England comprehensive winners in the end - 288/2 to India's 184 all out.
We were outplayed. England was the hungrier team, their batting was exceptional and their bowling more honest.
And India was not even in the contest once we lost the early wicket of Saurav Ganguly.
34/4 is too deep a hole to come out of, though India tried gamely.
But the thing that most impressed was Paul Collingwood's captaincy - Brilliant vision, very hands on, wonderful field settings. There was not a thing that he did wrong today.
And that does not mean Rahul Dravid was bad. There was not much he or India could have done on a day when England was on fire.
So more power to the Poms for their effort.The thing to note at the end of this game is - can England sustain this kind of inspired performance over 7 ODIs?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
First ODI - India versus England, The Rose Bowl.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Homer, the decision by Dravid to bat first was slightly off (almost as if he was not looking at the pitch but only at the clouds overhead). But after that, England did all the right things, and India, well, they never started. I think India will be back strongly though. But they will not roll over this England side the way they rolled over them in India last year.
I concur Samir although if India gain momentum, they can be pretty much unstoppable.
Cheers
Dravid got it wrong again to bowl when the pitch was absolutely flat and no purchase for the "swing" bowlers....
I think India needs 3rd seamer back in Irfan Pathan as Agarkar and Munaf patel are almost useless and past their usability.
Tubbyy,
Yes, the decision at the toss was a bad one - on hindsight.
Given the conditions and the wicket, it would have taken a very brave captain to have elected to bat first. And if India had collapsed, RD would have been pilloried for exposing the Indian bats to seaming conditions.
And as regards Pathan, his batting is coming along fine in the "A" tour while his bowling is not there yet.
And thats why I worry for him - playing in the country that saw the lowest point in your career thus far and playing in the 20/20 slog fest when your bowling is not quite there yet can be a huge dent in the kid's confidence.
And that in turn could lead to him falling off the map altogether - Indian cricket is replete with stories of kids with immense talent and potential falling off for lack of nurture.
I would have that he rather played the domestic tourneys and the home ODI series before really plunging him headlong into the hurly burly of International cricket.
Homer,
There is no domestic cricket in India untill Sep end i guess. So Pathan would had to wait till that time. Another aspect of it is that it wont be grt to expect him among wkts right from match 1 he plays......
And for the decision to field first, i wished if Dravid would have bothered to look at the earlier matches played @ Rosebowl. Team batting first has won most times and to bat on flat track is a big plus for any side. And RD gave it on a platter to PC.
[So more power to the Poms for their effort.The thing to note at the end of this game is - can England sustain this kind of inspired performance over 7 ODIs?]
Homer i dont knw about England but India can definitely sustain this kind of inspired performance over 7 ODIs......lol
:)
I think you have to praise England as they were on top in all departments. They thoroughly deserved to win. India have the fire power, in the batting if not bowling, to come back strongly but if England do continue to play like this it will be hard. The big question for England really is whether they can sustain it as they have been very up and down recently.
I hope thay can and with India coming back strongly, it will make for an interesting series.
tubbyy,
game time decision with the toss is all I can say.But it would have been brave of him to have batted first on a day with the clouds hanging about and the wicket fresh.
Cheers :)
lol Jane.. I think we will turn it around from Game 2 onwards.. Game 1 was just the kick in the backside India needed to get its act together.
Cheers :)
Yup Rashmika - England played the near perfect game didnt they? And the captaincy was lights out...
One more thing I would like to add is - does England believe it can win the series?
Cheers
Homer
Yu sound damn right to quote the loss @ Rosebowl was the kick in the back to spur up.
Something which Lord's did. Problem with Dravid is he doesnt take bold approach, tries to play safe and that annoys me.
Hope he gets his combo right today and if need be recall Harbhajan in the team.....
Tubbyy,
Harbhajan can wait. The thing is, if we do not repose faith in our personnel, we will always be looking over our shoulder to see the next great thing over at the sidelines. And the cycle will continue :)
Cheers
Post a Comment