Dravid's 3 headaches ahead of Lord's
Posted on Sep 07, 2007 at 23:21 | Updated Sep 08, 2007 at 00:01
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New Delhi: Six or seven batsmen, the number three position, and the last few overs while bowling are going to be India captain Dravid's biggest headaches going into the Lord’'s encounter against England on Saturday.
It still looks a dream. An ageing side which no one had given the ghost of a
chance to make it big in England, has not only won the Test series but is
also threatening to script a fairytale comeback in ODIs.
But going into the Lord’s test, India will have some tough choices to make. Three issues will become extremely critical for the team.
Seven or Six
India are the only country to have engineered two successful 300-plus chases in England, including the one at Lord’s in 2002. And both the chases they have been able to make only due to seven batsmen-four bowlers formula. If the partnership of Kaif (87 unbeaten as number seven batsmen) and Yuvraj (number six) did the trick in the NatWest Series final five years ago, this time at Oval, it was the combination of Dhoni (number six) and Uthappa (number seven), which helped India to an improbable win.
However, considering the beating Indian bowling took at Oval before Uthappa stepped in, and even at Headingley where England’s 242 (thanks to Collingwood’s inspired knock of unbeaten 91) came in just 39 overs at a run-rate of 6.2, they might be tempted to include RP in the squad.
With all batsmen in full form and with some of the bowlers going for too many runs, the team’s composition will indeed be a tough choice for Dravid. With so much at stake, the skipper is in most unenviable position. It is too close to call.
Number three
The Sachin-Sourav combo right now looks the deadliest in international cricket. Three century stands in six matches is exceptional by any standards. But the partnership for the 2nd wicket to consolidate the gains leaves much to be desired. The average for that wicket remains a poor 21. That is one aspect India will be looking at.
| Indian partnerships for 1st and 2nd wicket | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | Opening Pair | 2nd wicket stand | No. 3 (Runs) |
| Rose Bowl | 15 | 4 | Gambhir (3) |
| Bristol | 113 | 67 | Yuvraj (49) |
| Edgbaston | 35 | 1 | Karthik (0) |
| Old Trafford | 17 | 14 | Karthik (4) |
| Headingley | 116 | 34 | Gambhir (51) |
| Oval | 150 | 6 | Gambhir (47) |
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Total Comments: 7
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Posted By abba
hope this ends dravids captaincy..
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Posted By Prem
Hi, this is Prem from Gurgaon. I am very much fan of cricket and I never want to see our
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Posted By Ramesh Nair
Well it is a another outcome of weakness in the times of crunch situations for Indian Batsman. One specialist batsman
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Posted By kiran
i think team india is depended on only some players.if one plays well,the others will follow.if the same doesn\''t play
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Posted By Anup Kumar Das
Team India must look ahead and seriously make long term plans. Sachin and Saurav and Rahul will certainly not be
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