Fin, Bresnan........ But Don't think there is a quality replacement for Swann as yet.

Raina going on the attack, may not be all that bad on this track, so long as he doesn't get reckless.

msp83 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Just shows that the depth of Indian cricket doesn't match that of England.

Don't think so. If England are playing without Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, and James Anderson, I don't think they can just go and find class replacements right away. who's there? Bopara? We all know what happened with him don't we? Taylor? has to be tested. Stokes and Vince haven't had enough of even First Class cricket.
The bowling reserves are better though. Shahzad, Fin, Bresnan........ But Don't think there is a quality replacement for Swann as yet.

We wouldn't be able to find world-class replacements but our top order wouldn't be knocked over by the WI so easily. If we did play without those 4 that you suggested it's a simple matter of putting in Carberry, Lumb, Bopara/Taylor and Finn/Shahzad.

Remember Andrew Strauss's first match as fulltime England captain?
How much did Bopara scored in his debut test series in Lanka?
Mukund, Vijay, and Kohli, all have got impressive FC records, and that's why they are being given a chance. They haven't fired as yet, and its a matter of concern. But I don't Think the untested Taylor or Lumb(he hasn't played any test cricket for England, and in fact doesn't even look ODI quality), the inexperienced, and rather old Carberry, or the unproven and failed so far Ravi Bopara can do miles better just like that.
And these are not even India's first choice replacements even(except Vijay), Yuvraj, Pujara and Sreesanth are there.

Edwards has been very inconsistent, he's been all over the place.

good innings from Raina, come in a pressure situation as well. he was tested by the short ball, but its been good from Raina o far. '

It seems Edwards is in some trouble, off the field, more problems for the WI, remember Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo aren't playing.

Hello msp !

Good recovery so far, Raina unlikely hero once again with a likely hero VVS

ECricket wrote:Hello msp !

Good recovery so far, Raina unlikely hero once again with a likely hero VVS

Hi there.
Indeed its been a good fight back from India so far.
Lets hope they just go on.
so Fidel's back.

West Indies gets a wicket, thanks to an absolute howler from the Umpire. Raina should consider himself very unlucky.

Thats second time in this series he has been given out wrongly.

West Indian selectors are a disgrace for selecting Edwards over Roach.

dhoni has given it away yet again. He's not having the best of times with the bat in test cricket. Fidel continues to bowl fast and furious, but most of it is getting wasted.

dhoni has given it away yet again. He's not having the best of times with the bat in test cricket. Fidel continues to bowl fast and furious, but most of it is getting wasted.

The Indian lower order is in the right company, VVS, the unofficial batting coach of the bowlers is out there, nd they enjoy batting with him. a

India will grind to around 220. Windies will crumble against Kumar.

Great effort by my boys.

Edwards, shouldn't be playing, but bowled with real fire in the 3rd session. Bishoo all ways seems to take wickets.

Great knock by VVS

ECricket wrote:Thats second time in this series he has been given out wrongly.

If the review system had been in place would it have been overturned? Genuine question btw as I didn't see it.

India made their bed and now they can lie in it, no good them complaining about decisions when they turned down the opportunity to have the UDRS.

Carrotdude wrote:

ECricket wrote:Thats second time in this series he has been given out wrongly.

If the review system had been in place would it have been overturned? Genuine question btw as I didn't see it.

Nopes.

DRS in this series wouldnt have had hotspot so difficult to overturn.

Fists of Fury wrote:India made their bed and now they can lie in it, no good them complaining about decisions when they turned down the opportunity to have the UDRS.

Dude you got some anti-India fetish going on ... take a chill and stop making silly statements.

Purely being defensive in response to the utter garbage you lot have been spouting in recent weeks.

Like I said, no need for India to have a complex about us being the new best team in test cricket

Fists of Fury wrote:Purely being defensive in response to the utter garbage you lot have been spouting in recent weeks.

Like I said, no need for India to have a complex about us being the new best team in test cricket

I only joined here 2 days ago , please show me what rubbish have I spouted.

And what does "you lot" mean? Sounds very condescending from a "moderator" here

Fists of Fury wrote:Purely being defensive in response to the utter garbage you lot have been spouting in recent weeks.

Like I said, no need for India to have a complex about us being the new best team in test cricket

There have been very few great sides deserving the number 1 billing.

Bradman's invincibles, South Africa 1970s, West Indies 1980s and Australia 2000s.

India could join these sides, England won't.

West Indies and Australia dominated all forms. England are rubbish in ODIs.

Masked Magician wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:Purely being defensive in response to the utter garbage you lot have been spouting in recent weeks.

Like I said, no need for India to have a complex about us being the new best team in test cricket

There have been very few great sides deserving the number 1 billing.

Bradman's invincibles, South Africa 1970s, West Indies 1980s and Australia 2000s.

India could join these sides, England won't.

West Indies and Australia dominated all forms. England are rubbish in ODIs.

Fof said 'best team in test cricket', never mentioned ODI's

braveheart101 wrote:

Masked Magician wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:Purely being defensive in response to the utter garbage you lot have been spouting in recent weeks.

Like I said, no need for India to have a complex about us being the new best team in test cricket

There have been very few great sides deserving the number 1 billing.

Bradman's invincibles, South Africa 1970s, West Indies 1980s and Australia 2000s.

India could join these sides, England won't.

West Indies and Australia dominated all forms. England are rubbish in ODIs.

Fof said 'best team in test cricket', never mentioned ODI's

FoF said lot more than that which had nothing to do with cricket

England has been playing good test cricket in recent times, no doubt about that. Are they the number one side in the world at the moment? Don't think so, at present India is, there is not much difference between India, England and SA in terms of quality.
England and India are going to play a series soon, thre are supporters of both sides who think their respective sides are going to walk it, but both sides have enough quality to make it much more closer than that.

And FoF, a bit surprised to see you geting a bit too touch about silly things.

This Second test match gonna be another 3 and a half dayer.

windies in trouble after a decent bowling performance

msp83 wrote:England has been playing good test cricket in recent times, no doubt about that. Are they the number one side in the world at the moment? Don't think so, at present India is, there is not much difference between India, England and SA in terms of quality.
England and India are going to play a series soon, thre are supporters of both sides who think their respective sides are going to walk it, but both sides have enough quality to make it much more closer than that.

And FoF, a bit surprised to see you geting a bit too touch about silly things.

See mate, if the other guys took the stance that you have taken above then I would happily debate the upcoming test series with them in a serious and objective manner.

My sharp responses have purely been down to a number of posters completely ignoring the quality of this England side, and effectively typing absolute rubbish as a means to wind English fans up. I applaud you for your neutral post, and hopefully the others decide to follow suit so that we can have some proper cricket talk in a sensible fashion.

FoF, may be we should take it a bit easy, the Eng-Ind series haven't even started. There is a test series going on for India, and England are playing Lanka. May be we should have more focus on these series on the respective forums at least.

So, another good first day, I always like it when the ball has a bit of an upperhand. 13 wickets, quality, silken batting from Laxman on a typical dificult wicket, tremendous commitment and fight from Raina in testing conditions, fine new ball spel from Rampaul, wickets for Bhishoo(its always good to see a leggy going about his job), a typical show from Fidel, lots of pace and fire, all over the place. and a good fight back at the end of the day from India.

Again its up to Chanders and Sarwan to salvage the WI batting, any lead for any side will be very handy for any side on such a tricky track.
The morning's going to be crucial, early wickets mean a serious setback to the WI challenge, if they save the session without much damage, then India will be concerned.

[quote="msp83"]FoF, may be we should take it a bit easy, the Eng-Ind series haven't even started. There is a test series going on for India, and England are playing Lanka. May be we should have more focus on these series on the respective forums at least.

agree lets stick to the topic we can discuss england vs india on different thread or when the actual tour starts

Fists of Fury wrote:

msp83 wrote:England has been playing good test cricket in recent times, no doubt about that. Are they the number one side in the world at the moment? Don't think so, at present India is, there is not much difference between India, England and SA in terms of quality.
England and India are going to play a series soon, thre are supporters of both sides who think their respective sides are going to walk it, but both sides have enough quality to make it much more closer than that.

And FoF, a bit surprised to see you geting a bit too touch about silly things.

See mate, if the other guys took the stance that you have taken above then I would happily debate the upcoming test series with them in a serious and objective manner.

My sharp responses have purely been down to a number of posters completely ignoring the quality of this England side, and effectively typing absolute rubbish as a means to wind English fans up. I applaud you for your neutral post, and hopefully the others decide to follow suit so that we can have some proper cricket talk in a sensible fashion.

I will ask you again now that you have accused me multiple times that where have I posted rubbish?

Either put up or shut up

WI 98-5, Chanders and Samuels resisting, but rain playing spoilsport.

Ishant Sharma bowled well again, Praveen is getting the ball to swing, but ones the batsman settles, I think his lack of pace makes him rather ineffective. Mithun bowled a few good balls, but nothing special from him, and although lot is expeted of him, he too is not bowling quickly enough.
Again, it all boils down to that debate about young Indian bowlers turning spinners ones they reach the highest level.

Harbhajan, as has been the case of late, hasn't really created enough troubles for the batsman, although there is bounce available on this track. That bounce is his strength, and I hope he will come good after play resumes.

98/5...
Ind need to break this partnership soon...if they are serious about winning this test...

It seems we'll have some play in some time.
Chanderpaul loves tormenting the Indian bowlers, and you can't expect to have it easy against him all the time. He's bound to come good sooner or later.
Hopes he won't last long after the restart. Since he has got some decent time off, India should bring Ishant back right away.

this is an important partnership for WI here, if they can put on another 50 or so India will be under real pressure.

Chanderpaul why did your forefathers move to the Caribbean, is what the Indians are asking.

He would've been even better playing with players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman

Rain has been playing spoilsport throughout the present cricket season. Eng-SL series had a very tough time with all the rain, and now its the turn of India and West Indies. What a bor!.

sitting up at 1 in the night and all that one get is boring rain. That too when the match was shaping up well.

starting again