CricDigs Blogs

The Indian team could have not asked for a better practice game than the first 4 day match against Sussex. The opposition was very competitve, with the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq in their ranks. Had Stauss and Mushtaq Ahmed been there, it would have been better, but the batting was still good. It was a well contested match which India almost won. Sussex, for their part, did well to keep Anil Kumble and Sreesanth from taking the final wicket.

India started the match well by building a good first inning score, but their bowlers were again guilty of letting off the opposition after getting the top order relatively cheaply. This problem has been plaguing the Indian bowling for decades. They usually get the first 5-6 wickets cheaply, before a lower order all rounder gets the opposition back in the game. The absence of a genuine fast bowling wicket taker (of the likes of Akram, Shoaib, Bond, Lee, Malinga etc) has been hurting India in that department for a long time. Most of the other teams have one such bowler.

The result of that was that Sussex, who were at one stage 5 wickets down for a mere 144 runs, were eventually rescued by a century from their no. 6 player (it turned out to be his maiden first class century!) and were able to post a competitive 300 for 6 (declared). It was a very sporting declaration, which could have very well gone against them… and it almost did!

India’s second innings was not as impressive. But they did manage to reach 184 runs for the los of 8 wickets, thanks mainly to some lusty hitting by R.P Singh. Sussex had a target of 273 runs in 55 overs, for which they were never in the hunt once they lost a few early wickets. Again, the same problem of the Indian bowlers surfaced yet again. They were not able to polish off the tail and win the game. They fell one wicket short. Gautam Gambhir’s wicket off a no-ball also had a hand to play in this. Having played some gully cricket myself, I still cannot fathom how a spinner can overstep!

All in all, it was a good practice for the Indians ahead of the gruelling 3 Test series. Even though they did not win the game, they still were on top for most of the sessions, and since this game had a competitive edge to it, it will be helpful for the Indians in the Test matches. It was heartening to see India show their competitive side by opting to take the final 15 overs to try and get the remaining 3 wickets to win the game instead of retiring early.

An interesting part of the game was in the last session when Saqlain was batting and Sreesanth was bowling. Sreesanth was constantly staring at him after every ball, so Saqlain jovially asked him whether he thought he was Shoaib Akthar. After receiving an equally witty answer, Saqlain retorted that he may get out but he will definitely hit him for a six. Sreesanth had the last laugh though, when he got Saqlain caught at second slip off the next ball. But replays showed that the ball might have hit Saqlain’s arm instead of the hand. And of course, Sreesanth celebrated in his own unique style!