Inexperienced bowlers

India take one of their most inexperienced bowling attacks into a crucial Test match and yet it is something they cannot afford to think about. Too often, when you miss out on a star, you focus on what you don't have and there will be moments when England's batsmen get set that that thought will return. But it doesn't count for much and India must focus on what they do have.

For a start, they must hope they have four bowlers at any one point on the ground during the match. It has been a much-ignored fact amidst all the criticism that at almost all times during this series MS Dhoni has been a bowler short. Everytime he has looked for a fresh pair of legs he has found nobody. At Edgbaston India will at least take the field with four bowlers.
With Zaheer Khan out of the series a lot will depend on the other seamers. RP Singh has been included in the squad, but he hasn't played for India in a good long while. Zaheer, critically, also had experience. With 79 Tests to his name, he equals the sum total of RP (13), Ishant Sharma (36), Praveen Kumar (5) and Sreesanth (25)!
While Ishant is the most experienced, Praveen has been India's star so far. He was the leading Indian on the Castrol Index in the second Test - and the second overall, behind Stuart Broad - so important were the seven England wickets he claimed. He has taken four more wickets than Ishant in the series so far and I look forward to seeing him take more of a leadership role in the bowling attack.
The choice of spinner, after Harbhajan Singh's pull-out, will be interesting given that there are five left-handers in the opposition line up. Both Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra, who should strictly speaking be preferred since he was the original selection, turn the ball into the left-hander and there is nobody in this side who can take it away since Virender Sehwag cannot yet bowl and Suresh Raina, well...hasn't really been turning the ball!
This is an excellent opportunity for Mishra even if he hasn't looked particularly penetrative in the couple of games he has played so far. England are not the world's greatest players of leg-spin bowling, but this is a very good batting line-up. Still, a fit and hungry leg-spinner, even if inexperienced, is better than no spinner at all.
Predictably, the focus will be on Sehwag, but one must tread with caution here. It is entirely possible he will get India off to a great start but he has very little cricket behind him. It is one thing to bat in the nets and quite another to be up against the best new ball attack in these conditions. That is why I believe the more crucial opener will be Gautam Gambhir.
This is India's best batting line-up and they have now been in the country long enough even if they have been playing catch-up all along. They must put enough runs on the board for the bowlers and that is why, whatever the conditions, I believe India will bat first this time, if they have the option.

Tendulkar Wants To Enjoy His Batting Againsed England

A billion-plus fans in India would be expecting a record 100th ton when Sachin Tendulkar walks out to bat against England in the first cricket Test at Lord's but that is the last thing on the batting maestro's mind as he simply wants to enjoy during the tour. Sachin, who is on a vacation here with his family, insists that enjoying the game is the key to success. 'I am not thinking of records,' Sachin was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. 'I am just thinking of enjoying this tour. The secret to any performance is not in chasing records. I think about, 'What is the best way to enjoy the game, and how can I enhance that enjoyment factor?' 'If I enhance the enjoyment then, naturally, the standard of play becomes higher. To me, that is more important. If I am playing well, things can happen. I don't need to go around chasing them. It is a process. You construct a solid foundation and build on it.' Besides spending time with family, Tendulkar has been training here for the four-Test series while his team mates are set to join him soon from the West Indies. Tendulkar said that being in England enables him to balance life by doing thing he will not be able to do in India due to the crazy fan-following. 'When I spend time in England, it is different. I get to do certain things that I wouldn't be able to do in India: to go into the park with my children, to do whatever they want to do, whether it be a game of soccer or cricket. I enjoy the best of both. The idea is to balance life in India with life away from India, to get the best of both and to be a happy man.' When asked about retiring from the game he has played for over 20 years, Sachin said: 'I haven't. I am enjoying every moment. It has been fun. In fact, I am looking at how to enjoy the game more and how to improve the standard of play. It is about getting better. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow. At least today I know that I want to enjoy cricket, to enjoy the moment.

Experts Cricket In Battling

India made an astonishing recovery to snatch a one-run victory over South Africa in the second one-day international at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday to level the five-match series at one match each. Munaf Patel took two wickets in what proved to be the final over to finish with four for 29, with Yuvraj Singh taking a low catch at gully to end the match when Wayne Parnell cut powerfully in an attempt to score the winning runs. South Africa seemed in control when they made an aggressive start to their innings after Lonwabo Tsotsobe produced career-best bowling figures of four for 22 as India were bowled out for 190 on what is usually a high-scoring ground. Captain Graeme Smith and JP Duminy took South Africa to within 71 runs of victory with seven wickets in hand and less than half the overs used up. But Duminy played a rash shot against part-time off-spinner Rohit Sharma and was caught at long-on. It still looked comfortable for the hosts as Smith and David Miller added 32. But as with the Indian innings, the batting powerplay proved disastrous for the batting side. Smith was out to the first ball of the powerplay, bowled off an inside edge by man of the match Patel for 77 and Miller went in the next over when he top-edged an attempted pull against a slower bouncer by Zaheer Khan. South Africa lost their last six wickets for 37 runs in what was almost an action replay of the Indian innings. "We played some good cricket for 70 overs of the game," said Smith, who was captaining South Africa for a record 139th time. "Some of our decision making at the back end of the game wasn't good enough but Munaf bowled really well." Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose side had lost their last six wickets for 21 runs, said: "It's a big win for us. We were 40 to 45 runs short in our innings but the bowlers bowled in the right areas and put a lot of pressure on the South African batsmen." Dhoni said the the bowling of off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took one for 32 in ten overs, had changed the game. "The South African batsmen had momentum when he came on and they lost momentum against him." Tsotsobe led a superb performance by the South African bowlers and fielders after India won the toss and batted. Yuvraj Singh made 53 and Dhoni scored 38 but neither batsman was able to dominate during a fourth wicket stand of 83 off 107 balls. Singh reached his half-century off 67 balls when he glanced Tsotsobe for his fourth boundary - but he was out next ball when he pushed a slower delivery from Tsotsobe to mid-off. Tsotsobe, bowled eight of his ten overs during powerplay overs as he followed up his man of the match performance in the first game in Durban, where he took four for 31 and helped South Africa to a 135-run win. Tsotsobe was entrusted with the first over of the batting powerplay and struck with his first ball when he had Suresh Raina palpably leg before wicket, struck on the back pad by a full delivery. He then bowled Dhoni off an inside edge as the powerplay proved disastrous for India, who lost four wickets for 14 runs, with Tsotsobe having a hand in another wicket when he took a sliding catch at third man to dismiss Zaheer Khan off Dale Steyn's bowling. Sachin Tendulkar equalled Sanath Jayasuriya's world record of 444 one-day international appearances but struggled to 24 off 44 balls as India made a slow start. Tendulkar did not field during the South African innings and there was no immediate explanation of the reason.