After a disastrous and rusty campaign in the Asia Cup and an early exit in the Videocon Cup at Holland, the Indians will be given a chance to reinvent their lost form against England in the Natwest Challenge. The tournament comes as a golden opportunity for the Indians to acclimatize themselves to the latter half of the English summer and get rid of the rust which was majorly evident in the earlier tournaments. Cricketfundas.com presents its readers with an exclusive preview to the Natwest Challenge.

 

Pitches:

The Indians so far this season, have struggled to cope up with whatever pitch conditions they have played on. I feel that the earlier they adjust to the pitches in England, the better will be the progress they make. One can expect some low and slow wickets for this competition, thanks to so much of International and County cricket played on them already. We can expect something for the pacers, keeping in mind England's growing confidence in the pace battery of Harmison and Co.

 

India:

 

The much hyped-about Indian batting has been abysmal to say the least so far in the season. But, the batters have an ideal opportunity to lead themselves into a healthy form, useful for the matches ahead. Yes, the injury to Sachin has come in a wrong time for Dada's men, but it gives Rohan Gavaskar an opportunity of a lifetime to make a bold statement about his cricket to the selectors. Dinesh Karthik could don the gloves for at least a game, as Rahul Dravid would be dearly needed to bolster the Sachin-less batting line-up. The Indian bowling has been performing well recently, thanks to the abundance of two promising young pacemen - Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji. Irfan had some problems in the Holland tournament and has to sort them out to be successful against quality batsmen like Vaughan, Flintoff and Strauss. Balaji has been gathering an impressive rhythmic momentum to his bowling from Holland and could be the horse for the course. The spinners haven't done badly with Harbhajan capable of spinning a web, but Anil Kumble has been the struggler, and according to me, he will have to lift his game, if he still wants to be a part of the Indian limited overs set-up. One factor that India can take heart from is that the English bowling is not much of a potent force in One Day cricket as it is in Test Matches. The last match of the Holland tournament against the Aussies had some good positives for the Indians - they were good on the field, bowled their overs in time etc. The questions have started to arise as to Has Indian cricket gone well past its peak ?? Well, time for Saurav and his boys to give out the answer - by winning the tournament !

 

England:

 

If any international cricket team is oozing with a lot of confidence at the moment, it has to be England. They have been brilliant in Test Cricket at home this year, but have as always lacked the consistency required when it comes to the One-Dayers. But, who knows, the very brilliance in the longer version might be all they require to provide some stiff challenge to India. The English batting has been among the runs in the Natwest Series, especially Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss, who notched up centuries. Vikram Solanki, who impressed one and all with his maiden ODI ton last year against Pakistan is recalled, and all eyes will be on him to deliver as England are looking for a good batsman to fill in the shoes of Graham Thorpe. Geraint Jones, in all likelihood should be keeping wickets and for sure, one can expect some fireworks from him. Alex Wharf, the man in form from Glamorgan, could be all set to make his international debut and add more zip to the already impressive bowling guns of Harmison, Flintoff and Anderson. One must not ignore the fact that Andy Flintoff could be the factor that could determine England's day in the field. There is no difference between the two sides when it comes to fielding. They are as good and as bad as each other. So, will this tournament reverse England's one day fortunes ?? Lets just wait and see.

 

Personally, I would want India to go into the Champions' Trophy, where they are joint-winners, with a frame of mind that they were in 2002, fresh after the Natwest Series win. If all goes well, India should be able to clinch the 3 match series, but you never know especially when both sides are not playing the best of one day cricket expected from them.