The series was largely hyped as India tour England after a span of four years, also the first time in history India marched into England with the crown. The mercury kept rising and finally the D-Day arrived, as India took the field at Lords, the venue for 2000th Test match with the expectation of Tendulkar’s 100th ton flirting around. But, what followed rest is a history now. The quartet of Anderson, Tremlett, Broad and Bresnan wrecked the famed Indian batting lineup and India kept losing the Test matches one after the other until there was nothing more to lose. Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma all fell like a deck of cards to injuries only to return home.
Three centuries from Rahul Dravid, sportive recall of Ian Bell to bat, fiery burst of spells from Ishant Sharma, Dhoni & Mishra’s cameos, all vaguely flash from memory cells if we look for something to cheer about. On the contrary the hosts had loads to celebrate. English batsman toiled Indian bowlers, Pieterson & Cook hit double centuries, DRS referrals mostly tilted in favor of the Barmy Army and finally England snatched the tiara from India. Overall the Test series was a Damp Squib.
The short formats, what many thought as India’s hunting ground did not change the fortune either. The one off T20 was another loss in the kitty, but young Ajinkya Rahane raised the eye brows of many with his scintillating stroke play. However, India kept threading the hopes of a series win, a draw, a consolation win, a whitewash. Finally, the inevitable could not be avoided.
Gautam Gambir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma all left the shores of United Kingdom on injury grounds during the course of ODI series. As far as highlights are concerned, Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Raina, Dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin all produced useful contributions with the bat, while Virat Kohli eventually found his touch with the wonderful century in the final ODI.
Gautam Gambir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma all left the shores of United Kingdom on injury grounds during the course of ODI series. As far as highlights are concerned, Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Raina, Dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin all produced useful contributions with the bat, while Virat Kohli eventually found his touch with the wonderful century in the final ODI.
Is it because of the superlative performance Rahul Dravid in the Test Series or the susceptible talent pool, The Wall was finally given an opportunity to retire from ODI in front of the audience. The legend kindly obliged with a spirited half century to close his account.
Bottom line: The series washed by England 4-0 Tests, 1-0 T20, 3-0 ODI.
The performance has resurfaced the debate… “Are Indians LIONS HOME AND MICE ABROAD?” Fortunately we don’t have to wait too long for the answers as the tour of Australia is very much in the horizon. Until then keep your chin up as you will soon witness India decimating England & West Indies at Home.
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
PS: Following is my expert interpretation based on Dhoni's interview during the post match presentation. Dhoni asks for Nehra, Selectors give him Aaron, Dhoni bench Aaron the whole series.
PS: Following is my expert interpretation based on Dhoni's interview during the post match presentation. Dhoni asks for Nehra, Selectors give him Aaron, Dhoni bench Aaron the whole series.
I think the series was over-hyped. And every loss meant added pressure on the players. This is evident from the fact that they did not even attend the ICC awards and instead went for shopping.
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