Dravid has to become 'The Wall' again

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsIt has been a day that India would like to forget. Every thing that could go wrong for the team went wrong.

The batting was bad and the fielding pathetic. I don't understand how can a team drop so many catches and still hope to one of the best in the world.

This team has a coach who is very aggressive, has a physical trainer and even then there is no improvement in the fielding. It would have been excusable if the team had fielded poorly for just a day. But if you see all the three Test matches then there has been hardly a day when the Indian have not dropped a catch.

This has led to the opposition scoring more runs than they should have. The bowlers also feel let down when the fielders are not able to hold onto the cherry.

Today the bowlers did a great job and if the catches had not been grassed then India could have restriced England to a total of about 350 instead of 400. These extra 50 odd runs could prove to be very crucial in the final analysis.

We must keep in mind that after the third day, the Wankhede pitch starts turning viciously and India will be batting last. Even ordinary spinners like Shaun Udal and Monty Panesar can prove to be very difficult to play on the last day of the Test match.

In the morning Munaf Patel was very unlucky not to pick any wicket but the other bowlers were able to do their job.

Now India have to be careful that they don't give England a big lead after having lost their top order cheaply.

It looks that England have sorted out Sehwag and are not going to give him any width outside the off stump. They have been bowling into his body or just on the off stump so that he does not get to play his cuts and pulls. Sehwag must immediately do something about the incoming bouncers if he has to get back into the form.

Tendulkar has not been having a good time at the crease and the fact that he is struggling to score shows that he is short of confidence. This showsa that cricket is a funny game and even the greatest of the players can struggle to score a couple of runs.

Now Dravid has to become 'The Wall' again and take his team to safety. However India should not become, too, defensive as then the bowlers will find it easy to get thenm out. Yuvraj has shown the right kind of approach today and he should play his strokes so that the scoreboard keeps moving.

Flintoff also made a blunder when Yuvraj had come in to bat as he removed his pacers and brought in the spinners. The England fast bowlers were in their rhythm and if they had got one more wicket then the match would have been in their hands.


(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)

About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 19, 2006, 20:33 ISTlast updated:March 19, 2006, 20:33 IST
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