Testing time for Team India in England

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

Haresh Pandya
The signs appear a bit ominous for a young, talented Indian side on the upcoming tour of England. But, says Haresh Pandya, if the players apply their minds and translate their potential into sterling performances, Mahendra Singh Dhoni should be able to make up for India’s pathetic show in 2011.

Much is at stake, including pride, for Team India as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and company embark on a marathon tour of England featuring five Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 game.

Not since 1959 has an Indian team played a five-Test series in England. The rest of the series in England involving India contained either three or four Tests.

Any tour of England, long or short, is not without its own challenges, on and off the field, regardless of whether the home team is powerful or weak. To conquer weather and other conditions, including slower and often unpredictable pitches, calls for more than mere cricket talents. It is rightly said that no cricketer can be called truly great, let alone successful, unless he proves himself and his ability in varied English conditions. For all his willowy wizardry, the redoubtable Doug Walters could never unfold his real genius in England.

The last time India toured England, in 2011, the team had come a cropper in all the four Tests despite being equipped with seasoned campaigners like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and, of course, Dhoni. Chinks in the seemingly star-studded batting line-up were thoroughly exposed and, barring Dravid and to some extent Tendulkar, no Indian batsman could face the formidable English attack with any degree of confidence almost throughout the series. The bowling, too, lost much of its sheen and sting after Zaheer Khan broke down with a leg injury on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s and was rendered hors de combat for the remaining tour.

While Dhoni’s army is armed with two most potent weapons in Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara to succeed in England, it is crippled by the recent retirement of his tried and trusted soldiers – Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. Worse still, except Dhoni, Gambhir and Ishant Sharma, no other member of the team has played a single Test in England. The signs appear a bit ominous for the relatively younger side, though it possesses some exceptionally talented players who, if they apply their minds and translate their potential into sterling performances, Dhoni should be able to make up for India’s pathetic show in 2011.




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