India have started the one-day series campaign against England on the wrong foot by losing the first one-dayer by a huge margin. Dravid’s decision to field first would have been influenced to a great extent by India’s record as good chasers of targets as well as the weather conditions that were there when the toss was made. Dravid may have also been thinking about the dew factor for his bowlers in gripping the ball if they fielded second.
He would not have planned for the superb batting of the young duo, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook who took the game away from India with some of the classiest batting seen in limited overs format.
It was classy simply because there were no cross batted heaves, no crude shots nor cute ones like the glide through slips attempted and most of the batting was with the full face of the bat. A left-handed batsman is naturally elegant and so Cook looked stylish as he punched the ball on either side of the wicket and off either foot as well and Ian Bell, who got into some sort of form in the last Test match at The Oval carried on from there with shots of great pedigree. Bell has been talked about as an England prospect for a long time and even a future England captain and he showed just why with that innings. The important thing is that he didn’t chuck it away once he got his first one-day century, but carried on till the end and was also running hard between the wickets in the closing stage of the England innings. It’s here in the athleticism department that India could well be pipped at the post by England because the Indians are palpably slow between wickets and not so quick in the outfield to stop the extra run being taken. The inclusion of some younger players has definitely helped, but unless Dravid manages to find the right balance in field placing of his senior players, India will be a few runs short.
These senior players have to thus make a regular contribution with bat and ball to make up for the runs that they miss while batting and the runs that they concede while fielding. One-day cricket maybe a young man’s game, but there’s enough place there for experienced players if they are utilized in the field properly. The simple way is to have them in the thirty yard circle, where a single is taken anyway and to have the younger faster and strong-arm players in the deep where they can save the fours and stop the extra run from being stolen.
India’s batting has a wealth of experience, but England bowled to a plan and restricted them, so India need to use the intervening days to have a counter plan ready. One-day cricket can change in a matter of overs, so there’s no need to despair for India. All they have to do is to go back a few weeks and remember how they picked themselves up after the near defeat in the first Test at Lord’s and came back to win the Test series. If they do that, they can do it in the one-day series too.
