The Hindu : Sport : The biggest culprit was the pitch

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 07, 2006

Sport

Sport

The biggest culprit was the pitch

Despite the misfortunes, England appear to have regrouped

Dravid's handling of his meagre resources leaves a lot to be desired, says Bishan Singh Bedi

Nothing seemed to be going right for the depleted England team even before a ball could be bowled in the first Test at Nagpur. The side had more problems off the field than they could possibly have expected on the dusty tracks in central India.

Add to the English miseries a bland wicket with low, slow bounce — all attributes helping the home team in a big way. But, did the Indians capitalise on the providential assistance? Hardly, one can say.

After the hectic Pakistan tour, the Indians were looking for fresh impetus.

India failed to go one ahead in the series primarily because their gameplan was not well rehearsed. All the dependables did not quite deliver. Home players were seen to be keener on cementing their positions. In effect, all the good work in Pakistan appears to have vanished.

The biggest culprit in the entire fiasco was the pitch. It is a great pity that when the BCCI's sole objective seems to be to fatten its coffers; the failure to prepare a sporting wicket is the collective failure of all the bigwigs of the BCCI.

I have often said that a good cricket administrator is one who is a good servant of the game. We do have some excellent students of the game from amongst the players.

Ganguly issue rages on

The Ganguly issue just refuses to die down. The latest between the coach and the former captain will have done little to hold calm in the dressing room atmosphere. The comments from the chairman of the selection committee is only adding fuel to the fire.

I feel sad for Dravid; his handling of his meagre resources leaves a lot to be desired.

One can say the same for Andrew Flintoff, but in the case of the new English captain, he had his moments in the Test.

Towards the end, an attempt was made to produce a result. But that was not to be. Just as well. England did not deserve to win because they were not prepared mentally or physically. India too did not deserve to win because they failed to latch on to simple chances. Also, the Indian spin attack looked jaded. They could have extracted more from the dull strip, but the will to go for it was palpably missing.

Rahul Dravid's handling of his bowlers needs quick rethinking. Just enjoying the tag of favourites is not enough. The favourites must deliver. There were moments when the game simply drifted away from the Indians.

Despite all the misfortunes, England appear to have regrouped themselves with loads of self-confidence. The Indians will have to work twice as hard to catch up with Flintoff and his eager youngsters. — UNI

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