Bresnan shines as England crush India

England 221 (Broad 64, Praveen 3-45) and 544 (Bell 159, Pietersen 63, Morgan 70, Prior 73, Bresnan 90, Praveen 4-124) hit India 288 (Dravid 117, Laxman 54, Yuvraj 62, Broad 6-46) and 158 (Tendulkar 56, Bresnan 5-48) by 319 runs

Scott Elstone was intelligent to play Gary Pratt's part in England's stunning 319-run success over India in the second Test on Monday.

The 21-year-old, who is Nottinghamshire's second XI captain, detained on to a pair of catches in the deep off Tim Bresnan as the tourists not working to be all out for 158.

It was an exciting day for the young right-hander, who drove up from Nottinghamshire's Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Swansea late on Sunday night to take his place, as he also spilled a tough chance running back off Harbhajan Singh's skied pull shot.

He made amends soon after, though, when he just held onto another Harbhajan swipe to give Bresnan his five-wicket haul.

Elstone had earlier wedged out Suresh Raina.

It has been an unforgettable week for Elstone who also full in on Friday, when he was on pasture for Stuart Broad's hat-trick, before making his quick go back journey to Swansea where he made 31 from 25 balls in Nottinghamshire's win over Glamorgan.

Elstone's appearance revived some thoughts of Pratt's memorable 12th-man appearance at the same venue six years ago, when he crucially ran out Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, as England claimed a key win in their get through Ashes success.

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Sehwag set to connect beleaguered Indian side

Virender Sehwag, who missed the first two Tests of the England tour, is listed to join the Indian team in the next couple of days. Sehwag, who was ruled out for the first fortnight of the England series when the Indian selectors announce the Test squad on July 2, is expected to be available for the last two Tests. The Indians play a two-day tour match against Northants starting this Friday ahead of the third Test which starts in Birmingham next week.

India would be hopeful about opening with their usual pair of Sehwag and Gautam Gamhir in Northampton and then in the third Test at Edgbaston. Gambhir has improved from the left-shoulder injury he picked while field in England's second innings at Lord's. "He is sure for the next Test," MS Dhoni told.

Sehwag's return would absolutely be a shot in the arm for India, who have been totally outplayed in the series so far and are 2-0 down. It was in England that he scored his first century as an opener, at Trent Bridge in 2002, though he misses the 2007 tour.

India lost their premier fast bowler Zaheer Khan to a hamstring injury on the first afternoon of the Lord's Test, and England's bowlers have completely dominated their batsmen, most of who with the exemption of Rahul Dravid have struggle to find their touch, form and at times even stand their ground.

Sehwag had opted for a shoulder surgical procedure after playing the IPL in May and was lined out for at least two months counting the tour of West Indies. When the selectors picked the squad, it came with a qualification that Sehwag was given an additional two weeks rest to allow him to rest his shoulder. In Taunton, ahead of India's first tour match next to Somerset, Indian coach Duncan Fletcher indicated that he was not sure but predict Sehwag could be back in time for the third Test.

In Sehwag's nonattendance, India field three different opening combinations. The Tamil Nadu pair of Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund opened in the three-Test series in the Caribbean that India won 1-0. Gambhir had suffered a shoulder injury during the final round of the IPL, exacerbating an existing injury he claimed he at first picked during the World Cup final in April. Vijay, who was the third-choice opener in the past, struggle and got a tally of 72 runs in the three Tests against West Indies, a series where Abhinav made his debut and frightened scoring 147 runs,.

At Lord's, Abhinav connected Gambhir, who was hit on the elbow while fielding in the second innings and batted down the order. Gambhir was then affirmed out of shape to play in the second Test forcing Rahul Dravid to face the new ball in Abhinav's company.

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Dhoni's move ought to set an example - Strauss

Andrew Strauss hopes that MS Dhoni's sign to allow Ian Bell to recommence his innings following the contentious run-out, at tea on the third day at Trent Bridge, will prompt other captains to support the spirit of cricket.

The series rare to descend into acrimony when Bell was given out the last ball before the interval, when he started to walk off the field before 'over' was called having thought he'd scored a boundary. He admitted to being naive and stupid, but India themselves had concerns about the situation as they met in the dressing room and were in deep discussion before Strauss and Andy Flower asked them to reconsider.

"It was very admirable that they distorted their mind and took back the appeal," Strauss said. "It's one of those situations where there are always shades of grey but I think it was good for the game of cricket. In years to come it will be looked upon as a step in the right direction for the game of cricket and hopefully other people will follow those decisions.

"I think one of the things that have set the game of cricket slightly apart from other sports is that you have the chance to show some spirit. It's good for the game of cricket going forward and therefore the game of cricket is the better for it."

Strauss has been concerned in recall a batsman to the crease when he allowed Angelo Mathews to resume after he was given run-out following a collision during a Champions Trophy match in 2009. He agreed that, by the Laws, Bell was run-out although he felt that the fact that he wasn't trying to take another run was a factor in his defenses.

"When it first happen there was a lot of perplexity, and myself and Andy went down to the umpire's room as we just wanted to clarify the circumstances as regards to the Laws of the game," Strauss said. "We were entirely at ease that in the strict rules of the game Ian was out. [But] we felt that it was pretty obvious that he was just walking off for tea and wasn't attempting a run and so we asked India to think again their appeal and then left it at that."

Dhoni confirmed that the Indians had doubts about the dismissal which "didn't feel right" and took the chance to say that more could be done by the game as a whole to support the spirit of cricket which he felt wasn't being applied every time.

"We weren't feeling good at heart," he said. "A similar kind of incident happens in West Indies when VVS Laxman got stumped. After we took the conclusion we were really satisfied. There are a lot of things where spirit of cricket should be follow. It needs to be equal but it's about what we feel as a team is significant.

"If a fielder takes a one-bounce catch he's called deceive but if a batsman stands after nicking it he isn't," Dhoni added. "Going up to a batsman and swear words isn't in the spirit of cricket. We've seen quite a few things happen. If you want to follow you should follow it 100%."

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Back-to-back series lead to disaster

Down 2-0 in the four-Test series and their numerous Uno statuses in jeopardy, MS Dhoni admits that a overcrowded schedule and lack of rest after the West Indies series were the factors in charge for their dismal show.

He, however, hoped that with significant amount of rest before the next Test, India will be looking forward to a rotate in the remaining two matches of the series.

"Somebody said time is of spirit here. We came straight from the Caribbean and didn't have time to play more than one (practice) game. So we are playing seven and not four matches back-to-back," said Dhoni after India suffer a severe 319-run beat at the hands of England in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

"It (this series) is a continuance of the West Indies tour and we haven't really had a gap. You need to get ready differently (for England tour). In this respect the next 10 days are very important," he added.

With Virender Sehwag set to join the squad tomorrow, and Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan likely to be fit for the third Test at Edgbaston on August 10, Dhoni spoken hope of a comeback in the series.

The series so far although has been hard on India, the world's best Test side, and Dhoni admitted that his well-known batting line up needs to fire to give the visitors any hope of a turnaround.

"It's significant to score and put runs on the board. We have been slightly missing in this respect. Even in the West Indies we didn't score runs consistently. We do need development in the batting," he said.

"In all the three innings, we haven't been able to see the second new ball throughout. In circumstances such as these, it's vital. We don't want our batters from number eight onwards to be uncovered to second new ball," he said.

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