That Bloke In The Big Smoke

India 664 & 6/180d drew England 345 & 6/369. [Pietersen 101, Bell 67; Sreesanth 3-53]

WE'VE DONE IT! And what good timing too. India celebrates 60 years of Independence from the British on Wednesday. :D

India have become the first team to defeat England at home since Australia in 2001, and Sri Lanka in 1998. That's an impressive record to overturn, and it is especially satisfying to know that India of all teams, inflicted that defeat! The victory is also satisfying because it was only our 3rd series victory in England (in 15 attempts), and the first since Kapil's Devils won 2-0 in 1986. In such context, the achievement is nothing short of incredible, but not too surprising, if one takes into account our accomplishments abroad since 2000. After the series losses here in 1990 and 1996, India made substantial progress by drawing the last series in 2002. Five years later, the Galacticos, (three of whom played in the last two series), came to the party not through individual achievement, but a true team effort. As it happened, one match victory was enough to snatch the series. And if it wasn't for a delayed declaration, that ended up not happening on the second day, who knows what might've transpired in the final Test? That being said, it's best we leave the ifs and buts with pots and pans, and concentrate on the actual results themselves!

Until 2000, India was justifiably criticized for its Test record abroad. Since then things have changed dramatically. And it all began with Sourav Ganguly's captaincy, and John Wright's managerial stewardship. Ganguly brought mental steel, Wright instilled a sense of professionalism. Though they achieved nothing stellar in absolute terms, in the context of Indian cricket, their accomplishments were remarkable, and augured well for a different combination to takeover. If Ganguly's leadership was version 1.0, Dravid's captaincy upgraded it to version 2.0. And the results speak for themselves. Ganguly and Dravid are the only Indian captains who have more Test wins abroad, than losses*. That says a lot, in a little. In fact since 2000, India have won series in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies and now England. They've drawn a series in Australia, and lost only in South Africa (after winning the first Test), Sri Lanka and New Zealand. But between the 1986 victory in England and Ganguly's captaincy in 2000, India won only a single series abroad in Sri Lanka (1993), drew a series in Pakistan (1989), and lost everywhere else, including Zimbabwe in 1998! (In the corresponding period at home, including the last seven years, India have lost only four series (out of 30)! See what I mean?

All that said and done, there's still a long way to go for India to be taken seriously in countries such as South Africa, Australia (despite what happened last series), and especially New Zealand (where India has a pathetic record). But thanks to Ganguly and Dravid, India have set new standards from which to build and take-off. It is no coincidence that the Indian economy has been flourishing during the same period. As the economy grows, so does the confidence of its sportsmen, particularly cricketers. Ganguly is famous for describing what inspired him to do well in Australia in 2003/04; he was in the dressing room after the 3-0 thrashing in 1999/00, and there was no way he wanted a repeat of that. Dravid and SRT have also shared these experiences. They all know what it's like to be the world's best individuals, but also play for a team that continually fails to deliver. Especially abroad. And perhaps in a fitting tribute to Ian Chappell's views on the use of coaches, or lack thereof, India has won a Test series in England without one. I guess nothing can substitute successful careers, hardened by experience, inspired by a booming economy, a new philosophy of hope and emboldened expectations.

The bottom line is that India's cricket team, like its economy, is not yet a Bengal tiger, but no more a slumbering elephant. We've arrived, and we're hungry for more. Or at least I am. I just hope Dravid and Company, are just as hungry too! Jai Hind!

(* Dravid's record abroad, Ganguly's record abroad)

LUNCH: India 664 & 3/31. England 345.

India decided not to enforce the follow-on and at 3/11, it seemed like the match had turned on its head and the decision had grossly backfired. In strode Sourav Ganguly, as he and Dravid blocked their way to restore stability when the first of the day's showers sprinkled the ground and forced the players into an early Lunch. It's astonishing how a few minutes can suddenly turn the game on its head, after nearly three days of Indian dominance. India will be hoping to make at least 150, while England will expect to bowl India out for less than 100 and even win the game with a better 2nd innings batting effort. In my view, India will not declare its innings unless they score at least 150, and England will not bowl India out for less than 120. Beyond that, anything can still happen! Weather permitting, of course. (Incidentally, this is the first time I've seen rain in almost exactly 2 weeks!)

And sorry for not posting after Lunch yesterday. Some British Indian friends called me over to watch their team, Spurs, take on Sunderland in the season's 1st game. Rather unfortunately for them, Sunderland's British Indian debutante, Michael Chopra, scored in the dying seconds of injury time and left everybody stunned. When we switched back to the cricket, India didn't look like they were going to get any wickets, until Dravid brought on SRT for the penultimate over before tea and snaffled the dangerous KP off his first ball! It was just the tonic needed to get back the initiative, but it turned out to be a false-alarm. England meandered on after a quick cuppa, until about an hour before the close, when they lost four quick wickets and put India back into the driving seat. (I also watched some of the England-France Rugby Union game played at Twickenham. Quite fascinating it was! According to my friends, Rugby players are more civilized and respectful of the referee than Footballers, and rather against the nature of the game.)

TEA: India 664 & 5/121. England 345. (Ganguly 57)

I told you England wouldn't bowl us out for less than 120! That was because Sourav Ganguly produced a fantastic attacking half-century that put England back in the hole they belong, as India recovered from a dire situation. They now lead by 440, with roughly 125 overs left in the match. If I was Dravid, I'd declare with a lead of 500 and try to bowl England out in 100-110 overs.

STUMPS: India 664 & 6/180d. England 345 & 0/56. [England need 444 more runs, off ~90 overs to win, with 10 wickets in hand.]

India's declaration left England 110 overs to get 500. I could be captain! Unfortunately, India were unable to prise out either Cook or Strauss before the close of play, as England made a confident start to their run-chase. I wish we'd taken at least one wicket. It might've convinced me to go tomorrow, weather permitting of course. But now, I don't know if it'll really be worth it...

Tickets cost £20 ($40). Should I go?

--Thoughts on Day 1
--Thoughts on Day 2
--Thoughts on Day 3

LUNCH: India 6/429. (Karthik 91, SRT 82; Anderson 3-130)

Tragedy struck The Oval at 12:46pm, as SRT fell short of yet another century! This could well have been his last Test innings in England. In the context of the game however, he has helped India into a position from which it seems, they cannot lose. For their part, England will not feel completely down and out yet. They've exposed the Indian tail, and will be expected to leave enough hunger in their bellies, to mop it up after lunch. (With 100+ runs from the session however, despite the two important wickets, you'd still have to hand the honours and momentum to India). A lot will now depend on Dhoni's ability to shepherd the lower-order and India into an impregnable position. Who knows, if they can bat for at least an hour before tea, and the medium-fasts pick up a couple early wickets, Kumble might become a factor and get stuck in. The Oval spun for Monty even yesterday, and if I heard correctly, there was a little puff of dust just before lunch. We could still have a result, even though India seem more interested in preserving their series victory first.

TEA: India 7/559. (Dhoni 92, Karthik 91, SRT 82)

Thanks to a whirlwind 92 from MS "Gilchbevan" Dhoni, and a mature, patient, 60 from Anil Kumble, India produced their best session of the match so far! Records came tumbling down as India broke their own record for the highest innings total without a century. (Needless to say, unless Kumble or one of other three tailenders truly accomplish the seemingly impossible, the record will stand). The session began with Dhoni completing his half-century in style, and then going berserk. His last 44 runs came off just 17 deliveries and by the time he got out, trying to hit a third consecutive six off Pietersen's first over, India had virtually pushed victory out of England's reach. India still need another 27 runs to surpass the highest innings total by a losing team, but considering they already have 85 more than the highest such total at The Oval*, I think we can safely assume that India will not lose the match from here. Notably, thanks to Dhoni's wicket, Pietersen's bowling average was virtually halved to a more respectable 118, while interestingly, his only two wickets have been South Asian wicketkeepers. (Actually, nobody really cares about that). Anyways, after Dhoni got out trying to emulate Kapil Dev's heroics at Lord's 17 years ago, Zaheer Khan gave good company to India's greatest-ever Test-match winner. Kumble made his debut in this country 17 years ago, but if you'd asked me how I thought he'd make a difference in this match before it began, I don't think I would've even considered the possibility of him doing it with the bat. As it happens, he has helped India produce the 7th, 50+ partnership of the innings, and as India return from a well-deserved tea break, they will expect to add many more runs and bat England out of the game. No acts of individual brilliance, and for a team that's well-known for its poor record abroad and inability to play as a unit, this series bodes extremely well for the future. For the nerds, it might well be a good time to hunt down the last time a team won a series without an individual century. What a match it's been so far.

STUMPS: India 664. England 1/24. (Kumble 110*, Dhoni 92, Karthik 91, SRT 82; Anderson 4-182)

Wow, where do I begin?! I congratulate the madmen who might've had the opportunity to put money on Anil Kumble scoring not only the first Indian century of the series, but most possibly the only one. You are all unbelievably lucky rich buggers. In what has possibly been one of the greatest examples you'll ever see of a batting team-effort, India produced their fourth highest total of all-time, the highest in all India-England encounters since they began playing in 1932, the 7th highest total at The Oval since matches began there in 1880, and the 28th highest total of all-time! It was also only the 12th time in 1,824 Tests since they began in 1877, that all eleven batsmen reached double figures (Incidentally, India has achieved this feat four times!). Kumble's century in his 118th Test meant that he broke Chaminda Vaas's record of taking 97 Tests to score his first one; while the 10th wicket partnership of 73 with Sreesanth, was the best in an India-England Test. And the records tumbled on and on. To make matters worse, Matt Prior, the English wicket-keeper, allowed the 2nd most byes slip past him in an innings, 33. All in all, India surpassed my expectations of yesterday and scored more than 650, and if I may say so, rather comfortably. Jaffer will be kicking himself for throwing away his wicket, while the bowlers prepare for the kill tomorrow. With Strauss back in the dressing room, it'll be a monumental effort on England's part to avoid losing their next 19 wickets without losing the match. India's record of not losing a Test at The Oval since 1959 doesn't just look impregnable, but given the way The Oval has played since I began following cricket, it doesn't look like it will ever be broken. ;-)

(* not including the forfeited Test last year)

--Thoughts on Day 1

Sri Lanka A 266. Indians 1/25. (TT Samarweera 72, RR Bose 5-51, Ramesh Powar 4-85)

Despite losing Dinesh Karthik just before the close, the Indians took the honours on the first day of their three-day tour game against a Sri Lankan A XI. The Indians rested SRT, Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh & S Sreesanth and replaced them with pacers RR Bose and Ishant Sharma, offie Ramesh Powar, and batsmen Gautham Gambhir & Yuvraj Singh. Dinesh Karthik donned the gloves instead of MS Dhoni, who fielded at mid-on for most of the day. Karthik's 2 dropped catches, one of them a sitter, will not do his cause any good to cement his place in the Test team as first-choice keeper. The heroes of the day however were RR Bose and Ramesh Powar. Neither played in the first two Tests, but after today's performance, Dravid may re-evaluate his options for the 3rd Test at the Oval next week. The south-London ground is known to aid the slow bowlers in the latter stages of a Test match. Given the exploits of Surrey's Harbhajan Singh in this season's county circuit, and Sreesanth's erratic form in the first two Tests, it would not be surprising if the team management plumped for Mumbai's stocky offie, Ramesh Powar, for the 3rd Test.

In just under an hour, India will do its best to secure only their 5th Test victory in England, out of 47 attempts and 15 series, since the two sides began playing in 1932. Interestingly, despite winning so few Tests over here, it includes two Indian series victories (in 1971 and 1986). A win today and we'll be well on our way to securing a third series victory. England haven't defeated India at the Oval since 1959, whereas we last defeated them there in 1971 to win that series. With history on our side and a "home-like" pitch at the Oval to boot, I think it'd be safe to put money on us now.

But it almost didn't happen. Us winning this Test comfortably I mean. The way Vaughan had grown in confidence after notching up his 17th Test century, gave me the jitters. We needed to get England out on the 4th Day, and minimize the fourth-innings target. Anything above 150 would be fair game, and anything above 200, dicey. As it happened, Vaughan gifted his wicket in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Everybody just sat stunned when the ball went off his thigh pad and into the stumps. It all happened so slowly, Vaughan even had time to look behind him, see he was about to get out, yet not have enough time to do anything about it. England lost their remaining wickets for less than 70 runs. (For dubaiwalla: the last 7 English wickets fell in less than 22 overs, and the same session).

Since this series has begun, England's batting collapses have bordered on nothing short of the spectacular. They read: 9/80 & 5/31 at Lord's, and 7/97 & 7/68 at Trent Bridge. If they want to draw this series, they're gonna have to sort out that middle-order. For India however, Zaheer Khan was nothing short of inspirational. After the jelly-bean incident of the previous day, the Pashtun-origin Gujarati-quickie turned the screws on the English by taking five wickets, all of them specialist batsmen. Besides the fortuitous Vaughan dismissal, all the others would've made even the legendary Wasim Akram proud. Alongwith RP Singh, who bowled Matt Prior with an absolute corker, and S Sreesanth, off-colour for most of yesterday; India has dominated this match through its superior swing bowling. And to think it was the Fab Four that everybody had written home about.

Well done boys. Bring the series home. No fireworks while batting today please. Just get the job done. Kthanxbye.

The highest individual score in India's 481 yesterday, was SRT's 91. The highest Test innings score without an individual century is India's 524/9d @ Kanpur against NZ in 1976. Interestingly, nobody scored above Mohinder Amarnath's 70 in that record-breaking innings. In yesterday's innings, Dravid was the only Top 6 batsman not to make a half-century. The Fab Four/Galacticos scored 261 runs, 60% of India's total (not including extras). (Interestingly, I've just done some quick research and it appears as though the Galacticos score 60%+ quite often, but the important thing here is that they all got their eye-in, and 3 scored big (in the context of the game). Of the four, VVS Laxman is the youngest, and arguably the least celebrated. His record however, is better than that of Ganguly's and he has won more matches with his batting performances, than the former Indian captain.

Those who have followed Indian cricket since 2001, will know of "THE" innings (and match), that changed the course of his career for ever. Prior to that match, Laxman averaged 27.06 from 20 games. After that match, he averaged 35.47. (Interestingly, many people forget/ignore(?) his 167 at Sydney a few Tests earlier. It may have been in a losing cause, but it was without doubt the first real sign of his batting ability on the international stage. Laxman averaged 23.44 when he walked out to bat, then scored 64% of India's total runs by himself (in 197 balls, incl. 27 scrumptuous boundaries), and averaged 28.57 when he got out). He hasn't looked back since and now averages 42+. His average since that Kolkata Test of 2001 has been even more impressive, 47.91. It includes two more scrumptuous centuries against the Aussies in 2003/4, a match-winning century at Ahmedabad against Sri Lanka, and other crucial knocks. Laxman may not go down as one of India's greatest batsmen, but he has without doubt scored the most important innings by an Indian batsman, and those of us who were lucky enough to watch it, will never forget it. He has also been the most stylish Indian batsman to grace the field since Mohammed Azharuddin, a fellow Hyderabadi.

LUNCH: England 198. India 0/40. Great session! Let's hope the Fab Four don't have much work today.

England 7/169 in 55 ov (Cook 43, Khan 3-50)

Vindication! A lot of Indians wanted Dravid to bat first but I'm SO glad he chose to bowl. We're not even a full-day into the 2nd Test and I've already got Pommies telling me they'd like some more rain. Less than 5 days ago, WE were doing the rain dance! How the momentum can shift so quickly. And what an awesome sport this cricket is. Now, if only our middle-order could click...

England 298 & 282 drew India 201 & 282/9

You won't see me write this often, but I'm glad it rained today. For most of the day however, it seemed like all the weather forecasts and overcast conditions were out to make a fool of me. In a way, given the final result, the two factors did make a fool of me but it probably would not have still been worth £20. It would've been enjoyable and tense, but it's hard to justify paying so much for it. No other English Test ground to my knowledge, charges more than £10 on Day 5. In any case, England deserved to win and India deserved to lose. Luckily, both teams go into the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge nil-nil and all to play for. Gotta love the concept of The Draw.

Till Friday!

Tickets cost "only" £20 ($40) for tomorrow's final day's play. I know the financially prudent thing to do is stay at home and listen to India capitulate on radio, or if I can't bear the sound of Aggers sounding the death knell, let Cricinfo do the dirty deed for me. But my heart is pounding me crazy with a golden opportunity to make a childhood dream come true. I know in an ideal world I would've preferred if SRT or Dravid were still at the crease, but how many opportunities will I get to see these guys play at Lord's?

I've never been to a Test match before and I was going through Cricinfo's scorecard database this afternoon... I haven't been to an ODI since 12 April 1996. Surely, for someone who loves the game as dearly as I do, this is a travesty. I know the only person's approval I need, will probably not give it, in the context of my position, so this is all probably useless, but who knows. With enough LJ-votes, you might just see me cheering on my favourite cricketers, regardless of whether they win or lose. And what's more, just to spite Lord Tebbitt, I'll probably wear my England ODI shirt while I'm at it.

Come on India, dikha do!

[Poll #1025949]