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It says much for how quickly things can change that England go into the
third Test in Kolkata not so much fearing a turning surface, but
regarding it as something of an opportunity.
It would be stretching a point to claim that England's problems against
spin bowling are resolved. After all, only three England batsmen have
passed 50 so far in the series and a case could be made to suggest that
the excellence of Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook has masked the
struggles of some of their colleagues. Certainly more will be required
of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and co. if England are to win the series.
But the victory in Mumbai not only showed that England's batsmen were
learning, it also showed that England had weapons of their own in such
conditions. In Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann they have spinners who
utilise a turning pitch every bit as well as their India counterparts.
India, for all their reputation as masters of such conditions, looked
mightily uncomfortable against them in Mumbai.
The Mumbai result will not alter India's tactics to any great extent and
nor should it. Not only would it be unwise to read too much into one
result, but they have few options for a Plan B anyway. Their batsmen
play better on pitches of low bounce and England's batsmen have,
historically, struggled against spin in such conditions.
"We should still stick to turning tracks, because that's what our strength is," India's captain MS Dhoni said at the pre-match media conference. "That's what home advantage means.
"If you come to India, why do you want to play on wickets that are flat
for the first three or four days? Sometimes even five days is not enough
to get a result. We lost the last game, but still we want to play on
wickets that suit the sub-continent. It is what the sub-continental
challenge is all about.
"We are a side that relies a lot on the openers, but we don't really
want to put the extra pressure on them. It doesn't matter if we lose a
few games, or if we win the series, the crucial thing is that a
cricketer who has played five or six years can say 'I went to the
sub-continent, and the wickets were turning and bouncing and I scored
runs or I failed'."
It is, in many ways, an admirable policy. The last thing Test cricket
needs as it fights for its place in the world is a series full of
bore-draws.
The fact is, however, that by trying to land a knockout blow on England,
India have left themselves open to a counter punch. By insisting that
the pitches will assist the spinners, India may just have given England
an opportunity to steal a highly unusual series win. Instead of drawing
England into a war of attrition in conditions for which they are
ill-suited, India have provided both teams with a route to victory.
As England captain, Alastair Cook,
put it: "The Mumbai Test proved that a turning wicket gives both sides a
chance. It gave us a great chance of winning as it was a result wicket.
If you go in on real flat ones it can be very hard to get a result. I'm
not quite sure how this wicket will play. I don't think it will have
the bounce Mumbai had - it hasn't got that red clay - but all the
reports say that, after especially after day three, it will turn, so
that brings both our excellent spinners into the game."
It may also prove to have been a risk to stage this game on another used
wicket. This pitch was used for a four-day game that finished on
November 20 and nobody can confidently predict how it will play by the
time it is seven or eight days old. There is very little precedent for
such a tactic in Test history. If India find themselves bowling at
England in the fourth innings as the pitch crumbles, it will look wise.
But if they are bowled out by the England spinners in the fourth innings
it will look reckless.
India have allowed England the oxygen of belief. Coming into this tour,
the scars inflicted upon the England batsmen by Pakistan in the UAE were
still clearly visible. Now, however, with a morale-boosting victory
behind them, all the pressure is on India. It is the Indian players who
are fighting for their international futures.
Whoever wins the toss will surely bat. The relative cool brings the
possibility that the ball will assist the seamers in the first hour,
although the effect of a 9am start should not be over-exaggerated
considering that India only has one timezone and Kolkata, on the east
coast, sees the sun rise earlier than most.
With England likely to bring in Steven Finn for the jaded Stuart Broad,
the tourists go into this game with their first-choice attack for the
first time in the series. For India, who are likely to revert to an
attack comprising two seamers and two spinners, the loss of Umesh Yadav,
the most incisive seamer on either side in Ahmedabad, looks more costly
all the time.
Cook expressed support for Broad - "I'm very glad he's English and I'm
glad he's in this squad. He's a fantastic player and he's put in
fantastic performances this year and over his career" - and for Jonathan
Trott - "He's not having the year he would probably like to have, but
you can't write off people with quality like that" - but acknowledged
that England required more contributions throughout the side if they
were to win.
India, meanwhile, have questions to answer about several senior players -
not least Yuvraj Singh, who averages only 34.38 in Test cricket and has
not scored a century since 2007, and Sachin Tendulkar, who has not
reached 30 in his last 10 Test innings. If they lose their proud home
record, searching questions might need to be asked about the direction
in which Indian cricket is travelling.
No-one disputes that India have, over the last few years, marketed the
game - or certain aspects of the game - with unprecedented success.
Perhaps, however, somewhere along the way, the style has obscured the
lack of substance. It required a decade of humiliation before England
acted to reverse their decline. Perhaps, in the long term, a series
defeat would be a wake-up call Indian cricket requires.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: George Dobell
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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