da bet sport： When Indian cricketers are asked to recall their favourite venues, it’sunlikely that the Nahar Singh Stadium will merit even a cursory mention
The Preview by Dileep Premachandran30-Mar-2006
India have not impressed against pace recently © Getty Images
When Indian cricketers are asked to recall their favourite venues, it’sunlikely that the Nahar Singh Stadium will merit even a cursory mention.In five outings dating back to 1987-88, India have only one victory overZimbabwe to show for their efforts. And some of the current players willremember vividly the 24-ball 56 with which Douglas Marillier pulled off the most thrilling of upset victories four years ago. England willbe encouraged by past records that suggest a surface more amenable to pace- their strength – but will need to bat far better than they did in Delhito stretch an Indian side that has won 13 of their last 17 ODI games.Something for the bowlers: Unlike many other grounds on thesubcontinent, this one has never had a reputation as an out-and-outbatsmen’s paradise, and the last match played here was on a pitch so green that Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken finished off the game as a contest within a dozen overs. Rahul Dravid reckoned that the surfaceprepared for tomorrow would turn as the day wore on but would also offerinitial encouragement for the pace bowlers. In his view, a total in excessof 240 would be a competitive one – pleasant news for bowlers still havingnightmares about the carnage at the Wanderers three weeks ago.Soft top, firm centre: Most one-day teams set the tone for aninnings with their big-hitters, doing as much damage as they can while thefielding restrictions are in effect. However, with Marcus Trescothick backin England preparing for the start of the county season, England findthemselves in a situation where the heavy artillery is hidden away in themiddle order. Dravid has repeatedly stressed how dangerous Andrew Flintoff – playing his 100th ODI – and Kevin Pietersen can be, but with Trescothick missing and the otheropening options nowhere near as potent, sending either man up the ordermay not be such a bad idea.Mix-and-match: Irfan Pathan missed practice with a sore throat anda mild fever, but the team management remains optimistic that he will beready to continue his happy knack of picking up early wickets in ODIs. Ifthey err on the side of caution in stifling heat, Rudra Pratap Singh mayretain his place, with Ramesh Powar coming in to beef up the spin options.Munaf Patel is well on the road to recovery after bruising on his heel,but his relative lack of bowling in the nets suggested that the team wereprepared to give him three more days to get back to peak condition beforethe Goa game.To sweep, or not to sweep: Nearly 20 years ago, Graham Gooch sweptEngland into a World Cup final at India’s expense. Unfortunately, most ofhis countrymen don’t play the shot with anything like the same expertiseor aplomb. Four perished while hitting across the line in Delhi, and ifthe pitches exhibit the same kind of variable bounce, Harbhajan Singhcertainly won’t mind the odd waft in the direction of square leg. A fewtips from Gooch certainly won’t hurt England.
In his 100th ODI Andrew Flintoff will have plenty to ponder on a dual-faced pitch © Getty Images
Fair-weather fans: Dravid played down the comments that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made at a press conference yesterday , but it was clearfrom his body language that both captain and team are smarting at some ofthe barbs directed their way by so-called fans. The boos for Sachin Tendulkar inMumbai came largely from the corporate-invitee-freebie types – those thatRoy Keane, and many other sportsmen, dismiss with such contempt – and withthe composition of the crowd changing to accommodate more of the sameprawn-sandwich brigade, this won’t be the last time that Dhoni and friendscop an earful. Many of these Indian could do a lot worse thanemulate the Barmy Army, whose good cheer and support-through-thick-and-thin credo has frequently galvanised England in times of strife.When pace is not ace: England’s seamers did a commendable job inDelhi, but the sameness of the attack could well cost them on a pitch thatplays lower and slower. When they bowl first, the early-morning startsmight aid movement in the air and off the seam, but once the sun comes outand the pitch browns like a brick in a kiln, taking the pace off the ballis usually the way to go in India. England’s spin resources, with theexception of Ian Blackwell, are non-existent, and Paul Collingwood’sgentle medium pace could come in very handy.TeamsIndia (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 RahulDravid (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 IrfanPathan, 8 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 Harbhajan Singh,11 S Sreesanth.England (probable): 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Matt Prior, 3 Owais Shah, 4Kevin Pietersen, 5 Andrew Flintoff (capt), 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 GeraintJones (wk), 8 Ian Blackwell, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Kabir Ali, 11 JamesAnderson.