India v England, 1st Test - Indian innings
December 15th 2008 15:24
The Indian first innings - a few thoughts.
I know many people associate the word 'blind' with Bucknor. But if ever there was a candidate for that word that is Hawkeye. Graeme Swann's third ball to Gambhir saw the left hander pad up well outside the off stump. To the naked eye and in the replays the ball pitched, spun very slightly and hit the pads. It was wrongly adjudicated as leg before by umpire Harper. An understandable human error amidst all the ruckus. But what was shocking was Hawkeye's verdict that the ball was a doosra that it actually moved into Gambhir and struck the inside of the middle stump!! That was blasphemous. And Gambhir definitely was unlucky.
Dravid's decision too was marginal but I would not have too much complaints with that considering that he was roundly beaten by the amount of turn that Swann got. The only problem with that one was height and that too was marginal. That decision could have gone either way and more often than not when the batsman finds himself out of form, decisions go against him. Dravid badly needs to make his next innings count. I still see him thrusting his front leg out while his back leg stays put and sometimes creeps outside leg stump. I dont see how Gary Kirsten and the other senior batsmen are not seeing it. If only Dravid can get that shuffle going that would help him reach the balls that he is getting beaten by and also purchase some additional time for him to play balls on the backfoot. By pushing forward he is losing that mini instant of time.
Earlier Sehwag looked good, if unnaturally cautious, for a brief period. He threatened to cut loose with a thumped straight drive off a short of length ball from Andersen. But to a virtually similar delivery next up, he tried to cut and was cramped for room, needless to say and got bowled off the under edge. The key to me was Sehwag's position at the point of contact. His backleg was on middle stump. To me Sehwag is at his best when he stays on the leg stump, stays beside the line of the ball to work that ball anywhere between mid off and third man. If he moves in, he loses that natural room that he creates owing to his stance and balance and lack of foot movement. The only time he needs to move in is when he is trying ot tuck the ball in towards legside. In this case, it was all a matter of shot selection more than technique and Sehwag knew it.
Tendulkar and Laxman have a job to do and a lot depends on these two. I am not surprised to see Laxman walk in with Swann doing the duty. Dhoni has been known to conserve Yuvraj and send him in only when he thinks the time is right. That has even reaped dividends in ODI matches but we will need to see how it works in the Test matches.
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