The English Cricket Team in India 2012 --Revenge Series for whom ? !
I wanted to post this blog before the start of the Fourth and Final test at Nagpur. Not that the result of that match matters much to my thoughts.
To say that the English team came prepared to India would be an understatement. They came well prepared to plan the downfall of the Indian team in its own territory. The preparation by the English to me ,was extraordinary.
For their batsmen support they had Graham Gooch who knows the Indian Conditions so well and was instrumental in our defeat at the Prudential cup in 1987 ( he swept Shastri and Maninder Singh of their length ) . On the bowling they had Mustaq Ahmed the wily Pakistani leg spinner. And with Andy Flower at the helm as the Coach , the English had a good support team to plot the Indian downfall.
So , what did we do for preparation ?
We believed that the English were weak at playing Spin bowling and so in all practice matches before the actual Test series , we had innocuous bowlers bowling to the Englishmen , so that they do not get good practice to play quality spin bowling. Good strategy. Right ? So where did it go wrong?
Simple:
We did not have batsmen who could play spin or pace through the test series – So , it went the other way around.
The English not only had practiced well to handle our spinners but their bowlers had clear plan ( both spin and pace ) for our batsmen.
We have an opener who seems to be adept at running out his colleagues in Test matches ( two in a row to rub it on )
We have His Highness , waiting to retire holding up a place ( He was so exposed in the Kolkata test , it is time to call it a day decently )
We have bowlers batting well and not bowling well.
We have a Captain who everyone has concluded is not good enough to lead the team in Tests.
No talent pool to replace the “Wall” and the “Biryani flavor” of Hyderabad.
We have an aging bowler , who is happy to run in and bowl ( I have not seen him do this before )
Greasy hands trying to catch and runs leaked ( so slow of the blocks , ones were available in plenty )
Overall – total failure. Why have a coach who is not delivering ( if it was Football , the coach would have gone long back )> I am trying to understand as to what the coach does ?
What can be done ?
Give the youngsters a chance.
Allow them enough time ( meaning they can fail )
We ( the Cricket lovers ) need patience—The new team will not deliver right away
It will take some time to build a winning team but that is the way to go forward.
It was just middle of 2011 that we tasted the success of the One day world Cup but what a downhill it has been since !
To say that the English team came prepared to India would be an understatement. They came well prepared to plan the downfall of the Indian team in its own territory. The preparation by the English to me ,was extraordinary.
For their batsmen support they had Graham Gooch who knows the Indian Conditions so well and was instrumental in our defeat at the Prudential cup in 1987 ( he swept Shastri and Maninder Singh of their length ) . On the bowling they had Mustaq Ahmed the wily Pakistani leg spinner. And with Andy Flower at the helm as the Coach , the English had a good support team to plot the Indian downfall.
So , what did we do for preparation ?
We believed that the English were weak at playing Spin bowling and so in all practice matches before the actual Test series , we had innocuous bowlers bowling to the Englishmen , so that they do not get good practice to play quality spin bowling. Good strategy. Right ? So where did it go wrong?
Simple:
We did not have batsmen who could play spin or pace through the test series – So , it went the other way around.
The English not only had practiced well to handle our spinners but their bowlers had clear plan ( both spin and pace ) for our batsmen.
We have an opener who seems to be adept at running out his colleagues in Test matches ( two in a row to rub it on )
We have His Highness , waiting to retire holding up a place ( He was so exposed in the Kolkata test , it is time to call it a day decently )
We have bowlers batting well and not bowling well.
We have a Captain who everyone has concluded is not good enough to lead the team in Tests.
No talent pool to replace the “Wall” and the “Biryani flavor” of Hyderabad.
We have an aging bowler , who is happy to run in and bowl ( I have not seen him do this before )
Greasy hands trying to catch and runs leaked ( so slow of the blocks , ones were available in plenty )
Overall – total failure. Why have a coach who is not delivering ( if it was Football , the coach would have gone long back )> I am trying to understand as to what the coach does ?
What can be done ?
Give the youngsters a chance.
Allow them enough time ( meaning they can fail )
We ( the Cricket lovers ) need patience—The new team will not deliver right away
It will take some time to build a winning team but that is the way to go forward.
It was just middle of 2011 that we tasted the success of the One day world Cup but what a downhill it has been since !
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