India let down by lousy field work

England deservedly beat India 4-3 in one of the most exciting one-day cricket series in recent times.

The series had everything which makes one-day cricket so exciting – great batting, superb bowling, great catches, tense last overs and lots of controversy. Both teams must be given credit for showing resilience and producing the goods when it mattered.
England got off to a great start by taking a 3-1 lead mid-way through the series. Then it was India’s turn to stage a great comeback and level the series at 3-3.
India almost lost the plot in the sixth one-dayer but some hard hitting by Robin Uthappa got them home with two balls to spare.
India must consider themselves unlucky in the decider at Lord’s. Two of their key batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, fell to contentious decisions. In the case of Tendulkar, the bat brushed against the pad when he was given out caught behind.
Still, India did not measure up to the task at Lord’s and a total of 187 did not bother the Englishmen much. India would have done better to bat second after winning the toss as Lord’s usually assists the bowlers in the morning during September.
England should be proud of their performance under captain Paul Collingwood. After a miserable World Cup, they seem to be finding their feet in one-day cricket at last.
There is much better balance to the England side now than before. Their batting is also deep with Ravi Bopara coming as low as number seven or eight.
Though Kevin Pieterson had a poor series he redeemed himself with fine knocks in the last two one-dayers. He was often troubled by the Indian spinners but came good when it mattered.
England coach Peter Moores and batting coach Andy Flower must take some credit for transforming Ian Bell into a fine one-day batsman. Bell turned from a steady player to an attacking one, taking full advantage of the restrictions in the first 20 overs. He was ultimately named man-of-the-series which he fully deserved.
Alistair Cook had an indifferent series along with fellow opener Matt Prior. Cook is getting better at the shorter variety and will improve as time goes by.
Prior is not a natural opener and he would serve England better lower down the order. He did get a few starts but failed to convert.
Collingwood had a good series both as a batsman and captain. He got his field placements right and his bowling changes were often inspiring.
England’s strong point was the lower order batsmen. Bopara, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Stuart Broad all played important innings for their team. Bopara is a cool-headed customer in a crisis and he will have an important role to play for England once he gets fit again.
Mascarenhas is an exciting all-rounder who loves to hit sixes. He got off to a slow start in his one-day career but is now turning out to be a big asset. His bowling is also clever and he mixes his pace well.
Broad’s batting was a revelation. His strokes off the back foot through the off-side were a treat to watch.
England’s bowling was once again led by James Anderson. The Lancashire bowler has improved tremendously this year and has become indispensable. He is also a fleet-footed fielder who takes amazing catches.
India will have to thank Tendulkar for getting this far in the series. The master batsman batted like a man possessed and silenced his ever-growing number of critics.
The entire trademark Tendulkar strokes were back on display. The aggression which was so lacking in the Test matches was also clearly evident.
Along with Saurav Ganguly, he put on crucial opening partnerships to give India the impetus. Ganguly continued his good form from the Test matches.
India’s middle-order also performed at crucial junctures with Dravid playing a gem of innings in the second one-dayer. Yuvraj Singh showed consistency while Gautam Gambhir played two key knocks.
India’s spin bowlers were the mainstay of the attack with both Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar bowling tidily.
India were let down by some for the worst fielding they have ever done in recent times. Easy catches were dropped and the ground fielding was a joke. India must reassess their boundary runners and go for agile fielders in that area.
One-day cricket of late was getting very predictable and often boring. This series will go a long way in getting interest back in the shortened version.

By Babu Kalyanpur
babu.kallianpur@tradearabia.net