The Hindu : Sport : India’s best chance to beat England

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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India’s best chance to beat England

Batting will decide the outcome of this Test series

There are no tearaways in this English squad, writes
Geoffrey Boycott

Without beating around the bush, this is by far the best chance that India have to win a Test series in England since the triumph of Kapil Dev’s team in 1986.

With the Ashes-winning trio of Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff out of the entire series, England’s bowling will rely almost exclusively on Monty Panesar and Matthew Hoggard, which should cheer the Indians up no end, because a ful l-strength England would have walloped them given their abominable away record.

I probably run the risk of being accused of belittling the three other bowlers in the squad — Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson — here, but with reason.

Sidebottom has played four Tests thus far, and Broad none. Anderson has 16 Tests to his credit, but has always promised more than he has delivered.

All in all, there are no tearaways in this squad, no one who can really get the ball up around the Indian batsmen’s throats and induce the dry-mouthed fear that genuine quicks always create.

Extra burden

Yes, Panesar and Hoggard will no doubt have to shoulder much of the burden and the Indians play spin better than other teams.

Granted, the Indian bowling doesn’t look too hot either, but Anil Kumble is still the match-winner that he always was, and despite a few fluctuations, I believe Zaheer Khan has shaped up into a fine bowler.

And they will have some help against the England batting in the shape of a struggling Andrew Strauss — struggling both for footwork and form — and an under pressure Kevin Pietersen who has simply been playing too much cricket of late. And of course, one of England’s finest Test batsmen — Marcus Trescothick — is mentally shot.

So if India can’t get the better of this thoroughly depleted England side, what hope in hell do they have against Australia later this year? The big guns — Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, and Yuvraj — need to fire, put up big totals on the board, and give the bowlers something to defend.

Make no mistake, batting will decide the outcome of this Test series, and since at least three Indian star batsmen are on their final tour of England, they would probably look to end with a bang.

Speaking of which, the debate about whether Sachin Tendulkar should retire has gone on for long enough, and my only advice to him is to play as long as you can while you can play well at the top.

Because the day you retire, nothing you do will feel as good as playing cricket. I’ve been there, so I know. I gather there has been lukewarm enthusiasm about this tour among the Indian public and I am sorry to hear that.

The madness about cricket is something that makes my trips to India such a pleasure, and I can only assume that India’s disastrous World Cup campaign and their past record on England’s swinging, seaming tracks lie at the root of such public apathy.

When they take the field on Thursday at the Mecca of cricket, I would imagine the Indians would want to prove a thing or two.

Gameplan

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