By: K. Gautam
I watched the 4th and the 5th matches very sporadically. Also just caught some of the highlights packages of these 2 matches.
The 4th one-day!
After a good start by the Indian batsmen (17/0 after 3), the England bowlers fought back, always keeping a stranglehold over them and restricted them to 212, Stuart Broad the pick of the bowlers. Only Yuvraj Singh managed to break the shackles to an extent.
I had mentioned in my previous column that India would have to improve their fielding if they are to keep their hopes in the series alive. Well, yet again, their shoddy fielding let them down. Except for Yuvraj Singh, all the other 10 fielders were guilty of letting their side down in the field at some time or the other. I really cringed, each time there was a mis-field or a dive after the ball had passed. I am sure Robin Singh, the fielding coach, would have wished he were at home cooling his heels. After doing well to restrict England to 114/7, all they needed was one more wicket, with only Monty Panesar and James Anderson to come. If India had kept up the pressure with some tight fielding and managed to take just one more wicket, they could have won the match.
Dravid repented (as usual) after the match that his side’s fielding let the team down.
Even with England being 7 down, Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad always looked calm and never panicked. With hardly any pressure from the Indian fielding, ones were converted into twos and twos into threes, with the occasional boundary of the bad ball. Even with the runs required coming to less than 20, they never relaxed, knowing fully well that just one wicket could tilt the match in India’s favor. Stuart Broad rightly deserved the man of the match for his 4/51 and a sensible 41.
Ajith Agarkar continues to be an enigma. Was this the same bowler who was bowling as slow (or fast) as a spinner in the second one-dayer? He looked a determined man after being dropped for the third one-dayer. He really rattled the English batsmen with his pace and though he went for almost 60 runs in his 10 overs, took 4 wickets with his nip and swing. Wonder when we will get to see such a pacy performance from Agarkar next?
The 5th one-day!
Paul Collingwood probably made the same mistake Rahul Dravid made in the 1st and 3rd one-dayer, when he chose to bowl first after winning the toss. 7/0 after 5 overs, with below average running between the wickets from the openers, it looked to be the correct decision. Then came the decisive turn in the whole match with Tendulkar taking on the English bowlers starting with Jon Lewis. Collingwood should never have disturbed the successful opening bowling combination of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Though Anderson and Broad were also meted out the same treatment by Tendulkar, he really took a liking to Jon Lewis’ gentle medium pace. By the time Tendulkar was dismissed, he had set a platform for India to get a big score (116/1). Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, who scored a brilliant 72 of 57 deliveries, carried on the momentum along with the others, to set England a challenging total.
Tendulkar’s 71 of 59 deliveries was his best I have seen for a long time. Other than one or two mistimed shots, the ball was racing to the boundary.
Now, what do I say about the Indian fielding when they bowled? I am sure everybody is fed up talking of it. The cringing and the agony continue. I really couldn’t keep count of how many catches were dropped in the highlights package. With such below-standard fielding, India will always have to play doubly well to win matches. Bowlers will always be under pressure to bowl beyond their best and batsmen will have to score 30 or 40 runs extra to compensate for the fielding.
MS Dhoni was the sole consolation with some excellent keeping with a world-record equaling 6 dismissals including a lightning-like stumping of Matt Prior, which stalled England, when they were blazing away at 97 for 1.
Sourav Ganguly’s 300th match proved to be a lucky one for him and India. His useful 59 and an excellent 2/26 of 7 overs earned him the man of the match.
Hopefully the Indian fielders would take inspiration from MS Dhoni and complement him in the remaining 2 matches.
I watched the 4th and the 5th matches very sporadically. Also just caught some of the highlights packages of these 2 matches.
The 4th one-day!
After a good start by the Indian batsmen (17/0 after 3), the England bowlers fought back, always keeping a stranglehold over them and restricted them to 212, Stuart Broad the pick of the bowlers. Only Yuvraj Singh managed to break the shackles to an extent.
I had mentioned in my previous column that India would have to improve their fielding if they are to keep their hopes in the series alive. Well, yet again, their shoddy fielding let them down. Except for Yuvraj Singh, all the other 10 fielders were guilty of letting their side down in the field at some time or the other. I really cringed, each time there was a mis-field or a dive after the ball had passed. I am sure Robin Singh, the fielding coach, would have wished he were at home cooling his heels. After doing well to restrict England to 114/7, all they needed was one more wicket, with only Monty Panesar and James Anderson to come. If India had kept up the pressure with some tight fielding and managed to take just one more wicket, they could have won the match.
Dravid repented (as usual) after the match that his side’s fielding let the team down.
Even with England being 7 down, Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad always looked calm and never panicked. With hardly any pressure from the Indian fielding, ones were converted into twos and twos into threes, with the occasional boundary of the bad ball. Even with the runs required coming to less than 20, they never relaxed, knowing fully well that just one wicket could tilt the match in India’s favor. Stuart Broad rightly deserved the man of the match for his 4/51 and a sensible 41.
Ajith Agarkar continues to be an enigma. Was this the same bowler who was bowling as slow (or fast) as a spinner in the second one-dayer? He looked a determined man after being dropped for the third one-dayer. He really rattled the English batsmen with his pace and though he went for almost 60 runs in his 10 overs, took 4 wickets with his nip and swing. Wonder when we will get to see such a pacy performance from Agarkar next?
The 5th one-day!
Paul Collingwood probably made the same mistake Rahul Dravid made in the 1st and 3rd one-dayer, when he chose to bowl first after winning the toss. 7/0 after 5 overs, with below average running between the wickets from the openers, it looked to be the correct decision. Then came the decisive turn in the whole match with Tendulkar taking on the English bowlers starting with Jon Lewis. Collingwood should never have disturbed the successful opening bowling combination of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Though Anderson and Broad were also meted out the same treatment by Tendulkar, he really took a liking to Jon Lewis’ gentle medium pace. By the time Tendulkar was dismissed, he had set a platform for India to get a big score (116/1). Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, who scored a brilliant 72 of 57 deliveries, carried on the momentum along with the others, to set England a challenging total.
Tendulkar’s 71 of 59 deliveries was his best I have seen for a long time. Other than one or two mistimed shots, the ball was racing to the boundary.
Now, what do I say about the Indian fielding when they bowled? I am sure everybody is fed up talking of it. The cringing and the agony continue. I really couldn’t keep count of how many catches were dropped in the highlights package. With such below-standard fielding, India will always have to play doubly well to win matches. Bowlers will always be under pressure to bowl beyond their best and batsmen will have to score 30 or 40 runs extra to compensate for the fielding.
MS Dhoni was the sole consolation with some excellent keeping with a world-record equaling 6 dismissals including a lightning-like stumping of Matt Prior, which stalled England, when they were blazing away at 97 for 1.
Sourav Ganguly’s 300th match proved to be a lucky one for him and India. His useful 59 and an excellent 2/26 of 7 overs earned him the man of the match.
Hopefully the Indian fielders would take inspiration from MS Dhoni and complement him in the remaining 2 matches.
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