From Sunil Gavaskar
England are well on their way to a total whitewash of the Indian team if one goes by the manner in which they chased down a formidable total India put up in the rain curtailed match at Southampton. (India take on England in a day-night encounter today).
English grounds may look pretty with the lush green outfields and some fancy new corporate stands but to have to sit in a makeshift commentary box that rattles and shakes in the strong wind and where to get a wi-fi connection is as tough as an Indian win on this tour, does not speak highly of the organisers regard for the TV media especially the overseas ones who have paid a mini fortune to get the rights for their region.
The sad part is that the Indian media unlike its English counterpart, is not vocal about it if the same situation was there in India.
While we have to hope that when India visit England in three years time these issues will have been taken care of what can India do to reverse the losing trend this summer?
Their batting has come on well though by losing wickets in quick succession they are losing the momentum and thus ending up fifteen or twenty runs short of what could be a winning score.
This is a totally unusual space for Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has never seen the face of defeat as closely as he has this English summer. He is still calm and cool but doesn’t seem in control.
The game is just running away from him and he is unable to retrieve it but to do so he has to himself step up to take strike. It is then that he can take control as he did so memorably in the World Cup finals.
He will be hoping that the coin falls the way he calls it because India’s bowling looks incapable of defending even a score of 500.
The batting though can chase down a big total and it is here that Dhoni has to show the way. Suresh Raina is in splendid big hitting form and he needs to get as many overs as he can so that he can not just finish an innings but also speed it up.
To do that he has to bat higher up the order and so also the skipper.
They run so well between the wickets that even if there are no big shots played there are hardly any dot balls when they are together because of the singles they steal.
Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane have forged a good partnership at the top and they are taking the team to a great start. Both are good players of the short ball and are doing the sensible thing by not going for the sixers but looking to just chip the ball over the in-fielders.
India will need to overhaul their attack and bring in Varun Aaron. He is an unknown quantity as far as the English are concerned and may make an impact like Rahane who too was unseen and unheard of before the series began. Bringing him on when the field restriction are lifted will give him some protection too and help his confidence.
The weather has cooled considerably but can the Indians warm their supporters up with a win before its too late, is the question on everybody’s lips.
