LONDON: A high-on-confidence India look set to wrap up another series on the UK tour unless England find a way to tackle the marauding Kuldeep Yadav when the two teams clash in the second and penultimate ODI at Lord’s here Saturday.
It is a short turn-around from the first ODI at Trent Bridge, as also from the T20I series that finished 2-1 in India’s favour Sunday. Perhaps the game was scheduled for Saturday, keeping in mind the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday.
But, with only a day’s gap between the two matches, it hasn’t worked out in England’s favour who have their task cut out once again after going down by eight wickets in the series opener. In conditions resembling those in Manchester, in terms of a dry pitch, the English batsmen failed to comprehend Kuldeep’s wrist spin. Like at Old Trafford, he was also helped by the breeze blowing across the ground and gained drift, bamboozling the batsmen to pick his best figures in ODI cricket. Unlike in the T20I series, England do not have the option of battling this phenomenon with a practice outing against the spin-bowling machine, Merlyn.
With both teams travelling to London on Friday, there might not even be enough time to sit down for some video analysis. In that light, the English batsmen will have to contend mentally with how to play Yadav tomorrow. It will be easier said than done.
Skipper Eoin Morgan didn’t play the best shot against Yuzvendra Chahal either. It has been a poor ten days for Root, and England’s prime batsman for the summer is looking bereft of any confidence. (PTI)
