Top Hits and Flops of second Test match

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India went into the second Test in Mumbai with a lot of confidence and was, obviously, the favourites to win. But it was a different tale altogether when the Test unfolded.

There was not a single session where India had the command over the English- Not while batting, not while bowling. The insistence of having turning tracker from the word go had boomeranged.

Eventually the English took advantage of the tailor-made pitch that was actually made for India who had entered the Mumbai Test with three spinners.

Here’s deccanchronicle.com’s assessment of the two teams and a mention of those who flopped and those who emerged big hits of the game:

English Hits:

Alastair Cook:

People have already spoken enough of Cook’s class and temperament and the praises continue to shower on him this week too. Cook continued from where he left at the first Test match. Started very positively with his new opening partner Nick Compton and later built a partnership of 206 runs that decided the fate of the match.

Nick Compton:

Nick Compton may not have got a big score to his name yet in this series but the way the batsman has given company to his captain and Alastair Cook is very encouraging. After the single failure in the first innings in the first test match, he has looked on to spend more time in the middle and particularly avoid giving a wicket to the Indian attack in the first 15 overs. That has been key for England’s batting in their last three innings so far. Compton has been convincing and is another star for the England’s success in the second test match.

Graeme Swann:

Graeme Swann started the series with five wicket haul in the first Test match and has continued to be among the wickets in the second test. Though it was Monty Panesar who tore apart the Indian batting line up, Swann was happy to play the second fiddle and a perfect foil for Panesar. Also Swann will now play with lesser presser in the next two tests with Panesar performing brilliantly so far.

Kevin Pietersen:

Pitersen is considered to be one of the most destructive batsmen in the world and his innings in the second test is a perfect example for proving it. Under the conditions that aided spinners and having got bowled on both the innings in the previous test, he was under tremendous pressure to perform well in Mumbai Test. Pietersen was the biggest oh hits for England along with Monty Panesar in setting up England’s first test win in six years in India. This shows why he is such an important player for England and the selectors picked him up after all the controversies that surrounded him before the series.

Monty Panesar:

There was huge expectation on Graeme Swann before the start of this tour and Panesar was in the team a mere backup in the otherwise pace dominated England attack. When Monty Panesar got the chance to bowl in the second test after their debacle in the first Test, he decided to change all that, and in style. He single-handedly tore apart the Indian batting, never allowing any of the Indian batsmen to settle down. He has now set lot questions in Indian batting and Dhoni making the series a very interesting battle. He will no doubt be part of both the remaining Test matches and will also offer a lot of competition to Swann for spinner’s place.

Flops for England:

Jonathan Trott: Trott is known for his appetite for runs and his endurance. However the batsman is yet to fire in this series and will be a huge boost to the England side if he manages to find his touch again. He is an amazing Test player and the England player will hope he will come to form in the next test in Kolkata.

Samit Patel: Samit Patel continues to make an impression in the series. He will be under lot of pressure to perform in the next test provided he still manages to find his place in the playing eleven. He will not be playing much of a bowler’s role anymore since Panesar took the limelight with the ten wicket haul in the second match but his batting needs to improve which will otherwise get England to get the other players in the waiting to get a chance.

Matt Prior: Matt Prior was the only other batsman apart from skipper Alastair Cook to offer some resistance to the Indian attack in first test but he could not do much in this test.

Hits for India:

Cheteshwar Pujara: Pujara continued his run feast in the second test by slamming 3rd test in his six Test matches. The young batsman has drawn lot of praise and for his temperament and to be so far filling the spot vacated by Rahul Dravid to near perfection. With most of Indian batting line up failing, he was the lone star for Indian team as he played the England attack well.

Gautam Gambhir: Gambhir did not do much in the first innings but the batsman finding some runs in the second innings was good sign and he can draw some confidence from that innings going in to the next match in Kolkata. As Gambhir found himself going in the second innings, there was no one to give him company in the other end.

Pragyan Ojha: Ojha got another five wicket haul in the first innings and he is looking to improve his performance with every match. He got India back in track by dismissing England opening batsman Compton and Trott I a span of 11 deliveries but did not get much support from his other two, much famed spinners Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh.

Flops for India:

Virender Sehwag: The hundredth test match could not have gone worse for the dashing opener as he failed to make it count in both the innings and eventually losing the Test match. He was expected to repeat his performance in the Ahmedabad test but England’ Panesar made sure he did not get his chance by dismissing him both the innings.

Virat Kolhi: One of the most reliable batsmen for India in recent times, Virat Kohli tried to spend some time in the middle in the first innings and just when he looked to be set in he got out and did not do any better in the second innings either. He will now look to get back to his scoring ways in the Kolkata Test.

Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar’s lean patch continued and it is proving to be very costly for Indian cricket team which is looking to rebuild itself after Dravid and Laxman’s retirement. Tendulkar failed to judge the length of panesar’s delivery that pitched off the leg stump and went to knock his off stump. His failure with the bat has increased India’s woes and it is to be seen what the matser’s reply will be in the next Test.

Harbhajan Singh: Coming back to Indian team after an year, lot was expected from the ‘Turbanator’ in a pitch that he knew so well and suited his style of bowling. However Harbhajan failed to make any impact in the match which proved costly for India. Missing one of the few chances he gets these days, Harbhajan’s returning in to the side regularly will be pushed further.

Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj made a good come back in to the Test side with a fluent half century in the first the match. However the comeback hero had little to speak about in the second Test.