Key Issues for Oval Test

[cricajar]

Hey guys, What do you feel will be the Key Issues in this upcoming and decisive Test? I present my list below: India: 1. Indian Attitude: Everyone knows that we've got a habit of losing test matches after winning them...perhaps most famous for England was that terrible loss in Mumbai where Udal was transformed from a dinasour into a geniune Muttaih prising out Tendulkar's wicket. The big question is: Do we possess that hunger, that desire not merely to win but to demolish our opposition...to humiliate them on their own turf. Many are saying that the English have a lot more to play for but I disagree, I think not merely drawing but winning this match will usher in a new era for indian cricket a post WC-debacle Era. I think this is imperative, to learn from our mistakes and to emerge as a stronger and better team. That is our only road to redemption post-WC. If you think about it, the reason we crashed out of the world cup was not as many people suggest due to a lack of talent or bloated expectations...it was a terrilbe attitude. You could sense it from the players' attitude, there was no fire no agni...they reminded me of bread left out for too long just stale and rigid. 2. Sreesanth's Resilience: Sree has come under tremendous pressure in the aftermath of the Nottingham Test. To further compound the problem, he's been rather unexpectedly dropped from the ODIs (I'm a huge Munaf Fan...but I think they should have retained Sree as well.) Sree is also a man who bathes in emotion, the question is can he control and marshall that emotion into an organized attack on the English batsmen, or will he continue his erratic display from Trent Bridge? Which Sree will it be? Jo'burg Sree or Nottingham Sree? As a third of our fast bowling attack he may be the difference between 20 wickets or a drawn test. 3. Zak's Consistency: Zaheer's sheer talent and physical abilities were never in doubt. Many Indian cricket fans should be perplexed that it took Zak this long to produce a true match winning performance. But Zak's biggest weakness is inconsistency and an inability to manage pressure situations (ala WC final...) So while Z. Khan was brilliant at Trent Bridge, it is imperative that he continues to be successful in both his accurate and deadly bowling as well as his leadership role on the bowling front. Both Sree and RP need some guidance, need a role model to look up to. They need a reminder that placing the ball on off-stump and good length will provide wickets. Will Zak continue to be a mercurial talent, or will he strive to new heights? 4. Opening Wonders Despite the skepticism that has continued to surround Jaffer's abilites both he and Dinesh have done a highly admirable job of laying the platform for rest of the vaunted Indian line-up. As mentioned in numerous articles, one of India's primary weaknesses in foreign series' has been a weak opening partnership. Anyone knows that a fragile foundation cannot support a large house. Will Jaffer and Kaartik continue to negotiate the new ball and allow the big four to devour an inexperienced bowling line-up. 5. Captain Dravid He's had a fairly barren run with the bat, will he once again play a vital role in securing an overseas victory as he famously did in WI or will his dry spell continue? He's masterminded most of our famous test victories...can he handle the pressure of captaincy as well as the swing of english pitches? England: 1. Inexperienced Bowling Line-up Despite their relative inexperience I have felt that the English attack has performed rather respectfully...Sidebottom has Tendulkar in all kind of knots, Anderson has shown flashes of brilliance that had been expected of him and Tremlett has laid down the gaunlet taking 3 wickets in the second innings of a lost test. Will they continue to trouble indian batsmen or will the momentous occassion test their mental fortitude? 2. Monty He's so far lived up to the height, getting key wickets at key periods. Indian batsmen have for some odd reason struggled against left-arm slow bowlers will Monty terrorize the Indian team or will the Indian batsmen release an instructional video on how to play spin? 3. KP He had a disappointing test in Nottingham and has an eye for the big moment, and he also chose the Oval for perhaps his most famous Test century yet. Misc. 1. The weather -- that's the one factor that will always influence results in England. How will the weather play out?

[The Outsider]

Good post, cricjar. Regarding the Mumbai test, Udal is given too much credence. Fine he took 4 wickets but all of them were lower order batsmen, Tandulkar got out to Panesar and if you ask me it was Anderson and Flintoff who won the match for them. Regarding Monty, I am not at all surprised to see him do well against us, infact am happy he has not done better. Despite all the hype around Indian batsmen and spin, left arm orthodox has got the better of the lineup many times in the recent past and let's hope Oval does not add to the chapters.

[Predator_05]

If the ball doesn't swing, i don't expect India's bowlers to do as well as they did at Trent Bridge. Kumble will be a factor, as always. This one match in which the batsmen MUST take charge. Totals of 250 won't be defendable here. Time for Dravid, Tendulkar, and Laxman to score some big runs - they are all well over-due.

[Chandan]

We had scored 481 in the TB test without a single century from any of our batsmen!

[dial_100]

Yeah.. SRT and RSD both recognize this that being the last opportunity, they will play very very responsibly. and SG is in good nick too. Which rarely happens. All 4 of middle order have to perform in the first innings and at least you are sure of not losing it. Lets do it...or rather... just do it..