Second ODI - India versus England, Bristol

India take the long route to victory. India 329/7 England 320/8

With the English scorecard reading 239/7, India decided that it was time for a siesta. How else can one explain England clawing back from 239 to 320/8 at the end of the game?

Agreed that the Pom lower order was expected to throw their bats around, but this is ridiculous.

Then again, 2 Indian batsmen were Goulded. And we dropped 4 catches early on. And England were on a tear, reaching 75/0 in 10 overs.

And yet we won.

India did the hard yards and while Mascarenhas and Broad added some artificial excitement to the game by tonking the ball around, India held its nerve when it mattered.

The batsmen came to the party, the bowlers were steady, the fielding was all over the place and Ajit Agarkar was on a one man mission to ensure an English win. But when the crunch came, India's nerve held. And England cracked.

All of which points to a good, hard fought series over the remaining 5 matches.

Bloody ridiculous

Just what were the Mumbai selectors smoking when the decided to drop Nilesh Kulkarni from the Mumbai squad scheduled to take on Karachi?

Per Cricinfo,

He has not even signed up with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), but Nilesh Kulkarni is already feeling the strain. Mumbai's selectors named their team to take on Karachi in a four-day match for the Nissar Trophy on Saturday and Kulkarni figured in the squad. With speculation rife that he was set to join the ICL Mumbai Cricket Association officials got in touch with Kulkarni to check what the exact situation was.

When they learned that Kulkarni, who is currently playing league cricket in England, had indeed been offered a contract by ICL, and was dilly-dallying over whether to sign or not, and reportedly asked for a few days time before he made up his mind, Mumbai's selectors made theirs up. They dropped Kulkarni for the Nissar Trophy match, replacing him with Mundeep Mungela, the medium-pacer.

"We wanted to send a strong message to Nilesh," a senior MCA official close to the selection committee, comprising Dilip Vengsarkar, Abey Kuruvilla, Milind Rege and Kiran Mokashi, told Cricinfo. "He wanted a few days' time but we decided to take our own decision."

Huh?

Nilesh Kulkarni has soldiered on for Mumbai with distinction for over 13 seasons now. He also has the distinction of captaining Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. And this is not the first time that Nilesh Kulkarni has been treated shabbily either.

So what message are the selectors trying to send exactly?

Are Mumbai captains, past and present, to be treated like dirt once their perceived utility is over?

Or are they to be tossed around to placate the real or imagined embarrassments of Sharad Pawar MP ( Baramati, Pune District)?

If this is the message sent, are Dilip Vengsarkar and Milind Rege, ex captains both, listening?

And do the Mumbai selectors honestly think that Iqbal Abdulla is ready to don the mantle of lead spinner?

First ODI - India versus England, The Rose Bowl.

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?

Outrage.

In the aftermath of the Sreesanth beamer to Kevin Pieterson, English newspapers and sports columnists were besides themselves with rage over the incident.

Beamers must be punished with ban - By Mike Atherton, Sunday Telegraph

Beamer-bowling Sreesanth handed fine for barging - By Jon Culley at Trent Bridge

A deliberate beamer is just throwing a punch by proxy - Mike Selvey

Pietersen shaken by beamer

It was, therefore, with some interest that I perused the English newspapers following the incident (listed below) during the Friends Provident Trophy finals between Durham and Hampshire

48.3	Tremlett to Gibson, SIX, short, straight and crashed into the crowd behind midwicket - what a shot
48.4	Tremlett to Gibson, FOUR, now he goes through the off-side - such power, great cover drive, down on one knee
48.5	Tremlett to Gibson, 2 no balls, no-ball immediately signalled as a Sreesanth-like beamer has Gibson ducking and falling back
48.5	Tremlett to Gibson, 2 runs, that's big again, but in height rather than distance - Gibson launching a top edge that nearly makes the rope and plugs in the ground near Pietersen
48.6	Tremlett to Gibson, 1 run, cuts into the ground

Of the contentious moments, none was quite as unappetising as the beamer Chris Tremlett bowled at Gibson. No doubt it was accidental, but since Gibson had hit the previous two balls for six and four, suspicion could not be immediately allayed. - Stephan Brinkley in the Independent

Ottis Gibson warmed up for his opening burst by ducking a beamer from Chris Tremlett then smacking the ball as Barbadians used to do - Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph

This included a horrible beamer at Gibson after Tremlett had been struck for a massive six from the previous delivery. We assumed this to be accidental rather more swiftly than when Sreesanth delivered his beamer during the Trent Bridge Test. - Vic Marks in the Guardian

For Hampshire, Pietersen was out for 12 to continue to modest record in one-dayers at Lord’s, while Chris Tremlett bowled nine overs for 60, in the last of which he served Gibson with that darkest of deliveries, a beamer, straight after being hit for six and four. - Simon Wilde in the Times

GIBSON RELIEVED TO MISS BEAMER

Umpire referral rules confuse Phil Mustard - By Michael Atherton, Sunday Telegraph
--
And just so you know, Chris Tremlett is a member of the England One Day squad for the first 4 matches against India.

Mumbai play Karachi

from the 8th through the 11th of September

The Mumbai Team - : Wasim Jaffer (capt), Vinayak Mane, Sahil Kukreja, Hiken Shah, Vinit Indulkar, Abhishek Nair, Omkar Gurav (wk), Avishkar Salvi, Rajesh Verma, Iqbal Abdulla, Vikrant Yelligatti, Prashant Naik, Ajinkya Rahane and Nilesh Kulkarni.

And on a tangential note, given the number of players being pulled from the domestic setup by the ICL, how competitive will the Ranji Trophy be this year?

And now, guard against complacency!

India play England in 7 ODIs following their series victory in the Tests. And I do not expect England to push India too hard - 7 ODIs are 7 ODIs too many for the English palate.

There may be the odd game when England will come hard at India, but I believe we have enough nous to overcome that.

The problem that I foresee is in the period following the ODI series.

India has had a tendency to go off the boil after a big series ( Test or ODI), especially when they have performed well.

This, coupled with the tendency of being slow off the blocks, does not augur well for us.

India plays the 20/20 World Cup in South Africa and despite 20/20 being a slog fest and India playing a relatively young team ( both in age and experience), the words "World" and "Cup" will ensure a media frenzy.

Heightened expectations, coupled with a touch of complacency and the inability to hit the ground running implies that I do not see India doing too well in the 20/20 World Cup.

And just as well ( what with Test Cricket being the real cricket and all that).

Given that, it will behoove us ( fans and players) to temper our reactions a touch and keep in mind the bigger challenges ahead - Pakistan and Australia beckon.

Test 3 Day 5 - India take the series 1-0

India win the inaugural Pataudi Trophy. Just like they won the inaugural Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

By the identical series scoreline.

Onto the ODIs then.

A question of Intent

or questionable intent?

Here is what I wrote after the Sachin-Rahul crawl fest at Cape Town.

"His imitation of the "Strokeless Wonder" will be criticised by one and all, and understandably so. But what will fall through the cracks is the lack of ownership and responsibility shown by Dravid during this passage of play.Given that Sachin was not stroking the ball, not taking the initiative,"pottered and scratched, padded and swiveled, nudged and tapped and the Indian innings came to a standstill'", what was Dravid doing in the meanwhile?For a batsman who was well set, the onus was on him to take the initiative. As the captain of the team , it was his responsibility to take the initiative. As a senior member of the side, it was his duty to take the initiative. And he fell short on all three counts.Watching Sachin scratch around brought back memories of Bangalore 2004 and Mumbai 2005. A once great batsman unable to battle his inner demons.But watching Rahul play the way he did was the clearest example of "processes" gone bad!!"

And today,

R Dravid c Strauss b Collingwood 12 (96b 1x4 0x6) SR: 12.50

this, when India is leading the poms by 319 runs in the first innings.

Test 3 Day 3 - No Follow On

England are precariously placed at 326/9, trailing India by 338 runs. And there is some talk of India enforcing the follow on.

IMHO, That is a big NO-NO.

If India gets the last English wicket in the first half hour tomorrow, India should target to bat such that they get about 8 overs before tea ( including time lost for change of innings) to have a go at England.

Hypothetically, that gives India anything between 40-50 overs to look at a score that is out of Englands reach, anything between 470-530.

Two things will be achieved by this
1. The match will be completely, totally put out of England's reach.
2. The wicket will get a further 40-50 overs to bake under the sun.

And it will give India 4 sessions and a bit to get 10 English wickets.

Let us not forget that we have a series to win, and England must not be given any hope at all. Remember also that there is an ODI series to follow with a lot of the English cast remaining the same.

Test 3 Day 2 - The unlikeliest Indian of them all..

Anil Kumble makes England suffer

England consigned to the point of no return by Kumble century

The jewel in Jumbo's crown

Kumble tops it for India with 100 No. 1

India 664, England 21-1: Kumble's batting heroics put India on brink of historic series victory

Kumble's century drives England towards abyss as India bury remorse
--
It was satisfying to see cricketers of this calibre prepared to work so fiercely at the crease. Even as age takes its toll upon their powers, true sportsmen continue to serve their side with modesty and judgement.
--
There remains the small matter of a Test to be won. And a series. And three days to do it in.

Test 3 Day1 - India consolidate

India's game plan going into this test was simple enough - bat once, bat big and bat England out of the test and the series.

And for this, India needed to bat- for time and runs.

Every run scored by India is a run that England has to top and every over consumed by India is one less over for England to establish themselves on the game.

India did a fair job in this regard - 316/4 in 90 overs is testimony to that. However, England has kept itself in contention with timely wickets - Jaffer just after the first drinks interval, Dravid and Karthik just before the tea interval and Ganguly just before the new ball was due.

Talking of playing for time and runs, I think Sachin Tendulkar has done a sterling job so far for India. By scoring 48 not out in 132 balls played over 3+ hours means that the runs, overs and hours have been taken care of thus far.

The onus is on India now to consolidate even further on Day 2. The trick is in playing for at least 150 overs which will put India's score in the region of 525-550 given the current rate of scoring. Any additional sessions/runs are a huge bonus.

Alternatively, England will look to stem the rot with the new ball first thing tomorrow morning. Limit India to less that 450 and England will have time on their side. And with conditions supposed to be their best on Days 2 and 3, any score less than 450 should not challenge the Poms to any great extent.

All to play for then. Roll on Day 2.

Dear Mr Miller

Dear Mr Miller,

You write

"Sreesanth, the breakdancing bundle of energy from Kerala, had a shocking Test match. Teased for his apparent resemblance to Harry Potter while batting, he bowled like one of Voldemort's stooges - ineffective, erratic and at times downright ugly. He sent Pietersen, the object of India's ire, crashing to the turf with a whistling beamer, and then jammed another full-toss into Collingwood's ribs after overstepping by almost a metre."

This is from the Ball by Ball commentary from your own web site

59.6 Sreesanth to Vaughan, no run, another massive full toss from Sreesanth - waist high, as opposed to a head-knocker-offer. Vaughan punches it to gully

89.6 Sreesanth to Collingwood, 1 no ball, short, Collingwood ducks and then gives a weary smile as he looks up to see he is being given a stare

89.6 Sreesanth to Collingwood, 1 no ball, even shorter and a second no-ball and again he seems more concerned with giving a hard stare. He was about a yard over the crease when he delivered that ... that was not a slight overstepping that was a full stride and one questions if that is accidental

No full tosses aimed at Mr Collingwood's ribs, mind.

While Sreesanth's antics have been out of line throughout this test match and are unpardonable, does it behoove you to add innuendo to the mix?

Thanks,

Homer

PS:-

Sreesanth, the breakdancing bundle of energy from Kerala, had a shocking Test match. Teased for his apparent resemblance to Harry Potter while batting, he bowled like one of Voldemort's stooges - ineffective, erratic and at times downright ugly. He sent Pietersen, the object of India's ire, crashing to the turf with a whistling beamer, and then aimed a vicious bouncer at Collingwood after overstepping by almost a metre.

Thank you Mr Miller.

Test 2 Day 5 - One down, Nine to go.

First things first - the toss was not as vital as made out to be. I don't believe India would be too chuffed if they had to bowl on the fifth day's wicket if they had lost the toss.

Secondly, England have , over four innings, spectacularly imploded from positions of strength and it is India,not England, that have taken 20 wickets in both tests.

And in this test, the rub of the umpiring green went England's way.

India has its problems, no doubt. Sreesanth needs to get his act together, India needs to play the ebbs and flows of the game better, the captaincy needs to be a touch more proactive and there is a tendency of getting overconfident after a win ( and India has the track record of losing a test right after winning one).

India has 9 days to get these issues sorted out and a happy dressing room from the Lords test will be happier still.

A pretty comprehensive victory in the end, though people may point out to the 3 wickets lost and hint at a stutter.

1 Test and 8 ODIs remain to win then, for India.

Test 2 Day 4 - On the cusp

Something happened at Trent Bridge today - England were going swimmingly at 287/3, the new ball had been tonked to the tune of 17 runs in two overs.

The real Sreesanth had gone AWOL, Michael Vaughan was playing like a dream, England led by 4.

And just like that, the game turned on its head.

Just like that.

And just like that, pessimism turned to optimism, drooping shoulders and heads gave way to a spring in the steps and the chuntering started in full earnest.

Long story short, India needs 63 runs to win in 90 overs with 10 wickets in hand.

The score card -here.

Test 2 Day 3 - So far, so good

Although India will be remiss in not reminding Simon Taufel of his howlers on Day 3.

England has all the running to do over the next two days while India has to play the patience game - keep theirs and work on the Poms'.

And it is imperative for Sreesanth to come to the party.

With the wicket getting more uneven, India cannot afford for its bowlers to ease on the pressure and let the Poms get a look in.

With 240 runs to play with and 6 sessions to go and Rahul Dravid displaying rare flair and imagination in the 16 overs that India were on the field, I will be surprised if India fails to wrap up the game by the end of the day's play tomorrow.