A meek English surrender at Green Park
Erapalli Prasanna - 29 January 2002
The overnight rain may have tried to play spoilsport to start with at
the Green Park Oval in Kanpur, but it did not completely succeed. When
the overs are cut short in a limited-overs game, all the planning done
on the eve of the match comes to little fruition, and what matters
most is how well the teams adapt to the conditions on the day.
The pitch at the Green Park Oval was one factor that remained the
same, helping the captains in some measure in their decision-making.
The surface has not really changed since my playing days, and, on
Monday, it played true to its nature, keeping low and making
strokeplay a difficult proposition.
It is about time that the selectors gave some thought to playing
five specialist bowlers in the side. It makes no sense to me when I
see the part-time bowlers going for more than 60 runs. It puts
pressure on the specialist bowlers who generally do a good job of
containment and taking wickets.
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But when England batted first, Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight
seemed to have few problems with the bounce, finding the gaps in the
field regularly and ensuring a brisk scoring rate. Knight in
particular played a good hand to keep things going for England. Once
again, however, indiscreet shots played by the top order pushed
England into an abyss.
I felt that England could easily have scored around 245 runs in their
39 overs, especially given the magnificent start that their openers
provided them. The Indian bowling was yet again found wanting under
pressure, giving away runs at almost 5.34 per over. Keeping an eye on
the 2003 World Cup, the efforts in the field are also simply not good
enough. The Indian fielding may sport an improved look, but that is of
little consequence when one looks at the runs given away.
It is about time that the selectors gave some thought to playing five
specialist bowlers in the side. It makes no sense to me when I see the
part-time bowlers going for more than 60 runs. It puts pressure on the
specialist bowlers who generally do a good job of containment and
taking wickets. Conceding runs in the middle overs also puts
tremendous pressure on those bowling in the death.
Ajay Ratra, in my view, was disappointing behind the stumps, and this
is one of many areas that needs to be looked at closely by the
selectors. We have tried and tested too many wicket-keepers in the
recent past, and it is quite frustrating not to see a genuine stumper
come through. The next World Cup is barely one year away, and urgent
action needs to be taken to build a fighting unit that will be a
strong contender to win the trophy.
England, on their part, were taken aback by the events transpiring in
the Indian innings. There were a couple of decisions initially that
should have gone in their favour. Getting Sachin Tendulkar out with
the very first delivery of an innings would have made a big
difference. The brilliance of the strokeplay that ensued was there to
be seen, and I hope that these two will continue to open the innings
for India in one-day internationals.
Having said that, though, there is little excuse for the way the
English bowled at Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Instead of putting
those initial disappointments behind them, they let their shoulder
droop and bowled without any purpose. They simply gave up, and this
allowed Tendulkar and Sehwag to simply annihilate the bowling. By
doing so, England have almost ceded their chances of squaring the
series, and they do not have anyone to blame but themselves for
throwing the advantage away by batting badly after winning the toss.
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