The Hindu : Sport : England needs change of tactics

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England needs change of tactics

S. Dinakar

High on confidence, India has fewer selection worries

— Photo: S. Subramanium

SWAPPING PLACES: With Rahul Dravid under the lens because of his poor run, it is likely that V.V.S. Laxman may walk in at the former’s usual No. 3 spot.

Mohali: Commandos in black guarded the entry and exit points of the road leading to the stadium’s main gate. They were perched on a jeep, their hands on machine guns. Alert to any sign of danger, their probing eyes scanned the area.

Ahead of the second and final India-England Test, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) ground was swarmed by policemen and commandos. These are troubled times and cricket faces a challenge of another kind.

Under the circumstances, the first Test at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium was a monumental success. On the field, India made history in a Test of dramatic fortune swings. Lacking in end-game skills, England made the wrong moves in the last stretch.

Binding force

Yet, the biggest winner at Chepauk was the game itself. Sport can be a great binding force in difficult periods and the message from Chepauk travelled far beyond the field of play. At the heart of it all were resilience and courage.

The second Test, beginning here on Friday, will be no less important. Cricket should come through the big Test again.

In a corner of the lush green outfield, Kevin Pietersen was all smiles as he fiddled with microphones ahead of an interview to the electronic media. The English captain realises that he and his men cannot let their spirits drop.

England came close to ambushing India in the first Test; the failure to do so would rankle the side. The visitor would have to re-think tactics.

The destructive Virender Sehwag presents the biggest danger to the Englishmen. If England gets Sehwag out early — as in the first innings at Chepauk — then the bowlers could apply greater pressure on the Indian line-up.

Flintoff factor

England has the option of giving the new ball to its most accurate bowler — Andrew Flintoff. The big-built paceman is niggardly, could deny Sehwag width and room in the early periods.

His natural bounce, off-stump line and a potent off-cutter could cramp and consume Sehwag before the influential opener can blaze away.

Of course, Flintoff does not quite possess a natural out-swinger to the right-hander. He is more of a seamer than a swing bowler with the new-ball.

In the context of Sehwag’s game, Flintoff could be the answer for England first up. This though is entirely Pietersen’s call.

The grass on the surface should largely disappear when the captains walk out to toss. There should, however, be movement for the pacemen in the first hour.

The fit-again pace-bowling all-rounder, Stuart Broad, could replace either James Anderson or Steve Harmison or a spinner in the eleven.

Mohali pitch

The pitch at Mohali could turn increasingly dry as the match progresses and both spin and reverse swing will be major factors in the second half of the Test.

In the England batting, the fluent Owais Shah could come in for the struggling Ian Bell at No. 3.

High on confidence, India has fewer selection worries. It will be a big match for Rahul Dravid and the out-of-form batting great is expected to take guard at No. 5. V.V.S. Laxman could walk in at the slot — No. 3 — that Dravid has manned for so long.

And the host is unlikely to bring in paceman Munaf Patel for a spinner. Irrespective of the early help to pacemen, batting first is the likely option for India. If England picks an extra paceman, it might decide to field; a team’s strategy is driven by its eleven.

Both sides will be under pressure to complete their quota of overs for the day. The lights fades away quicker in these parts at this time of the year but the teams could not reach an agreement on an earlier — 9 a.m. — start.

The teams (from): India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), V. Sehwag (vice-captain), G. Gambhir, V.V.S. Laxman, S. Tendulkar, R. Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, A. Mishra, I. Sharma, M. Patel, S. Badrinath, M. Vijay and P. Ojha.

England: K. Pietersen (captain), A. Strauss, A. Cook, O. Shah, P. Collingwood, A. Flintoff, S. Broad, M. Prior, S. Harmison, J. Anderson, M. Panesar, G. Swann, I. Bell and T. Ambrose.

Umpires: D. Harper & A. Rauf; Match-referee: J. Crowe.

Match starts at 9.30 a.m.

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