ENGLISH EDUCATED

Singh-ing after a Kumble soar throat
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is in England taking wickets and that exactly was the case during the 2002 England series. The big difference is that at present he is on 8216;county duty8217; while five years ago he was playing for the country.
The offie remembers his first England tour and the 12 wickets he took in three Tests that included a five-wicket haul at The Oval. But his England story starts with the No 1 spinner in the squad, Anil Kumble, getting a soar throat before the second Test.
8220;I missed the first Test as the team management decided to go with three pacers and Anil bhai. I got my chance in the second and did fairly well,8221; says Harbhajan, on phone from Surrey. He shone with both bat and ball as he scored 54 crucial runs off just 30 balls and claimed three wickets. 8220;Yeah I took three wickets, but went for some runs also. It was a high-scoring game,8221; said Harbhajan, who had conceded 175 runs in that innings for his three wickets.
Ask about the pressures of being the second spinner in the side in a series where two slow bowlers in the XI is a rarity and Harbhajan brushes off the idea. 8220;There is pressure in every match. Every time you go out you want to do well. I did well on that tour, and also got a five-wicket haul,8221; he says.
What he means is one has to give the best in the limited opportunity that one can get. This piece of advice is relevant for the present spinner No.2 in the squad: Ramesh Powar.
Powar can learn more as Harbhajan gives an expert opinion on bowling in English conditions. 8220;Since the conditions there don8217;t help spinners much, one has to maintain calm and patience. It takes time. The ball does not spin much. But on some pitches there is bounce, so one has to utilise that properly. The idea is not to get frustrated and bowl in good areas and according to the field,8221; said Harbhajan.
Going back to 2002, one asks Harbhajan what the turning point was in that series after India were down 0-1. 8220;It was the second Test at Nottingham, where we managed to snatch a draw. Parthiv in his debut match batted with patience. We played well on all five days. And from then on we never looked back,8221; he answers.
8212;Swarup Kar Purkayastha

8216;I wasn8217;t expecting to be dropped8217;
Ajay Ratra
England 2002 was a rollercoaster ride for Ajay Ratra that ended in disaster. The high of walking out at Lord8217;s, missing the next two Tests because of injury, a 100 in the tour game and a dismal show in his final international game 8212; that sums up his bizarre tour.
He has pleasant memories of relishing the sights of the English country side on off-days and the 8220;ultimate feeling8221; at Lord8217;s; but he soon comes to his crushed toe at the net session just before the second Test. 8220;Parthiv played instead of me as I couldn8217;t recover in time,8221; he says recalling the biggest setback of his cricketing career.
Ratra is candid enough to say he didn8217;t have any substantial scores in the games on that tour and adds that 8220;long breaks upset his rhythm. After the West Indies tour where I got a Test hundred, we had the ODIs first in England and I wasn8217;t in the scheme of things. When the Tests started, I was happy to be back in the middle but I suffered the injury. This was followed by another long break. I couldn8217;t get big scores, but I wasn8217;t expecting to be dropped.8221;
The 25-year old says even wicketkeeping in England is a big challenge. 8220;England is cold and weather is crucial. When you are batting, you need solid technique and play close to your body but while keeping, one has to be extra careful. The ball tends to move even after crossing the batsman so there8217;s need of greater concentration.8221;
Ask about the competition between him and Parthiv during the tour 8212; a scenario similar to the one between MS Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick in 2007. 8220;You need two keepers for such a long tour. I wish Dhoni and Kaarthick all possible luck,8221; he says diplomatically. For someone who has seen the highs and lows of international cricket, this happens to be a 8216;goodwill handshake8217; by the discarded gloveman.
8212; GS Vivek

8216;Swing missing! Am in England8217;
Ashish Nehra
Before landing in England five years back, Ashish Nehra had heard stories about green pitches, swing-friendly conditions and all that a pace bowler loves to hear. Nehra, a rookie on that tour, is a much wiser man today as he says that those were just partly true.
8220;Bowling with the Duke ball is no joke. I went to England after a successful West Indies tour and even in the subsequent ODI series in England, where they played with a Kookaburra ball, I was among the wickets. But in the Tests, things changed. It is no joke to swing a Duke ball. I didn8217;t know what to do,8221; he says.
Nehra says that he was banking on his prodigious swing and his ability to dart the ball in to the right-hander, but the plan didn8217;t seem to work. 8220;It didn8217;t work in the first Test or the second Test and I was dropped for the Third Test. You need to alter a few things,8221; he says.
Considering the fact that four of the five pacers in the Class of 2007 are yet to play a Test in England, the Nehra story becomes relevant today. The 28-year-old thinks his former pace partner Zaheer Khan will have to play Big Brother. 8220;Zaheer can8217;t swing as much as others, but he has the experience and pace to alter the length. With RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose going there for the first time, everything depends on how Zaheer takes the lead. RP has got a few games, so hopefully he knows what needs to be done,8221; he says. Nehra reckons that Sreesanth8217;s wrist position and 8216;full seam landing8217; will get him some movement off the wicket.
His biggest worry happens to be the pitches. 8220;Lord8217;s has always been batsmen-friendly while The Oval offers some bounce, but it flattens out by the third day. Trent Bridge gives hope for swing bowlers,8221; he says. But he adds that considering England have got a good batting line-up but a relatively weaker seam attack, they might leave grass and moisture on the pitches. Sharma, Sreesanth, Bose and RP too will be hoping for this.
8212; GS Vivek

Specialist on bench, stand-in opener outstanding
Sanjay Bangar and SS Das
8220;It8217;s been a long time,8221; he complains when reminded of his stellar role in the famous 2002 Headingley win. And typical of the man who is called 8216;Smiling Buddha8217; on the circuit he says, 8220;I think I got more credit for those 68 runs at Headingley. Maybe it8217;s because I was able to stitch a partnership with Rahul that helped us to a big total and that eventually saw us winning the Test. It shows how much it matters when you contribute,8221; he says.
Bangar was the third opener in the squad, relegated to fourth as Sehwag was elevated as an opener. 8220;The team management decided to go in with me basically because of my all round abilities. They wanted an extra seamer in those conditions and I fitted the bill perfectly,8221; Bangar recalls.
He goes on to say how it helps to go out in such situations with no pre-conceived notions. 8220;I had no idea what to expect, I just went with the sole purpose of doing my best and that helped,8221; he says. But today he can speak about the ways to deal with the conditions there. 8220;I just followed the basics of batting and picked right ball to hit. As for bowling, the Duke ball is quite different. It8217;s very difficult to reverse-swing unless you are bowling over 85mph,8221; says the all-rounder.
SS Das, the other opener on that tour, didn8217;t get to play any Tests but he learnt a lot sitting in the dressing room. The Orissa batsman is of the opinion that it isn8217;t just the openers, batting can be tough all the time in England. 8220;Of course the openers face the new ball but the conditions are such that one session can change the match. So everyone has to be on their toes all the time,8221; he says.
Das also adds that the presence of a solid middle-order helps the openers. 8220;With players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to follow, the openers can take a few liberties and that showed during the 2002 where we posted huge totals,8221; he says.
8212; GS Vivek 038; K Shriniwas Rao