When the Indian team looks back at the second Test over the next few days, they would be justified in wondering how after having England at 124-8 at tea on the first day, they contrived to be beaten to a pulp (to the tune of 319 runs) an hour after tea on the fourth day. The turnaround engineered by England was one of the most remarkable I have seen in some time and statistically evidenced by the fact that this was the biggest margin of victory ever by a team after having conceded a first innings lead. England once again were simply brilliant and India (unlike at Lord's) did not even have a glimmer of hope after the first hour of day three. As brittle as India's performance was, this should not take away from the fact that this was the first time since Jan 2008 that they were beaten in two Test matches in a row (obliterated more like in this one) and the first time since 1974 that they have lost more than two matches in a series in England. On current form, it would be an achievement for the team to avoid the final scoreline of that series (0-3).
A comparison of the relative problems facing Strauss and Dhoni highlights the gap between the two sides currently. Strauss' biggest challenge is in picking his playing XI for Birmingham if Jonathan Trott is fit. How do you drop a man who has just scored 90 runs in an innings and picked up 7-96 for the match? If Trott is fit, I would love to see England make the courageous decision to leave out Morgan and play five bowlers with Prior, Bresnan, and Broad batting at 6,7, and 8. The other relatively minor problems facing the England captain are a) the fact that between himself, Cook and Trott (the top three in the order) so far they've managed to average only 18.33, and b) Graeme Swann has been pretty ineffective with just two wickets at an average of 100+ and an economy rate of nearly 4 an over. Heaven knows what India would do if these guys return to form! As Sharda Ugra pointed out in her post-mortem, the way they've handled England's pacers harks back to the 1990s when Tendulkar was often left waging lone battles when India travelled so the world's best spinner in form with more runs to defend would not be a good prospect. The fact that they are 2-0 up also gives the openers time (and a relative lack of pressure) to play themselves back into form.
Dhoni on the other hand has a problem almost every place he looks at. The weaknesses/injuries in the bowling have clearly been a huge problem but the fielding and level of energy has also been hugely wanting. Harbhajan clearly needs a break and if Zaheer is fit for Birmingham, the attack should read - Zaheer, Praveen, Ishant, and Mishra. The bigger worry in my opinion though has been the batting. Since the second innings at Centurion last December, India have now gone 14 innings without topping 400 and crossed 350 only once. Admittedly, a lot of those games have been played on pitches offering good amounts of assistance to the bowler but if you want to be the best (and claim to have the best batting line-up globally), you need to be doing better. The return of Gambhir (and hopefully Sehwag) will no doubt help a bit, but the real worry is the glimpse into the future that the lack of runs from Tendulkar and Laxman has given India. Between this series and the one in the West Indies and South Africa, none of Raina, Yuvraj, Kohli, Vijay, Mukund, and Pujara have been entirely convincing and that will be Dhoni and Fletcher's big test as a management team when the big three retire. Dhoni's poor run of form has just added to his current problems. The rest of this series will provide insight into Dhoni and the team's true fighting abilities and also an indicator of the team's future in Test cricket. Plus of course a chance to see if England can consistently dominate top opposition over a full series (as they did in Australia last winter). Lots to look forward to, bring on Birmingham!
A comparison of the relative problems facing Strauss and Dhoni highlights the gap between the two sides currently. Strauss' biggest challenge is in picking his playing XI for Birmingham if Jonathan Trott is fit. How do you drop a man who has just scored 90 runs in an innings and picked up 7-96 for the match? If Trott is fit, I would love to see England make the courageous decision to leave out Morgan and play five bowlers with Prior, Bresnan, and Broad batting at 6,7, and 8. The other relatively minor problems facing the England captain are a) the fact that between himself, Cook and Trott (the top three in the order) so far they've managed to average only 18.33, and b) Graeme Swann has been pretty ineffective with just two wickets at an average of 100+ and an economy rate of nearly 4 an over. Heaven knows what India would do if these guys return to form! As Sharda Ugra pointed out in her post-mortem, the way they've handled England's pacers harks back to the 1990s when Tendulkar was often left waging lone battles when India travelled so the world's best spinner in form with more runs to defend would not be a good prospect. The fact that they are 2-0 up also gives the openers time (and a relative lack of pressure) to play themselves back into form.
Dhoni on the other hand has a problem almost every place he looks at. The weaknesses/injuries in the bowling have clearly been a huge problem but the fielding and level of energy has also been hugely wanting. Harbhajan clearly needs a break and if Zaheer is fit for Birmingham, the attack should read - Zaheer, Praveen, Ishant, and Mishra. The bigger worry in my opinion though has been the batting. Since the second innings at Centurion last December, India have now gone 14 innings without topping 400 and crossed 350 only once. Admittedly, a lot of those games have been played on pitches offering good amounts of assistance to the bowler but if you want to be the best (and claim to have the best batting line-up globally), you need to be doing better. The return of Gambhir (and hopefully Sehwag) will no doubt help a bit, but the real worry is the glimpse into the future that the lack of runs from Tendulkar and Laxman has given India. Between this series and the one in the West Indies and South Africa, none of Raina, Yuvraj, Kohli, Vijay, Mukund, and Pujara have been entirely convincing and that will be Dhoni and Fletcher's big test as a management team when the big three retire. Dhoni's poor run of form has just added to his current problems. The rest of this series will provide insight into Dhoni and the team's true fighting abilities and also an indicator of the team's future in Test cricket. Plus of course a chance to see if England can consistently dominate top opposition over a full series (as they did in Australia last winter). Lots to look forward to, bring on Birmingham!
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