The Hindu : Sport : Team India primed to deliver

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 17, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Team India primed to deliver

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Can Pietersen and his men stymie the Indians’ progress?

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

READY FOR A CHANCE: Virat Kohli, seen at a practice session in Indore, is likely to be the first choice in the event of Yuvraj Singh not recovering on time.

Indore: Kevin Pietersen had a long hard look at the pitch and then quickly did a set of push-ups. Memories of a seven-wicket defeat against India here in April, 2006 that sealed the then ODI series in the host’s favour at 5-1 and a slow pitch that promises turn might have forced Pietersen to shed more sweat, while M.S. Dhoni’s men hope that the law of averages doesn’t upset their momentum.

Coming in from their 158-run victory at Rajkot, the Indians are primed to deliver in the second ODI of the seven-match series at the Maharani Usha Raje Stadium here on Monday.

Recipe for success

Though there is no certainty that an injured Yuvraj Singh — who mauled Andrew Flintoff and company at Rajkot and also played a winning hand with an unbeaten 64 in the match here in 2006 — would take the field, the Indians have enough ingredients to whip up success.

Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been a picture of rhythm and runs, while Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma have the talent to tide over their apparent lack of experience.

Dhoni as the floater has displayed the remarkable ability to hold back as well as punch ahead.

Yusuf Pathan, though, continues to flounder. The rush-of-blood shots that marred his stints at the crease during the Asia Cup at Karachi continue to haunt him as reflected in an uppish pull he essayed at Rajkot.

With Virat Kohli having an extended run at the nets here on Sunday, it remains to be seen whether he will step in if Yuvraj doesn’t recover from his back injury.

Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and R.P. Singh struck in their opening spells in the first match and with the added impetus of 387 runs on the board, the Indians multiplied pressure at Rajkot.

Chance for Ojha?

The pitch, with a few cracks, is expected to help the spinners and it would be interesting to watch whether Dhoni might break the tedium of off-spin that Harbhajan Singh, Sehwag and Yusuf bring to the table by giving left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha a break. And if that happens, Yusuf might sit out.

Pietersen, meanwhile, has to stymie the Indians’ progress. He was the lone man standing amidst a top-order slump at Rajkot.

His batsmen, notably the experienced duo of Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell need to chip in while Owais Shah, who scored a hundred against India at the Oval last year and who a few years back flew down to train under Mohammad Azharuddin at Hyderabad, needs to show a bit of oriental flair.

Flintoff’s role

Andrew Flintoff started well at Rajkot, cramping Sehwag for a while before losing the plot against Yuvraj. And as a batsman, he couldn’t put his hand up.

But he remains the talisman and already there are calls in the British media circles that he should be pushed up the order from his current number five slot.

Steve Harmison, an Ashes hero and a reluctant tourist, can trouble the Indians if he hits the deck given his high-arm action and ability to extract bounce, while James Anderson and Stuart Broad need to shorten their lengths a bit instead of the fast and full variety that provide fodder for Sehwag and Gambhir.

Left-arm spinner Samit Patel also needs to hold his nerve when the Indians dance down the track. Pietersen also has an extra option in a now-fit left arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom.

The toss will have a role with batting first being the preferred option on a dry pitch that can stifle shots in the afternoon.

The teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (Capt.), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, M. Vijay, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.

England: Kevin Pietersen (Capt.), Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Ravi Bopara, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Samit Patel, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Alastair Cook, Graeme Swann, Tim Ambrose (wk), Ryan Sidebottom and Luke Wright.

Umpires: Russel Tiffin and Amish Saheba; Third umpire: Suresh Shastri; Match referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Hours of play: 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.; 1.15 p.m. to close of play.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport