Can India turn it around?

BY RITAM MITRA

1999 test matches had been played prior to the first Test between India and England at Lord’s earlier this month. In that time, these teams played each other 99 times. But never has so much hinged upon a series between these two sides. Indeed, until now, never have these two sides looked at each other as their greatest threat; India and England are, in many respects, the two best sides in the world (although officially England sit third on the ladder).The immense build-up to the series opener in London was thus truly appropriate to the occasion of the 2000th Test and 100th face-off between the teams – but as the first two matches unfolded, it was only one of the sides who delivered their best.

The biggest news in the lead up to the series was the absence, through injury, of marauding opener Virender Sehwag for at least the first two matches. Although India were victorious in the West Indies without his services, their reliance on him is often understated and it is important to consider just how big a weapon had been disarmed. Sehwag is a unique player – quite simply, there is no other in his mould on this planet. While Gayle, Watson and Dilshan are all brutal on their day, Sehwag is the one opener who can upset a bowler’s line and length on a consistent basis, change the course of a game within a session, and force a result where none looks possible.

However, injuries are part and parcel of the sport, and fitness is often the reason some players are labelled “talented” while others become “greats”. After the first Test was over, Gautam Gambhir joined the injury ranks with a badly bruised elbow, but it was Zaheer Khan’s hamstring injury suffered early in the piece at Lords that really set the alarm bells off. India played out most of the first Test with two seamers already tired from a testing West Indies tour, and an off-spinner who looked mediocre at the best of times. Zaheer’s figures read 13.3-8-18-2, when he sustained the strain. Fast forward to the second Test and the Indian bowlers leaked England’s last 308 runs in just over 60 overs. The first Test was, interestingly enough, one way traffic from the very moment Zaheer was injured. Trott (incidentally, now officially the second-best Test batsman in the world) and Pietersen combined for a big partnership to build a strong foundation for England’s more flamboyant middle and lower order. They delivered, and with a flourish of late hitting to make up for the earlier toil which he described himself as the “hardest [he’d] ever had to work”, Pietersen hit 202 not out in a menacing first innings of 474/8 dec. Praveen Kumar picked up 5 wickets, a just reward for 40 overs of hard work, but it belied a bigger problem – an ineffective Ishant Sharma and an extremely expensive Harbhajan Singh.

India’s much vaunted batting lineup - including what is often referred to as the greatest middle order in not only India’s, but Test cricket’s history - with 30 000 runs and over 100 Test centuries between batsmen 3, 4 and 5 - then failed collectively against a remarkably potent English attack - not for the first time this series. After their first four innings, India failed to reach 300 even once. Only Rahul Dravid salvaged some pride with a typically gritty 103 not out in a total of 286.

India were set 458 to win following an explosive Matt Prior century; his unbeaten partnership with Stuart Broad (74 not out) helped England recover after an Ishant spell of 3-1 in 3 overs offered India a brief glimmer of hope. With an injured Gambhir and a sick Sachin Tendulkar, India never threatened. Raina was mature in his 78, and VVS Laxman, as usual, serene, but India succumbed by 196 runs. India’s troubles were far from over.

Dravid’s 6 hours of toil and graft in a sublime 117 was undone by a truly memorable spell of swing bowling by Stuart Broad, whose 24.1-8-46-6 will definitely go down as one of the best in England v India contests

In the second Test at Trent Bridge, India went in with only one specialist opener, replacing the injured Gambhir and Zaheer with the inconsistent and seemingly perpetual fringe-Test players in Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth respectively. Dhoni once again won the toss, and that was almost the only thing that went right for India.

It might not have been the case had India not played two horrendous post-tea sessions of cricket on the first two days; Reducing England to 124/8 at tea on the first day, England resurrected their innings thanks once again to some lacklustre bowling and the increasingly spectacular heroics of Stuard Broad (64) and a 28 run cameo by Graeme Swann, who helped England reach respectability with 221 on the board.

It was still hugely sub-par; although India lost Mukund first ball, Laxman and Dravid yet again combined for a crucial partnership, and with Yuvraj Singh (62) and Dravid in at 4/267 just after tea on the second day, India were looking at gaining a 200-run lead.

Instead, Dravid’s 6 hours of toil and graft in a sublime 117 was undone by a truly memorable spell of swing bowling by Stuart Broad, whose 24.1-8-46-6 will definitely go down as one of the best in England v India contests, not least because it included the first ever Test hat-trick against India (albeit featuring an absurd decision against Harbhajan Singh). India lost their last 5 wickets for 21 runs in their 288.

Even with a handy 67 run lead, India were unable to capitalise. With England at 2-57, India once again provided a false horizon. Between batsmen 3-6 alone, England amassed 374 runs, including a superb 159 to the stylish Ian Bell. Even with an injured Trott, England were ruthless - 90 to Tim Bresnan and another 44 runs to the unstoppable Broad sealed India’s fate as the bowlers leaked runs at an embarrassing 4.52 runs an over.

India’s second innings, meanwhile, was a miserable combination of poor judgment, negative mindset and an underlying sense of despair. That England’s replacement for Tremlett in Bresnan took 5/48 as India rolled over for 158 was clear evidence that England have the best bowling stocks in the world. Add to that the fact that their number 10 batsman in Graeme Swann averages 27 with the bat, and England’s is easily the deepest batting line up since South Africa had the luxury of Shaun Pollock at 9. Meanwhile, India’s tail seems to start with Dhoni at 7, who looks more and more out of place with his tentative unorthodoxy and confused shot selection.

India can make amends for their poor show thus far by doing their homework in the 10-day break before the 3rd Test

A scathing recount though it may be, India are not world beaters for nothing, and they are led by the perfect man for a crisis in Dhoni. India can make amends for their poor show thus far by doing their homework in the 10-day break before the 3rd Test. It will be their biggest challenge, having never lost two Tests back-to-back under Dhoni. It will require the addition of three important, not-negotiable factors: an in-form Sehwag, a fit Zaheer, and above all, an unshakeable killer instinct. England are starting to show that kind of an aura, but India is, for now, the world’s number one Test team on the charts; perhaps it is time they started showing it out on the field too.