India will do well in England
I was sifting through the cricinfo series archives to find out the last time India went on a tour and got not one but two first class matches before the 1st test. The answer I got was pretty interesting - back in Australia in the Aussie summer of 2003/04. Another fact I observed is how few tests India play outside the subcontinent. It's not much of a surprise then that they had done pretty well down under (Not to say that was the only reason though).
For quite a few years India have been playing ODIs before getting to tests. They move on to play the solitary first class game which they call as a preparation for tests. That's a big ask really, coming into the chilly weather, adjusting to the living conditions first and then moving on and adjusting to the playing conditions. Imagine India had not been in Ireland before travelling to the UK. It's quite possible that they would have had to summon all their county playing cricketers (for some unknown reason, there are very few of those) to play the first test, since the flu bug that brought a lot of them down during the ODI series at Belfast could have struck during the first test.
It's a trend followed all over the world these days due to excessive cricket. But the fact remains that visiting teams tend to get thrashed in the first test, just about break even towards the end of the 2nd and end up making a good contest of it in the 3rd. Unfortunately for India, the series almost always ends by then as the administrators don't believe in a 5-test series. They rather convert those 10 extra playing days into ODI games and rake in the moolahs. Luckily this time - if weather permits - and that's a very big IF - India would get 2 first class games and they are in a strong position by the end of the 2nd day in the first of those.
I remember times when India used to get humiliated by provincial sides in the warmup games. And as I am still 24, my cricketing memory isn't that old, so I am talking about a time just a decade ago. We have improved as a test side quite a bit since then, thanks mainly to the Golden-3 and Anil Kumble and the results prove it. Our strength has always been the middle order and how the openers shield it from the new ball. It will be critical for India to get to good starts, which makes the role of Karthik and Jaffer extremely important. The team strategists (in the absense of a coach, I believe it will be Dravid and Tendulkar) have to explain it to these two and if one of them can do what Akash Chopra did in Australia in 2003-04, India will be well served. With his well made 95, Laxman seems to have sealed his spot in the starting 11 and however I believe that Yuvraj should now be a permanent member of the test side, I think it will be Ganguly at 6. The form of Dhoni will also be very crucial, as I think he will be leading the Indian team into the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup (being scheduled so close to a disasterous ODI world cup, I think it will make the latter obsolete). Dhoni and Yuvraj now need to start asserting themselves a lot more on the field and take up any responsibility as a great opportunity towards being the new face of Indian cricket.
Moving onto the bowling, Anil Kumble still remains India's main hope, wherever on earth we may play. The man hangs in there till he wins battles against batsmen. The only other man who can win a test single-handedly with the ball in his hand is Sreesanth. Having said that, he is the biggest challenge for Venkatesh Prasad, who himself enjoyed English conditions to a great extent. There has been a belief that India can't handle seam bowling, but the truth is no one can, especially when it swings. We saw what happened to the mighty Aussies when it reversed in England in 2005. And when Agarkar, Zaheer and RP Singh managed to go without a single wide or no-ball in the 3nd ODI at Belfast, the Proteas batsmen came a distant second in the contest. That's where Sreesanth's strength lies, in the movement he generates. That's where his weakness lies as well, if he moves it a bit too much, he will be ineffective. How he adjusts will be crucial to India's fortunes. RP Singh has looked at his best match fitness since his debut. The man is getting a good body arch at the delivery stride and seems to be putting everything into it. He needs to maintain his rhythm. Zaheer also needs to bring in all his Worcestershire experience. It will be a great challenge since they will be up against a batting side at its best. England probably have the best test lineup after Australia and all their batsmen barring Vaughan and Strauss, are at their peak.
The biggest threat to Indian batting might come from an unexpected corner though. India need to be in a positive frame of mind against Monty and somebody needs to take the responsibility to negate him and if possible, get on top of him right from the word go. It could be Sourav Ganguly or if he is in the side, Yuvraj Singh. How much they have prepared for that threat, only time will tell. But I would have got the bowling machine to bowl left arm orthodox at me, or better still called up somebody like Murali Karthik to get some net practice. Monty is a super spinner and we should give him equal respect during our training sessions to what we give to somebody like Hoggard .
A digression from the main topic (as if I have had none so far) before I go. It's probably unprecedented in Indian cricket history, that 3 senior cricketers - even when they are fully fit- make themselves unavailable, just because they understand the needs of a certain format of the game. People might have varying opinions about Tendulkar- Ganguly- Dravid's withdrawal from selection for the Twenty20 probables. But I think it's a brave move, and one that was much needed. Kudos!!
For quite a few years India have been playing ODIs before getting to tests. They move on to play the solitary first class game which they call as a preparation for tests. That's a big ask really, coming into the chilly weather, adjusting to the living conditions first and then moving on and adjusting to the playing conditions. Imagine India had not been in Ireland before travelling to the UK. It's quite possible that they would have had to summon all their county playing cricketers (for some unknown reason, there are very few of those) to play the first test, since the flu bug that brought a lot of them down during the ODI series at Belfast could have struck during the first test.
It's a trend followed all over the world these days due to excessive cricket. But the fact remains that visiting teams tend to get thrashed in the first test, just about break even towards the end of the 2nd and end up making a good contest of it in the 3rd. Unfortunately for India, the series almost always ends by then as the administrators don't believe in a 5-test series. They rather convert those 10 extra playing days into ODI games and rake in the moolahs. Luckily this time - if weather permits - and that's a very big IF - India would get 2 first class games and they are in a strong position by the end of the 2nd day in the first of those.
I remember times when India used to get humiliated by provincial sides in the warmup games. And as I am still 24, my cricketing memory isn't that old, so I am talking about a time just a decade ago. We have improved as a test side quite a bit since then, thanks mainly to the Golden-3 and Anil Kumble and the results prove it. Our strength has always been the middle order and how the openers shield it from the new ball. It will be critical for India to get to good starts, which makes the role of Karthik and Jaffer extremely important. The team strategists (in the absense of a coach, I believe it will be Dravid and Tendulkar) have to explain it to these two and if one of them can do what Akash Chopra did in Australia in 2003-04, India will be well served. With his well made 95, Laxman seems to have sealed his spot in the starting 11 and however I believe that Yuvraj should now be a permanent member of the test side, I think it will be Ganguly at 6. The form of Dhoni will also be very crucial, as I think he will be leading the Indian team into the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup (being scheduled so close to a disasterous ODI world cup, I think it will make the latter obsolete). Dhoni and Yuvraj now need to start asserting themselves a lot more on the field and take up any responsibility as a great opportunity towards being the new face of Indian cricket.
Moving onto the bowling, Anil Kumble still remains India's main hope, wherever on earth we may play. The man hangs in there till he wins battles against batsmen. The only other man who can win a test single-handedly with the ball in his hand is Sreesanth. Having said that, he is the biggest challenge for Venkatesh Prasad, who himself enjoyed English conditions to a great extent. There has been a belief that India can't handle seam bowling, but the truth is no one can, especially when it swings. We saw what happened to the mighty Aussies when it reversed in England in 2005. And when Agarkar, Zaheer and RP Singh managed to go without a single wide or no-ball in the 3nd ODI at Belfast, the Proteas batsmen came a distant second in the contest. That's where Sreesanth's strength lies, in the movement he generates. That's where his weakness lies as well, if he moves it a bit too much, he will be ineffective. How he adjusts will be crucial to India's fortunes. RP Singh has looked at his best match fitness since his debut. The man is getting a good body arch at the delivery stride and seems to be putting everything into it. He needs to maintain his rhythm. Zaheer also needs to bring in all his Worcestershire experience. It will be a great challenge since they will be up against a batting side at its best. England probably have the best test lineup after Australia and all their batsmen barring Vaughan and Strauss, are at their peak.
The biggest threat to Indian batting might come from an unexpected corner though. India need to be in a positive frame of mind against Monty and somebody needs to take the responsibility to negate him and if possible, get on top of him right from the word go. It could be Sourav Ganguly or if he is in the side, Yuvraj Singh. How much they have prepared for that threat, only time will tell. But I would have got the bowling machine to bowl left arm orthodox at me, or better still called up somebody like Murali Karthik to get some net practice. Monty is a super spinner and we should give him equal respect during our training sessions to what we give to somebody like Hoggard .
A digression from the main topic (as if I have had none so far) before I go. It's probably unprecedented in Indian cricket history, that 3 senior cricketers - even when they are fully fit- make themselves unavailable, just because they understand the needs of a certain format of the game. People might have varying opinions about Tendulkar- Ganguly- Dravid's withdrawal from selection for the Twenty20 probables. But I think it's a brave move, and one that was much needed. Kudos!!
posted by w_o @ 11:03 AM
1 Comments:
At 2:03 PM,
Pankaj said…
knowing that is a the 20-20 WORLD CUP, the withdrawl of the three is a serious move. I still think that this trio fits this form of cricket too. However, their sacrifice will definitely help the indian cricket to prepare for the non ganguly-dravid-sachin era coming ahead (may be yuvraj-karthik-dhoni era?).
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