Was it the ghost of Barbados again???
A lot has been made of India’s decision to bat vis-à-vis imposing a follow-on against England which possibly would have enhanced India’s chances to win the final test and close the series 2-0.
After just about four sessions on the field, that too separated by night’s rest, the reason given that the bowlers were tired seems unbelievable.
The pick of the Indian seamers was undoubtedly Zaheer Khan. Post match reports state that he was nursing a sore thigh. Batting for some time would give him some respite and also time for the physio to work on the injury. This seems reasonable as throughout the series, Zaheer has looked like getting a wicket almost every time he has bowled.
If a devil exists in the wicket, it starts to raise its head on the fourth day and shows up completely as the last day approaches. Even though three left-armers had bowled and left a lot of foot marks outside the right-hander’s off stump for the spinners to exploit, there weren’t any alarms yet.
Under these conditions, a possibility of England scoring some runs and putting India under pressure in the fourth innings even though meek, could not have been ruled out. They had nothing to loose! One could have expected some aggressive batting from them.
Lets’ assume a hypothetical situation wherein they played four sessions and piled up a target of about 150 for India to get in the last innings. With just about two sessions to get the runs, India would surely be the favorites.
One reason why India didn’t think along these lines, I believe, is because of the ghost of Barbados, wherein India had failed to chase a small total of 120. That match still haunts the Indian batsmen. Most of the batsmen, who played here at the Oval, had played that unforgettable match in the West Indies.
I remember Rahul Dravid mentioning the game as a painful memory after our victory at Adelaide a few years back.
The Indian team has been at the receiving end of considerable flak and hence one cannot accuse them of being slightly defensive, taking the conservative approach and ensuring that the series was pocketed in the end. They took the approach of batting England out of the match.
Test series victories abroad are rare. We have looked like winning a series on several occasions but have not been able to make it.
In this series, the Rain Gods have also been more than kind to us and hence, with a stage set so favourably, the decision to play safe seems only logical to me.
Can there be a better way to celebrate 60 years of India's Indepence than beating England in England.
After just about four sessions on the field, that too separated by night’s rest, the reason given that the bowlers were tired seems unbelievable.
The pick of the Indian seamers was undoubtedly Zaheer Khan. Post match reports state that he was nursing a sore thigh. Batting for some time would give him some respite and also time for the physio to work on the injury. This seems reasonable as throughout the series, Zaheer has looked like getting a wicket almost every time he has bowled.
If a devil exists in the wicket, it starts to raise its head on the fourth day and shows up completely as the last day approaches. Even though three left-armers had bowled and left a lot of foot marks outside the right-hander’s off stump for the spinners to exploit, there weren’t any alarms yet.
Under these conditions, a possibility of England scoring some runs and putting India under pressure in the fourth innings even though meek, could not have been ruled out. They had nothing to loose! One could have expected some aggressive batting from them.
Lets’ assume a hypothetical situation wherein they played four sessions and piled up a target of about 150 for India to get in the last innings. With just about two sessions to get the runs, India would surely be the favorites.
One reason why India didn’t think along these lines, I believe, is because of the ghost of Barbados, wherein India had failed to chase a small total of 120. That match still haunts the Indian batsmen. Most of the batsmen, who played here at the Oval, had played that unforgettable match in the West Indies.
I remember Rahul Dravid mentioning the game as a painful memory after our victory at Adelaide a few years back.
The Indian team has been at the receiving end of considerable flak and hence one cannot accuse them of being slightly defensive, taking the conservative approach and ensuring that the series was pocketed in the end. They took the approach of batting England out of the match.
Test series victories abroad are rare. We have looked like winning a series on several occasions but have not been able to make it.
In this series, the Rain Gods have also been more than kind to us and hence, with a stage set so favourably, the decision to play safe seems only logical to me.
Can there be a better way to celebrate 60 years of India's Indepence than beating England in England.
Well done India!
posted by Amit S. Joshi @ 5:04 am
2 comments
2 Comments:
well said. i think the idea should have been to first ensure that we do not lose the game - position of strength scenerio and then press for victory. dravid maintains that his bowlers were tired and that he knows his team well and at that point of time was the correct decision. i believe initially they only thot of batting once. this i feel bcoz they continued to bat even after kumble got his century.
and later when they dec to bat again, they wud have hopes to score a quick 200 runs, add pressure, mentally beat eng and then go for the kill with the bowling. however, 11/3 and the three hours later ensured that eng would certainly not lose the game.
our next test match starts 22 nov, delhi against pakistan. i think sehwag should be back in the team - this series has shown how important a good and agressive opener can do.
my 12 for the home series against pak in batting order : sehwag, dinesh, laxman, sachin, dravid, ganguly, dhoni, kumble, powar/chawla, munaf/agarkar, zaheer and yuvraj.
Interesting to know.
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