RSS Feed (xml)
MUMBAI: It was a short series, as Test cricket goes, yet it, meant so much to both sides. India may have won it by virtue of their immense back-breaking effort of chasing close to 400 runs in the last innings at Chennai. But England were not the least disgraced.
Considering the circumstances under which the England team came back after returning home, made everyone proud and in the end, it can rightly be said that it was the game of cricket that triumphed.
There were so many positives that came out of the series for both sides and the manner in which the matches were played, it was a fitting tribute to honor 75 years of Test cricket in India. After all the great work done especially by a resurgent Indian team under M.S. Dhoni, one cannot help but comment on the rather strange approach of the team on the last two days of the second Test at Mohali.It was completely out of tune with what one had come to expect from this side.
For the first time, since Dhoni took over the leadership, one witnessed an element of negativity in the tactics employed. For all the wealth of talent it possesses, the side’s batting suddenly lacked enterprise. Even attacking batsmen became unnecessarily defensive.
As things stood in the mid-afternoon of the fourth day, India had to go for quick runs, which surprisingly, they did not. Worse was on the final day when a declaration should have been first thing on the mind.
The batsmen carried on in a lackluster manner. It was strange to see the innings being extended beyond the lunch-break to enable Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh to complete their centuries. The attempt of both batsmen to manufacture a century, instead of getting it in the natural course of play, failed.
For once, it was felt that personal glory of players was given precedence over the prime interest of the team. Also, a feeling was inescapable that Dhoni had set his mind on playing out a draw instead of going for a win.
One only hopes that this is only a one-off switch to the defensive and that Dhoni does not, on the advice of some people, change what has so far been his trademark wholesome approach that has brought so much freshness of thought into the Indian team.
