By Anil - 27 July, '03
July 27 2002

The first Test between India and England at Lord's appears to be headed for a draw. However there are several interesting lessons to be learned from the 3 days play so far.

Hussain's negative attitude

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Hussain has displayed a very negative attitude in the Test so far. For one thing, his fielding positions have been defensive and designed to save boundaries by the hard-hitting Indian batsmen. Even in the end stages of the Indian innings, he was setting a very defensive field for VVS Laxman, instead of trying to get wickets. Two, he summoned Giles to bowl his negative line in the 8th over of the innings, as the first change bowler! Giles was smashed out of the attack and bowled a total of 8 overs. Third, and worst of all, he decided not to enforce the followon, obviously nervous about India's potential to win the Test after the famous win against world champions Australia after a followon. The last has likely cost England a shot at winning the match.

Why this will be a draw

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In the last match played by England against Sri Lanka here, England had a batting collapse similar to India's here, followed on, and comfortably saved the match on a docile pitch. India would look to repeat that.

Luck for England

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Hussain has had all the luck in this match so far. Winning a very important toss was a vital advantage. Also, the only session in which the skies was overcast and helpful to seam bowling was when India's middle order came out to bat today. For the rest of the sessions, there has been blazing sunshine.

Indian bowling

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Although Agarkar was erratic on the first day, and improved on the second, he was back to his hostile best today. After terrifying Hussain with a series of short-pitched deliveries, he sent the England captain back with a fast bouncer that the batsman could not avoid and ended up nicking to the keeper. Agarkar also very nearly broke the index finger of Vaughan, who was in extreme pain for a while and was attended to by the England physio. Agarkar has been the most hostile bowler on view today from both teams.

Nehra has been erratic, but 3 catches have been dropped off him already - by Jaffer, Dravid, and Ratra. Zaheer has been his usual efficient self. Kumble has been looking good.

In general the Indian bowlers have not looked penetrative enough except in patches, and the pitch under a hot sun has been unhelpful.

England bowling was whacked around by Sehwag on the 2nd day, but they were lucky enough to be helped by the only cloudy, overcast session today to make a dent in India's middle order. Their best bowler has been Hoggard. Flintoff has also bowled well, and White sent back the best batsman in the world. Simon Jones has been a disappointment for England, with fast-medium pace but spraying deliveries all over the wicket. He did get two tailender wickets, which were comparatively insignificant. Incidentally, Jones' highest speed today was just under 88 mph. The fastest ball of the day was bowled by Hoggard at 89.1 mph. Agarkar has been more hostile than both as described earlier, however.

Indian batting

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As expected, Sehwag and Laxman were the best of the Indian batsmen. The only surprise for me was Ganguly with an early failure. Dravid turned in a typically hopeless, slow performance, bogging down Sachin and the scoring rate. As for Sachin, it appears that off-field attacks by ex-player Gavaskar, who is now on the payroll of an English tabloid, may have affected Tendulkar's morale. However Sachin is not in good nick these days.

A very poor performance from India's tailenders as usual. Ratra, Agarkar, Zaheer, Nehra, and Kumble all went in single digits. These people need to deliver every now and then. Ratra's repetitive failure stands out, and perhaps it is time to replace him by teenage prodigy Parthiv Patel who is the reserve wicketkeeper for this series.

Of the openers, Jaffer must be eliminated from Indian cricket once and for all. He has not only failed yet again, but also fielded poorly. Dravid must be promoted to opener so Kaif can be brought in, or if he refuses, then Dravid must be replaced by Kaif and Mongia can come in as opener replacing Jaffer.

Although this match can be expected to end in a draw, India must take its lessons and improve its showing in the next matches. It is also important to insist that the ECB provide fair pitches for practice instead of poorly prepared strips as they did for the tour match just before this Test. This clearly has affected the Indian performance and should be taken up as a serious issue by the Indian team management and cricket board.