da bet7： Let me begin by congratulating Anil Kumble for winning his very firstone-day match as India captain
Erapalli Prasanna26-Jan-2002Let me begin by congratulating Anil Kumble for winning his very firstone-day match as India captain. Credit should go to Kumble as he provedthat he is capable of handling the pressure that comes with being theIndian captain. Well done, Kumble and keep it up! India going 2-1 up inthe ODI series means the pressure will now be on Hussain and his team todo well in the remaining three games.
© CricInfoI had hoped that England would put up a big score after electing to batfirst. Their performance on the day though was disappointing, coming asit did after their fine showing in Kolkata and Cuttack. Perhaps thedisappointing shot that saw Hussain getting out was an indicator of theover confidence that the England players carried to the batting crease.England also has very serious problems with the continued failures ofAndrew Flintoff with the bat. He seems to have lost confidence in hisability to strike the ball freely and that puts his team in a very tightspot. Flintoff’s position is a very crucial one and it is imperativethat he starts scoring, if England are to make a strong comeback in theseries.One bright aspect to emerge from this match for India is the welcomereturn to form of Ajit Agarkar; he bowled exceedingly well to pick upfour wickets. I think Agarkar has at last realised that he is primarilya fast bowler and whatever runs he can score is just a bonus to theteam.Moving to the Indian innings, I thought Virender Sehwag combined verywell with Sachin Tendulkar. It was their opening stand that helped Indiaget past a modest target. It is not a secret that the much-famed Indianbatting line up can make heavy weather of chasing low scores. I believethat Sehwag should continue to open with Tendulkar, and Ganguly shoulddrop himself down the order.A few months back I had mentioned that the selectors should give a wakeup call to a few players who had been under-performing. They have doneit by finally dropping VVS Laxman from the rest of the ODI series.Laxman has been going through a very bad patch and this `shocktreatment’ should serve its purpose. It is also a stern warning to otherplayers that they should not take their place in the team for granted.The player who will replace Laxman in the team is Mohammad Kaif. Itremains to be seen whether he will actually get to play or not. I feltthat the selectors should have persevered with him, not dropped himafter the tour of Sri Lanka.It is good to see that the games played so far have been played in theright spirit. There have been no instances of sledging and full creditshould go to Hussain and his team. The Englishmen have taken this seriesto learn and prepare for the World Cup in 2003, which is a very goodthing to do.On the other hand, India’s preparation for the World Cup has not beenall that smooth. For instance, India’s senior most fast bowler is notgetting any younger. Even though he is a great asset in Test matches, inthe shorter version of the game he is found wanting on the field.The next match at Kanpur should be a thriller, as England can settle fornothing less than a win to keep the series alive. Sourav Ganguly shouldbe back for the next match to lead his team and seal the series forIndia.