Collapse of the top-order

With the England tour subjecting Indian cricket fans to a rude awakening from what has been a fairytale year, the panic button has been pressed writes Desh Gaurav Chopra Sekhri in the Indian Express. But finger-pointing and blame-game won’t take Indian cricket very far.

There isn’t a quick-fix solution to being underprepared given the current situation. Practice matches sound fine in theory with plenty of upside — acclimatising to the conditions the most obvious — but in the present circumstances our players need time to recover from fatigue and injuries. Aggravating an existing injury or managing to get injured during a practice match would have greater ramifications than would some batting and/ or bowling time.

If India have to win The Oval Test, they need a solid opening partnership reckons Sourav Ganguly. Here's more in the Mid-Day.

If Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir can fire at the top of the order, the others will suddenly feel better about their batting. Sometimes that's all it takes ” one blazing century by Viru (Sehwag), and suddenly things will change.