An unexpected setback for India
Ganguly dejected
By Anil - 29 July, '03
July 29 2002
While there is wide consensus that India caved in at Lord's to an efficient, but not by no means overpowering, performance by a weakened English side, what needs examining is the factors behind a relatively comfortable margin of victory.
We examine some of the possible reasons behind India's defeat in the first Test match between India and England in the Lord's ground.
Pitch and batting
A flat pitch, which the strong Indian lineup should have exploited, especially against a second-string English attack, looked different when India took the field. Was it because the weather became overcast when the Indians batted in the first innings, or because Hussain's captaincy was excellent and his bowlers capable of executing to a plan? Did Sachin Tendulkar, the acknowledged finest batsman in the world fail in both innings because the opposition have carefully studied his weaknesses and exploited them perfectly, or because Sachin is cricket-weary? Or does the century of Ajit Agarkar, and the achievement of the highest 4th innings score in Lord's and the 4th highest ever in Test cricket, achieved primarily by India's customarily weak lower order indicate that the main batsmen failed to display strong nerves under the weight of an overpowering 500+ run target? Or did the loss of a vital toss on a batsman's paradise play a major role in the result?
Bowling
Did the Indian bowling fail abysmally or were conditions on the pitch unsuitable for pace bowling? What does the relative success of Zaheer compared to the failure of Nehra and Agarkar indicate? Why did Agarkar fire only later in the match? Was it the bowling that failed India, or was their batting a greater factor on this flattest of pitches? Why did their English counterparts look more threatening in the same conditions?
Captaincy
Did Ganguly show sufficient thought and flexibility in the face of a relentless onslaught from a weakened England batting side, missing their best batsman? Were bowlers rotated efficiently, were part-timers utilized at the appropriate times, why was the batting order unadjusted for the second innings? Is he a good Test captain? Did Hussain display a greater command over the conditions and his team, and a better study of the weaknesses of India's powerful batting lineup? Was Hussain employing largely negative tactics, confusing a largely positive batting order?
Umpiring
Did the decision-making of Koertzen of SA and Tiffin of Zimbabwe, both neutral umpires on paper, help England to an extent that made a difference to the outcome? Might Ganguly have struck a big century to help draw, or impossibly win, the match if he were not given out LBW to a ball that pitched outside leg and was going over the stumps?
Audience and other factors
Was the Indian cricket team, indulged by massive spectator support during the ODI series, disheartened by a small turnout of supporters in Lord's? Does crowd support give them such a boost of morale that it makes a visible difference to their performance? Or was it lack of practice in the longer form of the game that did them in? Did England intentionally prepare a poor pitch for India's tour match against Hampshire just before the Test, ensuring that those who were not yet acclimatized to the condition would not get a chance to do so?
More questions than answers but
It was probably some combination of all of the above. The fighting spirit on the final day showed yet again that there is not much that separates these two teams, and confirmed that England has a home advantage that it has used to good effect. England undoubtedly came up with a fine team display, and a well executed plan, to outsmart India. England had also lost the first match when they visited India in much more disastrous fashion, but came back strongly in the remaining two matches, even if they only managed to draw them for a series loss, but one which was less emphatic that their most optimistic expectations. There are 3 more matches to go this time, and it is to be hoped that India will do their best to come back strongly to level and perhaps win the series before they return home.