da 888： After two comprehensive victories over the weekend againstEngland and Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-series, I felt the onlything that could deprive the Indian team of a win is the flipside of English summer – rain
Erapalli Prasanna05-Jul-2002After two comprehensive victories over the weekend againstEngland and Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-series, I felt the onlything that could deprive the Indian team of a win is the flipside of English summer – rain. And finally it happened in Chesterle-Street when a persistent drizzle denied India what would havebeen yet another convincing win over England.
© CricInfoGanguly won the toss for the first time in the tri-series and hadthe opportunity to bat first. It is worthwhile to remember thatIndia were chasing when they won the first two matches. AtChester-le-Street, India decided to bat first, which was a verygood decision, taking into account the fickle nature of the ‘waterysunshine’.The facilities in England are of the highest order and the groundstaff had made sure that the track was kept dry for such animportant match. Having won the toss and elected to bat, Gangulymust have been completely shocked after being dismissed legbefore off the very first ball. If anything at all, Ganguly wasbeaten by pace. It was a dismissal that underlined the importanceof Gough’s vast experience.Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Mongia were guilty of playing looseshots while being dismissed early on a track that was full ofruns. With three wickets down and not many runs on the board,India were in a spot of bother.But then, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are two of the mostexperienced batsmen in contemporary international cricket. Theyare expected to deliver when the chips are down. And that wasprecisely what happened.Andrew Flintoff is one fast bowler who has matured a lot in ashort span of time. I was greatly impressed by his efforts whenthe Englishmen toured India. With his newfound discipline,Flintoff can only improve from here on. I thought Freddie bowledvery well in containing Tendulkar and Dravid, not giving them anyloose balls which would have enabled them to free their arms.Ronnie Irani also stuck to this principle, once again provingthat it is quite difficult to hit out against someone who canwobble the ball around.I thought the English fielding was simply brilliant. PaulCollingwood makes a huge difference to any fielding side as hedoes an amazing job at the crucial backward point position.Dravid and Tendulkar batted sensibly and ensured that India didnot lose another wicket till they went past the 44th over. Thelittle master was not his usual explosive self but was determinedto play the sheet-anchor role to perfection.Dravid, meanwhile, lost out on his century primarily due to thefact that he found it tough to force the pace when it matteredmost. He finally lost his wicket in an effort to clear the field.But most importantly he had given the support Tendulkar requiredto play a big knock. Tendulkar’s unbeaten hundred is the firstODI hundred by an Indian batsman against England in England. Hatsoff to the maestro.
© CricInfoIt took a blistering knock of 40 off just 19 balls from YuvrajSingh for India to set an imposing target of 286 runs. YuvrajSingh is a very special talent and all he wanted was for theselectors to show some faith in his natural ability. He is theright kind of player to be batting at number six. The youngsteris a genuine match-winner and the aggression he brings with himadds a new dimension to the Indian batting.It is so refreshing to see the Indian batting do so well. Evenafter three matches, the Indian lower order has not been requiredeven once and that definitely is a testimony of the strength ofthe Indian batting. The middle-order is not willing to throw awaytheir wickets cheaply and that makes a whole lot of difference toany team’s fortunes. With Tendulkar shaping up well as a sheetanchor, this side is slowly building up as a hot contender forthe World Cup 2003.All the Indians now need to do is to continue in this same veinthrough the English summer. Even though there was ‘No Result’ atChester-le-Street, it augurs well for Indian cricket that theystill hold the advantage in the tri-series.