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The facts are unnatural:

There was a magnificent century struck in a losing cause. By the captain of the other side.

Tendulkar and Ganguly both got rotten decisions within sight of their centuries. India won.

Pietersen stood his ground after an edging a catch to the keeper. The next ball struck his pads. He walked.

An Australian umpire gave three big bad decisions against India and I didn't see muttering desis huddled in knots alleging white collusion and western conspiracy.

This is the season of miracles. If it lasts till the Oval the Indians might even decide that it isn't mandatory to lose a Test match after winning the previous one.

In which case my brother is wrong: it could get better than this.

Mukul Sir , ya you maybe right in the fact that this might indeed prove to be a season of miraclesand india might actually fufil the harbouring expectations of the indian fans since 21 years...but i personally feel that this jelly bean issue is quite childish by the english team and atleast the captain not the full team should be fined for this..more so the reply to this by the english camp is a bit skocking to i wouldn't expect such a generous attitude by the english media had the inverse of this would have happened

I think it's time to break the jinx. Watch a movie of Chandra 1971, guys....then go out and finish the job.The Oval has always been a good batting ground for us and it's time for the skipper to come to the party.

what a satisfying victory for india after the debacle at the world cup.team really showed total team effort and none theless our bowlers performed as such that india is not a poor travellers now on.really top effort kudo's to rahul's team good luck for next match.

It is more creditable when one considers that apart from Zaheer, R P Singh and Sreeshanth have played but a handful of tests.This aspect is glossed over by the English media whose constant refrain is that the England pace bowlers are all novices. Apart from the fact that Sidebottom,Tremlett and Anderson play day in and day out in the county circuit,they are not spring chickens in terms of age. Their longing for the famous four of the Ashes 2005 is ridiculous because Jones has seldom been heard of except in the context of his recovery from injuries and Harmisson for all his pace and height, has been an embarrassment on most occasions after 2005. Flintoff fell from grace in the pedalo incident and I am not sure how resilient he will prove to be psychologically upon return. Only Hoggard has performed reasonably since.If Sreesanth comes good, I am sure we should do well at the Oval. Sreesanth needs a bit of counselling, and some careful guidance by Venkatesh Prasad before that. Since the Oval wicket is said to have good bounce there is reason for hope. I hope the top order finds answers for the type and line of attack and the field setting they tried out in our second innings at Trent Bridge.

Getting rid of Chappell sure has made the difference! If only we could get rid of him before the world cup...

Mr Kesavn, excellent summary. Good to see the Galacticos show they have still some spark left - this was a real team effort with everyone pulling his weight. Expect England to come back hard at the Oval. Given that for five of the 11, it will be their last test in England expect them to go out on a high

Nicely done. I especially like the 'awed delight' at realising the full lameness of England's little tricks. Part of the delight is surely in watching the Poms try to look unconcerned as it all backfires badly on them. It reminds me of Allan Border's 7/46 against the West Indies in his 100th Test. The West Indians tried to keep their dignity, but they were thinking what everyone else was. Tough guy reputation gone forever.

The best that I find with all Indians is the change in their attitude. I mean not just our cricket team. I can still see Saurav Ganguly taking off his shirt and waving after winning the Natwest series in 2003. Since then the Indians have made it a point not to take any ...from other teams around the world. Retaliating in appropriate ways to Jelly beans in one thing and at the same time keeping their cool in face of bad decisions from the umpire. I am starting to love the average Indians mentality change ( by no means is the Indian team average)

When Sreesanth is awarded punishment of 50% cut, why not England players responsible for Beab Jelly mischief contrary to cricket ethicks, not punished?

great article. Being an England fan it was a bit embarrassing, but good to see that the childish behavior backfired. What tickled me was the English were trying to wind up Khan, India's No 9, with an average of 12, when they were already 266 runs behind! Maybe the 'phantom sweet placer'
had forgotten his orders earlier in the innings when the real damage was being done! Here's to a good Oval match, hard but fair. (and not childish)

After the World cup debacle, India had proved too good in this Test. Despite wrong decision, which cannot be avoided, India pulled up an excellant victory from strong pace of England blowing. India should show consistancy in the performance and hope they will prove in Ovel test. My Congrates to Dravid and his boys.

Yes, getting rid of Greg Chappell was what led to this. The team are more focussed now, there are no more rumours about factions or anything like that. This is good news. Go India!

UMASUTARAO CHODAVARAPU, in reply to your question, Sreesanth was punished because he made physical contact with an opposition player which is not allowed in cricket. Nobody was punished for the jelly bean incident because it only violated the spirit of the game, not broken any rules. I hope that clears it for you.

I think the average indian fan has been underrated when you say that there have been no shouts of western conspiracy. No average Indian is going to shout when an umpire makes errors in judgemen. at least i dont. It is just when in a sample of say 20 wrong decisions more than 15 go against india that we shout about white conspiracy... i dont feel there is anything wrong in calling umpires of the old times biased(say the 1999 australian series where there were shoulder before the wicket decisions)... There is nothing wrong in pointing out injustice.... If u feel pointing out injustice is wrong then cheers to you.....

A job well done. But wise counsel would be to reserve one's accolades until the series is seen through. If my memory serves well, and it is indeed screaming out reminders this time, our boys have made an art out failing miserably after a sparkling act. Why don'tt we wait and see if tour men in white can restrain themselves from going overboard and sustain the run until th eseries is decided. Me dia and the pundits are often quick to shower superlatives even for tinhy crumbs that shine out of the dark ally. Has happened umpteen times. Letts be realistic. it is not as though they pulped a full strength English team. The currrent English is not even half as great as Australians. This English team is eminently beatable and top 5 test playing nations in the current ranking ladder are expected to do it any which way they go. The bouquets are coming far too soon and far too much. I am in no mood to forgive the guys so quickly for the unmitigatinng desaster and shame we were put through at the recent world cup. Let the guys work harder and earn the flattery. I don;t think Aussies got such praise even after a sustained 17 match victtory run. Thats the differene between men and boys. If our vision is to be world leaders, there is time yet for more proof and harder grind. if we are a nation happy to seek comfort in mundane victories once in a while, then you are excused for breaking the chain and running around wild. I for one, would insist that our world ranking superrstars have one helluva act to catch up with. Lets put up a restrained celebration, thats the advise.

Good article.However while most Indian journalists are quick to condemn the jellybean affair not enough is being written about Sreesanth's juvenile,possibly dangerous behaviour.Even if the beamer was accidental,the no ball certainly wasn't.

Let's not get carried away just yet. Nearly lost the Lords test match with no excuses for what was a poor performance by the batsmen. It was great to see the middle order fire and the bowling line up back them up magnificently at Trent Bridge. R P Singh is a star in the making and I wish Sreesanth would learn from the way he handles himself. No histrionics, just fabulous swing bowling. Look forward to the final test match at the Oval and hope India are able to see it through as they did back in 1971. No point in laying blame with the umpires for poor decisions, resenting the insinuation that Zaheer used sweets to make the ball swing as prodigiously as it did nor retaliating with poor behaviour just because it has become commonplace with most international sides. I love the mental toughness that Ganguly has instilled in the Indian team and the way Dravid has carried it on. Mental toughness is what counts and India are capable of rising above the mindless antics of Prior, Straus, Pieterson and co. Come on India and win with the grace that you are capable of. I don't believe sledging has any place in cricket and is encouraged by the media by glorifying it as mind games. Gamesmanship is cheating in my book. The better cricket team will nearly always win without the need to resort to bad behaviour and cricket will be the real winner.

What a wonderfully gloating piece! Magnificent! And absolutely no mention at all of the disgraceful beamer and deliberate no-ball by Sreesanth, to say nothing of his barge on Vaughan. Yes, England behaved like little children. Yes, Matt Prior should put a sock in it. But to slag off sweets and sledging when you conveniently overlook two - arguably, three - pieces of fast-bowling thuggery does you no credit, Mukul. We all know you're desperate for India to put one over England. And they played brilliantly at Trent Bridge. But, please - if you're going to avoid sounding like a one-eyed fan - can you try for a little more objectivity next time?

The victory was sweet. But the fact that India lost 3 wickets in the second innings chasing only 73 still is the indication that there is something wrong with the batting..

pingopin - thank you for your comments. Finally some sense amongst all this hysteria.
SP - if you seriously think getting rid of Greg Chappell has "led to this" - this being a victory against a third rate team then getting rid of Greg Chappell has also contributed to the appalling behaviour of Sreesanth. Sreesanth behaved like a loon throughout the match - what he needed was a firm talking to. Something a coach needs to do and something which Dravid is obviously incapable of doing.

"An Australian umpire gave three big bad decisions against India and I didn't see muttering desis huddled in knots alleging white collusion and western conspiracy".... One of the funniest lines I've ever read about cricket. Sad, but true. (now someone respond and call me racist! Please!)

Well Ed Smythe.. I hope u know by ur self that u r a racist and no bosy's certification is required. If u can understand what Mukul meant, u would know that he's trying to highlight the contrast of usual higher standards of Aussie umpires.

To Sarah.. True.. Sreesanth's behavior is not acceptable at international level. But did u realize, he's the only Indian player at fault in the whole match while u have to search hard to find a decent english player in the match. People behave oddly when they r frustrated (though it may not be acceptable sometimes). There is lot of difference between doing deliberately and doing on purpose. Moreover, Sreesanth accepted his mistake and apologized. How about english player? any one??

"Indran" Dravid's 12th man helps!

We won, finally! Plz have a look at the teams on paper. We should win any given day with those sevsen proven batsmen and Anil Kumble the vereran spinner. The rest are only bowlers and they are green and easily comparable with new bowlers of England. On the other side, Pieterson, Vaughan and probably Collinwood can only compare with our first five in batting. So, this victory has become so dear n precious now is only because it is a rare thing for our under performing team outside India.
Selection was good though not bold, performence was fair and England was unlucky to loose toss n to bat, etc. all o' them made us winning with the help of the 12th man "Indran" god of rain helping our team once again.

I think this test series has all the hallmarks of a disturbingly ridiculous contest. An English team still living off the merits of that glorious Summer 2 years ago. And an insolent Indian team who decide who coaches them but can't control when they win.

Feels good doesn't it? This winning overseas stuff.

Sreesanth is a bit of a nut-case, but I doubt he is malicious. Whatever anyone else thinks, it was plain to see he was never in rhythm the whole 2nd innings. If he had bowled the big no-ball, he had also bowled from a meter behind the popping crease.

The shoulder barge was unfortunate and he got punished. End of.

Excellent artcile. Ed Smythe - Totally Agree with you and don't think you racist on the basis of that comment.

Great Test match between 2 evenly matched teams, India were a bit lucky at Lords and with the Toss at Nottingham but you cannot fault their performane which was brilliant (esp Ganguly who was awesome). I hope Sreesanth is dropped, his behaviour was dispicable whereas the jelly bean behaviour was just childish and unprofessional (but highly amusing, even more so because England lost).

it is amazing that people still dont understand cricekt.I hear comments getting rid of Chappel helped my good ness we have done well in test matches since dravid took over in 2005 we have beaten westindies in windies and also SA won a test match for first time. But we were miserable inODI. Both ODI and tests are diff if we have worldcup now i bet we still wont win. We are good in test matches. It has nothing to do with Chappel Grow up Indian fans,writers

As an Englishman I'm grateful for Sandeep's measured summing up. All the same, the jelly bean incident was just the tip of the iceberg - England's sledging was pathetic and shameful. It was a very great pity that Tendulkar was denied a century by a poor umpiring decision. I hope he makes one in a losing cause at the Oval.

Yeah, Mukul... it could get better than this. I'll begin to believe in Team India if they would only repeat their performance without assistance from the magical properties of the jelly bean to spur them. Bear in mind that the bloody English have discovered the way to neutralize Zaheer Khan - stop pinging jelly beans on the pitch when he bats.

Perhaps an appropriately chastened and properly fired-up Sreesanth will step in at the Oval to fulfill the role. It would be interesting to watch how both Khan and Sreesanth respond to the challenge of the next match.

So, let them repeat this performance without being driven to it by....children in the opposition, and then... THAT would be the real test as to whether natural selection has run its full course and a true Team India has finally arrived. No more false arrivals (or unnatural victories).

Hats off... and good luck.

nice commentary Mr Kesavan.

In reply to SP's reply to UMASUTARAO CHODAVARAPU, jelly beans thrown at a length CAN be considered as tampering with the pitch. You might like to take a look at Ian Chappell's take on this (also in cricinfo site).

Guess, for the press, it made a good story to look at the lighter side of it than at the issue of "pitch tampering".

While the cricket was good, Sreesanth's loony antics and the jelly bean episode was a blot.

There was one more bad decision -Vaughan earlier in his innings against RP Singh. If you take that into consideration England would have collapsed in the second innings too. Sachin and Ganguly got robbed and so was RP Singh. It is easier to post a huge total if players get two times to bat in the same innings.

We'll get the Indians at the Oval. No fear! And we'll do it without Flintoff and Hoggard. Just you wait!

Your brother stands a very good chance of being wrong.You also looked at Indian team's reactions when the winning ball hit the rope,isn't it?There were no callisthenics on display but just muted celebrations.Their attitude will do it for them this time.

If England have less experience is their pace attack so have India. Zaheer is the only one with any experience worth mentioning. Indian team would have been better armed with a fit Munaf in place of Sreesanth. England were clearly outbatted in this game. Indians batted better against the moving and the bouncing ball. Of all the Indian batsmen Saurav played the best. That speaks a lot about the doubting thomases- "Ganguly cannot play on grass, bad against the moving ball ... and all that rubbish .The toss did not matter so much, to put it straight.Tauffel must have been through the worst in his umpiring career so far. Well! even the best can have bad days. And last but not the least- Chappel has done only one good deed for Indian cricket by getting out and sparing us further miserable performances. Now , it is time Sree is told to pull up his socks. Also , England players made a laughing stock of themselves. The less said about the so called hard fighting cricket the better. Sledging is one hell of a nonsense and should stop. It is high time the authorities put a full-stop to it. Let us accept the fact that none of these players would have dared to sledge the West Indians of yester years.

It is good to see india won without coach. That means that having coach is not as important as india think. It is all depend on managment and captain of the team. Greg Chappell was overpaid under perform coach with very bad tactics. He worked on one day team very hard to make it winner but we are worst in oneday than test. He did not do much for test team and we are better at test match. 300,000 US DOLLARS of Salary for coach was wasted and it is good that we got rid off coach to get best out of indian team.

good article!! and credit to the english supporters who have commented, very fair, best of luck for next test, especially Vaughan. however, i am curious Mukul you havent mentioned anything about your anti-Ganguly views?? why so quiet now??
Well Done India!! win the next one, dont be defensive and go for draw

I'm an avid Indian supporter myself but let's not
be carried away in ecstasy. The victory was sweet
but let's remember that the series really ought to
have been 1-1 at this point. I really want the team to win at the Oval: a draw won't suffice, since the series victory will then be
interpreted by many as being largely a fortuitous
one. Of course what gets recorded at the end of the day is the result, but inner satisfaction is
a different thing altogether.

Lest I sound condescending to the opposition, let
me also mention that indeed a loss is very much
on the cards too, as we've seen in the past on
numerous occasions. Only that I'm trying not to
think about it. Let's hope that there is enough
resolution, professionalism and formidability
not to let England turn the tables on us. Let's
hope we can avoid the national vice of easy
complacence and for once stamp a series victory
with unquestionable auhtority.

India indeed has won the match, but this is not to be seen in the light of strengthening of an Indian side, but more of an weakening of 'English' side and about many frontline english players not playing. Hoggard, Flintoff, Harmison and Trescothink, these are not any small names, they sound as good as Sachin, Dravid, Sehwag and kumble if not better. We are indeed playing an England A side disguised as English side.

And all the on field behavior we have seen in this test is all deliberate, attempted by players as well as administrators -- so successfully so as to make it look really real -- to once again increase the levels of cricketing interest. Let us not be fooled to think that the Jelly Beans Incident was an incident. It was deliberate, and one set up with knowledge of players, administrators, umpires and everyone. The reason for doing this ? obviously to spice up the interest levels among the Indian spectators after the world cup debacle. "All Cricket ground is a stage and all players are actors"

There's been a lot of discussion about the tendency of this side to lose a game after having won the previous one. I think it's got a lot to do with the indian batting stars' limitations. The bowlers have rarely failed in these games. However, it's just that the batting's not risen to the occasion, collapsed in just that one innings and managed to lose the initiative. If india loses this one, i'ld be surprised if it's because of the bowlers.

I don't think scores of 481 without anybody scoring a 100 happen everyday in a test match. Keeping that in mind, one must not gloss over the umpiring errors. For instance, what do you think would have happened if there were ONLY TWO major umpiring errors in India's first innings instead of FOUR? What if Jaffer and Karthik were given out correctly early in the inning and Tendulkar and Ganguly given out incorrectly as they were? Would we feel as charitable as we are being right now? I don't think so. At the very least, that would have meant chasing an additional 100 runs on day 5. Given how we reached 73, that does not seem a very reassuring prospect. Furthermore, if Pieterson could be urged by English players to go back after an incorrect decision, Dravid should have urged the same regarding Ganguly. In Tendulkar's case it was a decision that only the umpire at the bowler's end is allowed to make and ICC rulings do not permit anything else.
A caught behind decision is an entirely different matter, and umpires are allowed to consult both leg umpire and the third umpire. However, for that to happen, doubt needed to be created in Simon Taufel's mind. Urging Ganguly to turn back might have done just that. These are "tricks" that perhaps only a "white coach" can teach and inculcate. And, perhaps, also somebody named Sunil Gavaskar. Until then, maybe we should continue to pray for sustained "errors" by umpires, and every batsman, not just the big four, making use of the largesse as and when provided.
One last point, which could perhaps be researched by the statisticians: How many times Bucknor, Taufel, Peter Willey, and other "top" umpires have "erred" in favour of Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid, or Ganguly, as opposed to "erring" against them? The answer to that question, I fear would be extremely disturbing.

A superb victory for India that rivals Adelaide 03 in terms of playing with a tough mindset.

I will digress and encourage Indian fans to not celebrate the battle until the war is done. This victory is a great one, and deserves some real recognition. But what happens if the team go missing in the next game? Will you be as scathing then as you are rejoicing now?

It poses more of a challenge to the Indian media and the fans to keep their perspective. They must be careful not to blow this out of proportion, as their next bad game (be it one game or a year from now) could result in a real moodswing of opinion. better to celebrate briefly and look forward to the next test where indian cricket can achieve the consistency their talent deserves

Sir, Your articles are just out of this world, I hope you can keep up the good work against these 'hare today and gone tomorrow' bits and pieces English cricketer who ape the Auzzies. They seriously believe that they can be world beaters with 'grit, determination and mental-warfares', if a professional cricketer does not have the talent and skill, there is always the county cricket, which is so full of discards that show up every season only to be put in their right place.

This match should be more remembered for stupid umpiring than anything else. It really pisses me off when the TV commentators keep calling Simon Taufel as world's best umpire.

Pieterson was given out by him who walked back to the dressing room, then came back and reinstated by the third umpire. Why the same courtesy was not offered to Tendulakar and Ganguly?

People talk lightly about racism in Cricket but think about it, Pakistan was accused of ball tampering without any proof. Elite Pakistani players were treated like common criminals who were finger printed and suspected of murdering their coach again without any evidence. Such things don't happen to white players or white teams.

India better play to win rather than play to draw in the third test.
It was the aggressiveness of Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan that set the tone for India. You can't tour different countries only to criticize your players if they are aggressive. I have always held the belief that sledging has become too much a part of the game to not to practice. Asian countries start at a disadvantage when they avoid sledging. It will not be carved out of the game, so better be good at it. Secondly, the appealing is another place where Asians have to learn to go together. When the Australians appeal, right or wrong, 7,8 players on the feild go together (probably apart from few such as the third man). This is only perfected with a certain amount of practice and effort together, as to go for a appeal or not is a decision made in a split-second by an individual. It also requires a certain degree of awareness each and every ball.

When Pakistan visited England, they had a meek captain who thought he was forgiving others and asked his players to mantain that South Asian discipline of not being aggresive. Pakistan lost. In India, in this one instance, Pakistan has an example as well.
All the talk of ethics won't change anything, so why not become part of the system?

Kudos to India firstly for winning this test... But I dont want to count my chickens before they hatch particularly since what has happened previously...

Lets also remember we fought freaking hard to draw the first test... I know rain came to the rescue but helloo.... how many times has rained robbed us of a victory in the past??? It was about time we got our due... Besides I have this feeling that since the luck is on our side (Weather, Toss , winning after getting poor decisions) I think we will make it this time around...

Regarding Sreesanth... he is one of my favourite players because of his attitude... hes a true never say die quickie... Wears his heart on his sleeve...

Yeah he acted like a lunatic... but things can get to you sometimes... besides the best quality I love about him is he doesnt try to become one of those typical Indian " I was bowling fast but coach told me to slow down" bowler. Ex Zaheer, Munaf, Irfan etc. He will win India more matches than you and me think... And I'm sure we will lose if they drop him from the Oval Test...

Hey BTW the 1 foot no ball thing was what all Windies bowlers used to do when the backfoot no ball rule was in place... Thank God that changed...

Lets hope we remain aggressive and burn em down... coz we need to win Baddddddd....

Cmon India...

Yes, sir!! It cannot get better than this. The assurance with which the two Indian openers set up a strong response was the foundation of our win. How many times have we seen India bowl out the opposition for a low score and then commit harakiri in their response especially losing their top three wickets easily!! But wait, there might be more of an Indian summer with potentially the captain playing a lead role in winning the series at the Oval. All the best to the Indian team. I love it!!

WOW! what a historic win! this team is great! indian bowlers actually bowled out the other side twice!!!..amidst all these clamouring, let's get our perspectives right here.

England missed Trescothick (who always did well against us),Harmisson (he might be harmless sometimes), Flintoff (the key man) and Hoggard (he swung the ball prodigiously both ways at Trentbridge the last time we met ).

Inspite of these huge handicaps, Eng were denied a deserving win at Lords, stretched India to the limit at Trentbridge.

Batting is still fragile. If the openers are out cheaply at Oval, I don't see this middle order (I would add Dhoni to the tail) putting up a fight.

The real test is at Oval. If they win comprehensively, they can atleast bring a wry smile to my face:-)

Dear Mr.Kesavan,

to be honest, i'm pretty disappointed with the article. I read your posts with great pleasure, because you have the talent to see the things from a different angle and to offer a deep analysis. In the last couple of days i had the possibility to read many articles about the last match. They were pretty monotonous (except one from simon hughes). And to be fair, this article also has nothing new to offer.

As Sarah already pointed out, the fact that you didn't mention sreesanth in your article is quite appalling. In my list of "unnatural facts" i would definitely put his behavior on the top of the list. I don't know if you watched the match live, because,if you had seen the theatrics of the young bowler, you would have definitely mentioned it.
It was awful. I mean, i'm an indian and i'm really happy that the indian won this wonderful match. But the antics of Sreesanth were simply shocking. He is a good prospect and still very young. At Lord's he was all over the place. As usual he bowled some jaffas, but he was wayward. In the first innings at Trent Bridge he bowled some poor spells, despite the occasional unplayable delivery. He knew he wasn't bowling well. and what did he do? he practised "LEG SPIN" (!!!) in the nets during the third day. Nasser Hussain was on the air and was shocked about the lack of professionalism. The poor guy didn't expect india to be bowled out during the last hour and he was simply not ready to bowl. The three overs were awful. But i thought, ok, maybe he realized that he let the team down and tomorrow he will help india to win this match.
now i know i made a big misjudgement!

From one side, there was the sheer brilliance of Zaheer Khan, and from the other end, the most disgraceful piece of bowling of an indian player i have ever witnessed! To go down the pitch after every delivery and insult the batsmen, it's not only obscene, it's also boring. It's the same feeling with the bowling of andre nel. Bowlers could say, "it's the white-line-syndrome", but that is only a stupid excuse. You can still be extremely menacing, without having to say a word (great examples:Ambrose, Marshall & Co).

Sreesanth is trying to create the image of a tough guy. But with his behavior he ends up being ridiculous. A great fast bowler has the charisma, the "aura", but also great talent. If you don't have the ability to walk the talk, you look silly. McGrath was foul-mouthed, but he was the best fast bowler of his generation.
I really don't know if the beamer was intentional. But the huge no-ball was blatant. I had never seen something like that, but the intention was obvious and the delivery could have been very dangerous.

That he was only fined for the shoulder-barger was a lucky escape for the guy. He should have been dropped for the next match, but dravid seems to lack the firmness. In these cases the presence of a stern captain is essential.

concerning the "jelly bean-saga",i have the impression that it has been simply blown up. The insinuation was quite obvious: to stir up zaheer saying that the swing he was getting was due to the jelly beans. (In reality EVERY team uses it, even the england team used it to get prodigious swing during the ashes 2005). But as everyone knows, the attempt from the english players backfired spectacularly. So i don't understand why some indian journalists were angry about the whole issue. It really showed the disgraceful face of some of the new england players (the best example, matt prior, the worst sledger in the history of this game), but, from an indian point of view, i would say that it's a compliment. If they are trying to disturb you, that means that your are doing the right thing!

In my list of "unnatural facts", i would definitely point out other factors:

- dravid played pretty poorly, but india have still won.
- the openers put up a hundred partnership.
- despite a low performance from kumble, india still managed to take 20 wickets

These are the "real" unnatural things of the Trent Bridge Test Match (and the backbone of the indian win).

it's a pity that you never give a feedback. You just open your blog, but you never participate actively. I really hope that in the future you will take some time to take note of the reactions in the blog.

Regards

All credits to Rahul Dravid's Captaincy. He has been source of inspiration.
He has marshalled his resource magnificiently.
He very calmly handled all onfield nuisances created by England.
He has two other non-scoring senior batsman who are in Team only because of their demi-god status and sponsorer's influence.
To get result from this Team is really a mirror to his stature.

Sir Vivian,
A Very good one. If you ever plan to run a blog, let me know, I will switch :-).
:-)
-AB

Before this win everyone slammed the batsmen and now they are praising them as if they never said what they had said before. What do people really think?

Hillarious! The most uplifting, comical, and pertinent writing on cricket I've come across. Keep it light, keep it bright, keep it gay! :P

I can't stop laughing. India win one test against an average unfunny opponent and it's christmas. Mukul as usual your article is biased and unfair. The umpiring in this match was poor but favoured neither team, Zaheer proved once again that even a jelly bean can blow his over sensitive fuse and Sreesanth is such a nice guy....yeah right. Hello Indian fans.....Stop trashing your opponents and enjoy this well earned victory.

I think the best thing to come out of this blog was "Sir Vivian"'s comments. Was I the only person who at the end of Mukul's blog thought "Gee, tell u something we didn't know!" Disappointing, but I guess we should feel lucky that we didn't get some mashed up article from one of his other submissions. Saad got it right, keep it very gay indeed Mukul.

The funniest comments from the match came from the character most likely to have made them, India's version of Dominic Cork, Sreesanth: "I was feeling sad that I hadn't contributed to the game so I held my Indian cap while sleeping." I'm not sure whether the cap provided him comfort, support or good luck, but it is fantastic to see that (a few days after bowling legspin in the nets) rather than focus on the basics and correcting any issues that had arisen, he chose to solve all his problems with a dumb superstition. All that aggression hasn't really produced a delivery in excess of 90mph has it? More and more he's being perceived as a simple idiot, doing his best to be institutionalized.

The post is great.... lets all hope that your brother is proved wrong by Dravid's men.... however, reading the comments, it was quite surprising that many people have been mentioning that the scorline should have been 1-1 at this stage!!!! And where were these guys when Team India was having one of their signature batting collapses and it started raining minutes after the guys folded up?????? Such is the beautiful game called cricket!!!! Lets not take anything away from Laxman (though i'm not very fond of him myself) and Dhoni .....and ofcourse Lady Luck. This has been a victory well won, and full credit to the Indians. However, they need to beware as the English showed their typical resiliance in their Second innings, both with the bat and ball. Zak was great, but then, so was Tremlett in their second innings. The 3rd test sure does promise a lot..... Lets hope the English fire up Sree this time (and he doesnt resort to any more antics) coz he's going to be quite a handful in this one.

After a hellish Test match in Jamaica in 1976, Sunil Gavaskar wrote that beamers don't slip from the fingers of international bowlers. He was referring to Michael Holding. Sreesanth is not Holding, although he apparently thinks otherwise, but his behavior was still appalling. To his credit, he has apologised, seems to realize that he has embarrassed his captain, and will probably make an effort to behave better. In contrast, nobody in the England team seems to understand that behaving like an a...... on the field only makes you an a......, not an Australian.

Half the English team was involved in blatant violation of Law 42 which requires that the fielding side should do nothing to distract the batsman (Jelly Beans).
If an Indian had done the same thing, the match referee would promptly have used the clause about "violation of the spirit of the game" against Indians, particularly if it gave him an excuse to ban a key Indian player.
We know of no action for blatant dissent by Kevin Peterson - given out (albeit incorrectly) by the umpire, but waited on dressing room instructions for an error reversal.
The match referee would have remembered he had a paid job to do if Ganguly / Sachin had done what Peterson did. What happened to Peterson ?
When we see this kind of blatant one-sided use of authority by Match Referees who are not required to make any spur of the moment decisions that we
are wondering whether the below list is actually human error OR Malcolm Speed's orders -
Simon Tauffel with a one-sided volume of "human errors" washed out the difference of the toss during this test, the cream of the Indian batting line-up was "unfortunate" to be given out !
2 different ICC umpires' erraneously gave Dravid out at Durban & India lost the match.
4 "human errors" by the great Billy Bowden, all against India at Bangalore which won a test match & the final frontier for Australia.
I could fill pages with facts about how Indians got the wrong end of an umpiring decision when the result of a match was in the balance.
Someone please remind me of the reverse.
India should resign its ICC membership if there are any more "HUMAN ERRORS" from ICC's allegedly neutral umpires favouring England / Australia / SA.
By the way - I have formally asked ICC at least 3 times for a contact with their officer in charge of match referees & umpires in order that I can lodge a formal complaint for racial discrimination against their staff. ICC have refused to respond.

Kind of wish you hadnt included the Pietersen fact in all that. He was a bit shaken by the beamer so we dont know whether that affected him more than the excellent bowling. Definately a deserved victory, although I can see England levelling at the Oval (please). I dont think there is that big a gap between the two teams for India to come away with a victory.

The australians must be overjoyed by what has happened in this series. The two test nations who generally occupy the 2nd and 3rd spots in the table have lost themselves squabbling over their own childish behaviour. If either side ever wants to be a decent test unit they need to find a penetrative seem attack, this may seem a strange comment given recent scores, but i feel theses scores have more to do with freakish weather than great bowlers. None of these seem bowlers can compare to McGrath, Ambrose or Donald. I rather fear that this will be exposed at the oval now that the weather seems to have cleared and the prospect of a decent batting track looms large. Kumble will be the only bowler on either side to present a genuine threat at the oval

Mukul you have very nicely summed up the points by using the line which your brother sms-ed you and what you forgot to mention in your riposte is the UGLY incident which has been ignored by most i.e., SREESANTH'S BEAMER at Kevin Pietersen.

I don't think it was accidental or a slip of the palm or hand because the ball wasn't new nor was it wet due to the dew factor which wasn't there. Besides, Sreesanth has a history and a nagging problem in controlling his emotions and this time in controlling the direction of the ball which was aimed at Kevin Pietersen's head! In the previous match he rubbed his shoulders with Michael Vaughn and paid 50% of his match fees in fines. Sometime back, I remember he was gyrating his hips and waving his bat in Rodeo style after hitting a six against SA.

To express your emotions or to celebrate your wicket or a hundred is fine, but there is always a way and a degree of decency which is lacking in case of Sreesanth. This IMO is due to the fact that the initial success and lotsa, lotsa praise, accolades and comparisons by the media and public in general that he is like so and so has gone into his head. It is a know fact that instant success and too much praise not only inflates the ego but it creates false pride and vanity that goes in to their heads. And Sreesanth, definitely is a victim of praise and he thinks that he is already a celebrity and every single thing that he does is idolized and appreciated. Irfan Pathan has not shown his emotions like Sreesanth but, the instant and undue praise and celebrity status has affected his performance and his exclusion from the team.

I am not sure if you would publish my post here because it is not in conformity with your views or that of the readers, in fact it is showing the other side of the coin that you have tossed up and highlighted the poor performance of the English team and the injustice done towards Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly due to bad umpiring decisions etc. I think being a sports journalist you should have also highlighted this beamer incident too and, asked for some kinda penalty, fines or at least acknowledge it as an ugly incident, and you didn't. But, this is so obvious and so ugly that you cannot hide it like dirt under the carpet. People are going to raise questions on Sreesanth's emotions, aggression, intimidation and more than that they will be doubting his integrity.

One might argue that Sreesanth immediately apologized with a royal wave but that is not enough and not acceptable from an International player. Pietersen was lucky not to get hurt, the ball was aimed at his head and landed at the foot of the wicket keeper. Shortly after that Sreesanth over stepped at least by two feet to bowl a quick bouncer at Collingwood. So, obviously neither his emotions were in control nor his line and length and that is why I have said, his integrity is in question. Because, it appears like a clear cut case of intimidating the English batsman. Is anyone out here demanding an inquiry against Sreesanth?

You and some of the readers on this blog are whining and demanding an explanation from the ICC about Simon Taufel's wrong decisions. But, no one is saying anything as to why the ICC is not taking any action against Sreesanth for this beamer? As the rumour goes people say the ICC has not taken any action, is because Ranjan Madugale is the match referee and he has deliberately ignored the whole issue. Mukul Kesa Van, give me your number and I will sms you another text to rewrite this thread! ;-)

If a Western umpire makes a wrong decision, then it is classed as "human error" but if an umpire from the Asian sub continent makes an error then it is labelled as "cheating". Go figure.....

"Sreesanth must be banned for beamer: Atherton". When Atherton was seen on the field as a teenager, he was famously referred to as, FCE, Future Captain of England. It's a shame to see a good exponent of batting and captaincy, if not a great, making a weak statement against an Indian bowler for bowling a beamer at, arguably, England's best batsman. I would like someone to point out to Mike that the whole England team is lucky to have escaped the crack of the whip from the Match Referee for the infamous 'jelly bean' incident. It was a clear case of tampering with the conditions of the playing surface (Remember Rahul Dravid's 'cough lozenges' saga in during the 2003 Australia tour that was referred to as tampering with the Ball?). I can't understand why no action has been taken against their act although Ian Chappell has indicated in his columns before about the same. I understand that it was a dangerous delivery, but definitely wasn't lethal as Kevin has mentioned in one of his columns. There have been more lethal deliveries bowled in cricket over the past 100 odd years the game has been played for. It is pitiful to see Kevin complain like a school-kid who has just been bullied, a real Cry baby. English Cricket has always tried to find loopholes in the opposition's camp to cover their own deficiencies and short comings. Their inability to play the swinging ball and pick reverse swing made them call Pakistan bowlers, ‘cheats’. England hasn’t produced a bowler of the capability even close to a Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis in the past few decades, even more perhaps. The fact that they conquered Australia in 2005 Ashes using the same reverse swing made it an ‘Art’ all of a sudden and the real creators of the art were termed 'cheats of the game'. Shameful! When they lose to Australia, which is more often than not, they like to term the Aussies as bad mannered cricketers who like to talk, but when the same applies to them, they would like to call it playing hard and tough. Flintoff would run around Wankhede Stadium taking his shirt off and it is left unnoticed, but when Ganguly does the same at Lord's, it becomes a shameful act. Isn't the game of Cricket supposed to have the same 'A gentleman's game' tag, regardless where it is played? All in all, it really takes the focus off such an intensely fought series between India and England. Cricket, after the failure of the 2007 edition of the world cup, has been waiting for a series such as this, but the players acts, organizer’s failure to notice and punish/warn offenders straightaway, and the players and commentators sheepish defense/attack for/against other players is ludicrous and shocking to say the least and must be stopped before the game’s popularity and the reputation as 'A gentleman's game is further jeopardized. Someone ought to put up his hand and put an end to this ongoing nonsense and bring the focus back to the 'Centre of the pitch' where the real action is supposed to take place for which all of us have gathered from around the world. That someone has to be from the Game organizing body. Hope someone’s listening…….

So if we were to script the next one just as fairy-tail like as this one, here's how it would go: India bat first and get a BIG BIG total, with Dravid getting a HUGE one. Then Sreesanth (Yes, the same Sreesanth of the beamer and no ball defame) and Zaheer together shredding the English to pieces. Then why not toy around with their bowlers a little bit and maybe even get Mr. Tendulkar to get his name up on some English honors board. And finally, let Apple Crumble take center stage and fizz his way through the poms in the 4th innings. Might even be poetic justice to have KP get a horrendous decision. Ok enough fantasies. Now you tell me Mukul: Can it really get any better than THAT? :)

I am glad to see that justice was served by India winning the test match. India played much better for most of the game, and England deserved to lose for engaging in such childish and puerile behaviour. In my opinion, the immature and inappropriate responses and comments by some of the English players (Collingwood, Cook) since the incident is almost as bad as putting foreign objects on the pitch in the first place.

However, it is disturbing to read the comments from people such as Chetan and vinod. I think the comments made reveal the difference in mentality between cultures, and possibly why India has not had the success of the Australian team despite having a hugely talented line up. Australians view themselves as winners even when they are not, while many from the sub continent seem determined to view themselves as victims, and go to extraordinary lengths to confirm this view, regardless of the reality of a situation.

For example, vinod mentions the 1999 series and 'shoulder before the wicket decisions'. He is obviously referring to the Tendulkar LBW (which is only one decision, not decisionS). I have that incident on video tape and have seen it many times, the fact is that Tendulkar was hit in front of the stumps, below the height of the stumps, and the ball was on a downward trajectoy. There is no way the ball would have missed the stumps ... it was clearly OUT! The fact that someone is still carrying on about this nearly a decade later, when the decision was correct, amazes me.

Contrast this to Gilchrist's treatment in the 2001 series in India, where Gilchrist's first innings of the series was a magnificent 100. In his next 5 innings he failed to reach double figures, fired out LBW every time. 2 of the 5 were probably out, one was doubtful, but twice he was given out to woefully bad decisions. This probably cost Australia the series, but it is hardly mentioned. Rather than bleat and whine about the injustice and conspiracies, and carry a grudge for years, Australia and Australians accepted the decisions, blatantly wrong as they were, and just tried harder to win next time.

As for Chetan ... there is lots that could be said about your obviously unhealthy and unbalanced view of things, but let's just say it is not surprising that the ICC has not responded to you! Your belief that Billy Bowden would deliberately favour Australia over anyone robs your comments of any credibility they may have had.

Mr.Mukul, if you would kindly comment on Sreesanths's unruly and careless behaviour in this test also..... It was horrendous seeing one of our leading bowlers showing such immaturity while carrying out his trade.... Actually as mentioned by sum1 in this blog, that should have been teh topic to condemn, not the some jelly beans strewn over, yeah , that's not ideal, but it became more of a sensational news coz the British media always hypes things more than necessary.
Sreesant is showing his weak side of the game and I am really worried about that, coz, he is not only from my country but from my state "Kerala". We do not wanna loose him from this big league, as it is very unlikely to get another guy into the Indian team soon from our place.....
Fingers crossed, hope that he performs to utmost distinction at the OVAL.

For the first time,I agree with Mukul Kesevan whole heartly .. This is unnatural and certain not what Indian cricket fans are used to especially if we win the next one at the Oval. To add to VISHY point, Ithink everybody has forgetted Pietersen quite famously claiming "BREET LEE TRIED TO KILL ME" when he got a beamer during the 2005 Ashes tour. And he is kinda saying same thing about poor Sree! I strongly believe it was a mistake. We never saw Athers professing that Brett Lee should be banned during the Ashes incident.

Mike Atherton's call for banning Sreesanth sounds more like sour grapes,even a deliberate ploy to downplay and sidetrack the English team's weak performance, particularly after they were exposed to palpable limitations against top quality swing and seam bowling in enabling conditions.Kevin P sulks, nay whimpers like a pitiful schoolboy. Where are the likes of Nari Contractor and Kumble who so courageously bore the occupational hazards and the injuries on acricket field? Shame on these guys who whimper like sissies and play mind games by marking out poor Sreesanth for unfair treatment, despite the bowler being gracious enough to tender a spot apology.

Another one came from the English.Arhterton wants Rahul to ban Sresanth from the Oval test.Why they are too much worried about him?Probably they know that the presence of Sreesanth will make a difference in the Indian team on agression.I like the attitude of that boy very much & I feel he should be there in the final test.If he is to be banned why not the jelly bean boys.

Mr. Khan,
While the beamer incident has not been mentioned by Mukul and should have been as part of his article, IMO the beamer being intentional and that sreesanth should be banned for a test match(as suggested by Mike Atherton, who was caught ball tampering on TV,and still managed to escape any meaningful punishment) is laughable. If the beamer bowled by sreesanth is considered intentional, then i am sure the beamers bowled "accidently" by Lee, Akthar, Walsh should also be considered intentional. However, everyone considers it as a mistake because the bowlers have been quick to "apologise". Lee has had a history of bowling "accidental" beamers in ODIs and Test, and at times when there is no dew in the ground nor is the ball new. Why is it that no one considers the beamers bowled by Lee as "accidental". Would really like to know what could be the reason? And in the 2005 ashes when Lee bowled a beamer to Peiterson on the last day of the oval test, no one mentioned that Lee is unable to keep his emotions in check, no one asked for banning Lee because he was bowling beamers and KP was not shaken up nor did he fall to the ground inspite of Lee being atleast 10 mph faster than Sreesanth. Really surprising !!!. The Sreesanth issue is just being used as a ruse to cover up on the jellybean incident and the excessive sledging done by the english players, which has left the english cricket establishment pretty red faced.And i would still love to understand how is it that when Andre Nel abuses batsman it is considered "thats the way he plays the game" and when sreesanth does a jig after hitting Andre Nel for a six (after getting abused by Nel)it is considered "sreesanth is unable to keep his emotions in check"...A classic case of "coloured" vision or double standards .

Totally agreed with Vishy about the beamer incident. Irrelevent to the blog/article but can not stop myself from commenting.

I don't understand why so much fuss over sree santh beamer. He bowled a real bad delivery, he apologised for it, match refree took no action, matter ends. Bowlers around the world bowl beamers and bouncers directed at body, remember bodyline, who did that?

This beamer incident reminds me of India Vs Pakistan in Pakistan. Shoaib Akhtar (by far much quicker than Sree santh) bowling against MS Dhoni. Dhoni hitting him out of park and then Shoaib bowling a beamer after that not even apologising to Dhoni, suggesting an intentional beamer. No action, No fuss, nothing. What did Dhoni did, continued to hit the bowlers out of park and compared to it the reaction of peterson, should I say anything?

I don't know why this difference is there in reporting an incident when different players/teams are involved. Hope it will get corrected some day ....

winds of change have started to blow....first drawing the Lord's test in the most unusual circumstances, wht if the rain gods helped and then this win with solid contributions from whole of the team - without a single century - this is clearly not the India cricket team we knew about ealier. Only if they can get the wagon going for that lil bit longer..

Finally i found the reasons for the controversy of jelly beans issue and kevin pieterson's critizise about srresanth's beamer is the ECB wrongly sent the under 13 team to play against india. thats why these childish complaints raised

I can't believe people are comparing the admittedly childish but ultimately harmless jellybean prank with Sreenath's disturbing reaction when things weren't going his way out in the centre.

Many people are discussing whether the beamer was a deliberate ball or not, but I suggest that it hardly matters. Either way the beamer bowled in perfect conditions and the almost unprecedented no ball bouncer he delivered not long afterwards show that he was completely unable to control his emotions on the cricket field, to the point where he was a danger to the batsmen. This is very different to the occasional beamer bowled in no particular context other than trying to bowl fast and well by other fast bowlers sometimes.

Sreenath was angry, and out of control. Dravid, who seems to be as mature a person as ever graced a cricket field, ought to do the right thing and send him home immediately and let him grow up a little before he plays test cricket again.

This Sreesanth thing is getting completely out of control, with Atherton now chipping in with his lame wish that the bowler be banned from the Oval Test.

I fail to see what is so special about a beamer that it can kill you in this day and age of protective gear. It is a delivery maybe 15 mph faster and coming from a different angle than the bowler's normal delivery that pitches before reaching the batsman. So a Sreesanth beamer reaches the batsman at about the pace that a fast Brett Lee bouncer does. As far as a different unfamiliar angle is concerned - Ok that increases the likelihood of getting hit, but does that mean the batsman grows extra super-vulnerable body parts suddenly which can get hit leading to his unfortunate demise? Since the ball in question pitched 30 yards beyond where it should have pitched normally, in Pietersen's case those new body parts should have been at a eight of 9 feet or so unless the delivery defied the laws of physics. In the hysteria of outrage, lets just pause for a second and think about what is this so-called great harm that could have been caused. Pietersen should grow up rather than suggest in his article that he feared for his life. To his credit though, at least he didn’t suggest what Atherton did rather moronically - that you don’t know if the bowler’s apology was in earnest (unless presumably it was quickly followed by hara-kiri).

By the way, for the more excitable sorts, I should point out I am not condoning bowling a beamer, or suggesting that it should be allowed – merely pointing out that its viciousness seems vastly exaggerated.

Can anyone please point out if in the helmet era in first class cricket or higher, whether the most harmful beamer has caused greater bodily harm than the most harmful bouncer?

This is a typical Indian reaction to a potentially one-off victory. Do we need a reminder of what happened in South Africa, Australia and the previous tour of England? Tours where we won a test only to lost the next and miss the chance to complete a rare overseas victory. Let us at least wait till the series is over so that we can celebrate in peace.
Just to dampen the spirits a little more, let us not forget that Englands frontline bowlers were not part of the series so far. An England attack comprising of Harmison, Flintoff and Hoggard (leave alone Simon Jones) would have definitely posed more problems for the Indian batsmen.

The victory, was indeed, significant. What I hope to see is Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and Piyush Chawla, bowling against the England Batsman, sometime. Perhaps, the trio can bowl in a unity, against some other top flight team. If Kumble, and Chawla bowl in tandem, the batsmen will be foxed.

As a die-hard cricket fan,(have been following
cricket, particularly on Espnstar, for the better part of my half-century !)
and as a staunch supporter of the 'Indian Cricket
Team', specially of the 'Seniors',

I have always backed the team to come good, never
written them off (even after the World Cup); knew that they had it in them to perform,
(though I wish they would be more consistent), and
therefore am not surprised at this win.

Moreover, it amuses me to see the experts (barring a few !) now rave over Ganguly, when till recently, he was an object of derision...

One can argue that a player must accept criticism when it's due -
but there is a big difference between constructive
criticism, and ridicule....
between being dropped, and unceremoniously kicked
out.....
between a 'martyr', and a victim of injustice.(Sunny thinks so too !)

And though I am unknown, unsung, and unheard, it is nice to know that I was amongst the discerning few who could spot that:

Sourav had 'a lot of cricket left in
him' ...
knew that he could play the 'Brisbane knock'
again...
and that he is a very fine and fluent test
player..(Sachin thinks so too !!)

On the topic of 'coach' I just hope that Sunny, Ravi and Co. think twice before appointing any !

Don't you think that a coach is superfluous....and 'in
the way'...that the captain is the one in command,
backed by his team-mates....

specially for India, when we have the 'seniors' taking on the responsibility, and backing the skipper...(not the 'mafia' they were made out to be !)

It's so nice to see the old unity back...
to see the fab four score.....
to see the old friends - Dravid and
Ganguly, celebrate the win with hugs....
to see the bowlers fired up....

But why do we need 'jelly beans' to get us all fired up ?
Isn't playing for India enough reason ?

That's the one problem India has - they should be
always 'wanting to pounce' and not found wanting for effort....

PS: Of ‘Jelly’ and ‘Beans’ – at the ‘Oval’

Raring to go – is the ‘swinging’ Indian Team
England quaking like ‘jelly ’- torn at the seam

Ready for the ‘bounce’, and for the Cup
The Indians – ‘full of beans’ - are fired up

Without a Coach – we go full steam !!

Mina Anand
(Chennai)
e-mail: minax54@yahoo.com

I have no comments but I would like BBC, Guardian newspaper and all other English media have access to this very interesting blog. I fully agree with Rahul that the "coloured" version of the Trent Bridge and many other ODIs/tests simply reflect the fact that "colour" is very much there and alive in the game and IT IS NOT A GENTLEMAN´S GAME. Good luck to India for the Oval test and I politely request Rahul Dravid to discipline Sree Santh a little. Thank you and down with racism in sports and in all other aspects of human lives.

The Sreesanth beamer issue has just one thing written all over it - KP never expected it! We're not talking about the beamer itself, we're talking about the aggression from an Indian bowler. That is what has shocked the life out of England's best batsman.

I am equally surprised that KP thought his "number was up" - never thought he would admit such a thing even if he felt it.

Let's hope there's good cricket in store, for with 7 ODIs after the Oval test, there should be a bit of an opportunity for every cricketer on either side to prove himself.

Sree, produce a spell like you did in the Wanderers and all talk will stop. KP, play like only you can, man! We want awesome cricket!

I was most impressed with Zaheer's incredible bowling coming only 1 year after everybody thought he was finished. It takes guts to come back the way he has. Sachin, I have sometimes have had my doubts about you, but you showed that as one gets older, experience and simply bloody-mindedness will get you results. I keep seeing clips of you on some old TV reruns from the mid-90's and I wish I had the privilege of seeing you live in those times. There was no internet coverage in those days, and living overseas I just heard about your accomplishments on rare visits back home. Ganguly, you too showed how a burning desire to prove yourself again can result in gaining your fluency back and your first innings knock was a gem. We succeeded in spite of Dravid having an average (for him) score. Laxman held things together long enough. "Arpy" Singh has been a revelation. The balls to Pietersen and Prior were truly "banana" balls. They would have got the Pontings and Laras of the world out easily. Initially I had not expected much from "Arpy", but he has delivered at crucial stages both at Lords and at Trentbridge. And of course the openers Karthik and Jaffer were invaluable for their willingness to stick it out and keep the score-board ticking.

The big worry is Kumble for his ineffectiveness. His figures flatter his actual performance since all his wickets were tailenders. Sreesanth should be dropped for the Oval test !! He has to be sent to the corner for a "timeout" like a truant child. He is 24 years old. "He is young & will learn" - this is supposed to justify his behaviour ! If he cannot keep his actions in control in an international test match, he has no business being there. I know that he can be brilliant bowler when he has his rhythm (like in South Africa), but his behaviour at Trentbridge was a complete disgrace. In fact, we had only 2 bowlers at Trentbridge (Zaheer and "Arpy"), with Kumble being ineffective and Sreesanth doing everything possible to be banned from bowling for the rest of the match. Some of his antics such as the "war-dance" after the sixer of Nel in S.Africa may be funny, but his antics in this match were not. Maybe after Ranadeb Bose's performance in the Sri Lanka A match, they should replace Sreesanth with him for the Oval game. And much as I like Kumble and respect him for all he has done, I think we may need to replace him with Powar for the Oval test. Powar bowled better than Kumble in the Sri Lanka A game.

Anyway, on to a great Oval test, where I am betting Dravid & Laxman score big and the bowlers bowl out England twice under 250.

Rahul

I was expecting a response to my post from someone and I am glad you did. First of all, if you haven't read my posts on Andre Nel, Brett Lee and even Shane Watson then its not my fault. I have condemned their attitude which is so annoying not only for the batsman or the opposition team but, for the viewers as well. IMO, Andre Nel is the worst of the lot and the funny thing is the South Africans not only like his snobbish, aggressive attitude and intimidating bowling but, they appreciate and encourage his steaming, snarling, sledging, slavering, blithering and blathering on the field. And off the field they go about writing articles in praise about his personality and highlight the soft side of his personal life and calls him "Gunther."

Reportedly he loves that name Gunther, it means a guy who lives in the mountains and doesn't get enough oxygen to the brain and that makes him crazy. There is no doubt about him being crazy. He says: "The more people abuse me the more I get fired up. In one way I enjoy it when people abuse me. If you give it out you're going to take it so I expect I'm getting abuse." This is just crap, I have never seen any batsman abusing him except for Sreesanth gyrating his hips after that six. And when Nel comes to bat he behaves like a cat on a hot tin roof and keeps smiling and laughing only to cover up his embarrassment. Anyways, Sreesanth emulating Nel or giving him a tit for tat doesn't make any sense as, two wrongs doesn't make one right.

I was also expecting someone would raise a finger at Pakistani bowlers as well for the beamers that were bowled in the past and, someone did mention about Shoaib Akhtar. I would like to add to that list of bowlers who bowled beamers. Remember Waqar Younis also bowled two beamers and paid a price for that. In the World Cup semi-final at Bangalore he bowled two beamers and was taken off. Amir Sohail did the most stupid thing in that match by asking Prasad to go and fetch the ball after hitting it for a four and was clean bowled the next ball. He should have been admonished and punished, but he got away with that, he too had an attitude problem and now as a commentator he tries to put up a holier than thou attitude.

The difference between Sreesanth and Waqar's beamers is in their attitude and the playing conditions. That was a day and night match and W was bowling in the night with lots of dew on the ground and the ball was wet. When there is dew factor or its a rain affected match it is understood and acceptable that the ball could slip out of hand. In Sreesanth's case there is no such thing as dew or water and on top of that he has got a history of controlling his emotions and then in the next over he oversteps by two feet to bowl a thumping bouncer at the other player, it shows his intention and his integrity. In any case, I have never appreciated Andre Nel and Shane Watson's attitude hence I would not accept it from any other bowler especially if it becomes a habit for that fast bowler to come down and stare at the batsman after every single delivery which is very different from chirping coming from behind the stumps.

Finally, about the jelly beans, come on guys jelly beans are not made of TNT and the English players did not plant them to pitch the ball and explode them, and that too, when Zahir Khan was batting? I think it would have been much better if the Indians have celebrated the victory in style with some grace, poise and dignity rather than lamenting, brooding and whining at poor umpiring decisions and creating jelly bean sagas after a very convincing win.

1. Methinks Mukul didn't mention Sreesanth's beamer because he was focusing on unnatural events. Sreesanth being Sreesanth, an occasional beamer from him is probably not against the natural order of things.

2. IMHO, all well-directed beamers are intentional. It seems highly improbable that an unintentionally botched release can result in the ball travelling at high velocity toward a batsman's head. Not being a Test-class paceman myself, I can't corroborate this based on personal experience, but many cricketing eminence grises appear to share this view.

3. Should Sreesanth therefore be penalized? Dunno, but let's be consistent. He's not the first to bowl a beamer, not by a long shot, so there's no reason for him to be the first to be penalized. Perhaps a law requiring a mandatory penalty is in order. If properly applied, this will ensure uniform justice.

4. Finally, and I realize this is totally off base, can someone please ensure that Tony Greig (of the Tony Greig Show)is summarily ejected from the portals of Cricinfo. His banal blabbering in a mongrel accent inflicts pain beyond measure on innocent Cricinfo enthusiasts. I apologize for getting personal, but there are limits to human endurance.

some thoughts on tendulkar's lbw:

There has been too much hue and cry over this. I have great regards for Simon Taufel. He is way better than some of the "elite" umpires.

my initial reaction with my naked eye, it seemed plumb. From the hawkeye, it missed by barely an inch or two. give the man his credit. he adjudged a close call with a margin of an inch over more than 22 yards distance! (1 yard = 36 inches..do the math).

plus, a batsman into his nineties is expected to be well settled, and it was downright ugly when tendulkar misjudged it.

I have enjoyed India's victory as much as all Indians but cant help but feel this article is premature.
Cricket series are all about momentum, the top sides like Australia will get on top off you early and then keep you down.
With the current volume of cricket played and lack of build up matches leading up to a test series the first test is crucial and the advantage to the home side is huge given that the away team has had little time to acclimatise. Michael Vaughan would have been fully aware of this and i am sure was internally furious about the result at Lords. Outwardly he said all the right things but India got away with a draw + more importantly practice against Englands 1st line bowling attack.
If India do manage to avoid defeat at the Oval in the coming week it will be for 2 key reasons.

1. They arrived in the the UK and played a decent amount of warm up fixtures (i include Ireland in this)
2. They 'got out of jail' to quote R. Dravid at Lords. In effect they were given an additional warm up game against Englands 1st XI and despite being outplayed and effectivly beaten arrived at Trent Bridge 0-0.
ie. India despite effectivly being outplayed by England at Lords, carried all the momentum into the 2nd Test. Had they lost the first test, i doubt that they would have put in the performance they managed at Trent Bridge.
Anyway, given luck has shone on them so far. I do hope they can complete the job at the oval. The batsmen are in form and the bowlers are confident.
Personally i would spring a suprise and draft in Harbhajan to replace Kumble for the final test. This is not to be critical of Kumble it is purely to give England something new to think about. Think about it. Englands batsmen have now faced Kumble in their last 2 games and will be working on things to counter his bowling. They have not faced Harbhajan which brings the suprise element, 2 harbhajan has been playing for Surry (home ground the Oval) therefore will know the pitch + has matches under his belt. 3. We have already seen the effect stints in county cricket can have on Indian Bowlers (Z. Khan + RP Singh), 4. Harbhjan will be chomping at the bit to get back in to the Indian team and make an impact. 5. Harbhjan is a proven match winner especially on pitches with extra bounce (oval).

Come on Indian Selectors, be bold. If it works you can take all the credit anyway and say it was all a pre-planned idea to get Harbhajan playing cricket in England in preparation for the 3rd test, knowing that he wouldnt have got much of a run out sitting on the side lines with R.Power and the gang!

well.. yeah nice to see some deserved appreciation for Indian team.. There a lots of positives to come out of this match.. most notable being a promising opening partnership and Zaheer's come back!! Tendulkar and Ganguly showing that they still have more to offer..

On the other hand let us not under estimate the Eng`s batting line up.. The top 6 are as good as you get on their day.. a few of their batsmen are underrated but are very much capable.. I guess the bowling line up`s match up pretty well..

As per the jelly bean`s incident I guess that was probably out of frustration more than anything else.. Well, in a way I guess it even helped Zaheer so no complaints!! Its funny to see english media and commentators go crazy over Sree`s beamer.. I dont think its intentional in the first place and he was erratic all through the day and I am guessing he was trying to bowl a yorker and it came out as beamer.. Kevin sounded like a sissy saying that he could have been killed..

There is no point in complaining about the umpiring decisions guys... these things happen and I believe they average out.. there were quite a few decisions that were close and went India`s way too.. Karthik, Jaffer and Tendulkar could have been out before they were given out.. but they got the benefit of doubt then.. so no complaints! More over India was lucky to survive the first test.. If they were permitted to bowl one more over.. may be who knows..

Well.. looking forward for the next test.. would love to see lots of traditional test cricket in swinging conditions..