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It is more than likely that Virender Sehwag has played his last innings on the England tour. It is understood that Sehwag has not completely recovered from the shoulder surgery he underwent immediately after the IPL in May. Sehwag, who struggled to make any impact in the two Tests matches he played, had a quiet word with the two on-tour national selectors – Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave – and the team management, and the decision was then conveyed to the BCCI top brass. In the end Sehwag got the permission.

"The shoulder injury has not completely healed. He will return after the Test series," a BCCI source told ESPNcricinfo. In addition to the shoulder injury, Sehwag has also been suffering from hearing problems in his left ear, after being exposed to a loud sound on July 24, according to the note sent by the National Cricket Academy physiotherapist Nitin Patel to the tour physio Ashish Kaushik when the opener joined the squad for the tour match in Northampton. "Sehwag has some visual and balancing problems, which persist," the source added.

Interestingly, after the first day’s play at The Oval, Anirudh Chaudhary, Indian manager for the Test leg, categorically denied the rumours that Sehwag had asked the team management if he could head back home.

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India 300 (Dravid 146*, Bresnan 3-54) and 129 for 3 (Tendulkar 35*, Mishra 8*) trail England 591 for 6 dec by 162 runs.

Dravid produced another marathon innings at The Oval. Take a look at his best knocks in Tests

Take a look at all the action from day four of the fourth test between India and England in this collection.

This was a proper day of Test cricket, which has been a rarity over the last two matches, with a Rahul Dravid masterclass making England dig deeper for their successes. However, his unbeaten 146 wasn’t enough to save the follow-on and India still face a huge task to avoid the whitewash after closing on 129 for 3 although Sachin Tendulkar remained on 35. Graeme Swann made the early inroads, including the scalp of Dravid, during a superb spell on a pitch offering plenty of turn.

Dravid’s unbeaten hundred, his third ton of the series, was a magnificent innings, contributing nearly half India’s total (the first time they had reached 300 in the series) during six hours at the crease and 266 balls. He became the third India batsman to carry his bat, after Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar, and due to Gautam Gambhir’s ongoing problems with concussion was back out 10 minutes later for the follow-on. When he took guard he had 448 runs for the series and India’s next best was MS Dhoni with 217.

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England 75 for 0 (Strauss 38*, Cook 34*) v India

Given the way England have dominated this series it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that the only thing that will stop them completing a whitewash is the weather. Rain wiped out play after lunch on the opening day at The Oval, but during the two hours possible Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook formed a solid platform against a very disappointing India attack as England reached 75 without loss.

This was as poorly as India had bowled all series as they wasted whatever help was on offer under overcast skies. There was barely a chance created during the session and the whole attitude portrayed by the visitors was of a team low on confidence and waiting for the series to finish. Defeat here will leave them third in the world rankings but it’s difficult to see them limiting England’s in-form batting line-up with a better forecast for Friday. RP Singh, on his return to the Test team after a three-year absence for the injured Praveen Kumar, didn’t set a good tone with his opening over. The first ball was sprayed down the leg side and the batsmen were offered some gentle leg-stump deliveries to open their accounts. He was also about the same pace as Praveen, but with less swing, which wasn’t entirely surprising considering he hadn’t played first-class cricket since January.

Although a couple of early boundaries came to third man they were played with soft hands by Strauss and Cook. There was an alarming lack of intensity from India, both with the ball and in the field, as they failed to make any use of the overcast conditions. Sreesanth’s first spell was poor with too many deliveries on leg stump which ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over with Cook, for the time being at least, taking his average over 50.

India showed slightly more energy during the second hour – although everything is relative – and Strauss had his most uncomfortable moment when he was struck on the helmet by an Ishant Sharma bouncer that took a chunk out of the lid. From that moment Strauss was more reluctant to get forward, but was still able to play a beautiful off drive against Sreesanth.

Ishant remained the pick of the three quicks, probing away outside off and finding a touch of troubling bounce, but there were few alarms for the openers. Even with two left-handers at the crease it was a surprise when Suresh Raina’s part-time offspin was used ahead of Amit Mishra who removed Strauss at Edgbaston.

Earlier, James Anderson had been passed fit to take his place in the England side as they remained unchanged. A thigh niggle had created doubts about his fitness, but he came through a net on Wednesday so Graham Onions or Steven Finn, who left to play for Middlesex against Kent, were not required. On the evidence of the first session, and with the impact of the weather, Anderson might not be needed until well into the weekend.
Source: Cricinfo

India have only pride to play while England will look to cement their place as No.1 team at The Oval

England will look to cement their place as the world’s number one Test side by completing a whitewash of India when the fourth and final match of their series starts at The Oval on Thursday. India arrived atop the ICC’s Test Championship table but progressively larger defeats, by 196 runs at Lord’s, 319 runs at Trent Bridge and a massive innings and 242 runs at Edgbaston, have left them 3-0 down.
Source: Yahoo

‘Indian coach Fletcher architect of England’s stunning revival in world cricket’

London, Aug 14: Indian cricket coach Duncan Fletcher must take a great deal of credit for putting in place the foundations upon which the current England team is based.

According to an article in the Telegraph, without Fletcher’s radical modernisation methods when he was the England coach from 1999 to 2006, the heady successes currently being enjoyed would simply not have been possible.

"To succeed you require resources. The most significant upshot the introduction of central contracts. These are quite simply the most important factor in England’s re-emergence as a Test nation. Some might say that when Duncan Fletcher took over as coach in 1999 he was fortunate that his arrival coincided with those contracts," the article said.

"There might have been some fortune in his forming such a strong and instant bond with a skipper, Nasser Hussain, whom he had never met, but he actually faced a horrible task in implementing those contracts," it added.

The article also highlighted that for a hundred years and more the counties had basically done as they wished, but after Fletcher’s arrival they were being told that they could not have their players when they wanted, even when England were not playing.

"It was a huge, often acrimonious, change," it said.

It further said that most of Fletcher’s key mantras are still evident: fitness, fielding, strong lower-order batting and bowlers above 85mph, able to reverse-swing the ball.

"For this team only the playing of spin in the subcontinent, so hugely improved under Fletcher, has yet to be tested. That chance will come this winter, and it will be fascinating to watch," the article said.

Source: Yahoo

England 456 for 3 (Cook 182*, Morgan 44*) lead India 224 by 232 runs
India hadn’t seen the best of Alastair Cook in the first two Tests. Now they have. His unbeaten 182, a 19th Test hundred, carried England into a position of complete control at Edgbaston as they built a lead of 232 with the prospect of plenty more to come. Cook added 187 for the first wicket alongside Andrew Strauss, while Kevin Pietersen contributed a lively half-century during India’s worst day of the series with England closed on an imposing 456 for 3.

Cook’s lean start to the series – 20 runs in four innings – was barely enough to constitute a problem, but the expectations on him are high after his run-scoring feats over the last 12 months. A year ago, midway through the Pakistan series, Cook was in the middle of a severe slump but this hundred was his third of the summer and fourth of the year. His century came from 213 balls and after a watchful, dogged, start both yesterday evening then in the morning session he was scoring freely through the leg side and also with both his cover drive and cut.

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India have another bad day in the park, with England on 84/0 after India made 224.

England 84 for no loss at stumps on Day 1

Andrew Strauss made his first 50 of the series and with India unable to get a breakthrough, Day 2 is already looking long and painful for the Indian bowlers. This was after the batsman gave up a good chance to put up a decent score on a pitch that looked favourable for batting. Fans are secretly wishing the team would have cited security concerns and made the trip back home to save them from the humiliation of another debacle.

Will Day 2 see a miraculous turnaround or will England firm their grip around the number 1 Test ranking status that is slipping away from India’s soapy hands? We’ll be back to take you through all the action.

10:45 pm Yahoo! Cricket readers are angry, and we don’t blame them. The Indian team look like they’ve already given up – the shoulders are drooping, the pace is lacking and on day one of a five day game there is no sense of competition.

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England thrashed India by 196 runs to win the first Test and take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

London, (AFP): James Anderson took five wickets as England thrashed India by 196 runs to win the first Test at Lord’s on Monday. Victory gave England a 1-0 lead in a four-match series which if they win it by two Tests will see them replace India at the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table. India, needing what would have been a Test record fourth innings victory total of 458, were bowled out for 261. Anderson took five for 65 in 28 overs during an innings where Suresh Raina top-scored with 78.

Kevin Pietersen was named man-of-the-match for his 202 not out in England’s first innings 474 for eight declared.

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Rain stalled India’s 1st innings reply after Ishant’s fiver helped dismiss WI for 204

Roseau: Harbhajan Singh achieved his 400th Test wicket while Ishant Sharma grabbed a five-for as India bundled out West Indies for 204 before rain and bad light stalled the visitors’ reply on day 2 of the third and final match here.

At stumps, India were eight for no loss, with Abhinav Mukund and Murali Vijay batting on six and one, respectively.

India now trail by 196 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the first innings.

Only 49.2 overs were bowled on the second day, leading to a loss of a total of ninety-seven overs in the last two days.

Even as the officials seemed optimistic despite a sharp shower interrupting play in the post-tea session, the light was deemed too poor for umpires to resume play.

The poor weather apart, the facilities at the Windsor Park could be termed primitive as carts were used to scoop the water from the covers.

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