Every one knows that the Mumbai wicket turns after the third day and Chappell and Dravid should have kept this in mind. The reason doing the rounds is that the wickets had some grass on it so the Indians wanted to take advantage of playing three pacers. But according to me it was a defensive decision as India did not want to face England seamers on the first day.
But the way England batted showed that there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers.
The wicket of Ian Bell was a bonus as he chased a wide ball but after that Strauss and Owais Shah played brilliantly. Strauss curbed his natural instinct to attack and this helped him to settle down. He had been getting a lot of bad press and after this innings his confidence wll be sky high.
Before the lunch break he playued very cautiously and afterwards he was back to his attacking strokeplay.
Shah supported him well and it did not look like he was playing in his debut match. Both of them played positively and did not hesitate to punish the bad balls. He was very unfortunate to retire hurt.
Even after that England did not let go of the initiative and Pietersen played a good innings. He also threw his wicket and it looked to me that he had lost his concentration.
Though not much can be said about a Test match after the first day's play but England are clearly on top. With Flintoff and Collingwood at the crease India needs some thing special on the second day to make a come back.
But this is not impossible as in the Mohali Test also England were having the upper haqnd during the initial phase but India made a brilliant come back to win the Test.
If we get Flintoff out early tommorrow then the maqtch will tilt towrads India and England can be bowled out for around 350 runs. But if Flintoff manages to stick around till lunch then a total of 450 does not look impossible for the visitors.
Coming to the team composition I am very surprised why Piyush Chawla was dropped. I don't remember when India won a Test match at home playing three pacers. And to drop a youngster when he has had a decent outing is not at all encouraging.
Even the great Shane Warne did not have a great start to his career and took time to develop. We have to groom a new spinner as Kumble is in the twilight of his career.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)
About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 18, 2006, 19:49 ISTlast updated:March 18, 2006, 19:49 IST
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Why did Rahul Dravid chose to field after winning the toss is beyond my imagination? The team management and coach Greg Chappell must also take the blame for this decision as all of them have a say in what should be done if the team wins the toss.
Every one knows that the Mumbai wicket turns after the third day and Chappell and Dravid should have kept this in mind. The reason doing the rounds is that the wickets had some grass on it so the Indians wanted to take advantage of playing three pacers. But according to me it was a defensive decision as India did not want to face England seamers on the first day.
But the way England batted showed that there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers.
The wicket of Ian Bell was a bonus as he chased a wide ball but after that Strauss and Owais Shah played brilliantly. Strauss curbed his natural instinct to attack and this helped him to settle down. He had been getting a lot of bad press and after this innings his confidence wll be sky high.
Before the lunch break he playued very cautiously and afterwards he was back to his attacking strokeplay.
Shah supported him well and it did not look like he was playing in his debut match. Both of them played positively and did not hesitate to punish the bad balls. He was very unfortunate to retire hurt.
Even after that England did not let go of the initiative and Pietersen played a good innings. He also threw his wicket and it looked to me that he had lost his concentration.
Though not much can be said about a Test match after the first day's play but England are clearly on top. With Flintoff and Collingwood at the crease India needs some thing special on the second day to make a come back.
But this is not impossible as in the Mohali Test also England were having the upper haqnd during the initial phase but India made a brilliant come back to win the Test.
If we get Flintoff out early tommorrow then the maqtch will tilt towrads India and England can be bowled out for around 350 runs. But if Flintoff manages to stick around till lunch then a total of 450 does not look impossible for the visitors.
Coming to the team composition I am very surprised why Piyush Chawla was dropped. I don't remember when India won a Test match at home playing three pacers. And to drop a youngster when he has had a decent outing is not at all encouraging.
Even the great Shane Warne did not have a great start to his career and took time to develop. We have to groom a new spinner as Kumble is in the twilight of his career.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)
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