Cricket India England Series 2014

A Test series in England is always exciting . Plenty of reasons for this .. First the fickly English Weather that plays true spoilsport , the grounds and the lush greens , the ball swinging and seaming ( at times ) – Conditions  that truly test the technically best equipped batsmen. Bowlers always have a better day on English soil.

With that background , the first test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham was a bit of a damper ( not to do with the weather ). The wicket was easy paced and the weather stood firm on all days and the ball rarely did its bit in the air. So , if you were thinking there will be tall scoring , it was not. Both sides had their period of ascendancy and both sides could have lost the match ! In the end , it was some stoic batting by bowlers that helped both sides to get to a draw. To me , it was a fair result . It just warmed up both sides for the rest of the Four test matches .

The Lords ground where the second test was on is known for its richness to tradition. The ringing of the bell at the start of each days play to signify the start of play ( We had Dravid and Ganguly do this for Day 4 and day 5 of the match ) , the slope of the ground ( as a bowler there have been several of them who have exploited this to get more wickets ) , the futuristic looking media center, Grace gates named after Dr WG Grace (Known  more as the Fahter of the game ) and now the Flood lights as well. No wonder we refer this venue  as the Mecca of Cricket

England had the advantage – they won the toss and promptly sent in India batters to bat first. Green top , moistly conditions , you could not ask for more to bowl . Indian batters were on the mat soon and thankfully for a gritty Century by Rahane ,  India got to a decent score. England did not seize the initiative . If they had batted well , they could have picked up a sizable first innings lead that would have put the pressure right back on India. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled splendidly for India using the condition to the hilt . He had bowled well in the first test too. Gary Ballance was the Rahane for England. For a leftie , Ballance is not a pleasure to watch .. More a ChanderPaul type. No elegance about his methods but who cares so long as he made the runs. England had a small lead. Batting second India found themselves in trouble throughout the innings but for a gritty 95 from Vijay ( what a surprise packet he is turning out to be ) and a swashbuckling innings from Jadeja ensured that India had a total that they could defend. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar shone with the bat as well.

 England needed 319 to win . End of day 4, Indian team was scenting victory .. England struggling at 105/4 . Misery continued for their Captain Cook and Bell. But the first session of play  on Day five belonged to England minus the last ball that was bowled before lunch was taken. Before the last ball was bowled , the scent of victory was evaporating for the Indians. The last ball before lunch changed the match. Ishant Sharma dug it in short and surprise of surprise , the batsmen took his eye off the ball and fended the ball to the short leg. That was the break that India was looking for. What  happened post lunch was mayhem – England lost rest of the five wickets in no time. Dhoni had the strategy of bowling short at the batters and Ishant Sharma executed that strategy brilliantly.  Ishant found the pace and also the pitch was responsive.

Normally the Indian batsmen fall short in dealing with short pitched bowling. But this time it was the English.

Dhoni has come up in triumphs with a rookie  young team and a win on foreign soil. Just shows that he has regained his Midas touch of doing only right things.  England have several problems to deal with. Their keeper has volunteered out – it may be the last test he played- Cook , Bell have been miserable form. Severe stress on Cook’s captaincy. Engaland have a mountain to climb if they need to win the series.

The heart tells me that India should just overrun the English in the rest of the tests and win the series away from home. The mind tells you that if England can bounce back , we get to see good cricket.

Leave it to you to choose the Heart or the Mind