It is India VS Eng, the second test at TrentBridge.
India outplayed in every department of the game, whether it is bowling or batting.
India won the toss and elected to field, which was the right decision on the cloudy day.
Till tea India were right on top of the game with Eng struggling at128/8.
But all of sudden, Indian bowlers started looking ordinary when Broad was hitting the ball everywhere on the ground. So was it that, we took the tail-enders casually? If it was the case then that cost India the match.
You can't afford to take things casually at any point of the game. Because of this mistake England managed to score a healthy total of 221, which was not a bad total for a side which was struggling at 124/8.
From here India never recovered.
In the first inning no one except Rahul Dravid and Yuvarj able to bat long enough.
So the questions arises- what happened to the top order batsmen? The same top order played well here in 2007. So is it too much of cricket killing their hunger for runs? or is it the huge amount of money got from IPL, made them so casual?
I think, if you want to play any type of game, you need killer spirit. If it is in place then everything goes right.
Also the questions are raised towards Harbhajan's form. For a long time he is not bowling well. Is it that we don't have a choice other than him. There are good spinners like Amit Mishra, Pragyan Oza waiting there for a chance. And the one who gets the chance is not making it count.
Praveen Kumar is the only bowler I saw till now who is consistent. Ishant also bowled well but he is not able to deliver good spells consistently. Shreeshant looked impressive. But in the second Inning they all looked ordinary. So England managed to score 544 runs with centurion Ian Bell, Bresnan, Kevin, Morgan and Broad played their part.
In the same inning there was a possible controversy over Ian Bell's run out. It was clearly out in the laws of the game. But Dhoni decided to withdraw the decision. I don't know about others, but I felt Dhoni's decision was not correct. If you recollect Grant Elliot's run out decision at oval, then where was the spirit of the game.
So with the grand total of 477 to chase, India never looked confident, eventually got all out for 158.
At the end, disappointing match for India. If they loose another match in the series, they will be thrown at the second place in the ICC test ranking.
India outplayed in every department of the game, whether it is bowling or batting.
India won the toss and elected to field, which was the right decision on the cloudy day.
Till tea India were right on top of the game with Eng struggling at128/8.
But all of sudden, Indian bowlers started looking ordinary when Broad was hitting the ball everywhere on the ground. So was it that, we took the tail-enders casually? If it was the case then that cost India the match.
You can't afford to take things casually at any point of the game. Because of this mistake England managed to score a healthy total of 221, which was not a bad total for a side which was struggling at 124/8.
From here India never recovered.
In the first inning no one except Rahul Dravid and Yuvarj able to bat long enough.
So the questions arises- what happened to the top order batsmen? The same top order played well here in 2007. So is it too much of cricket killing their hunger for runs? or is it the huge amount of money got from IPL, made them so casual?
I think, if you want to play any type of game, you need killer spirit. If it is in place then everything goes right.
Also the questions are raised towards Harbhajan's form. For a long time he is not bowling well. Is it that we don't have a choice other than him. There are good spinners like Amit Mishra, Pragyan Oza waiting there for a chance. And the one who gets the chance is not making it count.
Praveen Kumar is the only bowler I saw till now who is consistent. Ishant also bowled well but he is not able to deliver good spells consistently. Shreeshant looked impressive. But in the second Inning they all looked ordinary. So England managed to score 544 runs with centurion Ian Bell, Bresnan, Kevin, Morgan and Broad played their part.
In the same inning there was a possible controversy over Ian Bell's run out. It was clearly out in the laws of the game. But Dhoni decided to withdraw the decision. I don't know about others, but I felt Dhoni's decision was not correct. If you recollect Grant Elliot's run out decision at oval, then where was the spirit of the game.
So with the grand total of 477 to chase, India never looked confident, eventually got all out for 158.
At the end, disappointing match for India. If they loose another match in the series, they will be thrown at the second place in the ICC test ranking.
While playing Test match cricket requires a different mind set, analyzing it also needs to be done with a mind set different from one day or T20 cricket. Playing a test match requires a team to consistently perform for a majority of the 5 days which India did not. In all of 4 days of the second test, India almost played well for almost three quarters of a day.
ReplyDeleteThe new ball was swinging for India and England as well. India and England both lost early wickets but English batsmen showed better application and willingness to see the new ball through. All partnerships were built slowly to begin with and then as the ball turned old, the bowling started looking ordinary. India just didnt outlast the new ball.
India just didnt have enough bowlers to bowl all 5 days. Going in 4 frontline bowlers indicate that the team is playing defensive (Remember the old adage - bowlers win matches). Further on, Zaheer in the first test and Harbhajan in the second test, were not fit enough to bowl well. Is this how the top team aiming to retain its #1 ranking, prepares for a test match? We were clearly under-prepared. We planned for failure even before the team left for the England tour. Clearly, the team management isn't thinking this through.
The controversial run-out and recall will be discussed to death (dont Indians love to talk cricket!!). The main purpose of the match, which was to play good cricket can wait for another time.
Many more points on the analysis can be put forth. The bottomline is, we lacked the will to win and remain #1.
Moral of the story: Give Sachin Tendulkar Bharat Ratna. Next match, Sachin will score his 100th 100 and we will forget all the frustrations.