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Day 1, The Oval: England slowly build on a rain-marred day

Posted: August 19, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, The CouchExpert

19 August 2011

 

The only sign of aggression from the Indian bowlers on a rain-marred day, which lasted until lunch, was the quick bouncer from Ishant Sharma that took a piece of Strauss’ helmet on its way.

Humbly reluctant as I am to obtrude the lack of venom in the Indian pace attack, as I’ve already done during the most part of this series, signs of amelioration were hardly visible. There was more crowd movement behind the side screen at the start of the day than the movement extracted by the Indian seamers using the new ball.

Trapped in these webs of clueless lines and length was India’s newest addition RP Singh, who hasn’t played a test in a while. Like Praveen, his lack of pace does him no good but unlike the former, he didn’t appear intelligent enough. He had a great series in England back in 2007, and his Harmison-esque start to this test made one wonder whether he’s played any cricket at all during those four years.

India's only sign of aggression was a vicious bouncer from Ishant that damaged Strauss' hemlet

Cook and Strauss continued to grind the runs until the rain gods opened up to play spoilsport on an overcast day, conditions under which the Indian bowlers failed to shine. Barring the bouncer from Ishant, the Englishmen weren’t troubled as they continued to do what they did all series. And James Anderson, who was declared fit prior to the start of the game, will have more time to rest and have a go at the Indians – something that isn’t likely to happen before the 3rd day.

At 75-0, England will continue to pile on the runs, hopefully at a decent rate to annul the lost time on Day One. For India, a colossal change in approach, and performance, is needed.

Resurrection Time!

Posted: August 18, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, Opinion
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Sridhar Diwakar

August 18 2011

 

 

The English cricket team thrashed us. Let’s face it!

While the easiest thing to do now is castigate the ailing indian cricket team and sit back, there is something else which must be triggered. A Renaissance.

India needs to build for a stronger future

If you have a look at all the great teams in any sport across all eras, there was a point when they made a distinctive choice. First they built a vision plan. A strong definitve one. Then they built a talent base – and when I say built, they toiled. They developed processes, well researched ones. Processes which are independent of people. And finally they made sure that everything evolved – with time and with the latest developments, but around the strong theme laid down in their vision plan.

This is the need of the hour. This is the renaissance that i am talking of. A renaissance which starts with a choice.

And it’s not just in cricket. This renaissance has to come to each and every sport in our country. We have abundant talent, but we lack the necessary expertise and the will to nuture it. The Indian cricket team in England had all the big names in Indian cricket. Yet, they floundered. Some, due to injury, some due to lack of application. Some were simply outclassed. The Indian football, hockey and rugby teams have been thrashed on various occasions too. And what have we done to change all that. Has there been a change in the system as such? In the coaching and training methods? Not just in the national team but in the teams right from the grassroot levels? Has there been an upgradation in the infrastructure? Nope. Then why and how do we hope?

It’s not a series that we lost. It’s an opportunity lost. And with each opportunity lost, it’s respect lost for our nation. It’s the hope in the next gen’s hearts that we have lost. Unquantifiable yet profound!

If ever we were waiting for a jumpstart to set things right, this is it. It’s time to leap ahead. At times the best way forward is to step back a little. In this case we have been pushed too far back. Let that be an excuse for us to catapult ahead. Let’s prepare a robust system. We might still end up losing, but we will succeed in breeding many more Tendulkars, Bhutias, Bhupatis, Anands, Gopichands and Sainas. A fact that is sorely missing now. This is what will change the face of sports in India.

As Theodore Roosevelt so aplty put: “It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”

The Oval Preview: Perspective England

Posted: August 17, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, The CouchExpert

17 August 2011

 

Let us be honest with ourselves here: any attempt to get the competitive mood a little testier than it was prior to the Edgbaston-induced euphoria might be challenging. The margin of dominance might seem to have alleviated the competitive juices that would have existed before statistics played devil’s advocate – but far from all that, England will target a whitewash. With their openers back in form, the solitary glitch of the series up and until Birmingham was resolved in style.

As painful as Cook’s drab innings was, it is hard to argue that he might have ended up playing the role that was expected of him. For the spectator though, the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility seemed to govern his innings that day when, at one point of time, the value of every additional run scored decreased, at least virtually, as his individual score piled on.

Nevertheless, England’s neoclassical revival couldn’t have hoped for anything more concrete. The nation’s persistent expectations were finally in congruence with their team’s performances in the middle. And the icing on the cake was to add to the former World Number One’s bundle of misery by ostensibly portraying the visitors’ woes as voluminous and grave as unpaid taxes in India.

Tremlett will definitely miss out due to injury, while Anderson's situation isn't entirely clear yet

The combination of a prospective whitewash and a battered Indian morale could well tempt Flower & co. from fielding their best XI at the Oval. Graham Onions is likely to return if the suspected injury of Anderson stops him from taking any part on Thursday. Tremlett isn’t fit yet, therefore Bresnan, riding on that wonderful form of his, will look to stay in phase with the momentum.

Bopara’s return placed him in the footnote of a scorecard with monumental numbers, an image that would only appear more blurred when he reads newspapers that highlight James Taylor’s great run of late. The Leicestershire wonder kid scored yet another hundred against the visiting Sri Lankan – A team, and is piling runs at the rate at which Cook was doing over the winter.

Bopara, in all likelihood, will be given another run at the Oval to cash in on runs against an attack that seems far from convincing. Some might argue that it would appear a bit premature for Taylor to be given a go now, but keeping a young in-form batsman waiting in the wings for too long has its own set of unpleasant consequences – one which even Ravi Bopara experienced at an earlier stage of his career.

And to imagine the prospect of throwing young Taylor in to a steaming cauldron somewhere within the subcontinent in conditions unfamiliar to him may not be the ideal start to envision. Flower is probably already thinking of this – the thought being hidden somewhere in his mind amidst a collage of numbers that read 4 and 0.

While it is easy to overstate this need, substantive as it might appear, the bigger picture of the Oval being a battlefield that will house the war between a bruised ego and new-found arrogance must not be forgotten. England cannot, and will not, look to hand India the advantage with a lackluster approach knowing that a 4-0 drubbing would lead the Indian media to frantically dig the graves of culprits before the start of the ODI series. This would, consequently, hand England another advantage going ahead.

Having climbed to the top with promising signs of a new era and a mentally tougher unit, the ghosts of England’s past have vanished for good. Hyperbolic as this statement might allegedly sound, only a strong performance – redolent of the visitors’ era under Gary Kirsten – might tilt the scales otherwise.

Day 4, Edgbaston: England throned Number One as India sink

Posted: August 13, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, The CouchExpert

13 August 2011

The Englishmen are the new World Number One.

Their ruthless, convincing and highly competing display of cricket has taken them to the top of the tables with their path seemingly more convincing than the ones taken by the Indians not too long ago. James Anderson’s devastating spell to take four top order wickets was good enough to hand England the momentum, and Dhoni his first series loss as captain.

England has evolved into a unit which is greater than the sum of its parts. And most importantly, every member of the playing XI seems to have had a clear role defined for him. How well they’ve executed it! The margins of victory over these three tests, if browsed through a decade from now, will contain no evidence to showcase that the visitors came into the tour as World Number One.

Anderson's four-for put an end to any hope of a recovery from the visitors

As the Indians found themselves a beset under a swarm of criticism, during and after the course of events on the third day of the Edgbaston Test, it seemed as though it was only going to be a matter of time before England ascended the throne of Test Cricket.

Signs of optimism were scarce and scattered across minds that hoped for a repeat of Napier in 2009, where India battled through seven sessions to save the Test. Considering the visitors’ current run of form, this feat seemed more unlikely than possible.

The theory’s correctness was soon proved as Napier’s hero Gambhir departed to the first ball he faced, during the second over of the day, as he, quite literally, guided an Anderson delivery in to the hands of Swann at second slip. The optimist’s ride stumbled across a roadblock, while the red cherry in Anderson’s hand possessed movement that would have easily pierced through every point in the trajectory of a simple pendulum with relatively large amplitudes.

It makes no sense to conduct a post-mortem over the dismissals that followed, barring two – one strange, and another unfortunate. If the current economic downturn forces global corporations to attempt running their business with shoestring budgets, Dravid’s shoestring was the cause for his misery as he, for reasons unknown, walked after thinking that he nicked a James Anderson delivery to Matt Prior when in reality, it was the contact between his bat and his shoe laces. It is perplexing to try and understand what might have gone through Dravid’s mind at that time. Some things are best left unsaid.

Tendulkar, on the other hand, was caught off-guard at the non striker’s end when MS Dhoni played a shot that reflected off Swann’s hands and crashed into the stumps at the other end. His dismissal, followed by the eventual plummet to defeat pretty much summarized the Indian summer.

The Indians failed to cross Cook's individual score in either innings. Cook was awarded the Man of the Match

Having not managed to cross Man-of-the-Match Cook’s individual score as a team in either innings, Dhoni’s performance with the bat this test, inconsequential as it may seem remains the solitary positive.

This victory presents an excellent opportunity for England to throw debuts to their much awaited young prospects – something that the “English Cricket relies on Foreign Imports” community might keen to witness. At the same time, England might look to go for the kill and target a 4-0 whitewash at The Oval.

From the perspective of an Indian fan, there could still a breathtaking cynicism to this prospect, but this isn’t a case which is as unreasonable as it might have sounded a month ago. Three tests into this dreadful series, the question, surely for the Indians will revolve around how much worse it can get. Their display, thus far, has bordered disreputable incompetence. Excuses can, and surely will, fluctuate between injuries and overload, but what will remain imprinted are the results, never the reasons.

For the British fan, this is the start of a new era. Let him cherish it for as long as it lasts, and if England continue to play the way they did this series, this is bound to be a long spanning tenure at the top.

Day 2 Edgbaston: Alastair cooks up Ton as India’s woes persist

Posted: August 12, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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 Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, CouchExpert

12 August 2011

It will be hard to put a smile on the face of an Indian fan these days. The tour to England, thus far, has exposed flaws that would, to an ardent fan, make even the disastrous regime of the Indian National Congress seem pardonable – a sign that usually announces the arrival of very hard times to come.

As bowling strength dried up, and fielding slipped in to recession, a series provocative enough to the visitors appeared as scary to the Indian fan as the riots that have taken over the streets of England. In order to build credibility, henceforth, with an already skeptical public, a major reform in performance is what would have to be targeted. Sadly, the reform refers more to better cricket than anything else around.

Against an attack that seemed to lack both ownership and leadership, talks over the struggling forms of the English openers were put to rest as Strauss and Cook relished the red delicacies that were thrown their way. The opening surge shed light into the mythic power of the English unit’s rapid rise to the top, ever since the advent of the Ashes triumph down under.

Dhoni had acknowledged the prevailing skepticism by building accountability in to some of his causes for failure – injuries and workload. While the former was given a nod by some, the latter was rubbished. With Sreesanth struggling against southpaws, Praveen – intelligent and hardworking – but just not quick enough to trouble the batsmen, and Ishanth not consistent enough, Dhoni couldn’t but embody that popular Indian myth that with the lack of a departmental leader, the unit is virtually clueless.

Cook just needs three more hundreds to equal English record holder Wally Hammond's 22 hundreds in Test Cricket. © AFP

It simply wasn’t one of those days an Indian fan would want to remember: the bowling appeared to be fragile, and fielding slender – one really can’t do much but shrug when the man with a record catches in Test Cricket drops two sitters at slip.

While the Indians seemed to fluctuate between the conundrums of lack of ideas and butterfingers, the English batsmen cashed in to take an insurmountable lead with the back-in-form Cook notching up his 19th ton, three away from topping the centurions chart among English batsmen. It is hard to believe that he isn’t 27 yet.

It took a no ball from Mishra, revealed later through video replays, to get Strauss out sweeping to a delivery that he ideally wouldn’t have on another day. Bell, after being dropped by Dravid at first slip, fell to Praveen Kumar, who seemed the only Indian bowler capable of taking wickets.

That Kevin Pietersen blazed past his half-century at almost run-a-ball, and at times striking at a higher rate, pretty much summed up the Indian attack’s lack of aggression, and ideas, on a day that surely has been the nadir of the series so far. The Indian woes just seemed to add up, like Amit Mishra’s no balls in test cricket.

At present, the argument against the Indian bowling is obvious: the unit is as oblivious to the environment as the current Indian government is to scams and threats. The unit is deflating at the rate at which prices are inflating in their homeland. But at least with the current Indian cricketing setup, there is a little bit of hope that soon enough, the scenario will move the grey clouds away to witness a clear blue sky.

Hope is the only energy source to which the Indian fan can cling on to.

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