An English summer that all of India would cherish
Going into the Oval Test, all the attention was firmly focused on the best batsman in the game today Sachin Tendulkar
Erapalli Prasanna
11-Sep-2002
Going into the Oval Test, all the attention was firmly focused on
the best batsman in the game today Sachin Tendulkar. The maestro
was playing in his 100th Test and knowing him, he would have been
hoping to score a hundred and lead India to their first series
win outside the sub-continent in 16 years. But it was not to be.
Both teams decided to play to their strengths - India relied on
their batsmen and their spinners while England placed their faith
in their better-equipped fast bowlers. Hussain won the allimportant toss and like Ganguly at Leeds elected to bat.
![]() © Reuters |
His partner at the other end, Michael Vaughan, must be the most
improved international batsman of the year; the hunger for runs
that this lad now displays is quite remarkable. I watched him get
out `handling the ball' in the Bangalore Test after he had made
a classy 50-odd runs. I think that was probably the pivotal
moment in the young man's Test career. Since then, he had a good
tour of New Zealand before going on to become the dominant
batsman of this English summer.
I am particularly impressed with Vaughan's technique and the ease
with which he played both the Indian spinners. Warne against
Vaughan might, in my opinion, turn out to be an interesting
battle in the Ashes in Australia.
Nasser Hussain's captaincy, meanwhile, was enigmatic; a proven
leader of men, his tactics, however, are sometimes too defensive.
Probably this has a lot to do with the fact that too many English
players - the bowlers in particular - get injured these days. It
indeed is very difficult for any captain to come to terms with
the abrupt changes in the composition of the bowling attack and
the loss of your main strike bowlers, in particular.
The defensive mentality of the Englishmen actually benefited an
Indian team which was eager to let the world know that they are
professional enough to avoid succumbing to off-field pressures.
On a flat track, India gave away a lot of runs on the first day,
before bouncing back to restrict England on the second day. A
first innings score of 515 is daunting enough even for the best
batting line-up in the world and consequently, Nasser Hussain
must have hoped that his fast bowlers would run through the
Indian batting and force them to follow on. But that did not
happen as the pace bowlers ran into a wall.
![]() © CricInfo |
Moving to the bowling, I felt that Harbhajan Singh bowled
particularly well at The Oval on the second day to pick up five
wickets in an innings. The two Indian spinners, however, found it
difficult to be consistent. They would have had a better chance
of dismissing the England side for a more modest total had they
given the ball some more flight. What they must understand is
that bowling flat on a placid batting track might stop the flow
of runs but it also takes away your wicket-taking options. A
spinner can only be attacking when he gets the ball to turn a
lot.
All said, I am very proud of the boys who have done the country
proud. They deserve all the accolades and support that they are
being showered with. I must also congratulate Sourav Ganguly for
his inspirational captaincy and also for his magnificent batting
in the series.Even though the honours were shared at the end of
the series, India can be proud of their achievements. India won
the NatWest Trophy at Lord's and then put together spirited
performance in the Test series after going 0-1down.
Before signing off, let me take the opportunity to wish the
Indian team all the very best for the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri
Lanka. I am sure that they can win the Trophy if they continue to
play with the intensity and passion that they showed in England.