Home > Cricket > Tendulkar's batting and Panesar's limitations will see India tame England

Tendulkar's batting and Panesar's limitations will see India tame England

The little maestro is hungry for runs, and with a match-winning bowling attack, the signs are good for the tourists in the forthcoming Test series. Particularly as England's bowling is nothing special.

by rohit sakunia on 09 July 2007

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Monty Panesra: He's no super-hero (Gettyimages.com)

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Before discussing India's forthcoming tour to England I would like to pay homage to Dilip Sardesai. I did not have the opportunity to see the great man play but have heard many times what a great sportsman and ambassador of the game he was. May his soul rest in peace.

Team India are warming up for the Test series in England. The English tour is always very important, maybe because of the time duration between them. The last time we played there, we drew the series 1-1 and won probably our best one-day tournament on foreign soil in the last decade.

The script might be a bit different this time, though. The Test victory last time came with centuries from three legends Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, all of whom are counting their days (they have asked not to be considered for the Twenty20 World Cup). I still feel a lot depends on these guys and although the rest of the batting looks average, it is a good line-up when you comsider the England bowling attack.

'The hype surrounding Panesar is overplayed - he wouldn't make a Mumbai or Karnataka XI'

The bowling of this Indian team looks awesome. Zaheer Khan looks dangerous, Sri Sreesath is a great talent, Ajit Agarkar is in god shape, Anil Kumble has always been handy in England and Ramesh Powar is one to watch. I feel we are going to miss Munaf Patel, our best bowler over the last year and a half. I have always maintained that he is a bowler who comes with a 'handle with care' tag - but unfortunately the board has not done much to take care of this great talent.

The likes of Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan will make life difficult for the Indian bowlers. Alastair Cook has also been playing quality cricket. Technically precise, his drives remind me of the great Saeed Anwar. To me, Agarkar is the one bowler who can trouble him with his in-dippers early with the new ball, because once Cook settles down his stats show he is a dangerous candidate.

Yes, Matthew Hoggard, Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison can pose a problem or two but it is not a match-winning England attack. Monty Panesar is no super-hero, either - at best he is a containing bowler. He performed well a West Indies side lacking quality batsmen but he did not impose himself on Shivnerine Chanderpaul. The hype surrounding him is overplayed - he wouldn't make a Mumbai or Karnataka XI.

Tendulkar is hungry for runs. History proves that the batting wins us games. The signs are good. Go India!

Comments (5)

by Budhaditya Roy on July 09, 2007

The English would be very tough to beat at home and I don't think that its going to be so easy for India. While you have talked about the Indian bowling, we need to consider the fact that Harbhajan is not playing. When we won in Leeds the last time he and Kumble spun us to victory. And the England attack would be very potent at home, even without Flintoff.

by rohit sakunia on July 09, 2007

hi budhaditya, i totally repect ur point but still to me the english attack is far less potent to tame the indian batting twice. english batting is a serious problem though.

by adil on July 09, 2007

What a load of rubbish. Panesar a containing bowler at best? Perhaps you should tell that to Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Perhaps he needs to start throwing like Harbhajan to become a real threat? The fact that you put down Monty and praise Powar in the same article is hilarious. What has Powar done?

by Craig H on July 10, 2007

There is some real potential in the English batting and they are capable of putting some very big scores together. At home, with their pitches and the reverse swing Duke balls, their bowling is also much better than we've seen for a while. I do agree with your assessment of Monty, although his enthusiasm is probably his best asset. He really didn't show too much in Aus last year and even at his best he isn't going to destroy many top sides. It will be a fascinating series. Cheers.

by Graem Peters on July 17, 2007

After Australia's old men left the stage by beating the Poms 5-0, it is dangerous to think that India's (or any other sides) old men can also finish on a high. Kumble and Laxman still have something to prove in English conditions. If the old guard does not fire, the picture for India looks bleak as the rising stars still have a long way to rize.