England's Mission Possible
By Gaurang
October 22 2012
The last time England won a Test series in India, nobody had heard of the Internet. Heck, nobody had heard of the the self-proclaimed inventor of the internet, Al Gore, either. It has been nearly three decades of utter futility for the English to recapture the "Jewel In The Crown" since David Gower, of all people, led them to a win in 1984-85.
Since that time India has won Test series in England twice, the most recent being in 2007, so Indians have not found playing in "foreign" conditions as difficult as the Englishmen have. The expectation is that this time will be no different. There is the added incentive from the Indian side of trying to avenge the humiliating 0-4 drubbing they received the last time they visited England.
Everyone, from the Board President, to the current Test captain, to the ordinary fan in the street, expects India to prepare turning wickets that will enable Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team to spin England to their doom. However, this may be wishful thinking on the part of the hosts.
The cocky, almost dismissive confidence in the outcome of the series, has either directly or indirectly led to lax preparation on the part of the home team for this Test series. Most of the Test team is currently playing Twenty20 cricket in South Africa, not the best preparation for Test cricket on the subcontinent. But the BCCI seems the least bothered. In fact, it has even reduced the domestic first class matches that used to be the proving grounds for aspiring Test players to a farce. Scheduling the Irani Trophy during the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, and the Duleep Trophy during the Champions League Trophy. The result is that most of the Test team, except for one or two players, has not been involved in First Class cricket, and the Duleep Trophy itself has been devalued as the two strongest Zones, North and South, are not even in the finals as they had to field their "B" team, as the "A" team players were all playing hit and giggle Twenty20 cricket.
The English team, to its credit, has arranged for two practice matches prior to the first Test, and though it lost quite meekly 3-0 to Pakistan, capitulating to Pakistan's spin duo of Ajmal and Rehman in the Middle East recently, it is not not as weak as that result makes them seem. Additionally, the Indian team, which has had very little first class preparation for this important series, seems to be taking the Englishmen quite lightly. Another factor is the inclusion of Kevin Pietersen in the England squad. With the farcical saga of the fake twitter account, and texts row behind it, the English team has its best batsmen in subcontinental conditions back in the fold. Finally, the team is now led by a young new captain who will be eager to do well and make a name for himself as quickly as possible. If Alistair Cook can lead his team to victory in India, he will be hailed as a conquering hero, setting up his captaincy for quite a while. If he even draws the series, he will be feted amidst much talk of moral victories. So he has everything to play for. Afterall, India is the only country where the English have played and not won a series since the turn of the century.
With the Indian team distracted, overconfident, and with a brand new middle order, that is missing the reassuring presence of the legendary Dravid and Laxman, this could be England's best chance to convert what has historically been impossible to Mission Possible.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:11:12:19:27:59 by Birbal.
The batting as you say hasn't been in the best of form, but in home conditions, especially if there isn't much pace or bounce, should be bread and butter for these guys to make runs. Hopefully it is a good series with runs and wickets and not one played on highways.
I'm not expecting to win the series, BUT I would like to see us at least show some significant signs of improvement in playing away from home in subcontinental conditions. If we're to even contemplate suggesting that we're capable of reclaiming the No.1 spot again, then we need to start showing signs that we're learning a lot faster than we have done in previous series.
I can take losing, but making the same mistakes over & over again would be very frustrating.
The make up of the England team will be largely predictable. It's obvious that Flower wants Patel in the side, so the only spots up for grabs will be the 2nd opening berth, and the last slot for the bowlers.
It's interesting that you're suggesting that some of what we see as Indian strengths might not be as strong as someone like myself thinks, so that'll be interesting to watch and debate as the series moves on.
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
Quote:Max
This series is going to be mainly about how England batsmen handle Ashwin, Ojha and to some extent Umesh.
Spot on Max...though Ohja was mauled by the Punjab batsmen... especially the debutant Jiwanjot...who scored a double century...
Who says Indian pitches are spin friendly?
Quote:audioman
While most people think anything better than an 0-4 loss would make it a moral victory for England, I do not see it that way. For England to prove they are worth anything at all, they need to at least draw this series.
And I'd say England have done very well and have proved they were well worthy of the #1 title then, and still are a good bet to give the best in the business a good fight. Well played England.
He came, he saw, he conquered...
Joins Jardine, Grieg and Gower as the only English captains in history to have won a series in India...
This time India is also confident...but NOT over confident like last time...They have done some serious preparation in that all the players have been Test match tested recently... and the key bowlers, Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami were even rested for the ENTIRE ODI series versus the Black Caps... when was the last time India managed her resources so judiciously..? I see the influence of both Kohli and especially Kumble here...
England also are not quite the same class in both batting and bowling as last time...and unlike last time when they played a couple of FC warm up games in India this time their warm up has been the series in Bangladesh...which they just barely managed to draw...
So this time India are likely to win... and I have a feeling it could 4-0 or even 5-0.. If that happens it will be quite a PASTING even though England are clearly underdogs going into the series....
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016:11:08:22:43:18 by Birbal.