India's Pragyan Ojha, left, V.V.S. Laxman, center, and Suresh Raina. AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
To be number one in any discipline you need to be prepared to fight and scrap. Yet in the first two Tests of their battle against England for the honour of being the world’s number one Test cricketing nation, India have rolled over.
Yes, they’ve had injuries. Losing your best quick bowler and your opening batting pair would leave a hole in any team. Certainly Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Virendar Sehwag have been missed, but England have had injuries too.
Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann have either been missing or below their best due to injury, yet England have still ploughed forward.
Yes, India have had some bad luck. Harbhajan Singh could lay claim to being a lumberjack in light of the amount of wood he chopped the ball with when given out lbw in the first innings of the second Test.
Equally unlucky was Sachin Tendulkar’s mystery illness in the first Test. The illness seemed to take the wind out of Sachin’s sails and he only regained his confidence during the second innings at Trent Bridge.
However, England haven’t exactly had the rub of the green either. For example, in both Tests so far Strauss has lost the toss in bowling-friendly first day conditions. Both times Dhoni has had no hesitation in sending England in to bat.
This series India have had all the hallmarks of a side that has no fight or ticker about them. There has been uninterested fielding, bizarre captaincy, inconsistent bowling, dramatic haircuts and a batting line-up that has crumbled like a building in a Christopher Nolan movie.
Dhoni’s dismissal in the second innings of the Trent Bridge Test was the perfect metaphor for India in this series. Out lbw while leaving the ball, the dismissal reeked of a lost and withdrawn man whose heart was simply not in it.
How did India get to this position?
Is there too much cricket? Is there too much focus on the shorter forms of the game in India? Is it the conditions in England? Or do India miss the hype of the IPL?
The reason for India’s lack of gumption isn’t clear right now. However, one thing is. A team becomes number one in the world for a reason. Whatever that reason was for India, they need to rediscover it soon.
None of this is to take away from England. If India have been uninterested, then England have been excited, engaged and focused.
All of England’s batsmen bar Alistair Cook have made a contribution. The highlight was Ian Bell’s magnificent second-innings hundred in the second Test, closely followed by Kevin Pietersen’s gritty double-ton in the first. Though I’m sure friends of KP will disagree with me. If he has any.
Crazy run-outs aside, Bell’s innings was full of superlative stroke-play and was probably his best for England. That it came when England were in bother, and after being promoted to number three due to Trott’s injury, make it all the more impressive.
Additionally, England’s bowling has been aggressive and incisive with the highlight being Stuart Broad’s willow-stained hat-trick. Graeme Swann has been a non-factor with the ball and yet England’s attack has bowled India out for under 300 in every innings.
Tim Bresnan in particular was magnificent in the second Test. The burly Yorkshireman, who if given the pint-and-pie conditioning diet of the 1980s would probably make Merv Hughes look skinny, was brought in to replace the injured Chris Tremlett and was instrumental with both bat and ball.
Also, Andrew Strauss’ captaincy, so often indecisive and defensive (particularly with field placings), is exuding confidence and a little bit of flair. Even he may be shocked with that.
Most importantly, England have displayed a killer instinct. I’m not going to say they have been Australian-esque as Steve Waugh has killed people for less than that, but they have been Australian-ish. When England have been presented with an opportunity to bury India they have pounced.
The series moves to Edgbaston this week for the third Test. The traditionally raucous (I wanted to use the word riotous here but thought better of it) Birmingham crowd will be England’s main advantage on a deck that generally provides an even contest between bat and ball.
They’ll be changes for both teams. Sehwag and Gambhir are looking likely to return from injury for India. For England, the shoulder injury to Trott means Ravi Bopara has been called up for his first Test since the 2009 Ashes.
Bopara’s play during that series was about as solid as Shane Warne’s morals, so India will be looking to expose him in the middle order. (Yes, I know. I used “Shane Warne” and “expose” in the same sentence. I feel like an English tabloid.)
England lead 2-0 with two Tests to go. One more England win or two draws and they will rise to number one in the Test cricket rankings. If this is not enough to stir the Indians into action then maybe the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should either:
a) Play less cricket overall.
b) Concentrate solely on their beloved One Day Internationals and Twenty20.
c) Only ever play at home.
d) Arrange for flamethrowers, fireworks, cheerleaders, and incessant drumming at Test Matches.
Or they could come up with some sort of strange combination of the above so the players are more interested when playing Test cricket. I’m sure the BCCI could afford to arrange any or all of these. I bet there is plenty of cash stored in the MRF blimp.
Though maybe that’s the problem?
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