From Nasser Hussain
India did well at the Rose Bowl. Its just that England were better once again. Ajinkya Rahane top scored for the second time in three matches. He has so much time to play his shots. Suresh Raina’s 40 off 19 balls was the defining innings for India. He is one of the best one day players in the world.
India’s batting future looks bright as there seems to be enough talent in waiting. India’s fielding too looked vastly improved in difficult conditions.
India’s bowling is a cause for worry. It looks very ordinary. The average speed of all the bowlers is around 125 kph, which is military medium.
Where are the young guns who can bowl at 140 kph? Even when Dhoni is shuffling his bowlers, there is no variation in speed or bounce to catch the batsmen off guard. Where is the element of surprise?
Apart from Praveen Kumar, no other bowler looks capable of getting wickets. Once an English batsman is set there is little the bowlers can do to get him out.
India need a couple of genuine seaming allrounders. Where are the Kapil Devs? India must find replacements for Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, who played until recently and could bowl at 140 kph and score runs at no 7.
On the other hand England have a regular supply of players and their replacements. Even without Pietersen, Straus, Collingwood and Prior, England’s batting is formidable. While they aren’t in the league of Ian Botham or Freddie Flintoff – Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan are match winning allrounders. And the bowling has a lot of variation.
Alastair Cook was impressive in his newly appointed job as captain of the one day side. In a 23 overs game, England could easily have opted for their T20 captain, Broad, to lead them, but they stuck to Cook, and he got the job done. He kept his nerve and one end up through England’s batting, while Kieswetter and Ian Bell did the hitting. Kieswetter was destructive, but none of the bowlers pushed him onto the back foot.
MSDhoni has a never say die attitude. He has gone through two harrowing months without a win, but the fight in him is still there. He wants to win badly. The wicket at the Oval is going to be a belter. India may want to chase as their batting looks much more solid than their bowling does.