By Ashis Ray, IANS
London : All roads lead to Lord’s Saturday, the Mecca of world cricket, for what could well be a thrilling climax.
India have clawed back from 1-3 by, first, staving off England at Leeds and, then, dramatically overcoming them at the Kennington Oval in this metropolis’ south segment to tie the one-day international (ODI) series 3-3.
This is unprecedented in a best-of-seven contest and everything rests on the final encounter.
Wednesday was the second time India successfully chased over 300 in England. The first such feat was, in fact, at Lord’s in the 2002 NatWest Series final. The target then was 326.
A week is indeed a long time in one-day cricket.
After the fourth ODI at Manchester, the series seemed lost for the visitors. But they have drawn level with two Herculean batting displays and the frustration has, therefore, shifted to the English camp.
India, though, must seriously ponder over persevering with Ajit Agarkar. Other than at Manchester, he has been unacceptably costly – indeed, he conceded 63 runs in eight overs at the Oval – while his batting has been wholly unproductive.
Rudra Pratap Singh’s potentially greater accuracy and fresh legs after nine days’ rest could serve India better. He was right on the money in the decider against South Africa at Belfast two months ago.
India remain the weakest fielding side among major cricketing nations in the world, although their standard improved Wednesday.
Regular bowlers Zaheer Khan, Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla have performed well but the part-time support has been unreliable. The might of India’s batting has mitigated such frailties.
The lack of a fifth specialist bowler proved to be rather expensive at the Oval, with Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar between them bleeding 71 runs in six overs – 30 of them bludgeoned off the former’s last five deliveries by the muscular Dimitri Mascarenhas.
Rahul Dravid arguably goofed up in not utilising Powar’s remaining over.
There doesn’t appear to be any scope of altering the seven batsmen line-up. They can only hope the bowlers deliver the goods and the batting blossoms once more.
The value of Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly teaming up to open the innings is incalculable. It’s not just the three century stands in this series, but the fact that they step up to the plate when it matters.
However, Dravid, Yuvraj and Mahendra Dhoni should be prepared to take the load off them in the finale, if necessary.
Gautam Gambhir produced a polished knock at the Oval while Robin Uthappa, catapulted from endless sessions at the nets to the cauldron of a pressure cooker match, clinically kept his cool to finish the job. An unbeaten 47 in 33 balls in the circumstances was a marvellous effort.
As for England, the conundrum over Andrew Flintoff’s ankle continues.
Two of England’s three wins in the series have surfaced with this gentle giant in their side. If he doesn’t play, the blond-haired Luke Wright, who made an impressive debut at the Oval, should retain his place.
Lord’s was the setting for India’s greatest triumph in one-day cricket – victory over the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final. Now coming from behind, can they make it another red-letter day in the annals of limited overs performances?