India seek encore at indore

With the curator keeping close watch over proceedings at the Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Center...

With the curator keeping close watch over proceedings at the Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Center, the groundsmen moved the roller over the pitch in a melancholic motion. Back and forth was also how thoughts veered along 8212; standing in front of what looked like a belter of a wicket on Saturday, they moved between flashes of Yuvraj Singh8217;s brilliant, free-flowing innings in Rajkot, and the promise of more of the same when the second licked lips in anticipation of an encore when India take on England in the second ODI to be played on Monday.

While the English team would like to forget Friday8217;s humiliation as soon as possible as they try to avoid falling any further back in this extremely long one-day series, they have a lot of forgetting to do.

Two years ago, at the same venue, it was Yuvraj who had inflicted another painful defeat on the visitors. In that high-scoring encounter, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood had guided England to an imposing 288 in 50 overs. They might have thought that would be enough to apply some pressure on the hosts, but the Indian left-hander played a well-paced knock to make a short work of the target. India got there with seven wickets and five balls to spare, the left-hander finishing off with an unbeaten 63 from 57 balls .

Curator Samundar Singh Chauhan, who had prepared that wicket, is at the helm again and says the strip is almost the same. The only difference this time: totals could head further upwards.

8220;It8217;s a flat batting wicket,8221; says Chauhan 8212; unlike Rajkot, this time the captain winning the toss can be trusted to bat first.

8220;Like last time, the ball will come on to the bat nicely. You can see a score in the excess of 300 being scored and, maybe even being chased. The wicket is hard and will last 100 overs. Batting first or second will not make much of difference,8221; he adds.

But last time around, a spunky paceman by the name of S Sreesanth took six. Can pacers expect a similar luck on Monday? Chauhan is frank in his reply. 8220;There might be some movement early on, but ultimately it is a batting wicket.8221;

Crowds are back

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Meanwhile, India8217;s commanding victory in Rajkot has sent the team8217;s stock 8212; and thereby one-day cricket8217;s 8212; soaring in these parts.

Serpentine queues can be spotted outside the ticket counters and the cops aren8217;t shy of wielding lathis to control restless fans. As many as 1500 policemen will be deployed on the day of the match for security purposes as organisers expect 30,000 spectators to throng the stadium.

In all likelihood, they will get their money8217;s worth and some more.