England hoping counter spin effectively
India go into the second Test in Ahmedabad on Tuesday hoping to take another step towards a 3-0 whitewash
of England, which looks a real possibility after the comprehensive 10-wicket victory in Mohali last week.
Mohali was supposed to be England's best bet considering
the green-top wicket there, but the visitors still danced to
the tunes of the Indian spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan
Singh, who walked away with 15 wickets between them.
With the pitch in Ahmedabad likely to aid the spinners a bit
more than the one at Mohali, India have a good chance of
taking a 2-0 lead.
Kumble and Harbhajan hold the key to India's
fortunes and though speedster Javagal Srinath, who replaced an
injured Sanjay Bangar after recovering from his finger
fracture, sustained in South Africa, is a certainty for the
game, he can at best play a supporting role.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly was oozing with confidence after
the Mohali match when he said his team would be going for a
3-0 result. It was a remarkable transformation in the man who
had run out of reasons to explain his team's poor showing
after every defeat in South Africa.
Ganguly said the pitch looks favourable for spin bowling,
especially on the last two days, but he was not very keen to
include the third spinner, Sharandeep Singh, in the side.
"Both leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan
Singh are in tremendous form and with Srinath back in the side
to contain runs from the other end there is no need for a
third specialist spinner," Ganguly said, and pointed out that
if need arose Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who is
back in the team after serving the one-match suspension in
Mohali, can be asked to chip in with their spin bowling.
"However, we will consult the selectors in the evening
before finalising the list of twelve," Ganguly said, while not
shutting the door on Sharandeep.
In keeping with the requirements, England too were
reinforcing their spin attack, with left-arm spinner Ashley
Giles expected to be fit for the match. Hussain said Giles and
off-spinner Richard Dawson, who was quite successful in
Mohali, bowling in tandem could make a big difference to the
team's fortunes.
However, it remains to be seen how much dent these two
spinners are able to make in the Indian batting line-up that
is famous for tackling spin well, especially on home pitches.
The return of Sehwag will further strengthen the Indian
batting which put up a commendable show in Mohali. With the
exception of Shiv Sunder Das, all the batsmen got runs and a
similar performance can be expected in Ahmedabad too.
Wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was the pick of the Indian
batsmen in Mohali and with a Test century behind him he is
definitely going to be a bigger asset to the team.
Ganguly was very happy with the way Dasgupta evolved
in the last few matches and said he is a very good prospect
for the team even though he had to improve on his
wicketkeeping.
"After a long time we have got a wicketkeeper
who can bat well and I think it is just a matter of time
before he comes into his own," Ganguly said.
Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar helped themselves to big
scores in Mohali but both of them missed their centuries while
Ganguly himself got out after being well set at 47.
Ganguly said he is looking forward to leaving behind a
spate of low scores in Tests with a good knock in Ahmedabad.
"Hopefully, I will get a big score here," he said.
New ball bowlers Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui also turned out a good performance in Mohali and came in for lavish praise both from Ganguly and coach John Wright.
"It is good that we are unearthing some fine fast bowlers
and it will be a good experience for them to bowl with an
experienced bowler like Srinath," Ganguly said. "However, it
is too early to predict anything as they (England) have a long
way to go with the two bowlers having played just a game
each," he added.
Siddiqui is a doubtful starter for the match
as he is likely to be left out to accommodate Sehwag.
Even though the prospects look quite good for India,
Ganguly was not ready to take things for granted. "We should
not be overconfident as we all know England can bounce back into
the series as they did in Sri Lanka."
Hussain conceded his side was found wanting in the first
Test but said his players were learning from their mistakes
and would be able to tackle Kumble and Harbhajan better in the
next two Tests.
"We don't have spinners who can turn the ball both ways in
the same action back home and that was one of the reasons why
his batsmen found it difficult play them," he said.
"However, I am confident we can beat India only if our
batsmen put on more runs and our bowlers get the famous three
(Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly) pretty early as Indians have a
long tail," Hussain said.
He was also hopeful his main batsmen -- Mark Butcher, Marcus
Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash -- would come into
their own so that there will be enough runs for his bowlers to
have a go at the Indian batsmen.
Teams (from):
India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Shiv Sunder Das, Connor
Williams, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Deep
Dasgupta (wk), Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh,
Javagal Srinath, Tinu Yohanan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sharandeep
Singh.
England: Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Butcher, Marcus
Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, Richard Dawson,
James Foster (wk), Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew
Flintoff, Craig White, James Ormond, Usman Afzaal, Martyn
Ball, Michael Vaughan, Warren Hegg and Richard Johnson.
Umpires: Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe) and A V Jayprakash
(India). Third umpire: Jasbir Singh (India).
Match referee: Dennis Lindsay.
Mail Cricket Editor