India came so close to winning at The Oval but couldn’t pull it off. But, it was a much better effort than has been seen in the series. The only reason was that the spinners looked like picking up wickets, which proves that if you have a good bowling unit, you can fancy your chances.
The
problem was, when the seamers came on the pressure on the English batters eased off. Seamers have been a worry for India. If young bowlers are not given the opportunity, India cannot hope to move forward. Munaf and RP were pedestrian and it’s time to give Varun Aaron a chance in the last two games.
The visitors are 2-down and if they want to salvage some pride in seaming conditions at Lord’s and Cardiff, they should rest Munaf, as he has looked very ordinary. At The Oval, the Indian batting lacked application, especially Raina. Despite being the vice-captain, he played an atrocious shot at a time when the team was on 25 for 3.
Dhoni was forced to bat up the order — one thing we have been asking for long — and he played very well, but the man who deserves all the praise is Ravindra Jadeja. It is never easy to step out of the plane and play overseas. And Jadeja did just that. He showed good technique against the moving ball. If he keeps batting like this, he will one day fill in the all-rounder’s slot. Wizard Communications