Indian batsmen were too defensive

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsI have always believed in a positive approach and still believe that India can make a come back into the match and even win it.

But for that India will have to be agressive and play with positive approach. During my playing days I had always believd that playing with a positive frame of mind will give you the best results.

If one goes in the match with a negative approach they can never succeed.

In todays game Indian batsmen were too defensive. The fact that all the LBW decisions were given when the batmen were trying to defend proves it. The whole day India could manage to score at just over two runs per over. When the batsmen give too much respect to the bowlers there is always a chance of losing wickets and England bowlers did just that.

Apart from Mathew Hoggard all the bowlers were only accurate and not deadly yet India could not score against them.

Whenever there is a little bit of movement in the air or off the pitch our batsmen fail. On the tour to Pakistan in the last match at Karachi the same thing happened. Mohammad Asif was able to move the ball and the batsmen fell like nine pins and today also the same thing happened.

In the morning the batsmen could not negotiate the movement and lost the wickets and with the bowlers getting too much respect they gained in confidence.

It was just the approach of our batsmen that was the reason for the fall of the wickets.

Monty Panesar was not spinning the ball much but India could score just 70 odds runs from his 41 overs. And we are supposed to be the best player of spin bowling.

On the other hand Mohammad Kaif and Anil Kumble showed great determination and spirit to bail India out of a difficult situation. Kaif could not have asked for a better opportunity to score runs. His place in the Test team was in danger and with today's batting display he has made sure that heis claim will get a boost.

Both Kaif and Kumble showed that the way to bat is by playing shots. Even thopugh they were also slow in scoring runs but they took full advantage of lose balls.

But overall the day's game was very boring due to the negative play by India. It is hard to imagine that Greg Chappell who has a very positive approach towards the game could not rub it on the guys.

Tommorrow India should make sure that they do not allow England to score too many runs in the second innings. If they are restricted to around 200 and with a lead of about 50 from the first innings India will have a target of 250 runs to chase.

This is an achievable total if the batsmen apply themselves.

(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)

About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 03, 2006, 22:28 ISTlast updated:March 03, 2006, 22:28 IST
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-mid-article',container: 'taboola-mid-article-thumbnails',placement: 'Mid Article Thumbnails',target_type: 'mix'});
let eventFire = false;
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
if (window.taboolaInt && !eventFire) {
setTimeout(() => {
ga('send', 'event', 'Mid Article Thumbnails', 'PV');
ga('set', 'dimension22', "Taboola Yes");
}, 4000);
eventFire = true;
}
});
 
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });Latest News