The Hindu : Sport : India’s bowlers may hold the key

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Friday, Jul 27, 2007
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Sport

India’s bowlers may hold the key

S. Ram Mahesh

Trent Bridge has traditionally produced flat wickets

— Photo: AFP

AT EASE WITH HIMSELF: Despite criticising the arduous schedule his team has had to deal with, Kevin Pietersen showed in the first Test at Lord’s that he remains as hungry as ever.

Nottingham: Trent Bridge, the stage for the second Test between India and England from Friday, is more approachable than Lord’s.

Make no mistake, Lord’s, despite its stature, is a very warm cricket ground. But, it retains the hauteur of a benevolent monarch.

Trent Bridge is friendlier: where the Lord’s Tavern was decidedly high-brow, causing those not in black ties to shrink at the thought of entering, the Trent Bridge Inn is distinctly matey, the haunt of the lad’s lad.

The lichen-layered, chipped-tile roofs, the Grandfather clock and the modest rafters: all contribute to a sense of simple comfort; only the Radcliffe Road and the Fox Road stands are remotely lordly.

But, not even the masts and the prows of these modern marvels of architecture can detract from Trent Bridge’s essence: it’s a most welcoming ground.

Both sides will hope the conditions here extend a similar welcome, unlike the tempest at Lord’s. Perhaps not the bowlers, for they were, finally, given something to work with.

A juiced wicket, low clouds, and vigilante umpires saw 14 leg-before decisions, a record in England, with neither side crossing 300 in four innings. A pity it had to end in a rain-abandoned draw.

Long-term forecast

The long-term forecast for the duration of the second Test isn’t encouraging. According to the Met department, this is England’s most miserable summer since data collection started — the flood levels in Gloucester and Oxford, scary reminders of the torrents the country has received.

Though interruptions — if play does get underway that is — are certain, it’s likely the bowlers will profit from the conditions. Trent Bridge has traditionally produced flat wickets (in 2005, groundsman Steve Birks said, “Pitches here are generally pretty flat …there won’t be much variation off the seam or turn”).

Old timers, however, say the ball swings around when the conditions collude. They aren’t sure if it’s because the River Trent flows languorously by.

Chance, as ever, will play an important role. England, by winning the toss, had the best of the conditions at Lord’s: much of its game-turning batsmanship happened on days one and four, which were best for batting.

Here at Trent Bridge, every captain since 2000, save one, has chosen to bat. Yet, the results of the seven Tests during this period don’t confirm a decisive edge: thrice, the team batting first has won, and twice the team batting second.

‘Terrific skill’

Ironically, the very conditions that discomfit India’s batsmen, supply the bowlers their best chance of taking 20 wickets.

“The Indian bowlers have some terrific skill,” said Kevin Pietersen, whose century at Lord’s put the game beyond India.

“Growing up on the flat tracks of the subcontinent, they have needed to develop tremendous wrists to swing it both ways, and when it starts to swing and seam, they become really dangerous. I could have easily been back in the hut with a pair.”

The bowlers will need to embrace the intense accuracy England’s practitioners exhibited. During two crucial phases in the Lord’s Test — the first hour on the first morning and the half-hour session to close the third day — India’s bowlers lost their radars. The first allowed the openers undue momentum, the second gave Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen their passes to the fourth day.

Sreesanth wasn’t quite the wrecking ball some predicted he might be; he struggled with his line to the left-handers. But, he showed he had the heart to come back from a pasting. Zaheer Khan had patches of brilliance.

Best bowler

R.P. Singh was consistently India’s best bowler. He worked up good pace (all three, in fact, hit the mid-to-high 80s mph) and displayed fine control of lefty swing. He surprised batsmen with bounce, change in angle, and out-swing.

But, Kevin Pietersen, who has broken bigger reputations, got to him. It seems churlish to critique the bowlers when they were the best performing Indian department in the first Test. Especially when they had to contend with the Lord’s slope and the occasion. But, with the batting yet to turn masterful and the geriatric ground-fielding looking as if it never will, it is to the bowling that India must turn.

The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, M.S. Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, R.P. Singh, and Yuvraj Singh.