England dominate India 'A' at Jaipur
Samanth Subramanian - 27 November 2001
Had someone suggested to Nasser Hussain that he would encounter in
India a pitch that was virtually undistinguishable from the outfield,
the English skipper would probably have scoffed and asked him to get
his head examined.
Yet, in Jaipur, for the final tour match ahead of the first Test, that
is exactly what Hussain did encounter. On a green-top that beckoned
seamers and medium-pacers almost seductively, Hussain won his third
toss in a row and had no hesitation in opting to field.
Richard Johnson, in for Matthew Hoggard, took it upon himself to prove
his captain right. In his very first over, he had opener Vinayak Mane
caught behind and Yere Goud bowled. Before the sparsely dispersed
spectators could blink their eyes in disbelief, Johnson struck again
in his next over, removing Gautam Gambhir leg-before. Newly inducted
Andrew Flintoff, hoping for a Test berth, decided that he wanted his
share of the spoils and promptly had Rashmi Parida caught behind.
India 'A' were 8/4, and the English attack suddenly looked sharper
than a freshly minted guillotine.
It took some obdurate batting from local lad Gagan Khoda and Abhijit
Kale to blunt the bowlers. Plumping for caution, the batsmen refrained
from strokes with any element of risk, which helped the run-rate as
much as the abominably slow outfield. Even the appearance of spin, in
the form of Ashley Giles, did not stir their blood; Giles, hoping to
prove match fitness ahead of Mohali, bowled with nice loop and some
turn, but he did not get the bite that is so essential on the sub-
continent.
India 'A' went in to lunch at 88/4, a reasonable recovery but by no
means all that was needed on a pitch that looked increasingly double-
paced. Khoda fell to that very vagary of the track when a Flintoff
delivery stayed low and, to compound matters, squirmed eel-like
through the bat-pad gap to uproot off-stump. The dismissal ended
Khoda's innings of 64 and a partnership of 114 runs.
Three overs after Kale reached his own half-century, Flintoff packed
Reetinder Singh Sodhi off to the pavilion, caught behind off the
faintest of edges. The twin strikes did little to disturb Kale's
concentration; shrugging off edges and appeals, he hit the bad balls
and defended stoutly otherwise. He was especially pleasing to watch
against Giles, exposing the left-arm spinner's lack of variation by
repeatedly dancing down the track to play him on either side of the
wicket.
Resuming at 178/6 after tea, Kale and Ajay Ratra plodded their way
past the 200-run mark. The only sign of aggression in their stand
resulted in a six over mid-on that took Kale to his century, off 192
deliveries.
Having crossed that landmark, Kale retreated into his shell, emerging
only when he was caught at short-leg off Richard Dawson. His partner
Ratra fell in the very next over and, once Dawson had skipper Sunil
Joshi trapped in front, the latter declared his side's innings closed
at 233/9.
If India 'A' started catastrophically, the visitors could not have
been more comfortable if they were asleep. Both Michael Trescothick
and Mark Butcher, the latter in particular, motored along unfazed by
any pitch vagaries, perceived or real. The Indian seamers, for their
part, did not seem to know how to bowl on a pitch that, surprisingly
in India, was loaded in their favour. Pitching either too short or too
full, Iqbal Siddiqui and Dodda Ganesh gave Butcher many chances to
free his arms, allowing him to race to 32 off 39 deliveries.
Although England will be pleased on the whole with their bowling
performance today, they will look askance at their spin attack which,
on pitches more placid and against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and
VVS Laxman, will be about as effective as a candle in a typhoon.
Giles, Dawson and Martyn Ball, if they are to make an impression in
the Tests, will have to maintain impeccable line and length, and
perhaps bowl with more variation. Hussain, however, will sleep easier
tonight, with the burly images of Flintoff, Johnson and Hoggard, red
cherry in hands, etched comfortingly in his mind.
© Cricinfo
Teams
|
England,
India.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Andrew Flintoff,
Matthew Hoggard,
Martyn Ball,
Sachin Tendulkar,
VVS Laxman,
Mark Butcher,
Marcus Trescothick,
Sunil Joshi,
Ajay Ratra.
|
Tours
|
England in India
|
Scorecard
|
Tour Match: India 'A' v England XI, 27-29 Nov 2001 |