England v India - England need to brace for tough months ahead
Cricket fans all over the world were gifted a fabulous summer by the English and Indian cricket teams as they played five-Test matches against each other in a series where the Indians were defending their number one ranking in Test cricket while the hosts,
England, were aiming to grab the top spot from the then reigning alpha team in the longest version of the game.
Before the series, however, much hype was given to a possible 100thcentury by India’s sensational batting maestro http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556. Nonetheless, soon it all turned into a fight for the top as India were handed a shocking defeat in the first Test
at Lord’s
Later, the Poms took the series by 4-0, leaving the former Alpha team in Test cricket devastated and wounded as now India has fallen to the third spot.
While England are still gloating at the Indians after officially becoming the number one team, they need not forget that reaching the top is easy, however, staying there is always difficult.
England have the example of India right in front of them, without consistency and broad vision a team cannot retain the number one spot for more than a few months or a year.
England need to take lead from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, who have dominated the game for more than a decade and the main reason behind their top performances, is the fact that these countries have kept their eye on the future and introduced youngsters
in the national team from time to time.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Flower-c44362 quite openly admitted that the boys in the English team had worked extremely hard over the last few years which has now earned them the glorious victory in the Test series against India.
However, for England to stay at their current stature, they need to keep working even harder because now more teams will aim to topple the English.
Cricket has never been a big sport in England, however, this summer saw the rise in the popularity of the game as many rooted for the home side to win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625) World Cup 2011 champion
and had come to England with bigger stars in the squad as compared to their rivals.
With odds against them, the English left half of the world flabbergasted after humiliating India by exhibiting competitive cricket in front of home crowd. They now need to persist with their outstanding performance to avoid losing their number one ranking
within a few months or a year which will also prevent them from being ridiculed by the world.
Ever since former Zimbabwean cricketer, Andy Flower, became the head coach of the English team, the side has been improving and with him in command things are destined to get even better for the English in the coming days.
Flower has been setting goals for the national team and he is currently gifted by the players who are ready to go the extra mile for their coach, which has been proven during the last Ashes and now in the series against India.
However, the English are still not as good as they should be in the 50-over game which needs to be given extra attention now that the side are the number one team in Test cricket as well as the champions in the Twenty20 format.
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