Trent Bridge, August
05: Going
into the second Test against England starting on Thursday, the
Indians are once again confronted with the difficult choice of
picking one among their two spinners and this time, it seems,
Harbhajan Singh enjoys a slight edge over Anil Kumble.
The Indians had a close
look at the pitch here this morning and seem to have reconciled to
the idea of going in with one spinner only, though it has not been
made official as yet.
The pitch has a fair
sprinkling of grass on it and South African Test spinner Nicky
Boje, an overseas player for the local Nottinghamshire team, said
it would have bounce and slow bowlers would get little help.
Though Kumble had bagged
six wickets in the first Test at Lord's, Harbhajan Singh seems to
be a front-runner for the second Test after his fine performance
in the four-day game against Worcestershire where he tied up
captain Graeme Hick.
Hick, scorer of over 100
centuries and 25,000 first class runs, was clueless against
Harbhajan and could take only four singles from 18 balls before
being trapped leg before wicket.
However, unlike Lord's
where the spinners did get some help from the track, the pitch for
the second Test doesn't have a whitish appearance nor a history of
helping the spinners.
Boje said it generally is
a batting wicket but there would be more bounce than what Indians
experienced at Lord's last week.
The pitch pleased Ganguly
no end as the Indian skipper was reminded of a similar turf seven
years ago when he had scored a hundred here on his debut tour.
"This reminds me of
1996," said Ganguly.
Ganguly had a very
successful Test at Trent Bridge in 1996 when he followed up his
hundred at Lord's with an innings of 136 at Trent Bridge, sharing
a huge stand with Sachin Tendulkar who also raised a hundred for
himself.
The Indians came to the
ground this morning and were determined to practice to their
heart's content even when they were forced indoors because of rain
in the middle of the nets.
Ironically, the staging
association would not have opted for a green pitch if they had a
choice. But they had litte option since it rained for five
successive days from Tuesday to Friday last week forcing the
square to be under covers.
The England and Wales
Cricket Board has let it be known to staging associations this
year that they want the Tests to last full five days as they could
not afford loss in revenue in case a game finished early.
ECB were goaded into
adopting such a policy after a Test against West Indies finished
in two days time last year.
Consequently, the first
three Tests against Sri Lanka this year were played on more or
less batting pitches and the first Test at Lord's against the
Indians too was not the usual greenish English pitch.
Consequently, the first
three Tests against Sri Lanka this year were played on more or
less batting pitches and the first Test at Lord's against the
Indians too was not the usual greenish English pitch.
Boje came over to watch
Indians practice but more specifically to catch up with Adrian le
Roux, the trainer of the Indian team, who once looked after the
fitness of the players of the Free State in South Africa,
including Boje.
The nets were instructive
of the mindset of the Indians with medium-pacers Ajit Agarkar and
Ashish Nehra bowling short pitched deliveries at Sachin Tendulkar
who was peppered with similar tactics by England pacemen during
the first Test.
Tendulkar appeared
unfazed by recent criticism in the media and was was his usual
classy self, a few of his shots nothing short of breathtaking.
The two wicketkeepers in
the team, Ajay Ratra and Parthiv Patel were given a long pep talk
by coach John Wright who took them aside and tested their reflexes
with sideways catching.
Though Patel's promise
has come in for praise from all quarters, Ratra appears set to add
another Test to his five-match tally. There is no bonhomie lost
either between the two youngsters as both applauded each other on
a particularly good take.
V V S Laxman, possibly
India's best batsman over the last six Tests, was a picture of
modesty as he asked Tendulkar to have a look at his batting in the
nets while Ganguly went for some lofted shots against both pacers
and spinners.
The forecast for the
match is not particularly good with thundershowers predicted on
the first day and a progressive improvement for the remainder of
the match.
