Indians v Sussex Tour Match – Review and Video (from Youtube :) )….

I found these videos of the tour match on youtube. Cricket looks different when all you can see is the pitch. The parts where the bowling is from the far end remind me of a very famous stroke – Abid Ali’s winning square cut off Ray Illingworth at the Oval in 1971 (the story goes at the captain Ajit Wadekar was so confident of India chasing down 174 to win, that after he was run out early on the final morning, he had a nap in the dressing room!), which we have all seen only from behind the wicketkeeper, because the bowling was from the far end.

The game itself ended with the Indians one wicket short of a win after 3 sporting declarations. That is how county cricket is played. In Championship games, negotiating declarations with the opposing captain has long been the norm (Nasser Hussein writes about it in some detail in his autobiography). In the end it was fitting that Essex survived, if only by the thinnest of margins (possibly even as thin as a plumb lbw being denied to Anil Kumble with Sussex 9 down!). The decisions of the team management in this team seemed to suggest that the plan for the first test has already been etched. The practice games seem to be a mere question of bringing the players back into match fitness following all the flu related trouble in Ireland. It looks like Dinesh Karthik will definitely keep wickets at Lord’s. The only dilemma would then be choosing between Dhoni and Yuvraj for the sixth batsmans slot. There i would pick the specialist batsman ahead of the wicketkeeper, however destructive Dhoni might be capable of being (Yuvraj as ODI results suggest is capable of being quite destructive as well). A left hander might be useful against Panesar and requiring Harmison to change his line might test his mettle.

The English Lions will pose a stronger fast bowling threat that Sussex did, and India may just decide to go in for a full dress rehearsal and play their prospective Test XI in this game. All in all, an interesting beginning to the tour. The lucky few who watched Laxman v Saqlain at the ground must have enjoyed it for sure….