and the humiliation ends…….
India arrived in England as the top Test side in the world. They lost the marquee series 4-0, including two defeats by an innings. Cricket is a great leveler. For the past 21 months India had been the top Test team in the world. In April they became the world champions, lifting the World Cup after nearly three decades.
Nothing could seemingly go wrong with this indisputably talented team with the best batting line-up in the world. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain with the Midas touch, leading India to dominate the world of cricket in all formats of the game, including the fickle Twenty20.
Staying on top was never going to be easy but Indian fans are shocked by the way India has capitulated to England during this dismal summer.
It is not the players above the age of 36 (with the exception of Rahul Dravid, of course) who looked out of sorts; that decline was expected despite a nation being in denial.It is those in the early 30s, men who ought to be making the transition easier, who have been found wanting.For India, it's their sixth series defeat by such a margin - their previous one was in Australia in 1991-92.It's India's 11th innings defeat against England, and the third time they've lost at least two Tests against them in a series by an innings.
The unforgiving Indian media is pulling no punches after the defeat. The headlines came blunt and quick on the news channels, moments after Bresnan picked up Sreesanth and put an end to India's agony.
It is clear that a combination of injuries to star players, lack of adequate preparation, absence of a wider pool of Test players and too much cricket thanks to a thoughtlessly crowded cricket calendar rendered India hors de combat.
 | So is the debacle in England the beginning of the end of India's domination as the top Test playing nation? Will India slide further down the ladder or is this a one-off setback and India will rebound soon? |
 | India have been a one-bowler team for too long now, and when that bowler, Zaheer Khan, 32, broke down in the first Test at Lord's, the dream was effectively over. |
Harbhajan Singh, 31, despite his 400-plus wickets has been on the wane as a Test bowler, his position protected by his past record and a late-blooming batting skill.
This was probably one of the most unfit teams India had on the field in recent years. Some of that was sheer bad luck, as when Gautam Gambhir was hit while fielding.
But some of it was the result of assumption that when you are not playing, you are not expected to stay fit.
Not to take any credit off English team, It was England's first whitewash over India since 1974 and completed a memorable series in which Andrew Strauss's men usurped the visitors as the top-ranked Test side in the world.
Hopefully Indian teams bad form ends here and team plays positive cricket in T20 & ODI series from next week…
| Wed Aug 31 | T20 - England v India Old Trafford | Manchester |
| Sat Sep 3 | 1st ODI - England v India | Chester-le-Street |
| Tue Sep 6 | 2nd ODI - England v India | Southampton |
| Fri Sep 9 | 3rd ODI - England v India Kenning ton Oval | London |
| Sun Sep 11 | 4th ODI - England v India Lord's | London |
| Fri Sep 16 | 5th ODI - England v India | Cardiff |
Hoping for the same... yes india with such huge size do expect to win all games but that's not possible in real world scenario... after all cricketers are humans.. what say?
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't ended yet, we have ODI series yet to face..
ReplyDelete