Collapse of the top-order
With the England tour subjecting Indian cricket fans to a rude awakening from what has been a fairytale year, the panic button has been pressed writes Desh Gaurav Chopra Sekhri in the Indian Express
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
With the England tour subjecting Indian cricket fans to a rude awakening from what has been a fairytale year, the panic button has been pressed writes Desh Gaurav Chopra Sekhri in the Indian Express. But finger-pointing and blame-game won’t take Indian cricket very far.
There isn’t a quick-fix solution to being underprepared given the current situation. Practice matches sound fine in theory with plenty of upside — acclimatising to the conditions the most obvious — but in the present circumstances our players need time to recover from fatigue and injuries. Aggravating an existing injury or managing to get injured during a practice match would have greater ramifications than would some batting and/ or bowling time.
If India have to win The Oval Test, they need a solid opening partnership reckons Sourav Ganguly. Here's more in the Mid-Day.
If Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir can fire at the top of the order, the others will suddenly feel better about their batting. Sometimes that's all it takes one blazing century by Viru (Sehwag), and suddenly things will change.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo