da bet7： Like their away record in most countries, India’s pastperformances in England make for poor reading
Partab Ramchand25-Jul-2002Like their away record in most countries, India’s pastperformances in England make for poor reading. They have won onlytwo of the 13 series played in England and lost the remaining,including the sole Test of 1932. Broken down into Tests, Indiahave won just three and lost 22 out of 41 matches.On past record, then, England would seem to have everything intheir favour as the 2002 series gets underway at Lord’s onThursday. At the game’s headquarters, India has a particularlyunenviable record, having lost nine and winning only one of 13Tests. In the vastly different wicket and weather conditions ofEngland, Indian teams have generally come a cropper. This hasbeen the case even though the record has improved marginallysince Ajit Wadekar’s team in 1971 proved that England could bebeaten.Why then is the mood generally upbeat in the Indian camp, despitethis woeful record? For starters, the near-miraculous triumph inthe NatWest final 10 days ago has raised the visitors’ confidencemore than a notch. Sure, that was one-day cricket and this is aTest series, but a victory boosts a side’s confidence, and themanner in which that triumph was achieved showed that this is nota side waiting for the opposition to run over them.Indeed, the players seem hungry and impatient for success. Led bya man who has proved time and again that he is a tough, nononsense captain, the side is an ideal blend of youth andexperience, with a formidable array of stroke-playing batsmen whocan put to the sword any attack. The bowling, by comparison, hassome holes, but these can be covered up by the strong batting andby outstanding fielding a department in which India now possessome notable exponents.Also, on close scrutiny, it can be observed that despite the homeadvantage, England are a pretty modest side, and being beset withinjury problems has not helped their cause. The non-availabilityof Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Alex Tudor and MarcusTrescothick has meant that both the batting and bowling have beenconsiderably weakened. It is still not a poor side and is ratherwell served in both batting and bowling, and Nasser Hussain hasproved to be a worthy leader in the past. However this does seemto be the right time for a full-strength, confident Indian sideto strike. Certainly, it constitutes their best chance to win aseries outside the subcontinent for the first time since theydefeated England in 1986.But to be candid, India have problems of their own as well,despite the rosy-looking scenario. The thin bowling line-up isone such obvious deficiency. Playing in the second half of thesummer, India will have to go in with both Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh, which means there is place for only two of AjitAgarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. Sourav Ganguly can beexpected to fill in the fifth bowler’s role more than adequatelyas he has already shown.
© CricInfoAs far as the batting goes, there is no problem with the middleorder. On the contrary, it is a case of an embarrassment ofriches, what with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman,Ganguly and Virender Sehwag around, and the problem will be oneof whom to leave out. But there have been questions raised overthe top of the order. The first choice should be the conventionalone – Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer. But given the former’slack of form both in the West Indies and on the tour thus far,there has been talk of opening with Sanjay Bangar, Sehwag or evenDravid.In my view, the tried and tested pair of Das and Jaffer should beentrusted with the job at Lord’s. Das has to be treated withpatience and understanding. He is technically sound and is onlylacking in confidence. He needs only one good score to boost hismorale. Bangar, for all his recent all-round form, is clearly nota Test-class opening bat. Sehwag’s aggression would be betterserved in the middle order, and blustering methods at the top arenot likely to succeed in English conditions. If anything, theexample of K Srikkanth in 1986 could be offered as a deterrent toany such move. The swashbuckling batsman could muster only 105runs from six innings at an average of 17.50 in the Tests, andeven on the tour he had a rather unhappy time, scoring just 344runs from 14 innings at an average of 24.57.
© CricInfoHowever, indications are that Sehwag will open with Jaffer in thefirst Test. Of course, the silver lining in playing Sehwag at thetop instead of Das would mean that Laxman, who otherwise might bethe one left out, will get a look-in. India can only hope thatthe gamble of playing Sehwag as an opener and that is what itis, a gamble pays off. However, as far as sending Dravid onceagain to open the innings, there should never even be anydiscussion on the subject. He has been made a sacrificial lamb ofsorts in the limited-overs game, and this kind of treatmentshould not be meted out to the vice-captain and the side’s sheetanchor in Tests. It is also to be hoped that he is not entrustedwith the wicket-keeper’s job and that Ajay Ratra will take hisrightful place behind the stumps.