The Pitch Turns for Others Too!

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India's captain MS Dhoni finally got what he has been craving for. Rank turners, more turn and bounce, pitches that turn viciously like a king cobra following you and what not. But, he wouldn't have liked the scoreboard reading 119-5 when he walked out to bat today. Thankfully, there were other events that highlighted the first day of the second Test between India and England:

SEHWAG'S 100th TEST:
After Gambhir fell to Anderson on the second ball of the match, Virender Sehwag struck four boundaries in his knock of 30 out of which two nearly sent him back to the pavilion. It did not look like he was batting after scoring a hundred in the previous Test as he produced inside and outside edges off Anderson and finally gave Monty Panesar a reason to throw a party. After playing a responsible and reliable innings in Ahmedabad, he gave his wicket away by playing across the line and missed the ball completely.

SRT:
Not a single delivery hit his bat anywhere but its middle. And the one that got him out, missed it completely. Flicks on the on side, a cover drive, front-foot and back-foot strokes, Tendulkar was putting the ingredients together for what was looking like a potent knock. However, Monty produced a wicket-taking delivery, that pitched on leg and took the off stump beating the master completely.

Che PUJARA:
It's simple: England, who possess one of the best bowling attacks in the world, haven't found a way to get him out yet. Brimming with confidence, he was the only batsman who looked comfortable while wickets tumbled at the other end. He held fort on one end from the third ball of the match till stumps and gave the spectators what they came for: a hundred. His technique looked solid, he played with ease off the frontfoot and backfoot, showed the right temperament in tense conditions and played the bounce well. His real test to play on bouncy pitches will arrive only outside the sub-continent so he can't be doing more on Indian pitches against a formidable attack.

ASHWIN THE BATSMAN:
The way this lanky bowler has been batting in Tests, he could very well become a number seven in India's line-up creating space for another bowler in a feeble bowling attack. Apart from a hundred on a flatter pitch on the same ground last year, he scored 62 at Sydney earlier this year and averages over 40 in 10 matches. Not a bad start eh?

MONTY PYTHON: 
26 wickets at an average of 25.19 in his last three Tests played on spin-friendly pitches and still doesn't get a chance to play in the first Test in India? And when he gets to bowl on a pitch that offers turn and bounce, he gives you the wickets of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Kohli and Dhoni. Sehwag gave the ball more than what it deserved but Monty jumped on the opportunity and that opened gates for his confidence. It took Monty a few overs to settle down as he offered full-tosses and short ones often which were put away for boundaries. Then he made sure he bowled consistently on and around middle and off to not give the Indian batsmen much room to swing their arms. What he produced for Tendulkar was a delicious delivery from a left-arm spinner. His discliplined bowling to Kohli (9 runs from 30 balls) meant the Delhi batsman was under pressure as he was finding it difficult find to the gaps. When he got a chance to drive one through the covers, he handed it straight to Nick Compton. Dhoni's dismissal was another example of extracting good turn and bounce as it got the shoulder of his bat and went like a balloon to Swann at gully who got there in the nick of time. That wicket got him closer to another five-wicket haul - it will be his third in four matches.

‘England Will Keep On Improving To Get Better All The Time’

Follow @Vishal1686 One of the finest all-rounders and fielders from England, Paul Collingwood was in India recently during the England-India 5-match ODI series and the one off Twenty20. He is the only captain to have lifted a World Cup in the history of English cricket when England beat Australia to win the 2010 World Twenty20. When I met him in Mumbai, he spoke in length about whatever I asked him about our common love - cricket. In this conversation, he talks about the current England team which he thinks is capable of staying at the top in Tests and doing much better in one-dayers.

India couldn’t win a single match in England and England managed to win only one in India. What were the reasons behind this kind of a result apart from the alien conditions for the two teams?

It comes down to adapting your skills in the conditions. I know everybody is saying that it can’t just be the conditions but it’s very alien for the Indian batsmen to bat and bowlers to bowl on wickets like that and English batsmen become very accustomed in their conditions. Likewise, when we come over here it’s very difficult for us to adapt to the conditions. But, I guess it’s the mentality as well. Known that we haven’t done well here in the past, it becomes a bigger challenge and the pressure of going 1-0 or 2-0 down is huge. So the mental side is obviously a huge factor too and it comes down to the skills that you have in these two completely different conditions.

Number 1 in Tests, number 1 in Twenty20s but number 5 in ODIs. What do you make of the current England ODI side and what’s the way forward for them?

If you look at the World Cup coming up in 2015 in Australia I believe 70% of the players who are involved now will be involved then. England’s one-day side has a broad spectrum of skills that will work very well in Australia. We’ve got a lot of power in the side now and we do have some serious pace and we’ve got one of the best spinners in the world which we haven’t had in previous occasions. They are a learning side and they will move forward, they will keep on improving their skills to become better all the time. So I don’t think there will be a major change and they won’t panic about the situation, they will learn a lot from playing in India and in these conditions.

The Test team won the Ashes this year, beat Sri Lanka and whitewashed India in the summer to become the number one team. What does the team need to do now to stay at the top in the long run?

It’s simple you got to keep winning. That’s what you gauged and that’s what people want you to do and to stay at number one. You don’t sit back, you don’t relax thinking we are number one and I’m sure they won’t do that. They are very driven, very ambitious and each and every player will want to get better and better by playing in different conditions.

Will staying at the top be a bigger challenge than reaching the top?

I think it’s a huge challenge because people would want to knock you off from the number one spot. So people subconsciously try a bit harder against you to beat you. Obviously once you’ve gained some things as the number one spot, you do sit back and relax a bit but I don’t think this England team will. I think they will all keep moving forward and get better and better.

We have some new faces in the England team like Jonny Bairstow, Scott Borthwick, Stuart Meaker. What do you make of them and what are their prospects in the future?

They are a very talented set of players and England haven’t had many leg-spinners in the history and he (Borthwick) is a very talented cricketer, not just leg-spinner but good batsman and a very energetic fielder as well.

We talk about power and Bairstow has serious power, something in the one-day game that we have probably lacked at times. If he can find his game and play at his potential, he is going to be a serious asset to that side.

Stuart Meaker has some really good pace and I’m sure will develop all the time, it looks as though he has a good action and can trouble the batsmen with his pace.

The next Tests series England play now is only in January 2012 against Pakistan in UAE. Do you think this long gap will break the winning momentum they have had?

No, not at all, it will probably work the other way. I think it’s a good time to sit back and relax. England haven’t had a break from cricket for such a long time and they have hardly had a 2 or 3-month break. It’s great they have this break now and that will put them in good shape, they can recharge their batteries as individuals. It’s amazing how that recharging will help to become a better side and it’s crucial you do get those kinds of breaks and in many ways it will work for them.

So instead of breaking the momentum, this break will work in their favour?

I think the preparation time before they play the next Test series is crucial. You want to give your bowlers enough time to get into their rhythm of playing and the batsmen to get used to the conditions out there. So, it will be a real drive forward in terms of wanting to keep the momentum going in the Test side and they will certainly do that.