Can India win the second test?
After a great effort from Gambir and Sachin, India managed to save the first test match. So need to win this match and also the next one, and win the series 2-0, so that we can get the first spot in the test rankings. Ahmedabad was a little bit disappointing as it turned out to be a perfect batting pitch for the entire five days. As a matter of fact it helped India in saving the test match, because India did well in the final session of fourth day and also the entire fifth day, thanks to the good batting track.
But the main reason why India struggled to save the first test match is due to the poor batting performance in the first innings. The batting collapsed with top batsman getting out very cheaply. But if Dravid ,Yuvraj and Doni had not played well, then India could have lost the match. The pitch was so good for batting track and that made possible for 7 players from both the sides to make centuries, and missed the world record of 8 centuries in a test match. This could have happened, if Yuvraj would have got a century in the first innings.
Really India was taken by surprise, by the bowling attack of the new Sri Lankan bowlers. With the exception of Murali, other bowlers were inexperienced and I guess we were over confident and that paid off. But surprising the world record holder Murali was not able to pick any wicket in the second innings and also he gave away lot of runs. On the other hand Indian spinners also suffered and the Indian bowling couldn’t able to make the Sri Lankan side all out. But there was a good sign because Amit Mishra showed a considerable amount of turn and I guess he will do well, if he is in the team for the second test match.
With the introduction of T 20 formats, the Test match suffered to an extent, but not that as ODI.I guess we can see the impact in Kanpur test, because reports says that only 2528 tickets were sold, compared to the total capacity of 25,598. In spite of low rate of Rs. 20 for students, the ticket sale was very dull, but they are confident that many people will rush to the ground during the match days and let us also hope the same.
There are lot things that India should learn from their first test and the most important being the bowling attack. Really it was a bad bowling performance in the first test match, as we failed to grab wickets. But we hope that the Indian bowlers show a very good performance in the second test. With Zaheer returning from injury and not a good performance in the first test, we can see him coming with a great form in the second test match. Dinesh Kartik was called in as a backup for Doni, because Doni has injured his finger in the first test.
But the BCCI are confident that the injury is nothing serious and he will play the second test match. This is a positive thing. On the other side, the opposition has some problems with injuries. Fast bowler Prasad is said to miss the second test due to injury and even Dilshan is reported to have injure his nose during the practice session. With Prasad uncertain for the match, Sri Lankan team at least has good news that Dilshan will play the second test, as the injury was very minor. India has a great advantage in going to this test match, because the legend bowler Murali is not in good form.
Sri Lankan team doesn’t give up very easily as they are really in a hunt to win a test match in India, because they have never won test match in India and they almost came close to win the first test match, but was saved due to a brilliant performance from Gambir and Sachin.So they need to take the positive point from the first test match and I guess they will really give a tough challenge to India , with the help of their strong batting line up and a good bowling attack especially from the young fast bowlers.
Another great boost for the Sri Lankan team is the recently released ICC test rankings where the hero of the first test match Mahela Jayawardena claiming the top spot and his captain Kumar Sangakara who is in second spot and the third place went to Indian opener Gautam gambir. Of course Indians also moved up in the rankings, with Sachin shared the 15th rank along with England’s Kevin Peterson. Dravid has a done a great job in the first test, with 177 crucial runs in the first innings, have moved up 5 places up to 20th rank.
Sehwag and Laxman are placed 21st and 19th place in the rankings respectively. When it comes to bowling rankings Harbhajan Singh slipped ine position to 6th spot, with Zaheer being placed at 8th place. But I guess from the Indian perspective they will go into this test match with lot of confidence as they saved the test match form a losing position. But they should take care that the same thing doesn’t happen in the second test at Kanpur. Bowling is going to be very important and it is also a concern, as we didn’t do well in the first test match.
Toss is also a crucial factor, but Sri Lankan proved that toss doesn’t matter, because in spite of winning the toss in the first test match India suffered a setback in their batting. But with every batsman in top form we can believe that we will definitely do well in the second test match. Fielding is very important and by the famous proverb “Catches win matches”, we should never miss any chance. Sachin is going to be the key and his service for India will continue. He should not bother about the statement of some selfish politicians, who try to separate the country based on the cast and religion, because everybody in this country know he is a true legend who loves the country and give 100 % for the purpose of country. So let’s hope India wins. Jaihind.
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