The Hindu : Sport : A completely dry track at Mohali

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006

Sport

Sport

A completely dry track at Mohali

England sure to play extra spinner, writes Geoffrey Boycott

ENGLAND'S STRENGTH: The English fast bowlers, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff along with Steve Harmison will have to shoulder an extra burden in the Mohali Test. — Photo: S. Subramanium

Almost as soon as I arrived at Mohali, I went out to look at the twin tracks about which so much has been written and said. And trust me, all the talk about green grass is a load of codswallop. The track is completely dry, with cracks showing already, and whatever grass there exists is straw-coloured and dead as dead can be.

So what can we expect? Well, for Shaun Udal to be included in the playing eleven, to begin with. England are sure to play an extra spinner, and I think Ian Blackwell will be kept out.

However, if Udal does play, he has to make his inclusion count and bowl his full quota of overs, and I can't stress that enough. It won't do for him to be taken off after bowling half his quota because the Indians are such brilliant players of spin. There is every possibility that the Indian batsmen will go after him, and so he has to bowl well. Every bowler has to take on his share of the bowling — nothing more, nothing less — and there is no place to hide.

Real risk

I'm labouring this point because there is a real risk that Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison will be over bowled if the extra spinner doesn't come good. Remember, England's strength is their seam attack. Nothing proved this more than that last session at Nagpur, when the Indians made a late charge for victory.

Despite the spin bowling options at his disposal, it was obvious that Flintoff was relying on his tired seam attack to stem the flow of runs. Besides, with three back-to-back Tests, England have to make sure that their pace bowlers stay free from injury, and that is all the more reason to lighten their burden.

Any more injuries would certainly damage the team's chances irreparably.

Who to drop?

As for India, I'm pretty certain we will see four bowlers in operation and not five. India never strengthen their batting at the expense of their bowling, so with Yuvraj Singh coming back into the side, who can they drop?

Sreesanth has ruled himself out, and there is a buzz about Munaf Patel, so there probably won't be room for both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

With the pitch looking the way it is, the spinners will probably get many more wickets than they did at Nagpur, though.

There may be talk of leaving V.V.S. Laxman out and accommodating both Yuvraj and Mohammed Kaif, but I wouldn't go with that. One bad innings does not make Laxman a poor player, just as one good knock can't make Kaif the best batsman in the team. Besides, if you drop Laxman, who will catch at second slip?

The Indians showed their butter fingers when they dropped five catches at Nagpur, and Laxman and Dravid are among the best slip catchers in the world. If you keep dropping catches, you end up having to get 30 wickets instead of 20, and that's well nigh impossible in these conditions.

Ideally, I would retain both Laxman and Kaif, and ask Yuvraj to come back for the Mumbai Test after he's proved his fitness. Remember that he has had no match practice after Pakistan.

Sachin's form

Talking about form and fitness, I thought Sachin Tendulkar looked terrific during his two innings at Nagpur, and England will have to watch out for him. I never judge a player's form by the runs he has scored, but I always look at his feet and his movements.

So Sachin may not have scored too many in the last Test, but his feet were moving superbly and he was transferring his weight perfectly. Good batsmen are like good dancers in the way they balance themselves and move their feet, and Sachin's form should never be in doubt.

In a country as densely populated as India, there is a huge number of cricket writers, but most of them display very limited knowledge of batting, in my opinion, and rely too much on facts and figures. You can never judge Sachin that way. Take it from someone who knows a bit about batting — Sachin's retirement is a long way away. He's just a wonderfully talented young man from whom everyone expects a century each time he bats, as though he were God. But he's only human, and entitled to fail like all humans.

Gameplan

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail