Will Suresh Raina get another chance?

No batting nets for Kohli could mean another chance for Raina

Will Suresh Raina get another chance?

No batting nets for Kohli could mean another chance for Raina

Going by Suresh Raina's inability cope with the fast and short stuff, he should be ideally replaced by Virat Kohli in the playing XI for Thursday's Test against England at the Oval.

However, Raina made good use of the optional net session yesterday while Kohli just hung around the net area in cheerful fashion.

"Don't be surprised if the same XI which played in Edgbaston is fielded except RP Singh coming in for S Sreesanth," said a source.
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ONE thought RP Singh would be the first of the pacers to bowl in the nets yesterday considering he is Zaheer Khan's replacement and is an obvious choice for the Oval Test. However, the left-arm swing bowler kicked off his nets after S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel. He was seen bowling to skipper MS Dhoni and he wasn't even being watched by coach Duncan Fletcher and bowling coach Eric Simons. Some twist here?
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THE security at the Oval consisted of two sniffer dogs too. To many, they looked like someone's pets, but they took no time in showing that they mean business. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a dog lover to the core, was seen playing around with them.

While on the topic of dogs, it is the learnt that the Indian team is seething at a tabloid newspaper which carried a column that said Indian cricket has gone to the dogs.
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For the second Test in a row, the Indian team's tour bosses did not make a player available to talk to the media unlike their England counterparts two days before the Test.

Team India clearly don't believe in obliging the media. They shouldn't but looking at the bigger picture, it won't be bad for the image of the team if a senior player comes and talks about how the side is determined to reduce England's victory margin.u00a0

And if there difficult, unfair questions, there is always the option of uttering those two great words - 'no comments.'

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Graeme Swann provided an indication of how tough England's coach Andy Flower is. Swann mentioned the former Zimbabwean captain while talking about the need for England to keep the pressure on India.

"You don't want to be in the same room as Andy Flower if we take our feet off the gas," said Swann. The offie was also not coy in admitting how is dreading Flower's formula for England to keep their No 1 ranking. Flower is a tough man with tough ways!

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