Journalism of Courage
As the Indians stepped out of the dressing room for the net session a day before their one-dayer against England at The Oval,they had in front of them a very familiar sight. There was a tent on the pitch and the rest of the square was hidden under covers. It was the same gloomy picture they had been forced to stare at for hours at Rose Bowl. Despite the two-hour-long Southampton to London bus ride for the third ODI,the depressing murkiness hadnt left Team India. Actually,even on the few sunny days that they have encountered while crisscrossing England for close to two months,the troubled tourists have failed to shake off despondency and bleakness.
It has become harder towards the end of the tour. Its not just that the defeats have piled up for the winless Indian captain MS Dhoni,but it also means revisiting the venues that have and uncomfortable past connected to them: For example,being in London means recalling the 4-0 whitewash at The Oval and the first blow at Lords in the opening Test of the series.
Going by the show put up by the visiting team in the second half of the rain-curtailed second one-dayer at Rose Bowl,there was nothing to prove that the two ODIs this weekend will be see the Londoners change their opinion about the Indian bowlers. It was an unimaginative and out-of-depth bowling show that reduced the seemingly daunting target of 188 to a cakewalk.
Running on fumes
Praveen Kumar,who has bowled his heart out on this tour,was finally dropping hints that he was exhausted. The two tell-tale signs which suggest that a pacer is running on fumes are: bowling consistently short and drifting down the leg side. These were the two main reasons for Praveen going for 41 in 4 overs. Since the wet white ball wasnt quite swinging,the conditions were tough for Praveen,but still he didnt seem the same bowler who had consistently bothered Alastair Cook during the Tests.
His partner R Vinay Kumars tendency to bowl a few boundary balls in each over has made things easy for the England openers. The lack of pace or any pronounced movement has exposed Vinay. Craig Kieswetter and Ian Bell treated him with scant respect at the Rose Bowl,giving themselves room to spank him repeatedly through the covers. Even in the unfinished first ODI at Chester-le-Street,where Praveens swing removed both openers early,Vinay provided too much width to Jonathan Trott,who cashed in with three fours in two overs before the rains came down.
Munaf Patel has been the one ace in Dhonis hands and he has been using him very judiciously. After the Manchester T20 game,Dhoni regretted that Munaf didnt have many overs towards the end. In the virtual T20 game in Southampton,Dhoni was blamed for not giving Munaf enough overs at the start of the innings.
Favourite combination
That one bleak silver lining around the dark cloud was the fact that for the first time in the ODI series Dhoni will have men in the side who can help him go with his favourite 7-4 combination without any pre-match anxiety. With the spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja having a long net session,it was clear that India was banking on him to turn the tide in this series. India was hoping that he along with specialist offie Ravichandran Ashwin will be able to operate competently in the middle overs.
Bowling next to Jadeja in the training arena was RP Singh. He was still running in gingerly but his deliveries were getting the right shape. Chances are that he could once again open the attack for India at The Oval. The inclusion of two left-armers,Jadeja and RP,could provide the variation to the bowling that looked one-dimensional in the shorter-version games. But still,the bowlers dont quite look to have the muscle that can see them lift the cloud of gloom hanging over the Indians.
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