The recently concluded test series between India and England has produced results which may have surprised many cricket fans but a knowledgeable cricket analyst would have known that this outcome is always on cards. The recent downfall of Indian cricket team as a test side had already created an environment of suspicion before the start of the series and ‘BARMY ARMY‘ was believing that this is the best time for their team to break the jinx of not wining a test series in India for 28 years.
Cricket: It’s time to accept reality and make a move
The first three days of Ahmedabad test went India’s way and Indian fans who follows cricket as a religion started thinking that the humiliation which their team have faced in the English summer a year ago will be given back in a stronger manner. All of us were thinking that England will be given a taste of their own medicine i.e. utilizing the home conditions at its best which England were doing so consistently. But then came the second innings of England team which just turned the series on its head. It’s that innings which gave them the motivation and confidence which they needed so badly and make them believe that they can also do well in these Indian conditions.
Cook looked like ‘a man on mission’ and has shown others how to compete and survive when the conditions are unfavorable. Pietersen looked absolutely out of sort in that test match and it seemed like he would be an easy target for the Indians in the series. England would have definitely discussed few things after the first test match and their captain must have said to his players that ‘mates there are no demons in the pitches here and we just need to hung in’.
On the other hand Indians would have settled comfortably in their hotel rooms and were probably thinking that this series is not going to be a big deal for them. The new face of English team was shown in the Mumbai test where they batted so beautifully that at one point of time they were 357-3 on the same spinning track where the so called masters of spins just managed to collect 327. It’s their time from here onward. The Indians just couldn’t manage to get wickets timely with their toothless bowling attack despite playing with an extra spinner. There was no penetration in the bowling at all and even Zaheer Khan who was an irreplaceable cog in the bowling unit was impression less. The batting just collapsed on the familiar track against the spin duo of England and it’s an alarming sign for the team because these are the tracks on which they have grown up playing. There was a need of proper analysis and self introspection, but the story just gets replicated in a more painful manner in Kolkata. The batting collapsed second time in a row in second innings and bowling was even more dreadful allowing English batters to pile up massive runs. Jimmy Anderson was reversing the bowl like Waqar Younis and Indians had no answers to it.
Batting Master Sachin Tendulkar scrapped few runs in the first innings but failed in the second when India needed him the most. Now the series is over and we need to accept that we have some points to ponder. Sachin Tendulkar needs no one’s advice and suggestion, he is himself an institute of cricket so let him decide about his retirement. The main area of concern is our fast bowling resource. We are always a weak fast bowling unit and we have to acknowledge it. We haven’t produced a quality fast bowler apart from Javagal Srikanth and Zaheer Khan.
BCCI needs to conduct camps for discovering fast bowling talent and this should be held in smaller cities because they are the ones which are capable of producing required lot due to the passion that poor boys have for fast bowling. There is a need to specify the responsibility of Duncan Fletcher; it’s hard to identify what’s his job is all about. As far as captaincy issue is concerned there is no better option than Dhoni available for leading the side right now. People may question his tactics and field placements but it’s his tactics that won the world cup for India. It’s reasonable to say that he is a bit of gambler.
Tags: Barmy Army, BCCI, Cricket, England, India, Sachin Tendulkar
