One thing that baffled me today was that no side was willing to take any initiative. I felt that both India and England were playing in a semi-cautious mode.
The Indian bowlers were not attacking as much as they should have ansd instead were waiting for the England batsmen to make mistake. Similarly England, too, played very slowly.
Rahul Dravid should have kept in his mind the fact that England also has a long tail and after Flintoff there was no batsman who could resist for long.
Flintoff played a very responsible innings and was able to prolong the agony of Team India.
But I feel that he should have been a little more aggressive and scored at a more faster rate especioally after tea. If England had scored another 40-50 runs and consumed about 5 overs less then they would have been holding all the aces in the match.
Coming to the Indian bowling, Dravid brought in Harbhajan very late. The pitch is already turning and has uneven bounce and today Harbhajan was the best bowler on view from the Indian side even though Kumble took more wickets.
He looked visibly upset at being given the ball so late yet he bowled brilliantly.
Though both Harbhajan and Kumble had the conditions in their favour yet they bowled a negative line. It seemed as if India was not playing for a win.
Same was the case with England. Neither of the teams were proactive.
Now India have a big target before them and they should play their natural game. The batmen should not get over cautious beacuse when that happens the bowlers automatically get the edge and chances of losing a wicket also increases.
On the final day on Wednesday India should play till the tea and then decide to go for the win. I have been a positive player in my career and believe that the best way to approach a target is to be positive.
The key player, obviously, will be Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.
For England Shaun Udal can be the player who can turn the match for them.
But if Indians apply themselves well then this match can be won. This is so because winning a match from a difficult situation is always a greater challenge and gives tremendous joy.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com)
About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 21, 2006, 22:31 ISTlast updated:March 21, 2006, 22:31 IST
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This match is very interestingly poised and frankly I don't want to hazard a guess on which team will win the match.
One thing that baffled me today was that no side was willing to take any initiative. I felt that both India and England were playing in a semi-cautious mode.
The Indian bowlers were not attacking as much as they should have ansd instead were waiting for the England batsmen to make mistake. Similarly England, too, played very slowly.
Rahul Dravid should have kept in his mind the fact that England also has a long tail and after Flintoff there was no batsman who could resist for long.
Flintoff played a very responsible innings and was able to prolong the agony of Team India.
But I feel that he should have been a little more aggressive and scored at a more faster rate especioally after tea. If England had scored another 40-50 runs and consumed about 5 overs less then they would have been holding all the aces in the match.
Coming to the Indian bowling, Dravid brought in Harbhajan very late. The pitch is already turning and has uneven bounce and today Harbhajan was the best bowler on view from the Indian side even though Kumble took more wickets.
He looked visibly upset at being given the ball so late yet he bowled brilliantly.
Though both Harbhajan and Kumble had the conditions in their favour yet they bowled a negative line. It seemed as if India was not playing for a win.
Same was the case with England. Neither of the teams were proactive.
Now India have a big target before them and they should play their natural game. The batmen should not get over cautious beacuse when that happens the bowlers automatically get the edge and chances of losing a wicket also increases.
On the final day on Wednesday India should play till the tea and then decide to go for the win. I have been a positive player in my career and believe that the best way to approach a target is to be positive.
The key player, obviously, will be Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.
For England Shaun Udal can be the player who can turn the match for them.
But if Indians apply themselves well then this match can be won. This is so because winning a match from a difficult situation is always a greater challenge and gives tremendous joy.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com)
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