India v England – The Indian batsmen need to come to speed
India have faced the brunt in their ongoing English tour this summer after being routed in the first Test at Lord’s by 196 runs and then in the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham where the tourists were handed a staggering defeat of 319 runs.
In both the outings, India clearly lacked in their batting department as they could not muster a formidable innings against the English bowling rampage. Nonetheless, statistically speaking, India have a better batting side than the hosts, however, they have
completely failed to bat under the English conditions.
Meanwhile, the Indian bowlers have shown flare in the series by getting the English batsmen bogged down especially in the first innings of the second Test when England were clearly on the verge of scoring a low total had it not been by the heroics of Stuart
Broad and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 from the embarrassment as the two late-order batsmen forged a sensational innings of 73 runs in the ninth wicket partnership.
Perhaps, the Indians should have taken inspiration from Broad and Swann as the lanky bowler scored 64 runs while the comedic spinner scored 28 runs. The batting cameo that was presented by England’s late-order clearly showed that batting conditions aren’t
that bad as they would seem while watching India take on the English bowlers.
Nonetheless, the time for finger pointing or making lame excuses about the uncomfortable batting conditions has far past, now India needs to avoid another defeat in order to save pride as no one had expected the number one team in Test cricket who also happens
to be the World Champions in the 50-over game to have shown such a lacklustre performance against England this summer.
Among the Indian batsmen, only http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Dravid-c2229 has given the performance tagged with Indian batsmen owed to the fact that he has been the most productive operator in both the Tests. The batsman has clearly lived up to his name as “ The Wall” by standing as
a lone warrior against the English while he saw his comrades fall at the other end.
Not even India’s batting Meister http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 who was supposed to be the protagonist in the series could cope with the bowling onslaught that England unleashed on the team from the subcontinent.
With only one half-century in two Tests, this is definitely not the performance that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Chinnadupargea-Sachin-c50607 fans were hoping from their batting God since he was being rooted in India and almost throughout the world for his expected 100th century during the English
tour.
However, the tables have turned and now instead of thinking about Tendulkar’s century, the team needs to regroup if they want to avert a complete disaster this summer. Everyone knows that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 has some of the most astounding batsmen in their arsenal and
if they manage to click they will surely wreak havoc on England.
On the other hand, the English are also aware of this fact and will try their best to dominate the tourists once things get going at Edgbaston, Birmingham on 10 August, 2011.
The third Test is going to be a nerve wreaker for India as they cannot afford a defeat and the best shot for India is to go for a win, however, in case things do not go according to plan then the Indians do not have any option but to draw the match in order
to end their English soap with something to carry back home.
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