After a resounding performance at
Ahmadabad everybody including me expected the Indians to wrap up the Mumbai
test in 4 days or so. After the first test, MS Dhoni commented in a press
conference that he wanted the playing surface to turn from day 1 for the rest
of the test matches. It was one of the most bizarre statements made by a
responsible player in a long time. If dhoni was expecting his spinners to roll
their arm over and skittle out the English on a turning pitch at Mumbai, he was
proven completely wrong by the manner in which the visitors handled spin on a
spin friendly Wankhede wicket. Well yaaaah the test match sure got over in less than 3
and a half days,( I was a live witness
to the test in Mumbai). The result shockingly went in favour of the English team
which won the test match in impressive style by 10 wickets. There are several
reasons for this defeat. The most important reason is the unwillingness on the
part of the Indian team to work hard for test victories on home soil. If the
team is expecting to just turn up on the field and roll the opposition over
twice by virtue of spin friendly wickets, they are living in a fool’s paradise.
This ploy might work against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but certainly the English team
has come to India with a very definitive resolve to win the test series.
If we have a look at the test
victories which India achieved against Sri Lanka and England in 1993 -94, the 3
spinners Anil Kumble, Venkatpathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan had to toil hard and
bowl a lot of overs in the sun to defeat the opposition. The demand of MS Dhoni
for a pitch which should turn from day 1
is absolutely ludicrous. If he was playing mind games with the England team, it
has clearly not worked in Mumbai. The pitch at the Eden gardens in Kolkata is
going to be a slow turner and India will have to work hard for better part of 5
days as there are no easy victories in test cricket. The Indian batting display
in the second innings at Mumbai was highly pathetic. There are batting
collapses which happen in test cricket but the manner of dismissals of the
likes of Sachin, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj
were painful to the eye. I have never witnessed so many Indian batsmen being
dismissed in slips and bat pad dismissals against any spin bowling attack in a
single innings The likes of Panesar and Swann bowled beautifully but I fail to
understand the reluctance of the top order to use their feet and dominate the
spinners. The Mumbai wicket had no
devils in it as Pujara, Cook and Pietersen exhibited. Surely if R Ashwin can
come down the wicket and attempt to dominate the spinners, the likes of
Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj will have to do the same.
Indian players are considered to
be the best players of spin bowling but I do not remember any Indian batsman
barring Navjot Sidhu and Virender Sehwag on some occasions, consistently trying
to dance down the wicket and alter the line of the spinners. The Indian batting
line up has a lot of soul searching to do and the spin bowlers will have to
show the willingness to earn wickets the hard way. Preparing turners is not
going to benefit the Indian team in the long run, but Indian captains have
seldom thought about this issue. Dhoni and his team will have to regroup and
remember that test cricket is played over a period of 5 days and the limited
overs mentality will have to go out of the window if India wants
to win on home soil. I sincerely wish the Indian batsmen at least try to
dominate the English spinners and the spin bowlers to work on their lengths if
they are expecting to win in Kolkata and Nagpur.
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