Here is what I wrote in my blog -
One word which charecterises this English team and separates it from teams of the past is fight. Whatever the match situation, whatever the crisis situation, the team will give it their best shot. A sharp contrast to the frequent collapses we saw from English teams of the past. You will say that they did collapse in Pakistan but that was a one off rather than a norm.
I doubt if any one expected England to fight back the way they did after being down 246/7 at the end of day 1. No one certainly expected them to end up with 393. Bravo Paul Collingwood. He showed a few English batsmen who let a situation of advantage (winning the toss and thus having India to bat last on a crumbling pitch) slip the worth of staying at the wicket and limiting stroke play for the larger team cause. The support from the tail was admirable. It highlighted that word again - fight.
Of course the highlight of the match so far has been the youngsters coming to the party. If it was Alastair Cook showing common sense yesterday and Sreesanth showing that he has loads of talent, swinging ability (not related to his break dance ability) and yes, common sense. Its funny how in test cricket loads of talent means nothing if you do not have common sense. You don’t need to be flashy, you don’t need to be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Brian Lara. You can be a Paul Collingwood, a Sreesanth or a Alastair Cook and still do a good job. The saying - test cricket is as much played in the head as in the field - is very true.
Coming back to today - I have a strong feeling we are seeing the future of both these teams in this match. If Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla get a run later on in the series, it might well be looked back as the series where certain people showed their mettle for the first time. Like India in Pakistan(1989) is looked back upon for instance.
Two more stars shined today. While Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff could not do a good enough job to help Monty Panesar strangle the batsmen at the other end, Panesar showed enough talent in his short spell. He is patient. He has variation. And he can keep coming back at you. The English fans will be delighted. Ashley Giles might be a tad concerned. Blackwell wasn’t expected and could not put any pressure.
After Sehwag drove too early, fooled by the slower ball from Hoggard, into the hands of Pieterson, the Indians were standing on thin ice. Another wicket would mean staring at trouble. Chasing any thing above 250 batting last is going to be tough on this pitch. With Panesar bowling some testing stuff, it was a crucial period to last. Luckily for India, they had exactly the men for the task.
I have been a fan of Wasim Jaffer from before he was first selected for India. So it was a delight to see him make an unbeaten 73. He batted with assurance, patience and authority - all at the same time. Jaffer and Dravid left several balls; played only when they felt the delivery could be scored off or a defensive shot was necessary. Dean Jones rightly said during commentary that it is important to leave balls as much as to play them to make big scores in cricket. It is no surprise then than Wasim Jaffer has made big scores domestically and Dravid has done the same internationally.
The match is rivettingly poised with India at 136/1. India would want a lead of at least around 75-100 to feel safe. England will be looking to restrict India, realistically, to a lead of not more than 50.
On a slightly different note, Chappell has spoken up on Ganguly and Ganguly has reported it to the BCCI. Why should Chappell speak on this? He wasn’t required to. Chappell and Ganguly have always been controversial individuals. So once they get entangled in a controversy, it will continue. If one of them stops stirring, the other man will start off.
