A Drought of 21 Years

21 years on and still waiting. Tomorrow is a new day, a new hope. A hope of changing things lying stale for 21 years and how. 9th August might just be the day that changed the fate of the Indian cricket team and its undying supporters.

Pray. Pray with me that the Indian skipper doesn't not come up with centuries old cliché of, 'it is just another test match' at the toss or pre-match conference. No Rahul, this is not just another test match. For Heaven's sake, it isn't just another test match. India have lost the plot in Zimbabwe in 2001, in the West Indies in 2002, in Australia in 2003, in Pakistan in 2004, and in South Africa in 2006 after going one up in the series.

It remains to see if India keep the same team that won the Trent Bridge test match. Speculations are rift that Ramesh Powar might get a look-in, instead of the old wily fox Anil Kumble. The reason: Powar can exploit the foot marks created by the two left-hand bowlers (if India bat first, Powar can also explot the foot marks of Ryan Sidebottom). Powar gives it tweak and is a known campaigner when the wicket starts to crumble. But what about the tail? Kumble has been able to gobble the tail, unlike any Indian bowler in the last two tests. Sree Santh by all means is lucky to survive the cut. I only hope that he comes out stronger, the criticism for the shoulder barge, the beamer and now the exclusion from the one-day team should boost him and his team. He has this tendency to get under the skin of the opposition like Sourav Ganguly used to have earlier. It remains to be seen how well he performs, as he is very mercurial.

England's ploy could be to exploit the extra bounce at The Oval. They would look forward to Chris Tremlett to do that. However, they can not rely too much on someone who has just made his debut a few tests ago. Too much pressure might just break Tremlett and in turn would open the floodgates for India and let it off the hook.

To sum up matters, everything largely depends on how the opening combination of Jaffer and Karthick negotiate the new ball. If they manage, anything close to the first innings partnership of Trent Bridge, England might want to kiss good-bye to their supreme record and the Pataudi Trophy too.

~ Vijayendra