By Ian Botham
Another disappointing performance by the English batsmen saw them go behind in the ODI series.
The credit here goes to India, as they had their backs to the wall and they came back strong from 1-0 to go up 2-1.
I had high hopes on the English bowling but they have been far too expensive. Now this will be the real test for captain Alastair Cook and the young English team. It will be interesting to see if they can bounce back and make it 2-2.
England could have posed a better threat had they played their full strength side, but due to the rotation system, some of the players made way. With a lot of cricket played these days, I understand rest is needed but this system was never a part of cricket. It has come from other sports and it shouldn’t be the case.
I am a firm believer in playing the full strength side, which England aren’t doing at the moment. If you are allowed to skip and choose, then you should find some other job.
England should look to make two changes. Jos Butler and Stuart Meaker should come in place of Craig Kieswetter and Jade Dernbach respectively. Dernbach has been far too expensive.
The toss at today’s game at Mohali will be extremely crucial, as the dew factor will come into play. India, having bettered their performance, will surely start as the favourites and England have a tough job in hand.
It hurts to see games changing their course due to umpiring blunders especially when we have the option of the review system.
India need to understand that there is nothing which is 100% and DRS has resulted in 97-98% accuracy, so why not opt for it?
I think that DRS isn’t liked by a few senior players in the Indian team. In this tour, the absence of DRS has hurt both teams. Everyone should favour it because it helps improve the game and ICC should look for a way to implement it in all the games.
