Tactics behind the tie

What happened in the middle after Zaheer Khan picked up two in two against England.

The Indian huddle was pretty noisy during the final moments of Sundays India vs England tied game. Excited voices suggested ideas to a surpringly stunned-looking Mahendra Singh Dhoni as England finally showed signs of faltering during what had so far seemed a perfectly-planned chase. The 43rd over of the England innings,in which Zaheer Khan dismissed Ian Bell 69 and Andrew Strauss 158,didnt just give India a window of opportunity but also raised the decibel level in the huddle.

The subsequent seven overs were to show two things: Team India works on the combined wisdom of the seniors in the squad and,contrary to the general perception,Dhoni isnt quite an instinctive leader. Several times during that exhilarating period of play,Dhoni changed his decision if he came across an interesting suggestion.

After Zaheers double strike in the first over of the powerplay,Dhoni weighed his options. With the part-timers Yuvraj Singh 7 and Yusuf Pathan 3 collectively completing their quota,the skipper had to pick the right specialist for the death overs job. It is learnt that Dhoni wanted pacer Munaf Patel to bowl the 44th over but Virender Sehwag was of the opinion that leg-spinner Piyush Chawla suited the situation better. With Chawla conceding just 2 runs,Sehwag was vindicated and India had gradually got the grip on the game.

After Chawla,Dhoni wanted to replace Zaheer with Munaf. His logic: Finish Munafs spell and bring back Zaheer for the 48th and 50th overs. But Zaheer had other ideas. The left-arm paceman came running from the fence where he was fielding with Munaf moving to his bowling mark. After a brief chat with the skipper,Zaheer was on the top of his run-up. Zaheer wanted to kill the game there and then. His idea was to push England into a corner from where they could never recover, said a member in the playing XI for Sundays game. Zaheer was to dismiss Paul Collingwood in the over,which saw England score 4 more runs.

Indias death-overs specialist Ashish Nehra,who was not in the playing XI,came to the field with water bottles and some field placement suggestions for Dhoni. Harbhajan Singh put his hand up when the time came to bowl the 46th over as England required 52 from the last five overs. The off spinner got Matt Prior out but conceded 10 runs. Zaheer finished his spell by bowling the 46th over. Munaf bowled the 48th over and got the dangerous-looking Michael Yardy out,and conceded just five runs.

Chawla had to bowl the 49th over with 29 remaining and thats when the plot changed. Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan hit a six each and the equation was in Englands favour. Munaf,meanwhile,was being tutored by Nehra on the sidelines before he came to bowl the final over of the innings. But for that Ajmal Shahzad six,India almost won the game.

After the game Dhoni hinted that ideas do get exchanged in the huddle. There are quite a few decisions you have to make. We have some experienced guys and we are always trying to make the best decisions for the team, he said. I always let the fast bowlers set the field when they are bowling. Its only when they dont work that I set my own.

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How seniors forced the play in death overs
After Zaheers double strike in the poerplay over,Dhoni wanted Munaf Patel to bowl the 44th over but Virender Sehwag thought Piyush Chawla suited the situation better. With Chawla conceding just 2 runs,Sehwag was vindicated.
After Chawla8217;s over Dhoni wanted to bowl Munaf to use Zaheer for the 48th and 50th overs. But Zaheer,after a brief chat with the skipper,bowled the over. Zaheer was to dismiss Paul Collingwood in the over,conceding 4 runs.
Harbhajan Singh then put his hand up to bowl the 46th over. He got Matt Prior out but conceded 10 runs.