Ominous Signs

The Nagpur Test between India and England showed that all is not lost for the Ashes winners following the debacle in Pakistan. All credit goes to the English team for pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Apart from the seasoned campaigner like Matthew Hoggard and the upcoming superstar in the form of Kevin Pietersen, debutantes Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar took the attack to the Indians in their own backyard. The rookie English opener was particularly impressive in both the innings playing the illustrious Indian spinners with ease on a slow turning track. Panesar has all the reasons to be jubilant for being able to keep the Indian batsmen, traditionally known for playing spin with élan, under control and achieving the prize scalps of Sachin Tendulkar as the first blood, and the set Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid later in the match. For India, opener Wasim Jaffer making a comeback to Test cricket after a long hiatus showed a lot of character in countering the English bowlers with confidence in crunch situations. Debutante Shantakumar Sreesunth did bowl well in the first innings claiming four English wickets, but his catching leaves a lot to be desired. One wonders why he was at all picked as India’s second seamer ahead of Rudra Pratap Singh, who has been in fine form in both the versions of the game since the Pakistan tour. The ease at which the Indian spinners are being flayed to all parts of the ground, has apparently set the cat amongst the pigeons in the Indian dressing room, and not only the young Piyush Chawla but also the other promising spinners likes Ramesh Powar in particular, as also Sourasish Lahiri, Ravinder Jadeja have all the reasons to hope to win a Team India cap in the near future.