Indians hoped that India will do well in Trent Bridge Test. India will win and it will be 1-1.
On Day 1 England were all out 221. At one time they were 124/8. India were 24/1. On Day 2 India were all out 288, a lead of 67 runs. At one time they were 267/4. England were 24/1. On Day 3 India’s bowling was not successful. England dominated. The day began with Vaseline controversy. Till tea break India had the chance of winning or drawing the Test. After Ian Bell run-out controversy it was downhill for India. England finished the day 441/6, a lead of 374 runs. On that day England scored 417 runs on a single day, highest since 1954. After tea break India did not have the will to fight. Something was seriously wrong. It seems there was a split in the team and many players were demoralised. On day 4 England were all out 544. India were all out 158 in 47.4 overs and lost the Test by 319 runs. Sachin Tendulkar was the top scorer with 56. Harbhajan Singh scored 46, Rahul Dravid 6, V. V. S. Laxman 4, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 0. The match was over within four days.
Ian Bell had a reprieve during World Cup some months back. That time he and everyone else knew he was out but he continued as umpire had not given him out. That time it was question of rules and there was no question of spirit of the game. After that incident UDRS rule changed for World Cup.
What went wrong? Batting was supposed to become more difficult every day. How is that even English tail enders batted well and Indians failed? India went into the series as No. 1 team. After two consecutive Test defeats that ranking is in doubt. Dhoni said our bowlers were tired and our batsmen were unable to live up to the challenge. His own form is a concern. Kapil Dev said out bowlers don’t play Ranji or three day matches. They play one day or T20 matches. Hence they are unable to bowl long spells.
India have to win the remaining two Tests to draw the series and retain No. 1 ranking. No team can remain No. 1 for ever but India lost the Lord’s Test and performed badly in Trent Bridge Test. Excuses will not do. Players get injured and their absence should not be the reason as others take their place. Some say missing the West Indies tour was the reason for poor performance of some players. Sunil Gavaskar had said that those who want rest and do not want to go to West Indies should be given permanent rest. Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan had missed the tour. Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan got injured at Lord’s and were out of Trent Bridge Test. Yuvraj Singh who replaced Gautam Gambhir could have been sent to open batting. Some blame BCCI’s refusal to have UDRS for LBW decisions as reason for India’s defeat as Harbhajan Singh was wrongly given out and some English batsmen were not given out LBW.
After the Test when asked about Ian Bell’s return Dhoni said it was not about rule or spirit of the game but about feeling good. They did not feel good about the way he was out. Really? In that case the players who did not feel good should not be in the team. If all players did not feel good the whole team should be back in India and another team should be sent. In 2004 BJP campaigned on feel good factor and it lost the election.
The series had a sideshow of one ad featuring Dhoni making fun of an ad featuring Harbhajan Singh. Then another ad featuring Gautam Gambhir endorsing the product Harbhajan Singh endorsed.
Before the Test there was also a controversy about Indian cricketers not attending the reception by Indian High Commissioner and attending Dhoni’s charity auction. BCCI said there was communication gap. When Mohinder Singh Gill was sports minister he had derecognised BCCI as a national sports organisation. It was not proper for Indian High Commissioner to invite a team that is not sent by a recognised national sports organisation. Once the players did not attend the reception there was no need to go public about it and the matter should have been closed. There is supposed to be another reception once the players return to London. Now that the players have done badly there may not be much enthusiasm to meet them.
It is possible for India to win the remaining two Tests and level the series. I hope they will.
Indian players are not
physically fit, they play defensive game, heavily rely on two or three players
to rescue them at all the time, they often get panicky, can’t play
bouncy balls, don’t have the hunger to win and most importantly, they lack
discipline and never die attitude! Courage and guts are not there and Indians
don’t have those qualities. Gary Kirsten is now gone and he also took India’s luck
and good fortune with him! Indians are literally peeing in their pants on the
fields. They are spineless and hopeless as well. Gamblers game T20 (and the
millions of dollars contract money) killed Indian cricket and our cricketers
completely! Only God can help us now!
I think it’s not just Pataudi but most Indians feel let down by the performance of the Indian cricket team against the English team. We knew what was in stake before start of the series therefore we should have prepared more. All the critics of the Indian team will now say that yes, India is not really the no.1 team in world and furthermore, they have achieved this status in the past due to playing in favorable home condition. Anyway, it’s too late win the test series now but I hope we can turn it around and do really well in the one day series. But the team definitely needs a confidence boost, perhaps a century from Tendulker or stronger performance in the last test match can do that. Inshallah, lets support the team.
CANNOT put down Engish batting without doing much MORE than
England bowlling. Because, English batting is at par with English
bowling due to practice on the net and in counties.
Pragyan could
have helped india way. What else? Need not be frustrated because Angrez
are used to the pace and swing. NEED SOMETHING unusual that indian
bowling is unable to deliver.
Indian Batting if it made bigger scores could have infused more confidence in Indian bowling.
Let’s accept the fact that Senior and tired players like Sachin,Laxman and even Dhoni could not meet the standard.They should retire and give chance to young one.How Long we have to wait for Sachin’s 100? He will do it against BANGLADESH.Lot of IPL game is also responsible for this as no one has patience to stay on wicket for more than 1 hr.Good luck to this coach — we should be ready to loose against IRELAND and Bangladesh.Where is Irfan Pathan.His career spoiled jointly by YENGSARKAR & GREG CHAPPAL .Even Ganguly resigned due to these two jurk.Why RAINA is tried so may times with his unfit body.We are loosing any way! Let us try the new and fresh players not tired one Sachin,Laxamn,Raina & Dhoni.Sharma & Praveen were not in world cup but they are better one out of tired jokers.
Players are becoming lazy, they want big and easy money (of IPL) but not ready to slog for a test match. Obviously a full 5 day test match is equal to 11 IPL matches (comparing the overs), moreover the glamour and money in IPL is much higher !! Remember its upto the cricketers to make the choices, they always have the option to opt out of IPL if they have the courage to do so.
The team is already on a verge of an innings defeat in this match, still the attitude of players is pathetic. When was last time when we saw so many catches being dropped? Their body language clearly shows that they have lost the test match in the minds already, rest is formality. These are clearly bad signs for coming matches.
But the main culprit is BCCI which is using cricketers as slaves and forcing them to play back to back series without any breaks. Sadly cricketers have become milch cows for BCCI now.
Indian team has suffered complete defeat and humbled it and its admirers.The fault is primarily of the politicians like Sharad Pawar who only take credit when the team wins but don’t accept responsibility if it fails. Dhoni is also to blame for not putting his foot down on interference from so called fat armchair cricket leaders.All said and done Lalit Modi was an asset to management of cricket in India.
Dhoni and his men are not Robots. Back to back World Cup and the IPL exhausted and drained them completely and the outcome is Team India suffered. Give them a choice either play for IPL or Team India. Pataudi is one big loser to b*tch about performancnes esp since he was a big part of IPL.
I am surprised th any one thought India would win in englans especially when ngland gave them a very easy ride in the one day World cup. you just have to look at the Bowler Zaher after 13 overs he breaks down, then you see him all smiles walking around the grounds at both of the first Test ground!