India eye lead on lively Green Park pitch
The famed Indian batting line-up both embarrassed and redeemed itself in the Ahmedabad shirtfront, where it collapsed like a house of cards in the first innings and then rose from its ruins in the second to salvage a draw.
But to expect such resurgence everyday would be to invite trouble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men would do well to learn the lessons from their Ahmedabad escapade and mend their way.
The pitch curator here has advised the batsmen to exercise some caution, at least in the first two days’ morning sessions before they embrace extravagance. The hosts have a judicious blend of swashbucklers and sheet-anchors, which makes it so difficult for the opponents to tame them.
Rahul Dravid has always been the bulwark of the Indian line-up and now Gautam Gambhir has also proved that his is not merely a one-dimensional game and he just cannot be dismissed as just another mindless slogger.
Other than that, Dhoni has no major worry with the batting lineup. In the bowling department, however, Dhoni will have some worry as beside Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, none of the Indian bowlers could impress in Ahmedabad.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would go into the match believing they had India on the mat in Kanpur but a dull track, coupled with some unimaginative captaincy by the defensive Kumar Sangakkara, robbed them their chance to snap the 14-match winless streak on Indian soil.
Their batting line-up looks in apple-pie order where the top and middle order batsmen have fired in unison. Tillakaratne Dilshan is just too good and his opening partner Tharanga Paranavitana has no issues playing the second fiddle as long as it suits the team.
It is, however, in the bowling unit that the Lankans seem to enjoy an edge over the hosts. Chanaka Welegedera has proved how dangerous he can be even on lifeless tracks and then the Lankans have Muttiah Muralitharan who may have had a low key outing in Ahmedabad but he can’t lie low for long.
No comments:
Post a Comment