Ind 1 - Eng 0

India beat England convincingly in the end in the second test match. Even after playing with only 5 batsmen. England scored 300 in the first innings and then India were reeling at 150 for 5. That was when the game changed. Indian lower order scored more runs than the higher order and got the invaluable lead of 30-40 runs.

These tailenders are so frustrating, aren't they? I have a theory about lower and tail end batting. It goes as follows: The team which performs better in lower order batting than the opponent, has generally a higher chance of winning a game. Sounds weird, ain't it? Look at the India Pakistan test series. Look at this test match between India and England. Look at the thrilling one day match between Australia and South Africa. Look at the previous test match between West Indies and New Zealand. The team that batted better in their lower order went on to win the games. Which undelines the fact that cricketers must have a high utility nowadays. Bowlers and keepers have to be good batsmen.

The most promising thing from India in this match was their positive attitude. They went in with 5 bowlers, which I think was a splendid decision. Hats off to the people made this decision.

About the new comer Munaf Patel. When I first saw his bowling, I had the impression that he uses his shoulder a bit too much. Which is how he generates the high pace. This is not very good in the long term because he might suffer shoulder injuries which can be career threatening for the fast bowlers. He should instead work on quickening his run-up just a bit to get the rhythm. All said and done, he moved the ball considerably. Especially the reverse swing in the second innings.

Reverse swing is a miraculous act. It depends a lot on the conditions and the ball. You will find so many times that one ball reverses, and as soon as its changed, it stops reversing. Something similar happened in the just concluded test between West Indies and New Zealand. Shane Bond himself admitted that there was something in the ball which made it reverse more than the one used earlier. If Munaf keeps reverse swinging all balls the way he did yesterday, then it will be awesome. But that consistency will be hard to achieve and we need to wish him best for that.

Dravid in the meanwhile has been the under-rated champion of this match. He was instrumental in India putting up a decent total so he should get the due credit. He is one of those captains whose performance has improved with the captaincy. Well done Rahul, you have led by example.

Off to Mumbai...