A few days ago I asked the question, “Has England let the opportunity slip in the battle for No. 2 and chasing Australia?”

A win in Mumbai is now needed for England to remain in the race. Very difficult but it is the only way England can stop the opportunity from slipping. No one said the battle was ever going to be easy!

England did win in Mumbai and showed strength in the face of adversity. The persistance was evidant in the way England batted in the post tea session on Day 4 - with planning to go for the shots only once England felt safe. The persistance was also evident on Day 5. The pitch had not deteriorated. It was playing much better than most 5 day pitches play. England kept the ball in a line which made Indians play. Ball after ball this line was maintained. There was hardly any straying. The discipline and superb bowling effort was a pleasure to watch.

Defensive mindset

India has been defensive in mind set in this series. In the first test they went for the shots very late. That was when the score line read 0-0. Here the score line was 1-0. So it was unlikely that they would go for runs and risk drawing the series. The plan would be to play out the first session and a half or two sessions and if wickets are in hand after that, see if going for the target during a small phase is a good option.

This is where I think India erred. Defensive play is never a good option regardless of the situation. Dravid almost got into a shell and Tendulkar survived a few close LBW shouts which would have been plumb had they been a bit closer to the wicket. Safeguarding your wicket is needed in such situations. But in the process playing the natural game as far as possible should not be forgotten. If you let the bowlers dominate, they will gain in confidence and get on you sooner rather than later.

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The English Team was at cross roads in Pakistan. I had written on the same nearly 3 months ago which can be read here. I titled it facing adveristy. In the period which has followed since then, England has enountered a lot of adversity. A menacing Shoaib Akhtar in Pakistan and a series of unfortunate events leading 4 of their first XI to withdraw from the tour of India being unquestionably the biggest external adversities. The internal weaknesses they have shown shouldn’t be forgotten.

With the collapse in Pakistan and throwing away a match England should have probably drawn in India in the second test of the series in Mohali, it has probably let slip the opportunity to challenge Australia for now. From being the unquestionable number 2 side, it has gone down a step in the close battle of the number 2.

In fact, it also finds itself at a position inferior to Pakistan. Pakistan appear to have lost Shoaib Akhtar for the immediate future. However there is some time to go for Pakistan’s tour of England. If Pakistan can manage even a draw in that series, it would mean that Pakistan has set itself above the current English side.

And what about South Africa? South Africa played superbly in Australia. It is now involved in the home series versus Australia. If South Africa can manage a victory or even a draw, it can be accepted as a strong team despite Glenn McGrath not playing in the current series and despite what Chris Fogarty has to say regarding only the Ashes mattering, test cricket is about more than just The Ashes. John Stern analyses the current situation and the mouth watering prospect which lies ahead of us much more judiciously.

India may be finding bowlers (Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla) who might show some potency in times to come. However, with it playing just 2 test series in the run up to World Cup 2007 and having lost the series to Pakistan (despite it being like a 1 test series), India finds itself behind the pack in this chase. Did New Zealand not go behind a huge distance in one session in their home series versus Pakistan where Shoaib Akhtar wrecked them? It did India no favours that for them that the home series versus England was always going to be The Nothing Series. India in fact loosened their noose in the tussle they failed to win their last series in the West Indies. That they lost the home series versus Australia did them no favours. They have been chasing as a back runner since then and will have to keep persisting. They do not find themselves in the picture before the pyajama cricket - World Cup 2007 is done and dusted with.

Climbing up the ladder is difficult. It requires consistent brilliant performances. New Zealand is finding it out the hard way. It is doomed in mid table for the time being. Has England let it’s opportnity slip by two collapses, one in Pakistan and one in India? The importance is not in that England lost. England would be respectable losers after drawing their first test match in India. The importance was in the manner in which a match which should have been drawn was lost. A win in Mumbai is now needed for England to remain in the race. Very difficult but it is the only way England can stop the opportunity from slipping. No one said the battle was ever going to be easy!

Pakistan does have a small lead ahead of the rest of the pack - England, South Africa and India. South Africa has the best chance to contend with Pakistan. While all this is going on, Australia cannot work out who the right players are for their international side. A side which boasted of depth finds itself bringing back older warriors who were discarded after the Ashes war was lost. The batsmen are not showing consistency. There is no sign of a future Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne. Most importantly, Australia has set such high standards for themselves that they will themselves find it difficult to maintain these levels. Even if McGrath and Warne do manage to play for a few more years, it will be very difficult for Australia to not slip from it’s high intensity performances is now characterized with. Some would argue that the slipping has already started.

Very interesting times to be a test cricket fan.

I have started a column at Desicritics called The Flipper.

The following is the inaugral issue of the same. Small parts of it are repeats of short posts earlier.

Corey Flintoff, son of Andrew Flintoff, was born just a few days ago. English cricket fans are already predicting the 2025 Ashes to be Corey’s Ashes (similar to Ian Botham’s Ashes in 1981.) Yeah right! Just like the 2005 Ashes were Liam Botham’s Ashes. Liam Botham, Ian Botham’s son, did play country cricket for Hampshire and took the wicket of Mike Gatting as part of his early exploits. But his true calling was rugby to the dismay of the millions of English fans.

For all we know, the sons of cricketing greats do not become greats. Cricinfo published an article on the subject. Does any one recall W.G. Grace junior, Richard Hutton, Eric Bedser, Mali Richards, Ron Headley or John Bradman? How many people for that matter will remember Rohan Gavaskar 20 years from now? Some cricketers, like Chris Cairns and Yuvraj Singh, have achieved more glory compared to their fathers. However, how many sons have even emulated a great cricketing father, let alone surpass his achievements? Mohinder Amarnath? Lala Amarnath was not a great player though he has been one of the most controversial cricketers in Indian cricket history.

It is near impossible to emulate a great father. This is why I squirm when I see photographs of junior Tendulkar or junior Inzamam in the papers. Let the kids be. It is a great injustice to the children of famous cricketers. John Bradman in fact changed his family name to Bradsen for a while when he was finding it impossible to lead his own life and create an identity for himself. Sadly, expectations and comparisons are part of the human psyche. This does not change the reality that the lives of the sons and daughters of famous people get affected adversely in more ways than we can imagine because of the unrealistic expectations of the fans and the media lapping up to this expectation. I feel extremely sorry for Corey Flintoff whenever I hear any one mention his name because of this.

One aspect of the English fans I do admire tremendously is their ability to laugh at themselves. Essex guys will make fun of Yorkshire guys, Yorkshire guys will make fun of the eccentricities of the Surrey guys and so on and so forth. The jokes never end. It is all in good spirit and creates a healthy sporting atmosphere. Individuals are hardly spared either. So Ricky Clarke and Ian Salisbury are quite popular as centre pieces in jokes because of their ordinary records.

The latest addition to this list is Ian ‘Pie Thrower’ Blackwell. With a first class average of above 38, the mysteries as to how he made the national squad mystified the fans. He was the butt of many a joke even before he delivered a ball in Test cricket. That Blackwell has played 28 one-day internationals shows more about the lack of quality spinners in English cricket over the past 15 years than about the talent Blackwell possesses. Hopefully the problems are now solved with the coming good of Monty Panesar. The jokes on Panesar will never end though despite what his achievements in the future might be. He is already a cult hero.

Speaking of cult heroes, the biggest among the spinners in the last 15 years (the competition is by no means easy considering England has seen Robert Croft, Shaun Udal, Ian Salisbury, Ashley Giles among others) is ‘Tuffers’, the great Phil Tufnell. Phil Tufnell is to English cult spinners in the past 15 years what Don Bradman is to batting. Apart from being a pie bowler, the requisite criteria for an English spinner, Phil Tufnell is also The Cat (title conferred because of his dressing room naps), was the bad boy of English cricket in the 90s, Aussie Basher, star of the the DVD Tuffers’ Duffers, winner of television show I’m a Celebrity and key spinner and no. 11 of the Awkward XI.

The great Tuffers has added one more chapter to his legacy. Tuffers will captain the English Celebrity XI to tour India to raise money for charity. Reports Cricinfo:

A celebrity cricket team - comprising such luminaries as Phil Tufnell, Jack Russell and Harry Judd, the drummer from the pop group, McFly - has set off for India to take on the stars of Bollywood and raise money for Sport Relief…. In 2004, Sport Relief raised £16.5m, and the team members will be able to witness at first hand how the money is being spent. This year’s event will take place on July 15.

When we mention cult heroes, how can we forget Kevin Pietersen? The guy is hated and despised in South Africa and is referred to as ‘The Skunk’ because of his hairstyle. There is a multitude of people who loathe the mention of Kevin Pietersen (KP). He has an even larger cult following. Girls go absolutely wild whenever they see or hear of KP. They absolutely loved his ’skunk’ hair style. KP recently shaved his head for the hot tour of India, sending shock waves all around the globe where the KP Cult exists. It would not deter the legion of KP fans from idolizing him or his past hairstyle. Schools have started a secret movement to tackle this growing concern. They are even willing to violate human rights in the process.

Rain during a match does not mean the action stops as far as English Cricket is concerned. There is a lot happening apart from the adventures of the Barmy Army.

I hope you enjoyed the first edition of The Flipper.

Kevin Pieterson has shaved his head for the hot Indian tour. But he continues to influence a generation of sports fans. Human rights are being violated to supress Kevin Pieterson fans. Read all about it here. [Hat tip: Rick Eyre]

English pie bowler, legend, bad boy of English cricket in the 90s, Aussie Basher, star of the the DVD Tuffers’ Duffers, winner of television show I’m a celebrity, key spinner and no. 11 of the Awkward XI, widely know as The Cat for his dressing room naps (I will not use the word ’sleeping’ here to avoid tarnishing the name of the legend) has added one more chapter to his legacy.

Tuffers will captain the English Celebrity XI to tour India to raise money for charity. Reports cricinfo:

A celebrity cricket team - comprising such luminaries as Phil Tufnell, Jack Russell and Harry Judd, the drummer from the pop group, McFly - has set off for India to take on the stars of Bollywood and raise money for Sport Relief… In 2004, Sport Relief raised £16.5m, and the team members will be able to witness at first hand how the money is being spent. This year’s event will take place on July 15.

One word which charecterises this English team and separates it from teams of the past is fight. Whatever the match situation, whatever the crisis situation, the team will give it their best shot. A sharp contrast to the frequent collapses we saw from English teams of the past. You will say that they did collapse in Pakistan but that was a one off rather than a norm.

I doubt if any one expected England to fight back the way they did after being down 246/7 at the end of day 1. No one certainly expected them to end up with 393. Bravo Paul Collingwood. He showed a few English batsmen who let a situation of advantage (winning the toss and thus having India to bat last on a crumbling pitch) slip the worth of staying at the wicket and limiting stroke play for the larger team cause. The support from the tail was admirable. It highlighted that word again - fight.

Of course the highlight of the match so far has been the youngsters coming to the party. If it was Alastair Cook showing common sense yesterday and Sreesanth showing that he has loads of talent, swinging ability (not related to his break dance ability) and yes, common sense. Its funny how in test cricket loads of talent means nothing if you do not have common sense. You don’t need to be flashy, you don’t need to be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Brian Lara. You can be a Paul Collingwood, a Sreesanth or a Alastair Cook and still do a good job. The saying - test cricket is as much played in the head as in the field - is very true.

Coming back to today - I have a strong feeling we are seeing the future of both these teams in this match. If Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla get a run later on in the series, it might well be looked back as the series where certain people showed their mettle for the first time. Like India in Pakistan(1989) is looked back upon for instance.

Two more stars shined today. While Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff could not do a good enough job to help Monty Panesar strangle the batsmen at the other end, Panesar showed enough talent in his short spell. He is patient. He has variation. And he can keep coming back at you. The English fans will be delighted. Ashley Giles might be a tad concerned. Blackwell wasn’t expected and could not put any pressure.

After Sehwag drove too early, fooled by the slower ball from Hoggard, into the hands of Pieterson, the Indians were standing on thin ice. Another wicket would mean staring at trouble. Chasing any thing above 250 batting last is going to be tough on this pitch. With Panesar bowling some testing stuff, it was a crucial period to last. Luckily for India, they had exactly the men for the task.

I have been a fan of Wasim Jaffer from before he was first selected for India. So it was a delight to see him make an unbeaten 73. He batted with assurance, patience and authority - all at the same time. Jaffer and Dravid left several balls; played only when they felt the delivery could be scored off or a defensive shot was necessary. Dean Jones rightly said during commentary that it is important to leave balls as much as to play them to make big scores in cricket. It is no surprise then than Wasim Jaffer has made big scores domestically and Dravid has done the same internationally.

The match is rivettingly poised with India at 136/1. India would want a lead of at least around 75-100 to feel safe. England will be looking to restrict India, realistically, to a lead of not more than 50.

On a slightly different note, Chappell has spoken up on Ganguly and Ganguly has reported it to the BCCI. Why should Chappell speak on this? He wasn’t required to. Chappell and Ganguly have always been controversial individuals. So once they get entangled in a controversy, it will continue. If one of them stops stirring, the other man will start off.

England’s tour to India was always going to be a big series. England, coming off a series loss in Pakistan, had it all to prove in India. A Test team has to show that it can compete in all conditions and circumstances – then, and only then can it be recognized as one of the better teams of an era. India, having just lost the series in Pakistan, needed to set things straight - mouth watering prospect for a cricket fan.

Then Ashley Giles, England’s number one spinner, gets injured. Marcus Trescothick withdraws for personal reasons, Michael Vaughan, England’s inspirational captain, gets injured and finally Simon Jones, vital in the scheme of things in the subcontinent, decides to join the injury brigade.

So England’s pace attack is left with Steve Harmison (who hasn’t been as effective off late) and Matthew Hoggard (who relies on movement and wasn’t going to be the most important player in the subcontinent anyway). James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Shaun Udal, Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell aren’t exactly expected to set the world on fire in India. How will England then get 20 Indian wickets? It is certainly an uphill task.

A win looks improbable then. How about a draw? The English openers are likely to be Andrew Strauss (in poor form) and Alastair Cook (making his Test debut and again, not expected to set the world on fire). Kevin Pietersen still has a lot to prove. Owais Shah or Paul Collingwood (whoever is selected) do not compare to the Indian batsmen. England would have to rely on Ian Bell and some heroics from Andrew Flintoff. The more you look at the English squad, the more you realize how weak it is.

England’s only hope would be that the young bowlers India has chosen do not fire. Two of R.P.Singh, Piyush Chawla, V.R.V.Singh and Sreesanth would be selected if India decided to go in with five bowlers. If those two do not do a satisfactory job, it will be tougher for India to take 20 wickets despite Kumble and Harbhajan being there.

The English supporters are dismayed and are expecting a 3-0 whitewash. The Indian supporters aren’t pleased either. All the pressure is on India and England has nothing at stake, as Nasser Hussain so aptly puts it:

I’m quite happy for England to have these injuries because it puts the pressure back on India. They should beat England come Wednesday, so England have absolutely nothing to lose. They just need to keep their control, and keep the pressure on the opposition for as long as they can.

Even if India win the series 3-0, little credit will come there way. After all, it was only a vastly understrength English side. If England manages even a draw, it will be a great achievement for them in the face of adversity. So, Team India have nothing to gain and find themselves in a thankless situation. The supporters from both camps are exasperated at the prospect of this nothing series.

Caption?

The England under-19 team got thrashed by India under-19 in the semi-finals of the under-19 world cup. Abu Nechim Ahmed was the wrecker-in-chief. At one stage England were 17/5. England ended up with 58 in all and a massive 234 run defeat.

I said how England should consider going in with an all pace attack in Pakistan earlier:

Can England do it despite having a pace centric attack rather than a spin centric attack? Australia did it in India only when they relied on their strength and opted not to change too many things. South Africa, which was the first team to break the jinx of away teams losing in India did it with a rather weak spin attack. The Windies team won every where with their pace battery. So the key is to focus on the strengths rather than change too many things.

I maintain that they should adopt the same verus India. For one India are better players of spin specially at home. For two, England do not have their best spinner Ashley Giles. (We do not know how good Monty Panesar but can we, practically, expect him to create wonders in his first international tour?)

Play a four pronged pace attack. Have Bell and Collingwood play the role of the stock bowler.

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Jones
Hoggard
Jones
Harmison