Outplayed, but no need to hit panic button

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There is once again a hue and cry in India after India’s loss at the Wankhede in the second Test. It was a great match to watch, though lot of Indian fans will be disappointed that India finished on the losing side, but what it has done actually is to get the series alive.

Too many times in the past, teams have come to the sub-continent and have been rolled over by India thereby making the series pretty boring. But teams like England, South Africa have learnt over the years how to play in these conditions and have managed to beat India in Test matches. Although none of them have gone on to win series they have surely added terrific competitiveness back at home.

The reason why the hue and cry has become louder is because of the eight tough losses in England and Australia, India not qualifying for the finals of the tri-series in Australia, not winning a single limited over game in England along with their failures in the Asia Cup, T-20 World Cup. So the entire matter is understandable.

But at the same time a lot of credit must be given to England for the way they have bounced back in the series. England under Alastair Cook have come with a purpose in this series.

England made the mistake of not playing Panesar in the first test match and what a contribution he made in the second! The English spinners were a lot better than their Indian counterparts as they bowled lot quicker on this pitch than the Indian spinners. Both Swann and Panesar bowl on a seamer friendly pitches in England and hence keeping it simple and tight is a lesson they have learnt there.

India also understood the difficulty of handling three spinners in a Test match as invariably one gets under-bowled and that happened to Harbhajan.

I also think the way Indian fast bowling department is shaping-up it is a necessity that young fast bowlers like Ashok Dinda are thrown at the deep end. India needs to find pacers to support Zaheer and to take the mantle of him at some stage.

There is no doubt that India were outplayed by England at Mumbai but I don’t feel this is the time to push the panic button and the selectors have shown lot of maturity to pick the same side for the third Test. I am a firm believer of sending a message to the squad that if you have landed yourself in this situation you will need to find a way out to get out of that trouble. We are set up for an intriguing series and I warn everyone, don’t count out India.

(360 Corporate Relations)