Seventh ODI - India versus England, Lords

England outplay India to take the series 4-3 India 187/10 England 188/3

The final game of a long drawn ODI series went the way of the first game. England did not put a foot wrong in comprehensively beating India.

From the outset, there was very little India did right or were allowed to. England had a plan and they executed it to perfection.

Collingwood ( Mr Fat Arse to the rest of us) impressed with his captaincy. England's fielding was excellent, their bowling tight and their batting solid.

Kudos England, a well won series.

And now, gains and losses for the two teams. Firstly England.

England have plenty to cheer about.

In the course of this series, they have unearthed some real talent in Broad and Wright. Bopara and Shah have done enough to show that they will be in England's plans for the future.

Collingwood was a revelation. His captaincy was exceptional. Pieterson was Pieterson. Mascarenhas showed why Warne rates him so highly.

And Ian Bell! Left out by Warwickshire ODI side early on in the Indian summer, Bell has played exceptional cricket. A classical batsman, his shotmaking and shot selection have been excellent. As has been his fielding.

Winning the series will give England the self belief that they can compete and they can compete and win. And they have the nucleus of the side to do so.And that augurs well for the future.

On the flip side, playing Flintoff in the final ODI was daft.

Panesar was ordinary. For someone in whom there is some much invested in, his flat darts were a huge let down.

For India, plenty of gains and a little introspection.

Post the World Cup, there was mass hysteria with everyone blaming everyone for the early exit. And no one thought better to sit back and analyze the root causes for India's failure to compete.

This loss to England has come at just about the right time. It gives pause to the hype about Indian being world beaters and gives India reason to introspect. Introspect about what our approach to the game should be and how best to structure a squad to meet that approach.

India's approach to the modern ODI has been patchy. And it reflected in their game and game plans. Our batting was in spurts, our bowling was scratchy and the less said about our fielding the better.

Seniors versus juniors is the wrong debate in Indian cricket - playing a team who are all below the age of 25 does not guarantee a good fielding side. 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers against 6 batsmen and 5 bowlers is also a futile debate - the non utilization of resources ( both by individuals and by the captain) on the field and in the dressing room is where the problem lies. If Yuvraj Singh cannot be counted on bowling 5 overs every game and if Ajit Agarkar cannot be counted to chip in 20 runs every time he goes out to bat, we have a problem that is more deep rooted.

What has gone right for India is the timing of the loss.

India plays the Twenty 20 World Cup which gives us the opportunity to start putting together a One Day philosophy. There are no expectations from us at the World Cup, we are playing some of the players who may become integral to India's ODI balance in the years to come and it will also give us an idea of performance under pressure.

Following the loss is the 12 ODI set at home against good opposition which then gives India the opportunity to consolidate and quantify this philosophy and the personnel that fit into this philosophy. Which is huge !

As regards personnel, the spin twins have been awesome all through this ODI series. Piyush Chawla has come a long long way from his debut at Mohali in 2005 while Powar has given Harbhajan notice on what works and what doesn't in the shorter version of the game.

Yuvraj, Uthappa, Gambhir and Dhoni played well in patches, Karthik was a disappointment and India has yet to figure out what they want from their number 3 batter and bowler.

Zaheer was excellent ( though overbowled), RP Singh is a good prospect, Munaf and Agarkar have done enough to book their tickets out of the ODI side.

Sachin rolled back the years, Ganguly did his bit with the bat and ball and Rahul Dravid played with gay abandon. And did he lead the side well!

I have been critical of Rahul Dravid because of his tendency to play the game by the numbers, something that works well in the longer format of the game but puts you behind the 8 ball in the shorter version.

But barring that brain fade with Yuvraj bowling the 50th over at the Oval, I was pretty impressed with how he handled the team. He will never be a genius leader, but he did better than expected ( think about the South African debacle and his captaincy there).

The team showed guts ( Old Trafford, Headingley and the Oval) and heart. Which are good foundations to build the team on.

Second String II

Mumbai 325/3 (90.0 ov) Stumps Day 1

SahilKukreja 110
Ajinkya Rahane 143

If this is the best the first string Karachi Urban team could do, Mumbai would have been better served sending their U-15 Second XIs..

Second string indeed!

What must Tendulkar do?

5 times this summer, Sachin Tendulkar's innings have been hacked off by poor umpiring.

Goulded and Darred are terms in the lexicon analogous to Bucknored.

And if India loses this game, the carpers will be out in full force, moaning on the "lack" of contribution from Sachin's bat in crunch games.

What must Tendulkar do?

Interesting

With an eye on the Australia Tour later this year, I found these two scorecards ( 1 & 2) particularly interesting.

Given that the Australia bowling attack will comprise primarily from Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Stuart McGill and Ben Hilfenhaus, it is interesting to see how the next generation of Australian spinners are shaping up.

Cullen Bailey, Dan Cullen and Cameron White have had an indifferent start. It will be interesting to see how they shape up from here on in, especially during the 2 "Tests".
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Interesting also is the fact that the Irani Trophy has been pushed back by 5 days, ostensibly because "The postponement by a few days was necessary as the South Africa A series ends only at the end of September," Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer, told PTI.

And so, what about this -

1st ODI: India v Australia at Bangalore - Sep 29, 2007
Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)

2nd ODI: India v Australia at Kochi - Oct 2, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

3rd ODI: India v Australia at Hyderabad (Decc) - Oct 5, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

4th ODI: India v Australia at Chandigarh - Oct 8, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

5th ODI: India v Australia at Vadodara - Oct 11, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

Or is there a message here about the Indian team composition for the ODI series?

The Day After..

Plenty happening in the world of cricket and cricket administration the day after the stunning match between India and England -

BCCI Appeals Against Court Stay For Dalmiya

BCCI faces monopoly investigation

Dungarpur denies misappropriating clubs funds

Asif injured in dressing room spat

I haven't thought of retirement - Tendulkar

I still respect the Board: Kapil

Now Wadekar gets ICL call

Truth has prevailed: Imtiaz

Contracts to prevent cricketer crossover to ICL

From left field, this article by Mike Selvey - A modest proposal: Flintoff should quit Tests for one-dayers

and finally, this gem.

Sixth ODI - India versus England, The Brit Oval

India win by two wickets and a ball to spare - England 316/6 India 317/8

Following the loss at Old Trafford, in course of a conversation with Sfx, I opined that it will be a huge test of character for India to bounce back after that loss.

The loss was huge as it set India back a long way in the 7 match series. It was also heartbreaking given that India had given it all and had still ended on the losing side. The manner of the loss was demoralizing in that India could not finish the game from being in a position where they could not lose.

In terms of holes, I had serious doubts if India could climb out of this one.

Then Headingley happened. Content in the knowledge that the series would be lost there, I was off, gallivanting around around the country.

I heard of the Headingley result first. Then I read about the game. Finally, I saw it. But that did nothing to convince me that India had turned a corner.

Until today, that is.

Set a humongous 317 to get by England, India kept its wickets and its nerve to take the series to the decider at Lords. And some effort it was too.

Barring a couple of overs when Gambhir could not get the ball of the square and Tendulkar was cramping up and later when Dhoni was all edges and no middle, India kept the momentum going.

India began the match well, faltered in the middle but did enough to ensure that the result went their way.

Questions though, remain. Of the middle and late over bowling, of the fielding and the captaincy. Yuvraj, Sachin, Yuvraj for the 48th, 49th and 50th overs ? This, when Ramesh Powar was yet to bowl his quota of overs. As was Agarkar. Where was the logic in that?

India showed character, the downside to which is that it took a rocket up their backside in the form of a prospective series defeat by England before they have started to show the kind of cricket they are capable of.

And are Ian Gould, Nigel Llong and Peter Hartley the best that the ECB can conjure for an International ODI series? Gould's decisions or lack of cost India Old Trafford. Peter Hartley's charity allowed Owais Shah to get to his maiden hundred. And Hartley nearly fluffed again when he nearly did not call for the third umpire in the Paul Collingwood run out incident.

Gripping series this may be, but shouldn't that be because of the contest between bat and ball?

And what about Paul Collingwood? I would love to see what the Match Referee has to say about his open show of dissent following his run out.

James Anderson got away with a shoulder barge at Headingley, maybe Mr Fat Arse will too.Which will be a travesty.

Second String?

Yesterday, Mr Gul Hameed Bhatti had this to say about the Mumbai team visiting Pakistan for the Nissar trophy -

Mumbai sending second-string side for Nissar Trophy

Today, CricInfo faithfully reproduces the article as its own

Mumbai send second-string team for Nissar Trophy