Apr 10, 2006 01:33 PM
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(Updated Apr 10, 2006 01:33 PM)
A ONE SIDED AFFAIR
The final match of the test series indicated that there will be a close encounter between India and England in the One Day series. But this was not the case, as the Indians have dominated the One Day series, and has already made sure that the TVS Cup belongs to them!
Four defeats in a row is quite ridiculous, especially for a team like England. They can say the excuse of missing Trescothick, Vaughan and all, along with the high temperature and humidity, but the bottom line is that they have been slaughtered miserably by the Indians.
England had their best chance in the first One Dayer, after ending the Indian score a long way below what was expected. But England's batting is just too hollow, and there is no resistance down the order. From the way in which they collapsed in this match says it all.
The other matches too, were closer than the score card suggests, and England had their own opportunities to dominate the match. But the way in which they let the match slip away from their hands, is a bit ridiculous, considering the fact that this is a team which has beaten the world champions.
ENGLAND AND THEIR BIG PROBLEMS
England's big problems start with the opening pair itself. There is no Trescothick to smash the bowling around, which means that Strauss will share the spot with Prior, the wicket keeper batsman. I wonder why they play two wicket keeper batsmen, as they also have Jones lower down the order.
Coming back to the opening slot, Prior is unable to stay at the crease and Strauss seems to be easily vulnerable, especially while playing his favourite shots. They do miss Vaughan, even if he was not the most consistent batsman, his performance against the Indians had been quite good.
Pieterson may be the most talented batsman in the English team and if England is to win atleast one match, he is the one who should make a big contribution. He is the one who also got the best average in this series so far. He does start well, but never go on to reach the magical figures!
Collingwood seems to be finding it hard to play a match winning innings, and without enough pace, he is just too easy to smash when used as the fifth bowler. Shah seemed to be in the shadow of his good performance in test series and Solanki seemed to be pretty useless. May be he could have been a better openor.
What may be bothering England more, may be their captain Andrew Flintoff himself. We couldn't see much from him in the One Day series except for some occasional bowling performances, but England needed him more as a batsman in the flat wickets.
Jones played a good innings at Cochin, but not enough to judge his inclusion. Still, may be he is better behind wickets considering the catches he took in the test series. But still, he may be the best option available as a wicket keeper batsman for England.
The bowling attack of England seems to have lost its energy. These are some flat wickets, but they could have done much better. Anderson gets some wickets, but fails to stop the flow of runs. Hoggard didn't seem to be ready to repeat his good performance in test series.
Blackwell might have been the better of the bowler, but his part as an all-rounder is not at all impressive. Batty seemed to lack experience and there was nothing special about Plunkett or Kabir Ali. Well, they can be glad that they won't lose the series by 7-0 now, thanks to one match being abandoned.
THE INDIAN STRENGTH
The Indian team seems quite strong and aggressive. They seems to have mastered the style of One Day game. Even if Sehwag was never in the flow, Yuvraj, Dravid, Raina and Dhoni have made some good knocks to lead India towards a commanding position. Indian team never seemed to be affected by Tendulkar's absence, and it even seemed that they just got better in the series!
India's major worry would be Mohammed Kaif, who made only 9 runs in the 4 innings at an average around 2. He may be athletic, but his recent batting performance in the last ten or fifteen innings indicates that he needs to stay out of the team. At the same time, the experiments with Gautam Gambhir seems to have come to an end with Robin Uthappa in the squad.
The bowling attack of Pathan had been impressive, and Sreesanth got the wickets even after being a bit expensive, but Agarkar and Munaf Patel failed to make any impact. Harbhajan and Powar(with those kids' googles) has managed the spin department quite well. Lets see what all experiments the Indians will try, and for England, this is a major chance to go back home with atleast two victories in their pocket! May be the next two One Dayers have better matches to offer.
Meanwhile, I managed watch the One Day at Cochin. It was quite an experience, eating ice creams worth Rs10 for Rs25 and drinking mineral water worth Rs12 for Rs30. To add to the glory, they managed to sell the food with a long historic background! Well, the cap seller told me that I look like Dhoni, and I lost Rs20 for a cap which couldn't fit to my head. After sitting in the stadium, I know why they say that the humidity is high in Cochin!
Diving Out.
TENY
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