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It is hard to recall the last time an Indian team
surrendered as tamely as it did in the post-lunch
session on the final day of the third Test at Mumbai
on Wednesday.
For sure there have been many such dramatic collapses
on foreign soil. But considering the bowling was
hardly world-class, two of India's greatest batsmen
were at the crease and there were just two sessions to
play out, the pathetic way the batting caved in is
hard to explain.
India's batsmen have a way of making mediocre off spinners
look like world-beaters. It happened in the
semi-finals of the Reliance World Cup also against
England when a portly Eddie Hemmings had his day in
the sun in Mumbai. A year earlier it was Pakistan's
unthreatening Tauseef Ahmed who had done us in at
Bangalore and in 1988 New Zealand's unheralded John
Bracewell had bowled his side to a shock win at
Mumbai.
This time it was veteran Shaun Udal who grabbed Sachin
Tendulkar's wicket in the second innings and pushed
open the floodgates. Udal is unlikely to make waves in
the future. But here he was allowed to pick up four
wickets.
More than the batting, dismal as it was, there were
two major factors behind the defeat to what is
essentially a second-string England team.
The first setback came even before a ball was bowled
with captain Rahul Dravid winning the toss and asking
England to bat first. Once they finished the opening
day at 272 for three, it would be an uphill struggle
for India to try to force their way back into the
Test.
The second factor was the astonishing number of
catches (and one stumping) that the Indian fielders
failed to latch onto. It is a safe bet to state that
had they held even half of these, and had Dhoni not
muffed stumping Andrew Flintoff in the second
innings, then the target set for India in the fourth
innings would have been more in the region of 150
rather than the rather imposing 313.
It is quite likely that Dravid and his boys
under-estimated this English team as did many others,
including this writer. Flintoff was their third choice
captain and led only after Michael Vaughan and Marcus
Trescothick were forced to leave India even before the
series began. After that their ranks were decimated by
illness and injury.
Previous English teams would have folded up and meekly
surrendered. But the ace England all-rounder and
architect of last year's Ashes triumph led brilliantly
by example both with bat and ball and lifted their
spirits in the field. It was one of the most amazing
acts of leadership seen on Indian soil and though the
series was drawn 1-1, England were surely the superior
side having also taken the first innings lead in the
first Test at Nagpur.
The focus will now be on the one-day series. India
thrashed Pakistan 4-1 after losing the Test series
just last month and all seemed forgiven. It is
unlikely though that this time around the public will
be so charitable even if India do win the ODI series.
That shocking one hour at the Wankhede Stadium will
ensure that this is one defeat that will rankle for a
long time to come.
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More Views by Gulu Ezekiel
