da betcris： Even though India won the Test series 1-0, the performance in the last two Tests should definitely be a wake-up call for the Indians
Erapalli Prasanna26-Dec-2001After the drubbing at Mohali, I had called England a weak team. Theinference was drawn from two factors; first, it was a team with littleexperience, and second, it had almost no bowling strength. The strongestsides that I have seen were those of Clive Lloyd’s and Steve Waugh’s,both of which possessed the bowling prowess to take 20 wickets in aTest.
Even though India won the Test series 1-0, theperformance in the last two Tests should definitely be a wake-up callfor the Indians. I did not see a clear-cut plan operating during theTest series, and it is about time that the Indian think-tank startsmaking plans without sacrificing the abundance of talent in its ranks.
In Ahmedabad, the English were a rejuvenated lot. I really admire NasserHussain for his leadership skills, showing a lot of integrity, characterand commitment to instill self-confidence in his teammates. Hetransformed an inexperienced bunch of players to match India on theirhome turf. On the batting front, they proved that, in one-to-onecomparisons, they are in no way inferior to the Indian batsmen. It wasthe weakness in their bowling department that deprived them of a win inthe Ahmedabad Test.Hussain’s men dominated the Bangalore Test too; but for SachinTendulkar, India would have been in dire straits in the first innings.The weather in December is always a bit murky in Bangalore, and theunexpected rain only helped the pitch to improve as days went by.The Indians, on their part, had erred in team selection at Ahmedabad anddid so again at Bangalore. They should have played three spinners in thesecond Test and not in the third. Javagal Srinath had to put up abrilliant one-man show at Bangalore, having no support at all from theother end.I am terribly disappointed by the way our spinners bowled at Bangalore.I must first congratulate Anil Kumble for getting his 300th Test wicket;he has served Indian cricket admirably. But I fail to understand why abowler of Kumble’s stature and experience allowed the pressure of thatmagic wicket to get to him.Harbhajan Singh still has to work hard on his game. It is quite obviousthat batsmen sort him out after watching him for 10 overs or so, and hebecomes less effective after that. Unlike Muttiah Muralitharan, theyoung off-spinner does not turn the ball enough to have the batsmenconstantly in doubt. More than the fact that he becomes predictable,Harbhajan relies much too heavily on the delivery that goes away fromthe bat. I have seen a little of young spinner Sarandeep Singh, and helooks a promising bowler who could do a lot better in the days ahead. Hecould find himself in a lot of trouble, though, if he does not changehis chest-on action to side-on.Ultimately, rain rescued India at Bangalore. I am forced to admit thatMatthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Craig White gave some pointers onprofessionalism to the Indians, sticking to their task to achieve theirgoals. Even though these youngsters do not have the class of BrianStatham, John Snow, Bob Willis or Ian Botham, one never failed to noticethe fact that they utilised their talent maximally.Even though India won the Test series 1-0, the performance in the lasttwo Tests should definitely be a wake-up call for the Indians. I did notsee a clear-cut strategy operating during the Test series, and it isabout time that the Indian think-tank starts making plans withoutsacrificing the abundance of talent in its ranks. One should learn fromHussain’s professionals: plan according to your strengths.Looking back at the Tests, I wonder what the result would have been fora five-Test series. I am sure that this Indian team would have beensweating it out in the Chennai Test, which always produces a good Testmatch.I must again give full marks to Hussain, for whom my admiration shallnot flag. Even though England lost the Test series, they proved thatthey are as good a side as India on Indian soil. Hussain has exposed afew chinks in the Indian armour and even taught the world a lesson ofhow to tackle the Indians on their home turf. This was not a series likethat of last winter, when India got the better of Australia 2-1; butTest matches in India will never be the same again.Hussain was born in India, and now he his using a blend of easternwisdom and western professionalism to lead England through the road ofrecovery. Sourav Ganguly, on the other hand, has many things to sort outwith his batting. I personally think he should start batting as anopener in Test matches; he is ideally suited for that position. Theother option for him is to play lower down the order at number six, whenthe second new ball is due. Having said all this, I must make it veryclear that Ganguly is the best captain we have.I was impressed by Deep Dasgupta’s batting, but his wicket-keeping hasbeen a big let-down. He has to work hard on a few things. For instance,he does not watch the ball all the way into his gloves. I have seenenough of this lad at the National Cricket Academy, and I remember thathe once asked me for advice. I told him, “To be a good wicket-keeper,you have to think like a batsman. You have to keep with supple wrists.”It is to be hoped that Dasgupta polishes his skills behind the stumps toemerge as a quality wicket-keeper batsman for India in the future.