I am also concerned with India's chances in Engalnd over a 5 match test series and it all starts with the bowling. I am looking at Sri Lanka's Day 1 at Lords. Great start but did not have the teeth to see it through with England finishing the day at 345/5. The Indian attack has a similar feel to it. Lack of teeth to put sustained pressure on England and to take 20 wickets in the match. Equally worrying is the ability of the Indian batsmen to cope against the pressure of big scores that our bowling may well allow the English batsmen to put up. This has less to do with ability but more to do with lack of expereince not only in Test cricket but specifically in England. It baffles me that Umesh Yadav is not in this bowling side.

So why only two practice matches... again..... did not we say the last series.. we needed more time to get acclimatized.... what if one or both of these are lost to rain or something....

why does BCCI do the same mistake over and over again... and expects different results.... what is the need for the so-called bangladesh tour... even otherwise...half the test team is not playing in that series.. why do not they take the flight today and go to England.. a month before the series starts... WHY?

Finally... time to come out of the break... good old TEST matches are here.... My only concern is that, in a TEST match scenario ...Ashwin and Jadeja can only be the 4+1 allrounders... and can't be treated as specialist spinner like Kumble.. even doubt if they can match harbhajan from his good days....

In test scenario.. India should have nurtured a genuine spinner like Mishra, Ojha who with enough experience would have developed into a TEST quality spinners by now, even outside the sub-continent.

I don't think 1 Umesh Yadav would make too much of a difference. The one India will miss most in England will be Amit Mishra / Piyush Chawla with England's record against above average Leg Spin. Having said that, Dhoni;s best bet now is - 5 batsmen (Gambhir, Dhawan / Rahane, Pujara, Kohli, Sharma) Dhoni Ashwin & Jadeja as spinners + Bhuvi, Shami + 1 of Pankaj / Ishant .......... Jadeja & Ashwin would occupy the 2 allrounder slots. Steward Binny is a bits & pieces bowler & batsman, I would not want to waste a slot on him.

Those who criticise indian fast bowlers should try to to become fast bowlers themselves and show the world how it should be done. It is easy to criticise. BCCI can only nurture the talent the nature produces. Bhuvi, Shami, Arron, Ishant ,Praveen, Mohit, Yadav, et al are good bunch of fast bowlers. Appreciate and encourage them and they will do the job for Team India.

Players should be picked on attitude, skill and domestic performance, while considering all these factors, I think they got it all right in the fast bowling department except that my personal preference would be Umesh Yadav over Varun for obvious reasons. We seem to have picked the best bowling combination we can gather based on performances in India. Bhuvaneshwar is very promising and delivers most of the time, he will hold the key. Shami is also quick, can swing and promising. Ishant has is the man who should hold things up tightly. If at least 2 of these fast bowlers have a good series, India will have more than a good chance to win the series. English fast bowlers are too good in their home conditions, I am looking forward to watch the mean Jimmy Anderson, he is simply too good, I consider him the best swing bowler in this generation.

After following Indian cricket since 92, I have been disillusioned now. A country which has not yet won a single TEST match series in SA or Australia, still wants to play this format with no TEST quality bowlers. First develop some test quality bowlers who can win matches on their own from tough situations , then think about playing this format. Until then INDIA will always remain a journeyman in TEST cricket.

@Facebook User: Your XI gives an option for just 4 bowlers when you put Jadeja/Ashwin. This was the exact policy of Dhoni playing a 5 day Test match with just 4 bowlers which lost India the SA & NZ Test series. You cannot take 20 Wkts. with just 4 bowlers- the exact question which Vengsarkar is raising. Dhoni as a Captain must have 4 Specialist bowlers + 1 All Rounder to have any chance of making a fight of this series. Secondly, You like the idea of Pujara as the Test captain. I like it too. Only reason I support Rohit Sharma for the Captaincy is that he is more out going than Pujara + has Captaincy experience of Mumbai. But you need to realise that as long as Srinivasan is the President, Dhoni will remain the Indian Captain in all 3 Formats. This is an open secret. You can see negative comments about Dhoni's Captaincy, especially overseas, from majority of the Indian Fans. 4 key players missing from this squad are: Yadev, Uthappa, Raina & Nair- would have won the series for India!

@Yedlachaitu: wow! you have picked a team for a Test match (and that too in England) without a specialist wicket keeper! Who in your XI is going to keep wicket in the Test?

This is my pick for the test playing 11... 1- Dhawan 2- Vijay/Gambhir 3- Pujara 4- Kholi 5- Rohit 6- Rahane 7- Dhoni (c/wk) 8- Ashwin/Jadeja 9- Kumar 10- Ishant/Aaron 11- Shami

The weak link here is : vijay- his form has not been good, however we have seen him turn it around. Ishant- Underperformer or should we say his best is not good for an international team. Spin dept is bare, Ashwin struggles overseas and Jaddu is not a test match front line spinner (not in england).

I would rather have Aaron instead of Ishant, might as well loose with a new person with raw pace than an old faliure.

Why the heck is Umesh not included is a mistry, maybe somone will get injured and he will be seen in england.

Hopes rest on Rahanae, Kholi and Pujara.

I liked the idea of making Pujara Test captain, he is someone who is cool and has some experience.

@NandanLeo; You are right ON. India lost in SA from a winning position because of insane selection of 3 Specialist Bowler + I All Rounder- as the 4 bowlers. Even in the England Squad of 18, leaving Yadev, Uthappa/Nair & Raina/Yuvraj is bit too glaring omissions for words. India had a golden chance of winning the Test series with these guys in the squad & in XI. India still has a strong team with Pujara & Kohli + B.Kumar & Shami as the leading batsmen & Bowlers. But Not having the above guys "in-Form" in XI, sadly makes a world of difference to the Result. Can India still WIN? If Dhoni does not resort to insane XI selection & if that XI performs, India still has a sporting chance to Win. I thought Dhoni's Captaincy days are over based on his Record- especially overseas. It is best to appoint alternates. Rohit Sharma would have made an excellent Captain & initiating him for England Tour was the optimal decision. But Selectors have a mind of their own- clouded by non-cricket Factors!

India competed in SA because they batted well period not because A,B and C was injured or the pitch was flat. In fact had India could have won the Capetown match if not for some very poor bowling selection and captaincy by Dhoni. India have better bowler in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar than Praveen kumar who swings the bowler at 5-10 kmph more than Praveen Kumar. I believe there is no place in test cricket for125-130 kph bowler unless you have garden green top. I think three Indian batsmen will do well Rahane,Kohli and Pujara. Also this English team is not the same team which beat India 4-0 there is no KP,Trott and Swann. I predict England will win 1-3. But honestly from an Indian perspective I would like to see a new test captain after this tour which looks unlikely :)

India is going to miss Praveen Kumar sourly since he can swing the ball both ways at ease. Praveen Kumar also has experience bowling in similar conditions in previous outing in England in 2011 - and he was the only bowler of any substance in that tour in 2011.

First of all remove dhoni from captancy. Becaz he is not test batsmen and capten also . Given captency to the pujara is bestg becaz he had expearance as a captain.he visited no.of times in overses as a india-A captain. Umesh yadav should be added to the squad. I think it's last test tour for vijay,dhwan,dhoni, ashwin,rohit. I think india had a chances to win atleast two test matches. I think bhuvi can make some impression with new ball in this swing conditions becaz it not an south africas fast and bouncy pitches. My team 1.vijay 2.dhawan 3.pujara 4.kohli 5.rahane 6.binny 7.jadeja/ashwin 8.bhuvi 9.ishant 10.shami 11.pandey

I think Mr Vengsarkar's lack of trust in our bowlers is quite unfounded. I think they will do extremely well in England and would have possibly had a chance to do better if they had included a budding talent like Akshar Patel instead of Stuart Binny.

As an Englishman the selection of Gambhir is baffling, he was always suspect against the seaming pace delivery when he was in his prime never mind now, Kohli is a very good batsman, Pujara decidedly unproven overseas, Dhawan overrated. I think it will be a good experience and bedding in period for England's new crop of batsmen and bowlers, if it is long hot summer India may win a couple if it is an average summer (ie overcast and wet), 4-0 or 5-0. As for the recent SA tour, India competed when Morkel was unable to bowl so SA were severely handicapped, 11 v 11 they got hammered and the predicted hammering of 'minnow' NZ well enough said. India could well win the ODI's and then the fans can say that is all that matter or the T20's if they win them.

@AnirudhPs how can you say Rahane is not a capable batsmen, firstly he scored a century in his last match in new zealand in seaming conditions in basin reserve without which india could have lost, he even scored a good 96 in durban which with support from other batsman could have been a draw and plus he has a 60+ first class average after 80 odd games. He with kohli are the batting futures of India.

Dilip Vengsarkar was a fine batsman but I have never been impressed about his predictions. A few years ago ----that was before Pujara, Kohli and Shami Bhuvaneshwar and Tadav had made their debuts Dilip famously said that the cupboard is bare and completely bereft of talent. He had felt then that Indian cricket was only downhill. That is the problem withmany sportsmen. they feel they were the best and that their time was the best. It disappoints me that a ma who runs a cricket foundation sees so little to cheer. As a long time cricket follower I think this team could just deliver more than our expectations. I would have loved to see Umesh Yadav bowl in seaming conditions. He has come a long way from his last test against England in Ahmedabad in 2012. He has a very good slower ball and a yorker which even Dale Steyn found impressive. He has the action to bowl consistently in the 90 mph category and has a natural outswinger. He had Uthappa should have been in the team to England.

Where is umesh yadav, why does the mgmt do not pick him? sehwag scored more runs in ipl than gauti. why did they did not pick him? still dhawan and rahane in the squad who are not capable in test format. Gauti, vijay, pujara, kohli, rohit, dhoni, jaddu, ashwin, bhuvi, varun, umesh must be the squad. bring back sehwag and replace with vijay. then the team will be strong

If the odi series is by any margin the kind of pitches India will play on then probably India can perform better but pitches for tests are something to watch for Lanka has decent spinners and its no brainer that pitches shall be prepared to negate them and assist pace bounce and swing same or similar pitches shall be prepared for India Bhuvi shami if they make into playing eleven for India and pitch in right areas can be handful rest of Indian bowling not much hope.Dhoni with his typical mindset wont gamble playing uncapped players pandey pankaj binny are bound to warm benches for first two tests atleast.So India depend on bhuvi shami to do something.Even for opening I doubt if Gambhir will play 1st test mostly vijay dhawan shall open and how these cope with swing bounce from anderson broad bresnan tremlett is key given weak bowling batsmen cant be too defensive same time not too offensive striking balance is key.If there is weakness in English line up its their batting if wecaptialize

I share Vengsarkar's concerns, but I'm not expecting any positive systemic changes in Indian cricket.

Passion for the longer format is still alive and well in India, especially among an older, more cerebral generation. But my worry is that the BCCI, who clearly no longer care about test cricket will eventually force even the loyal test followers in India to stop caring. There are only so many 0-4 and 0-5 overseas humiliations that people are prepared to sit through and suffer.

The lack of effort by the BCCI to generate a fast bowling culture within Indian cricket is an insult and sheer disgrace to the millions of loyal test cricket fans in India.

with no umesh yadhav who si the fast bowler india has right now, the fear just got bigger and with the inclusion of SO CALLED FAST BOWLER ishant sharma my fear just reached to its peak... his performance in helping conditions is more dismal than in subcontinent and he calls himself a fast bowler.... and i demand an explanation from selectors for the exclusion of umesh yadhav for all important series again england and why make him play useless odi matches against bangladesh???? if i were captain i would go with 5 bowling combination, 3 pacers and 2 spinners, ( shami, bhuvi, ishawar/ pankaj ) and ( ashwina nd jaddu ) jaddu fills allrounder shoes... with the exclusion of either rohit, dhawan , vijay... to be frank i dont want any of these batsmen mentioned to be playing for india.. its bettet to open with rahane ( he plays at no.3 in ranaji ) and gambir , follwed by pujara, VK, jaddu, dhoni and bowlers.... i will sttick with this for long time i.e evn for AUS tour...

India will go down 0-5 in the test series after a gruelling ipl with burnt out players in the squad. however a fat wallet in them won't bother em much about the outcome of the series. The media the public will go furious about the results blaming x and y. Disastrous tours will follow...blah blah blah. Come ipl 2015 and all will be well, all is forgiven, everything is forgotten just like ipl 2014. Players will skip international commitments for ipl in the name of `rest'. ESPN CRICINFO please publish cause I know that this is real, wait and watch.

India should play Stuart Binny as he lends the balance to the playing X1. We shall then play with 5 frontline bolwers with his swing bowling and also the libertity to go with 7 accomplished batsman followed by ashwin and B kumar who can certainly bat well down the order. His swing bowling will be very useful in english conditions and his +ve intent batting at No.7 is what MS Dhoni would relish playing with down the order.Moreoever his slip feilding would be critical too as we are yet to establish our slip fieding

@ STRIKETHUNDER, Fifa World cup final will be on 13th July. The same day Ind-Eng 1st Test finishes. so 90% of the series between Eng - Ind will be followed massively. Off course Indian likes Football as well. But once it get finished, focus will be turn around on Cricket. Bye.

If people have noticed that if India is able to avoid defeat in first test then they do really well in rest of the tour. Also the opening partnership would play a very important role here.

strike thunder nobody is an exxageration. because i do.and many of my friends.may be it is a minority still it exists

It would have been more meaningful for Vengsarkar to spell out the strengths & deficiencies in full. Every one knows that India needs bowlers who can capture 20 wkts. in the test match while India scores more Runs than the opposition within 5 days in order to WIN. Vengsarkar states that out of 4 Bowlers, 2 have to take 10 wkts. & states India does not have them in the squad. Who are those 2 "Missing Bowlers" Sir? Ashwin has fastest 100 Wkts. in Tests & Ojha is the other guy but not in the squad. Vengsarkar's comments raise more questions than answers. He does not address whether Indian batting can score sufficient runs to Win. It is clear that Indian opening bats are "suspect" because both Gambhir & Dhawan are compulsive pokers of the ball outside the off stump - NO-NO In England. Also Pujara & kohli are the 2 guys on whom the Indian batting relies heavily. Kumar is likely to be effective in English conditions + Yadev would have been a very good foil. Rest is anybody's guess!

The bowlers have always been a problem for Indian teams touring overseas as they could not take 20 wickets of the opposition team and the team had to rely on the heroics of batsmen. This time Indian team will face same problems and adding salt to the wound Indian team is very sort of experince in batting too. Further England is playing test series against Sri Lanka and they will be fully geared up and sort out all their weaknesses and on the other hand Indian team will go into the tour after plaing shorter formats of the game for a longer period which will make things more difficult for them. Besides England team will also come hard as they will be wounded tigers after being battered by Australia in Ashes and they will play to regain their lost pride in test matches. Last but not the least even though that will be summer season in England but still Indian team will find it very difficult to adjust to the cool conditions. So will it be 0-5 whitewash this time. Wait and watch.

Most likely to succeed 11 - Gambhir, Vijay, Pujara, Sharma, Kohli Dhoni Ashwin, Jadeja (both spinners are competent batsmen so there is depth in batting) Bhuvi, Shami, Aaron.

spinners harbhajan & ojha are a must-- if india has to win tests-- i think selectors missed this trick-- ashwin & jadeja could have been accomodated in ODI & t20, with future in mind.

Two practice matches itself is a luxury given the amount of cricket being played. Four before first test is too much to ask for. Maybe one practice match can be slotted in between the second and third tests so that even if India perform badly in the two, they can work on ways to come back in the next three.

Frankly speaking, nomatter how right he is or how concerned he is abt Indian team doing well outside subcontinent..These kind of statements are doing more bad than good for the team just b4 a major tour outside subcontinent, He is practically demoralising our bowlers by stating that they are not capable of taking 20 wickets in a test match. Firstly, let them play and perform and then you are free to criticise or encourage them.. My request to Mr.Dilip Vengsarkar, A legendary Indian cricketer to please do not demoralise the team.. If you can't encourage then don't demoralise too.. I believe Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is capable of picking 6 to 8 wickets in every match in english swinging conditions.. I believe if he had more pace in his bowling like 140-145 km/hr, He would be more lethal than Dale Steyn.. Even Steyn during IPL said that he himself learned a lot abt swing bowling from bhuvi..

It is boring, 5 day cricket. Stop this nonsense to get a result over 5 days. Indians dont follow it nowadays that much and with FIFA WC starting no body will follow it.

India already marked themselves as a good team. Team has improved lot and lot over the years proved themselves as a good test representatives. England is a seam bowling supportive environment. India latest generation is capable of handling all the given task.

In India, All Pitches are tailor made for batsmen or spinners. Cricket Matches are played for mass spectators here. You can't expect a right fast bowler being groomed in this conditions. Cricket in india is one dimensional with flat tracks and short boundaries. the quaity of batting is also poor though the scoreboard indicates otherwise. If we have to improve our performance outside subconinent, we have to make atleast 40% of our domestic matches to be played on bouncy wickets. A Vision is required for the future. For me One win against ausies, england or Protees in their courtyard is 100 times saisfactory than a series whitewash against them in the dustbowls of india. Not to forget, Captaincy too need to be agressive.

England can play swing and spin very well its pace they cant play we need to play Aaron not Ishant

Given the relative weak bowling line up we have and having to play 5 tests bowler workload is something you need to look into unless Team India takes 5 bowlers which Dhoni wont these guys are bound to drain out and with them draining out our chances of taking wickets also goes down the drain.English batting is weak with Dhoni's strategies they may look like a team to beat if England can be beaten at home its now.India must watch the test matches between lanka and england and work things out if England come good here out bad time starts before the series starts Cook is woefully out of form so is Root and Bell.If these guys strike form India should be prepared to be in field for longer times

@Linguboy you really didnt understand what I said you had said we almost test matches and said if certain things went our way like had we held catches I just stated the same had ABD not gotten out in that test against they would have won the game and it would have been 2-0.Had Baz batted a bit quicker for 300 blackcaps could have won that test.In cricket there is no scope for ifs and buts is my point.With regard to your question about Mitch Steyn performing badly should they be dropped answer is a obvious no and as far as virat was concerned captaining a side like rcb caused his poor form play him as a sheer batsman you will see the difference.Dhawan is type of player who wants to attack every ball that attitude wont work in test matches and against seaming new ball you need to drop anchor and play long.Vijay has a tendency of loosing his wicket at wrong times playing the glory shot being openers you need to set platform which unfortunately these guys in current form are not capable.

Three players to watch out for: Shami, Bhuvi and Pankaj if India has any chances of winning even 1 test. England, despite their odd one day form, are a very good test side at home and Anderson, Broad, Cook and Bell are sufficient to beat any team on their home turf. Really disappointed with this selection committee naming MSD as the captain again for a place he got swept aside 4-0 not so long ago. It is a known fact that he is the poorest captain India had in tests outside the subcontinent. Though I hate his lazy attitude, it's better to give it to Rohit Sharma (as anyways he scores poorly), although he is yet to prove his batting outside India and Aus. Giving the leadership will make him score few 50's or the odd 100. Of late, he is one guy that seems to have enjoyed the additional responsibility that made him stay at the wicket and score few more runs. He certainly seems to have better leadership skills.

Knowing Dhoni's Captaincy one can predict the Bowlers to be: 3 Seamers- Ishant, Shami & Kumar + Jadeja as spinner. Ashwin will likely be replaced with a batsman. The Batsmen will be Vijay/Gambhir, Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni, Rahane/Ashwin. That will be the standard team for all the 5 test matches- irrespective to the performance. Reserves will be adorning the Bench. Firstly the 4 Bowler Theory used by Dhoni is highly flawed & totally irrational. 5 Batsmen + WK + 5 Bowlers is required for balanced XI. But Dhoni has no confidence in his batsmen so he goes for 7 bats + 4 bowlers. With this approach India can never Win. Dhoni's overseas record of almost 100% Losses proves it. If India had Yadev, Kumar, Shami & Sandeep Sharma/Ashwin as 4 bowlers backed by Uthappa/Nair, Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni, Jadeja as batsmen, India had a fair chance of fighting. But with Dhoni's tactics & XI selection + wrong opening bats & Bowlers, I expect same whitewash record again!

Hes stating the obvious but hes not giving his remedy , my remedy is play the uncapped players thats the only way they can get experience ,and leave Ishant out .thats the trouble with India they keep playing players they think have experience and thus not allowing the new ones to get that valuable experience abroad

The only job for selectors is to pick the bench. because the playing XI is always the same combination, no matter what! Would like to see new bowlers like Ishwar and Aaron getting a chance from the Trent Bridge test match. keep the experience of Ishant Sharma for the bench.

India struggle to take 20 wickets only because they havnt got a genuine fast bowler to knock over the tail enders i hope they play Aaron he has genuine pace and i think they missed a trick by leaving Yadav out ,any way India will do better than last time round

Playing 4 bowlers in a test is defensive. Picking a bowler because he can bat is accepting defeat before playing. In every overseas test in the recent past, Dhoni's team have lost because they picked poor bowlers - think NZ where they kept batting for days together. Ashwin is not test grade. Jadeja is okay, but not among the top five spinners in the country; he is picked for batting. Unless Dhoni attacks with bowlers and batsmen, his team will not win.

Should Give a Chance to Robin Utthapa Also, he has performed a lot better in the Ipl also, and instead of rohit He should be used coz he is much familiar with the conditions of then Rohit.

MSD's XI: Dhawan ,Vijay ,Pujara ,kohli ,Rohit ,Rahane ,Dhoni ,Jadeja ,Bhuvi ,Ishant , Shami. This will be our Playing XI no matter what we say coz MSD wont wanna Tinger with his team even though its losing.......

MY XI: Dhawan, Vj, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, MSD, Ashwin, Bhuvi, Ishant, Shami, Aaron.

I picked Ashwin ahead of Jadeja coz Ashwin is a much better Test Batsman than Jaddu.This is mainly because v r a batsman short and considering Ashwin can play as a Batsmen..

I'll be Happy if India can manage to win at least a match out of 5.....Coz I dont wanna see another whitewash.....

I think indian batsmen will fight their heart out but lack of quality in indian bowling will make sure india comes 2nd in a very closely fought series. One thing for certain india will not be white washed nor they will win the test series, it will be 2-1 or 3-1 in tests in favour of england, and india will win ODI series by 4-1 or 3-2 margin if rain stays away. Do anyone wants to bet?

The selectors missed a trick or two by not selecting Umesh Yadav. A combination of Umesh, Shami and Aaron will be India's best option to pick 20 wickets in England. Only thnig Mr Dhoni should pick them in the playing XI rather than the Ashwins and Jadejas!

Vengsarkar is pointing out the obvious. The bowling cupboard is bare. It speaks volumes to see that Ishant is the most experienced and the only pacer who has experience of bowling. But yet he is not sure of being played in every game because he has not learnt enough despite playing 50 odd test matches. The less said about the spinners the better. If you try to include 5 bowlers that is going to shorten the batting lineup which is already short on experience and is suspect in swinging and seaming conditions. To top it, Dhoni is not the same out of the subcontinent. So, this is a classic Catch-22 situation; Dhoni being a defensive test captain, will opt for longer batting lineup and will be trying to avoid a whitewash!

Bhuvi will be the key bowler in the swinging conditions. If he can make early inroads India can spring a surprise in England.

@known Stranger I didn't say everything is fine. I said we need to improve our bowling in flat pitches and for that we need hit the deck kind of bowlers. Sorry are you saying that you can drop as many catches you want but still you want to win???How does that work?? If you drop McCullum he will make you pay so as Dropping Williamson. Vijay, Dhawan struggled in IPL??So that's your limiit for selection right??? Mitchell Johnson struggled, Steyn struggled, Virat struggled so what's your suggestion?? drop them from their respective teams eh??? Vijay played well in SA and Dhawan was quite good in NZ as well. So its fair to give them chance to establish themselves. You simply forgot opening in test matches is entirely different from opening in IPL. Again Bowlers have to win the trust of the Captain not opposite. As a captain you can back them to a certain extent and attack with them but if they bowl one loose ball every over its no use if you simply attack.

Raina can come into the test side if he can become an geniune alrounder. If raina improves his bowling then when india tours outside subcontinent raina can fill the specialist spinner position if the opposition doesnt provide good spinning tracks. I'm sure raina has the potential and can become a good spinner. Raina can practice from watching the toughest off-spinner he faces.

I doubt that Dhoni will play with ashwin. Dhoni may go with Jadeja as he did in NZ. However vengsarkar has said is correct, I too believe that this attack will not be able to take 20 wickets. I predict that it would be 2-1 or 3-1

Guys basically Dhoni is a captain who never trusts his bowlers we have enough examples for that and at innumerable occassions he has said 7-4 combo is what works best for him so expecting something out of blue from Dhoni is going to lead to disappointment only given our relatively inexperienced batting line he would like to keep more batsmen to try and score runs so 7 batsmen plus one or two allrounders in ash and jaddu remaining two or three fast bowlers shall be India set up.If by chance Binny gets a chance in playing eleven which is unlikely heavens falls down

Totally agree with DV that simply can't see our poor bowling attack take 20 English wickets in any Test! Fortunately England are not blowing hot at all, so we may avoid yet another whitewash or drubbing!

Need to give defensive field to Aron & ask him to bowl as fast as he can at stumps & bodyline

If we play 5 bowlers (incl Ashwin as all rounder), we can take 20 wickets ... but it remains to be seen if we can score enough runs to give our bowlers a chance ... the team should have any two openers, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni, Ashwin, shami, b.kumar,I.Sharma,I.Pande

I think the main problem in TESTs is the attitude of our captain ...Dhoni(no surprises). He just don't have the attacking mentality for Tests, i really don't understand after so many failures (9-0 abroad) why they still keep him as test captain. You don't need a calm and coolness in test,...its always attack. That's why I like Clark as a captain. Worthless test captain Mr. Dhoni....resign plz.

@linguboy I dont understand your logic here you say everything is fine and also mention that we almost won games almost winning does not mean you won.Dhawan Vijay looked at sea in IPL games in indian tracks you expect them to perform in seaming conditions.FYI ifs and buts dont work in cricket you say if we took catches we would have won same case for nz if certain things went in their favor they would have won 2-0.If there is mild opening in this English side its their unsettled new batting line and to expose that India needs 5 wicket taking bowlers which the present squad lacks Dhoni only believes in 4 bowlers concept and given the relative new attack we have with 4 bowlers working on overload wil make them tired and they wont take wickets.English attack is strong and good Anderson Broad are experienced enough to wipe this indian line up instead of blindly saying India will win lets be practical if india can restrict english batting and take 20 wickets there is scope else no simple

I think team will perform in England, probable lineup gambhir, dhawan, pujara, kohli, rahane, Dhoni, jadeja, bhuvneshwar kumar, shami, ishant sharma, v.Aaron

it is amazing what is the role going to play by binny just scratching the bench. i feel instead of taking Gambir they should have consider kedar jehdev karun nair who did wonderfuly at domestic and it could have been a good exposure BINNY ALREADY 30 It is stuidnes on the part of selector and they should be made accountable and their payment of salary to be cut. I am sure india will loose by minimum 3-0 margin other 2 rain will save india

I don't know from where all these negativity are flowing from??? India have almost won a test in SA and Were in positions to win both the tests in NZ. We lost 2 and drew 2 tests in the 2 series we played abroad with this team. We should be proud of their effort. After loosing 5 batsmen in the span of 1 year its always going to be difficult for the new guys to just go out there and win. Inspite of all these we performed well in tests abroad. One area where we failed was in ODIS not tests. ODI performances were worst in the last 2 series. Our test performances were good to say the least. You don't stretch SA in their own backyard that easily and it took determined Steyn to beat us in the 2nd. In NZ wickets at wrong time in the 1st and dropped catch of BMac that cost us the series. If we need to improve in 1 area in tests then that is Catching. If we took all the catches we would have won 2-0 in NZ. Guys please don't be like English and Don't be negative about everything. Lets encourage

going through the conditions the teams be selected dhawan/ vijay/gambhi pujara kohli rahane/rohit rohit/binny /jadeja dhoni ashwin/pankaj/pandey b kumar shami v aaron these must be according to conditions on fast wickets 6batters w/k pacer allrounder and three genuine pacers in other conditions depending

@Kalyan Budhavarti Same feeling here but I have one more feeling that Gambhir will not last more than 2 tests in his comeback. Sorry he has not corrected his Poke outside off in these 2 years and will be a walking wicket of James Anderson If he opens. Normally even openers with good techniques struggle against JA that too Left hand Batsman but Gambhir with No technique as an opener will be found out once again.

@ Aditya Rawal Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. We don't know if Zaheer has recovered from Injury or not. Even if all the players selected in squad won't get a chance in playing 11 you need quality bowlers for net sessions too. It will keep regulars less tired. Imagine same 3 bowlers after toiling hard for 5 days and need to come and bowl 15 overs in nets next day??? 5 tests in 6 weeks is gruesome schedule and definitely bowlers need rest in between and you need max bowlers in squad to know who bowls better and needs to selected first. Zaheer would have been included as extra coaching staff but it would undermine Bowling coach's role. Finally Ishant bowls better with Zaheer at other end is pure myth and coincidence. Where's Ishant when zaheer was at the other end in Aus 2011 when we were whitewashed 4-0. Sorry he is 25 he should be able to lead an attack but unfortunately not happened so far.hope he perform like did in the NZ tour.

@Nandan Nadkarni Hello sir. I am expecting comment on these lines here. India were whitewashed in Eng and AUS 8-0 in 2011. Can you tell me how many CSK players were there??? In Eng its 2 and in Aus its 2. Dhoni common in both the cases and Raina and Ashwin respectively. I don't know what's wrong with guys like you?? Ishwar Pandey was in NZ tour before he has been picked up by CSK in auctions. Jadeja was in the Indian team before he was selected by CSK. Vijay was in the fringes of team selection even before 2008 to include him in the CSK bracket. Raina and Dhoni were both in the team before IPL began. Please tell me which CSK player doesn't warrant their selections in the team and then pour your hate here.

I always felt Rohit was a very underutilized bowler and has the capability to be the lead spinner in foreign conditions ala the role JP has for SA now. And then go in with 4 quicks. Vijay, I think, will and should start the series however I have full confidence in him that after 2 tests he will be dropped and Gambhir will be back. 1st 2 tests, Vijay, Dhawan, Puji, Kohli, Rohit, Rahane, Dhoni, Shami, Bhuvi, Ishant and one of the new comers with pace. In grounds like Oval and all,turning conditions, Ashwin in placeof the 4th spinner. It is a joke to even have Jaddu in the squad in the foreign conditions.

Why cant team selections be a bit more flexible..i dont know if people have noticed this but ishant sharma is a totally different bowler if he has zaheer at the other end.so what if zaheer cant play this series at full fitness why not keep him in the squad instead of those who will not get a single game..even in the dressing room he could make a whole lot of difference..still shami will hold the key for india surely

I would prefer Rahane Dhawan Pujara Kohli Rohit Dhoni Ashwin Jadeja Bhuvneshwar Ishant And Shami as playing 11.

Let's be honest here..This is gonna be a tough tour..A very tough one indeed..BUt i think M.Vijay and S.Dhawan showed they are capable of playing in seaming conditions..They are good players..Its too early to call on their heads b4 the tour has started..Lets see their stint in the practice matches 1st..

The middle order is solid (on paper at least) with Kohli ,Pujara ,Rahane..I dont think Rohit is good enough..He struggled big tym in SA , NZ.. He left a good length delivery on the off stump to get bowled..Shows u his class..

Then MSD..He shd learn a bit of front foot play if he wants to survive in Tests..He has a decent avg of 39.27 overall..He needs to improve though..And his captaincy shd be more proactive than aggresive..Keeping 3 slips and 2 gullies doesnt mean ur an aggresive captain..

Bowlers hav a lot of potential..Bhuvi and Shami impressed a lot and are auto-selections..Remaining shd be Ishant and varun..Ash shd get bak the spin he used to get..Else Jaddu is auto choice..

@aditya: I also meant that we should play with 5 bowlers. 4 fast and 1 spin option.Made a typo in my last comment which made WE to WHY !!

@Known Stranger: Can You please tell me when was the last time India played with 2 pacers and 2 spinners abroad??? don't post if you don't know. The same Indian team almost won a test against SA with Kallis and smith and were in better positions to win both the tests in NZ. Vijay played well in SA and Dhawan played well in NZ and Rahane played well in both the series. Ishant has just picked up 15 wickets in the last series he played. I don't know whether you are bringing in the hate of Dhoni here. @Aayush Kataria In all these tests Except Dominica and Trent bridge Its the inability of our bowlers to finish of the tail and struggle once pitch loses its life is the main reason. We need bowlers who can take wickets in flat pitches once the life is over.

My Recommended XI for the initial couple of test matches will be 1. Gambhir 2. Dhawan 3. Pujara 4. Kohli 5. Rohit 6. MSD 7. Jadeja 8. Ashwin 9. Bhuvi 10. Ishant 11. Shami. Rahane and Vijay can be back batsman. Indians can rotate Binny for Jadeja on Green pitches in later part of the series. But to maintain the over rate India needs couple of frontline spinners. And as seen of lately is that English pitches aid spinners.

i would like to see india going with 5 bowlers i.e 4 pacers in ishanth,bhuvi,shami nd aaron nd ashwin as a lone spinner. it will better as 4 good fast bowlers can do a lot in those conditions nd would give india the best chance to win . but i guess india can go with jaddu in place of ashwin depending upon their form in practise match bt i think jadeja suits to d conditions as he bowls flat and is quick in d air!

going with 5 bowlers is interesting 4quicks with binny as 4th with ashwin and jaddu in the placeof binny may be. and on less helpful pitches pankaj for ishant and 2 spinners.also the key in a long series is to rototate bowlers effectively. henchhart rahane got a90in sa and100 in nz.vijay was good in sa. give them a chance

This will easily be a whitewash England will win 5-0

@Anshuman Jain: You play with 5 bowlers because it's better to share the bowling workload. It's demanding on the body to play Test cricket 6 hours a day -- and if there are only 4 bowlers everyone has to bowl longer spells and more overs. It's much easier if there are 5 bowlers, people will have the stamina to keep bowling throughout. This way, the opposition will find it difficult to form partnerships if the bowlers are always fresh.

If india is a young team England team is even younger. No Peitersen, no Trott. They are in the process of rebuilding. India has a good chance of a test victory in England. July is usually lovely weather temperature wise in England. Hope it doesn't rain. Last time when india was in England they performed magnificiantly to win the Champions trophy. There is no reason why they can't do well again.

India is going to regret the selection of Ishant Sharma and Stuart Binny and the non-selection of Umesh Yadav. A specialist batsman should have gone in place of Binny. In addition Dhoni should show the courage of playing 5 regular bowlers (4 pace + 1 spin) in England instead of the usual 4 bowlers.

The important factor would be squad selection and captaincy .India must be fearless and risks things . Domica 2012 Lords 2012 ,Trend Bridge 2012 ,Melbourne 2012 ,Joburg 2012,Wellington 2014 are matches that were in our grasp but due to defensive tactics ,we let the match slip . Dhoni needs to be agressive and show intent . Also in squad selection, must not be just on experience.We should take the risk and play I pandey P singh V Aaron rather than just sticking to Ishant Sharma .

We would need enough runs on the board too, isn't it, Mr. Vengsarkar? With our openers not too flash against quality seam and swing, I see 20/2 as a common scoreline in almost all innings when India bats. If that happens, we will always be playing catch up! Also, with due respect to the knowledge of Dilip, first half of English summer is April to June. Indians are going there in the second half of summer. But let's not fool ourselves. This will be a tough series. I hope our boys prove me wrong.

Vengsarkar could have lessen his fears, if Umesh Yadav was selected. Can the selectors justify his exclusion, in light of him being the fastest Indian bowler, the only stand out bowler on the last Australian visit, his current fearsome accuracy and broad smile and childlike manner?

England are at their weakest now and I don't see, how they can possibly beat India. The two practice matches are enough and the conditions in England are not really difficult that we already have to start making excuses for any possible series loss. Toughen up

Guys Guys Guys remember we are talking about Team India with Dhoni as captain many people are saying play 3 seamers play 4 seamers Dhoni being what he is likes to fill him team with batsmen as always combo shall be 7 batsmen including Dhoni ash jaddu and 2 pace bowlers.Max 3 seamers that too maybe for 2nd or 3rd test.This is how the line shall be atleast for 1st test vijay dhawan pujara kholi rohit rahane dhoni ash jaddu ishant shami/bhuvi.Dhawan Vijay are going to struggle against new moving ball maybe some resistence from pujara kholi rest line up with pack off like pack of cards.As Indian I dont expect 5-0 loss not coz indian line up is great coz english line and batting is weak but all can change during srilanka tests.Remember India have a great record of getting batsmen out of form to peak form cook in peak can damage big time

Vengsarkar is correct in his assessment of the Indian team's capability. Sadly the Indian Selectors failed to pick the right horses for the right courses. The failure of opening batsmen was the main factor in Indian team's poor performance 2 years back. Gambhir & Dhawan are both notorious chaser & pokers of ball outside the off stump. Gambhir had already proven it in the last tour. Uthappa & Nair were better choice & are also in good form. Similarly the most potent pace bowler Yadev is excluded. Raina & Yuvraj are both far superior to Binny. I expect Pujara & Kohli to be the heart of Indian batting. LH spinners always do well in English pitches. Jadeja needs to take up this role. Kumar & Shami will do well with their swing bowling, though Sandeep Sharma was ideal for England. If Dhoni plays 3 seamers+ Jadeja & Ashwin, India can take 20 wkts. provided batting shows up.They need good batting to win. Can the selected openers give a good start is a big? That is the road to Victory!.

English team is strong in their bowling tht too in their hme conditions.. I agree wit venki..! 5-0 no words

I would respectfuly disagree with Mr.Vengesarkar. Selectors have taken into congizance the unability of our bowlers to take 20 wickets in new zeland and south africa after making early inroads. They got easily worn out and dhoni was left with no options but to go defensive mode. Therefore, selectors have rightly rewardded Pankaj Singh who has bowled longest spells in domestic league and taken more than 180 wickets in mere 4 seasons. Also india have longed missed a seam bowling all rounder in foreign tests which has been reverberated by MS Dhoni for longest. Inducting of Stuart Binny by the selectors has given the leverage of playing with 5 fronline bowlers as binny has taken loads of wickets with his swing bowling and scored +ve intent runs in domestic league over the years. Now Dhoni has got what he would require to win a test match provided he takes judicious decisions to play both of them.

Vengsarkar is spot on and its hard to see anything other than a 5-0 defeat for India. I don't see which of Indian batsmen has the technique to deal with lateral movement and that includes Kohli and apart from Shami no other bowler can execute line and length bowling consistently. But the focus for this group should be the long-term. That means gaining experience in swinging conditions, bowlers and batsmen learning and developing and becoming better players but most important of all everyone doing the best they can so they have no regrets about their effort.

Only one Thing.... both Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh MUST play ....they have takem a lot of wickets on Indian pitches...these both can do real damage...

Only two practice matches before the start of a 5 match test series. That too me is a recipe for disaster. That, and the fact that the quality and technique of some of our batsmen is not the best to tackle the swinging ball. I think this is going to be a tough series. But at the same time it will also be a chance for some of the members in this team to be counted. Anyone remember the series against Englad after the 96 world cup when a certain dravid and ganguly became household names.

Shami is a bowler of reverse swing wih pace. He has done it vs west indies and south africa. I expected bumrah but he hasn't selected

Continuing my opinion here.. On the flip side, if you look at England, they are not good as they were in 2011. No KP, so no proper No.4 batsmen.. Instead Joe Root might take his place. No Jonathan Trott. No proper No.3 batsmen. Leaving out a player like Trott is something ECB should have to look into it.. Moeen Ali now called into Test squad...

Also No Bairstow who could fit in at No.6 or No.5.. Though Nick Compton didnt contribute in terms of stats, he really showed and attacked NZ bowlers in swinging conditions and picked the scoring tempo. So when Cook plays too much slowly, you need to have a batsman at the other end who can take on the attack.. So, looking at all these things, this side is not good.. Since they are playing at home, that might be the advantage for them..

But the most dangerous thing about them is Anderson and Braod who can exploit the conditions better than Indian pacers.. So our openers will be the crucial. Overal, good Indian side with golden chance 2 beat Eng

I think that this is a very good Indian squad, from an English perspective. No serious pace (UT Yadav missing), and you guys have forgotten to include one V. Sehwag, who has lately returned to ominous form.

India could still win an odd game given how poor we are in the post-Pietersen era, but I expect us to win this series.

This series is going to be a stern Test for MS Dhoni as Test captain. After 2011 debacle, this is going to be one of the challenges for MS Dhoni. The way he leads the team on-field is going to be the key. Certainly, he has to play with three seamers. In seaming conditions, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the key to India, so as Mohammad Shami who swings with pace. The third seamer will be interesting to see. If the ball is swinging more, then Ishant will not be a bad option as when he pitches the ball up, he can get the better of batsmen.So third seamer will play a cruical role for India. Also when you talk about R Ashwin he is effective if the wicket starts spinning. In first Test at Nottingham, the surface might get slow, as the day progresses, so Ashwin's inclusion wont be bad idea..So going with three seamers, and a spinner will be good option. Why I have not mentioned about 5 bowlers is, we dont have proper second spinner. Also what will be interesting see is the openers tackling Swing

I don't think India need to be so pessimistic. Not because India are a good side, more because England are a pretty poor side at the moment. Probably the weakest they've been for the last 15 years. If ever there was an away series that India should win, it's this one.

I believe India has to go with 5 bowlers, i.e.. B Kumar, Shami, Pankaj Singh, Ashwin and all rounder Stuart Binny..this will lend the balance to the side. Playing stuart binny not only adds batting depth but also bowling depth.His swing will be very useful in england. and Dhoni can keep his bowlers fresh aswell. He is hard hitting batsman and no 7 aswell. I believe his inclusion in the side could be the X factor team india had missed in foreign conditions earlier. My XI ; Gambhir, Dhawan, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Binny, Dhoni, Ashwin, B Kumar, Shami, Pankaj. Pankaj Singh has tiresly bowled long spells in domestic cricket and taken high quality wikets. He could Give that teeth into the bowling Line up

Fully agree with you Aditya. Dhoni is just not good enough as a test captain and I am sure another 5-0 drubbing is on the card. Ask Zaheer to retire from all other forms except test cricket, see if his fitness allows him to play for couple of more years and give him the test captaincy. He has got an astute mind and captaincy would be an added inspiration.

0-5 loss for India. Hopefully it should be the last series for the Chennai Super kings players. Dhoni is a great limited overs captain but I am afraid not a good test captain. We need Ganguly's who built a great team with Zaheer,Bhajji, Sehwag, Laxman.

Why got to play with 5 bowlers to take 20 wickets.and please no Ashwin and Jadeja in the same match. secondly why don't the Sharmas and Raina play county once in a while.

First of all, I think to win Tests consistently, esp overseas, we need to get rid of the 4-bowler policy. 5 bowlers is the way to go, always. 3 fast bowlers and 2 spinners, or 4 fast bowlers and 1 spinner. Secondly, we need to pick the right people. I have no idea why Umesh Yadav is being ignored so consistently. He's hardly got any chances whereas someone like Ishant gets picked despite his failures. Aaron's had a decent season, so maybe he's a good replacement, but he would be in my starting XI anyway. Remains to be seen whether Dhoni is going to be conservative in his first XI selection like always. He's just not a good captain in overseas Tests.

Ishanth bowled really well in tests in New zealand when he pitches the ball up,he is a great bowler,I hope ishanth does the same. Shami can bowl faster and swing the ball. Bhuvi is the trump card. His new ball bowing will decide india's fate. R.Ashwin 's test will be in this series. Its tought,but i hope he will have a decent test series.

Vengsarkar is right.India doesnt have bowlers to take 20 wkts and win tests outside sub continent. Kohli,Pujara and Dhoni shouldnt have much of a problem batting in England but am not sure about Dhawan,Vijay,Rohit and Rahane when the ball swings and bounces.Let us wait and watch.

Bhuvi may get some help in those condition.I don't think Ishant will be effective

I had no idea they had any left arm unorthodox bowlers.