Carlton Mid Tri-series, Australia Date: 20/01/2015
Game 3
India Vs England at Brisbane Cricket ground
It was painful to see a young Indian side on its knees
against England today at the Gabba.
After competing well with a far superior Australian
side (than England) two days ago, much was expected of India today. They were
facing a struggling England side desperate to find some inspiration to lift
them before the WC. England had brought in James Anderson (leaving Chris Jordan
out) and his first spell of six overs set the tone in England’s favour. He
conceded just 15 in this spell taking out Shikhar Dhawan (c Buttler, 1 run off
5 balls) with a lovely away swinger. Dhawan’s second consecutive failure
against the moving ball should convince the Indian think tank about leaving him
out on the grounds of inadequate technique, if not on form, for the WC.
India were without Rohit Sharma today as he sat out
with a hamstring strain. Rahane opened the batting and looked particularly
troubled by Anderson. It was Steven Finn,
however, who made most out of the pressure created by Anderson & Woakes. He
came in second change and was the beneficiary of Rahane’s brain-fade who wasted
another hard-earned start. Rahane’s attempt to clear midwicket failed miserably
and he lobbed a simple catch to mid-on.
Ambati Rayudu at No 3 (again, not Virat Kohli) looked completely
out of touch and limped to 23 off 53 deliveries before becoming Finn’s third
victim. In between, India had lost Virat Kohli (to extra bounce of Steven Finn)
and Suresh Raina (to the off spin of Moeen Ali). At 67 for 5 after 19 overs,
the contest was reduced to mere academic interest. MS Dhoni and Stuart Binny
fought gamely and added 70 runs. At 137 for 5 after 35 overs with Dhoni and Binny
looking decently in control India were entertaining thoughts of putting up a
decent total. Those thoughts were laid to rest by Finn who removed Dhoni and
Axar Patel (for his second duck in as many games) in consecutive deliveries.
James Anderson returned for a second spell in the batting powerplay and quickly
mopped up the tail. India were shot down for 153, their lowest all-out total
against England.
4 out of Finn’s 5 victims succumbed to extra bounce
adding another dimension to MS Dhoni’s worries. Indian bowling did not fare any
better than their batting counterparts. England hunted down the target in just
27.3 overs with Ian Bell and James Taylor having some useful batting practice
in the middle. Moeen Ali, the sole casualty for England, perished to his own
attacking instincts. Stuart Binny was the beneficiary this time.
If MS Dhoni and Co are trying to rationalise the
expectations of their cricket-crazy countrymen before the WC, they sure are
doing a great job of it. This Indian team is looking quite out-of-sorts at the
moment and one can only hope that the experimentation going on in this series
is planned and well understood by everyone involved.
India have opted to bat first after winning the toss
in both the games. Putting the weak & inexperienced bowling attack to test
and gauging what kind of total it can defend in the WC, must be the idea behind
this move. If that is so, it looks like quite a shrewd thought. Experiments with
the line-up (especially testing players like Rayudu, Binny & Axar) are
necessary as loss-of-form or injury may result in call-up for any of the three
and when it happens they should not find themselves too overwhelmed with the
conditions.
If one has to rely on past, the struggles before the
WC augur well as India had similarly struggled before the 2003 and 2011 WC
before putting up a stellar show in both the editions. Whatever way you choose
to look, the build up to the WC is getting more interesting with every passing
game.
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