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Journalism of Courage
It was a gross mismatch. In an impromptu two-man dash at the Usha Raje Stadium on Sunday, Ravinder Bopara did an Usain Bolt, outrunning a hapless Samit Patel by a mile as he showboated his way to the finish line. Patel was still some way off from chesting the imaginary tape when Bopara, much to the amusement of the crowd, was delivering the Jamaican sprinter8217;s trademark 8216;thunderbolts8217;.
Patel8217;s team mates can empathise with him. They must have felt pretty much the same as India got off the blocks in incredible fashion at the first ODI in Rajkot last week. The race is far from over, and there are still six more matches to play 8212; including one here on Monday 8212; but to stop the hosts who are in such rampaging form, the Englishmen will have to shuffle gears quickly, and hope that India take their foot off the pedal.
Nothing to worry about, the Indian team management said, it was just an optional practice session. 8220;There8217;s an improvement in Yuvraj Singh8217;s case,8221; skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said later, but he was non-committal about the left-hander8217;s availability. 8220;We will take a final call before the game tomorrow.8221;
But he made it clear that Ishant Sharma, who didn8217;t play the first match due to ankle trouble, was likely to sit out again despite sending down a few tentative overs at the nets. 8220;There are very good chances that Ishant may be rested for the match. If he doesn8217;t play here, it will give him a good six-seven days8217; break,8221; Dhoni said.
No long faces
On the other side of the ground, where one expected long faces, the Englishmen were very cheerful throughout their three-hour practice session. They cracked jokes, waved at the substantial gathering in the stands, leaving fans wondering if they were the same team who had succumbed to one of their heaviest defeats just the other day.
But behind the faccedil;ade, there are some worries. Their batting relies too heavily on Kevin Pietersen, and though Paul Collingwood is capable of raising his hand, he has flopped more often than not during the past month. Their bowlers have pace and hit the deck hard, but seemed clueless about bowling in the right areas to the Indian batsmen. Left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom has been declared fit for the tie, but hardly bowled full throttle at the nets.
Add issues such as central contract disputes and doubts over their participation in the Indian Premier League, and it8217;s clear there is too much of off-the-pitch distraction for the visitors.
In contrast, despite fitness issues with some key players, India don8217;t have much to worry about. The opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag is giving them good starts, the middle order hasn8217;t looked as good in a while, and the bowlers back their efforts consistently.
All this gives India a distinct edge and chances are it might not be Bopara, but one of his opponents who is pointing his arms sideways after the hosts have delivered another thunderbolt on Monday.
