2-1. England in front. India lost by 42 runs. Doesn’t sound too bad? Believe me you, this was even worse than the first ODI drubbing. Yet again Dravid decided to field first. Again he was deceived by the bowling conditions. And India lost again. This was yet another frustrating day for Indian fans. The Indian team is like a see-saw. Up one day, down the next.

England deserved to be winners as they had played superbly. After being asked to bat first, the openers – Cook and Prior – did not allow any wickets to fall in the first 10 overs. And that’s exactly where India’s problems started. They knew that had to take wickets early on as there would not be much assistance for the bowlers later on. Plus their miserable fielding was on show for the entire world to see for a third consecutive time. I have no idea how they can call Dinesh Karthik as India’s best fielder. The man is quick, no doubt about that. But just being quick isn’t enough. You need to keep your eyes on the ball all the time and field cleanly. Half the time he is fumbling the ball or dropping easy catches.

Coming to the bowling, the pace attack was bolstered by the return of Zaheer Khan. The decision for bowl completely back-fired for Dravid as there was absolutely no assistance for his seam bowlers. Only RP Singh managed to get the ball to move and beat the bat regularly. Matt Prior lived dangerously and, after settling in the 30s, threw his wicket away by playing one aggressive shot too many. Ian Bell joined Alastair Cook, and the man was straight away into the game. Ian Bell is the dark horse of this series. Nobody expected him to be batting like this. Century in the first match and fifties in the next two matches. That is unbelievable stuff from a man whose place in the team has been questioned of late.

The Indian seamers – Zaheer and RP – kept the runs down, but Munaf was like a sinking ship with holes all around. He continued to leak boundaries every over and was unable to sustain the pressure that Zaheer and RP were trying to build. No wonders then that he finished another expensive day. He only bowled 5 overs for 37 runs and got just the one wicket. It really was spin that saved the blushes for India. Dravid got his two best spinners on inside the final Power Play and they did not disappoint. Ramesh Powar aka Redler as my brother calls him because of his comic red-framed sun glasses was the one to get the breakthrough as he got Cook to top-edge a sweep to short fine leg where Yuvraj took the easiest of catches.

In came Pietersen who had a point to prove to young Chawla after the mesmerizing delivery that clean bowled him in the 2nd ODI. After a couple of close calls for LBW that were turned down (and they say that Indian umpires are below standard, Mark Benson take a bow) Pietersen decided to teach the youngster by launching down the ground for a massive heave. Surprise, surprise. The googly once again. A beauty that beat the bat and went through Pietersen’s defence for Dhoni to complete a simple stumping. Once again the leggie got rid of England’s best and most devastating player of spin bowling. A wicket like this does tons for the confidence of a newcomer to international cricket, and Chawla has now done it twice in as many matches.

The Redler on the other hand was on a roll. The English just weren’t able to put him away. Even though Collingwood played and attacking innings, he wasn’t in control all the time. Trying to play a reverse sweep, that looked really ugly in its execution, he top-edged to short third man where Robin Uthappa took an easy catch. Powar finished with 10-0-45-2. A big effort from the little big man.

Piyush Chawla continues to impress and the wicket of Pietersen is just one of the reasons. He is young and athletic. If only he can get his batting firing as well as his bowling, he can really be a major asset for the Indian team. Anil Kumble can be rest assured now that the leg-spin tradition will continue on with Chawla.

The biggest disappointment in the three matches has been the miserable performance of Dinesh Karthik. I would not be surprised if India drop him in the next match and get in Rohit Sharma or Robin Uthappa and see what he is capable of. Remember, and let me point the same thing to myself, India needs to start giving their youngsters more chances and more experience in alien conditions if they want to build a team for the future. Even though the Holy Trinity of Indian cricket, aka Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, deny that they are not going to retire anytime soon, these players may still be in their prime, but they won’t be here forever.

The good news for India is that Yuvraj is back in form. So is the skipper and the Prince of Kolkatta. Bigger concern would be Dhoni and I think this is where India made the mistake. They should have sent in Dhoni at one down rather than Karthik. The pressure was too much for the gutsy youngster and India needs to handle him carefully as players like him are very rare in the Indian team.

Paul Collingwood must be happy with another clinical performance from his team. This win has surely got Indians cornered, and one thing that past history shows is that this is where the Indians find themselves most comfortable in. So as my man Ben Stiller said in Night at the Museum – “GAME ON”.

Match Highlights




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