The hurt locker

Sachin pulls out with injured toe,Rohit fractures finger before rain washes out Indias chances.

Unknown to the thousands who were still on the motorway,the hundreds parking their cars and the handful who had reached their seats,the World Champions were dealing with a dilemma about an hour before the toss. The Indian team management was contemplating a decision that would instantly change the collective mood of those in the stands and stifle the stride of the army marching towards the Riverside Stadium.

The tough choice was finally made and the team list that MS Dhoni handed over to Alastair Cook had the tell-tale sign of a last-minute change. At the top of it,Parthiv Patel had been scribbled next to the scratched-out Sachin Tendulkar. The big withdrawal,when made public after the toss,brought forth a collective gasp from the stands. As has been the case at every venue on this tour,there was an air of anticipation at the jam-packed stadium. The game had been sold out months ago and the lucky ticket-holders now thought that they might just get to see Tendulkars 100th hundred. But September 3,2011 was not to be the day.

Thats because Tendulkar had felt excruciating pain just below the big toe of his right foot while putting on his shoes ahead of the game. Its an old injury. He has been playing with it for a while now, said team manager Shivlal Yadav,with a shrug of the shoulder. On match eve,he had a long session at the nets and there wasnt any discomfort. He was sure to play. His name was there on the team list before we had to change it.

It wasnt the first time on this fateful tour that India were left with a key player in this case,their most experienced cricketer injured. Nor,as they were to find later in the day,was it the last.

Rohit Sharma,while fending a short ball the first he faced today from Stuart Broad was hit on the right hands index finger. The worried look on team physio Ashish Kaushiks face as Sharma grimaced in pain suggested it might be a nasty blow. And nasty it was. It emerged later that Sharma had fractured his finger and he was ruled out of the rest of the series.

Meanwhile,according to manager Yadav,Tendulkar will be getting his scans done in Southampton and a final call on his availability will be taken after that.

Fighting spirit

Despite the twin blows,curiously,it was by no means a disastrous outing for the tourists. In fact,for the first time on the tour,they showed a collective fighting spirit. Leading the Indian charge was Tendulkars replacement,the diminutive Parthiv Patel. In an innings where he showed that the short ball wasnt a generic problem with young Indian batsmen,he hit a career-best 95 from 107 balls. Most of the 12 boundaries he struck were pulls or clever cuts and late cuts.

Story continues below this ad

Parthiv put on 82 for the first wicket with Ajinkya Rahane in 16 overs. Three days after scoring 61 in the one-off T20 game,Rahane marked his ODI debut with a 44-ball 40. It was an innings marked by the confident way he pulled the English seamers and by his intelligent manipulation of the field restrictions. On numerous occasions,he chipped or coaxed the ball over the massed infield to pick up boundaries or,if the ball held up on the slow outfield,twos and threes.

Dravids bizarre dismissal

After Rahanes dismissal,Rahul Dravids bizarre relationship with HotSpot continued. On-field umpire Billy Doctrove ruled an LBW appeal from Stuart Broad not out. Broad asked for a referral. HotSpot didnt show an edge,but the third umpire gave it out,choosing to trust a faint noise discernible in the replays.

MS Dhoni later expressed his displeasure over the decision. I dont know if the snickometer can be used. I dont know if the third umpire gave Dravid out or the audio technician, he said. This is one of the reasons why we have been against the DRS.

Following this,Virat Kohli added 103 with Parthiv for the third wicket,and scored his 16th ODI fifty,a measured knock of 55 that underlined his cool,methodical innings-building ways. After he played on to Samit Patel,however,the Indian innings failed to launch to expected heights,with only 67 coming from the last 10 overs.

Story continues below this ad

Indias 274 still looked more than competitive,especially after Praveen Kumar sent back both England openers. Bringing his two-way movement into play,Praveen bowled the left-handed Alastair Cook and trapping the right-handed Craig Kieswetter plumb on the crease. When the match was called off,England were struggling at 27/2 and it seemed only a divine intervention could have stopped India from registering their first win this summer. And,sure enough,it started to rain,and after two-and-a-half hours,the match was abandoned.

I have been saying that things have constantly been going bad for us on this tour, Dhoni added. Today it was the rain,and these two injuries.

Looking at the lighter side of this injury problem,if one makes a fantasy team of the Indian players injured on this tour,it will be as follows: Sachin Tendulkar,Rohit Sharma,Gautam Gambhir,Virender Sehwag,Yuvraj Singh,Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Throw in any three names you like and this playing eleven can take on the best in the business.