England 2 India 3

In contrast England sculpted themselves into a world-beating side through 2004 under the auspices of a fresh captain, registering 11 consecutive Test wins in one calendar year. And 11 Test wins on the trot against any opposition this side of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe deserves recognition.

Since January 2004, England have played 16 Tests and won 12 of them with a single loss against South Africa. India since that period have played 12, won 6 and lost 3.

The inevitable fallout: England pushed India to number three in the world Test rankings and declared themselves as the team that could threaten Australia. Suddenly the Ashes look interesting.

What did England do right? What went wrong with the Indian team? How did they displace India to become the second best team in the world?

VVS Laxman, for one, doesn8217;t think much about the rankings but believes that playing a bad series against Australia hurt them. 8216;8216;If the second Test at Chennai against Australia had not been rained off things could have been very different8217;8217;, he said. 8216;8216;If we had won that Test and drawn the series we could have maintained the second spot; we could have been in contention for the top spot.8217;8217;

That, of course, doesn8217;t explain what England did right. How a radical yet professional approach from the England and Wales Cricket Board metamorphosed a moribund team into a world-beating side. Can India contemplate a foreigner as a selector? Can India ever offer a coach an indefinite contract? Can India offer the coach a vote in selection matters? England did and reaped the benefits.

Here8217;s a look at what went right for England, and India compared8230;

THE THREE TOWERS
Former England skipper Mike Gatting offers three reasons for England8217;s rise: Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and Steve Harmison. 8216;8216;Over the past 12-18 months these three guys have enabled the England team to pull itself out of any situation8217;8217;, he told The Sunday Express. 8216;8216;The trend caught on and now every member of the England team is a match-winner.8217;8217;

Ironically, Flintoff8217;s career turned around during the tour of India in 2001/2. He had averaged 5.2 from five Test innings till he bowled that fantastic last over in the Mumbai ODI and helped draw the series 3-3.

He hasn8217;t looked back, scoring over 1,000 runs last season with eight fifties and two centuries. Add to that his contribution with the ball 8212; 58 wickets at an average of 25 8212; and you have the leading all-rounder in world cricket in your ranks. Meanwhile, India8217;s hunt for an all-rounder continues.

Andrew Strauss is possibly England8217;s find of the decade, the most dependable opener since Graham Gooch last took guard for England. He and Marcus Trescothick have 10 centuries between them and average 51 for the opening wicket.

India, by contrast, tried out various combinations after breaking up the stable pair of Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag for reasons beyond comprehension.

The English bowling attack, spearheaded by Steve Harmison, has backed up the batsmen to the hilt with each fast bowler picking wickets and the lone spinner Ashley Giles using angles to make up for his lack of turn.

For India Anil Kumble, in the absence of injured Harbhajan and Balaji, has done the bulk of the bowling along with Irfan Pathan. But lack of support from Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar has hurt.

THE CON AND THE CONTRACTS

Central contracts don8217;t really have any direct influence on talent or ability, says Mike Gatting, 8216;8216;but they help nurture talent like Harmison and Flintoff.8217;8217;

Indeed, the system has provided the players 8212; eight are on full-time contracts, four on summer deals 8212; with the security that puts them at ease.

Meanwhile, it8217;s been a struggle for the Indian team ever since July 1997, when contracts and graded payments were first mentioned. Three years later official talks began and it was another four years before the contracts were finally signed.

INJURIES CAN HURT YOU
England utilised 18 players in 2004; eight of them played all the Tests. In contrast, only four players were present in all of India8217;s 12 Tests in 2004. 8216;8216;Injuries are a part of any international team so I don8217;t think that was too much of a factor because the new guys who came in for the injured players played very good cricket8217;8217;, says Laxman.

However, Gatting argues that with a player of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar unable to participate India were always going to struggle. 8216;8216;It8217;s not a loss; it8217;s a huge loss when Tendulkar doesn8217;t play for India. Sure India has some wonderful batsmen but Tendulkar stands out when facing the Australians. You could compare it to Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne not playing in the Ashes; the entire equation changes. England, for all you know, could win it if one of these guys doesn8217;t play this July.8217;8217;

And Sourav Ganguly8217;s back injury that forced him out of most of the series against Australia just made things worse for India.

COACH CONTROL
Duncan Fletcher has got a good handle on his players and has, from the beginning, had the backing of the England Cricket Board. He was also given an 8216;8216;indefinite8217;8217; contract in October 2003, around the same time John Wright was wondering if he even had a job to return to.

8216;8216;Fletcher works in a quiet way, encourages the players, earns their respect and is extremely fortunate to have had three or four players coming good at the right time8217;8217;, says Gatting. 8216;8216;He has created a team where everyone backs everyone else and they enjoy each other8217;s success.8217;8217;

His eye for talent has made success stories out of players with the potential but an average county record 8212; Andrew Strauss, for one. Fletcher knows the pulse of the players and uses it well to manage them.

Most important, he has a prominent say in selection, helping him keep a consistent selection policy with fair chances to fringe players.

Last heard, Wright was still without a vote in selection meetings.

With Chandresh Narayanan and Ajit Bezbaruah