The Hindu : Sport : England humming; India must regroup

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Thursday, Aug 30, 2007
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Sport

England humming; India must regroup

S. Dinakar

Dravid and Co. face a test of character against their confident rivals

— Photo: Laurence Griffiths/ Getty Images

BURDEN ON HIS SHOULDERS? With Paul Collingwood grappling with a bout of fever, the onus will be on Andrew Flintoff to deliver.

Manchester: The Indians face a test of character at Old Trafford on Thursday.

A defeat at the county of the Red Rose could make things hard for Rahul Dravid and his men in the context of the series.

England leads the NatWest ODI series 2-1 with four games remaining and this rather young side is not short of confidence and energy. Situations have thrown up heroes. Andrew Flintoff is making a swift recovery from a swollen knee and is expected to play Thursday’s game. England skipper Paul Collinwood has a viral fever — he was not a part of the pre-match practice session — but the news is that he should be fit to lead the side in the fourth ODI. The surface for the game appears good.

Sourav Ganguly, returning from a session, told The Hindu, “It looks a good deck, could seam around a little in the night.”

Chasing under lights

Chasing under the lights could be hazardous. India should opt to bat in the day/night game. It should be a Thursday of moderate winds and a partial cloud-cover, according to the forecast. Interestingly, sides pursuing a target have finished at the wrong end of the contest so far in the series.

The Indians, once again, had an extended fielding session. Team manager Chandu Borde, however, said that fielding, despite some phases of brilliance, had always been a problem area with the Indian team. “We must concede that we are not up there with the top fielding sides. We need to improve and we have been trying to do that.”

The Indians also need to find the right balance of youth (with energy) and experience. Former Indian coach Greg Chappell, under whom India enjoyed an astonishing unbeaten run in the ODIs, would often say that adding experience to an ODI squad would have to be balanced with retaining the levels of fielding.”

Chappell was right. England has a largely youthful side and the side’s fielding is lifting the level of bowling, creating pressure. India is also missing an aggressive right-arm paceman. The side needs a re-look at its all-left new-ball combination of Zaheer Khan and R.P. Singh, particularly, since England has a left-right opening pair of Alastair Cook and Matthew Prior.

India’s bowling

India has problems with its pace attack and the balance of the side. The selectors have picked only four pacemen in the squad of whom Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel have been inconsistent. Munaf, retuning from an injury, operated at a reduced pace in Birmingham. Ideally, Zaheer should be opening with a right-arm paceman, with the steady R.P. Singh, who can bowl with the old ball, coming in as one change.

But then, the team management, with the squad containing an additional batsman, does not have too many options. India is missing someone with the speed, swing and vibrance of S. Sreesanth. Even if he can be a touch expensive, the paceman has the ability to strike. However, Mr. Borde confirmed that India is not seeking any replacement or addition vis a vis its squad.

The Indian think-tank has been thinking long and hard about including an extra batsman, particularly since Agarkar and Munaf have been unimpressive. However, such a move could backfire in the event of one of the specialist bowlers going for runs.

Spinners

Happily for India, leggie Piyush Chawla and off-spinner Ramesh Powar have been bowling quite beautifully. They have also earned the respect of the opposition. Flintoff has words of praise for both the spinners — “Chawla is still only 18 and doing well, and Powar is a clever bowler with variations.”

Ian Bell has been outstanding for England with the willow and on the field. James Anderson, a local boy, comprehends the Old Trafford surface like the back of his hand. He has been bowling with zest and swing. This English side is humming. India has to regroup.

The teams: India (from): Rahul Dravid (capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ga utam Gambhir.