Published: Jan 20, 2015, 12:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 20, 2015, 12:00 AM (IST)
In all likelihood, James Anderson will return to the England playing eleven, along with Stuart Broad for the third One-Day International (ODI) against India in the ongoing tri-series at Brisbane. Sudatta Mukherjee opines why India should be more wary about England’s bowlers than their batsmen at the fast and bouncy track of The Gabba.
In the last match at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), India’s famed batting line-up was tested as the Australian pacers, spearheaded by Mitchell Starc, wreck havoc. Despite a century by Rohit Sharma and fifty by Suresh Raina, the others’ inability to score big meant that Australia were left to chase a moderate target.
Chris Woakes unsettled the Australian batsmen in the first match, but Stuart Broad could not pick up a single wicket from his seven overs and ended up conceding 50 instead. England suffered even more, as there was no James Anderson in the team.
Come Tuesday, it is highly possible that Anderson might partner with Broad and Woakes against India on the fast and bouncy pitch at The Gabba, a happy hunting ground for both Anderson and Broad. In his three ODIs at the ground, Andersons averages 23.80 with the ball with an economy rate of 3.96. Though Broad is yet to play an ODI at Gabba, his Test average is an exceptional 25.11.
Despite the success stories of Anderson and Broad, Woakes’ Gabba memories are happier one. His only ODI at the ground saw him pick up a career-best haul of six for 45. They remain the sixth-best figures by a bowler in a losing cause.
It would be foolish for India to take these men lightly, especially after the average batting performance in the second ODI. India have a major problem in the bowling department, which means that batting is the only department where they can score over England.
Unless the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli along with Rohit and Raina fire at the top and put up a huge target, it will be very difficult for the bowlers to defend. At the same time, if Indian bowlers are not able to restrict England, the same batsmen have to take matters upon their own hands.
(Sudatta Mukherjee is a reporter with CricketCountry. Other than writing on cricket, she spends penning random thoughts on her blog. When she is not writing, you will catch her at a movie theatre or watching some English television show on her laptop. Her Twitter handle is @blackrosegal)
