A keen India-England contest on the cards

A team's form in Test cricket can rarely be used as a yardstick for judging their performance in one-day internationals. Just two examples would suffice to underscore this fact. For much of the late 80s and early 90s, England's Test record was woeful, but yet this was an era in which they finished runners-up in two successive World Cup campaigns. India, in the 1981-84 period, had a run of 31 Tests without a win, but it was in the midst of this dismal stretch that they achieved their World Cup triumph of 1983.

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All these cases emphasize the truism that the one-day game is very different from Test cricket. It would be prudent to remember this on the eve of the six-match series between India and England that commences in Kolkata on Saturday. It is tempting to install India as favourites, given their home advantage and their admirable record in limited-overs cricket in this country. Just in the last couple of years, they have registered series victories over New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and have run World Cup champions Australia close before losing by three matches to two.

But England too have put their disappointing 1999 World Cup campaign behind them and have built a resilient one-day side. Over the last year, they have lost 11 one-day games in a row, but they recently bounced back by winning all five in Zimbabwe. And, if anything, they can take heart that they have more than held their own in contests in India. In 1981-82, India, barely past the novice stage when it came to limited-overs cricket, emerged as surprising victors by two matches to one. Three years later, England triumphed by an emphatic 4-1 margin, while in 1992-93, the teams shared the six match series 3-all. Also to be noted is England's victory in the Reliance Cup semifinal at Bombay in 1987 and India's win in the MRF World Series game at Kanpur two years later.

Both on past record and current form, there is very little to choose between the contestants. Even when it comes to analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams, the sides seem to be evenly matched. If India have, on paper, the stronger batting, England would seem to have the edge in bowling. In the seam department, England are much better served; India have nothing to match the tried-and-tested duo of Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, and their experience of Indian conditions last month should stand Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard in good stead. Considering their limited experience, both showed enough promise of performing better in future.

In spin bowling, however, England cannot hope to match up to the Indian trio of Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Sarandeep Singh. Two of these men will almost certainly take the field, for a four-pronged Indian seam attack with only one spinner will be so much easy meat to this opposition. India's hopes, thus, will rest on the spinners pulling off a trick or two, for there is no doubt that the Englishmen would prefer to face Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan rather than the spin trio.

Ultimately, then, we have a scenario in which England are better served in seam bowling and India have more than an edge in the spin department, despite the presence of the persistent Ashley Giles. The onus would seem to rest on the batsmen, and both captains must be looking to the willow-wielders to get their team past this stalemate. High totals on Indian pitches are the rule rather than the exception, and we have had recent cases when teams scoring 300-plus have ended up as the losing side.

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On paper, as I said, India would seem to have the stronger batting. A line-up that starts with Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar and continues with VVS Laxman, Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia and Virender Sehwag inspires more confidence than the England one of Nick Knight, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Craig White and Andrew Flintoff.

The problem, however, is that the much-vaunted Indian batting has not always performed in keeping with their lofty reputation. Also, the absence of an all-rounder in the Indian side is all too apparent, and it is to be hoped that Agarkar, a gifted cricketer who has not made full use of his many opportunities, will finally come good. Sanjay Bangar too is a utility man of some talent, but he is yet to be tested out at the international level.

In the ultimate analysis, the six-match series is a contest between two evenly matched sides. I normally love to make predictions, but I am not planning on sticking my neck out this time.