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[tushar sehgal]

From an Indian supporter:

Eng will do better than most predict here as long as your seamers bowl well, spinners wise Ali might be decent not sure about others.

Big challenge for Eng batsmen would be Ashwin but I think as long as they play sensibly it should be ok . NZ could have given Indian bowlers trouble had Williamson been in better form and they had someone to replace Guptill & Taylor.

[ppccopener]

...And he was milked by India.

correct.... but we don't care because...........................

we are hitting them with pace


   bring it on.

[northernboy1987]

...And he was milked by India.

That was my point, I maybe didn't make it very clear haha

[Rob580]

I personally can't wait to see Moeen tear the Indians a new one, just like he did in the series in England:

MM Ali (ENG) 
123.4 Overs
16 Maidens
437 Runs
19 Wickets @ 23.00 a piece

If he did that on English green seamers, imagine the havoc he'll wreak on a Rajkot dustbowl! 


P.S: Before anyone starts, I'm fully aware most of these were because they were trying to smash him into the middle of next week every time he came on to bowl....

[Manormanic]

They might try that again to be fair....

[petehosk]

They might try that again to be fair....

I suspect that the Indian batsmen may treat Ali with a little more respect this time.
However, I also suspect that they will be looking to smash the rest of the spinners around!

[Stuey]

I can't see Ali getting the bounce he did in that series, from memory a lot of his wickets were caught in the deep. India will play him much better on their pitches. Play 4 quicks (Broad, stokes, woakes,ball ) and one spinner (Ali or Batty) and try to stay in the game.

[CrickFreak]

I think spirit of the team and motivation will be a big factor. Of course the skills are important but having lost the last test and mediocre performance by the inexperienced players against an ordinary test team can have a huge effect on confidence and ultimately the outcome of the game. How quickly the first time travelers come out of it and play confidently will be crucial. Its a long 5 test series, if England gets crushed in the beginning, then i dont see any favorable results for England, not even a draw....

[Felix Tito]

From an Indian supporter:

Eng will do better than most predict here as long as your seamers bowl well, spinners wise Ali might be decent not sure about others.

Big challenge for Eng batsmen would be Ashwin but I think as long as they play sensibly it should be ok . NZ could have given Indian bowlers trouble had Williamson been in better form and they had someone to replace Guptill & Taylor.

Ashwin seems a totally different bowler from the one who went missing against us back in 2012. In 2012 Ashwin bowled too many variations and Dhoni's negative captaincy nullified Ashwin.

Kohli's aggressive in everything he does and that's rubbed off on Ashwin.

[cesare_in]

For sure going to watch all 5 days of the test match at Mumbai when England come visiting.. please see me in TV

[Alvaro]

Ashwin seems a totally different bowler from the one who went missing against us back in 2012. In 2012 Ashwin bowled too many variations and Dhoni's negative captaincy nullified Ashwin.

Kohli's aggressive in everything he does and that's rubbed off on Ashwin.

Or, spinners get better with age.

[csnew]

Few injuries for the Indians, no rohit, rahul or dhawan.
Likely only 2 lefty's in their line up

[ppccopener]

Few injuries for the Indians, no rohit, rahul or dhawan.
Likely only 2 lefty's in their line up

I wonder if that might influence England to pick 2 spinners both away from the bat....

putting Rashid and Ansari ahead of batty. Ali is going to play anyway he is about as good as we have and cant do without his runs....

[rickjames]

I'd still hope they play Batty to start off with

If anyone wants to reminisce about the last time we were in India then this is perfect viewing with it only being a week away http://bit.ly/2faoBlz

[WalkingWicket37]

I can't see Ali getting the bounce he did in that series, from memory a lot of his wickets were caught in the deep. India will play him much better on their pitches. Play 4 quicks (Broad, stokes, woakes,ball ) and one spinner (Ali or Batty) and try to stay in the game.

With Ali now batting at no.5 you could have him in as a batsman who bowls!
With Stokes being a genuine all rounder who bats at 6, the side is much easier to balance.  We can have plenty of bowling options, without having to weaken the batting.

I'd like to see a lineup along the lines of:

Cook*
Hameed
Root
Duckett
Ali
Stokes
Bairstow+
Woakes
Ansari/Batty
Broad
Ball

Admittedly, this is very unlikely to happen though...