What should India do if they win the toss tomorrow at the Eden Gardens ?? Common wisdom suggests that going in with 2 spinners they should bat and put the pressure on with a pile of runs. I would go the other way here. Somehow, this team has very rarely managed that well. The only instances I can think of are Multan and Headingley and once against the West Indies in Mumbai.
So I would suggest go in with the 2+2 attack, Ganguly should bowl seam-up and try to get them out for a similar score as we did in Mohali in the first innings. Then pile the pressure. Similar to what we did against Australia in 1998 where all the top 6 crossed 60 and India scored a huge 633 runs in less than 2 days ( note the speed) DO NOT BAT LIKE WE DID IN MOHALI OR LIKE WE DID AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA LAST YEAR (It was quite lucky we won that South Africa series despite our poor batting mainly because that South African team was really weak and also due to Harbhajan's brilliance on the final day of the series.)
Ever since John Wright took over, India have always done better bowling first. Look at the stats:
Bowling first : 27 matches, 13 wins, 4 losses, 10 draws
Batting first : 21 matches, 5 wins, 9 losses, 7 draws
Even at the Eden Gardens, when we fielded first against Australia and South Africa we won in recent times while we could only draw (thank to 2 huge unentertaining 100s by Tendulkar and Laxman) against the West Indies. Also before Ganguly we had beaten Australia fielding first as well in 1998; although against Pakistan in the much-maligned ATC game, we lost (although we started off pretty well). Which raises an important point - Pakistan have never lost to India at the Eden Gardens - they have drawn 3 and won that (in)famous game in 1999. In fact they have never even lost to India even in an ODI at this venue. Their only loss came to Sri Lanka in the final of the Independence Cup in 1997.
But still all things considered we should field. Will Laxman return to the golden form at the venue where he authored an indelible chapter in the history of the game ?? With no Shoaib to uproot the stumps of Dravid and Tendulkar (or to controversially run him out) will the game have the same intensity ?? Will Harbhajan deliver on his favourite turf again ?? Will India find paradise in the garden of Eden or will Pakistan spoil their party once more ??
One thing is for sure, the Indians must be warned : this wicket is not going to let them get out with a draw like Mohali. If they play to their potential they will win; if not THEY WILL LOSE.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
well, pak managed to win at kolkata just because they had a fabulous bowling attack - wasim, saqlain and of course shoaib...
so even if we play bad, we have more chances to win :-D
Sehwag will struggle in this test match I think because woolmer and co have found the right line to him, will their bowler be able to bowl it though. Laxman needs to step up to the plate. If he produces a match turning innings then there, in my eyes, is a strong case for promoting him to captain. Far out I agree but maybe its just the drink talking.
Post a Comment