After having completely dominated India for much of the Test series, England and captain Alastair Cook find themselves once again in familiar territory – at the receiving end of their many critics. There have been many cricket experts in the country who have asked Cook to retire from One Day International cricket, as they feel his batting strike rate is hardly good enough for a top class opening batsman in ODIs. Cook’s strike rate is in the low 70s, which is similar to that of Ian Bell’s, who is another regular fixture in the England setup.
But what Cook least expected was to be criticized by his old friend Graeme Swann, who is today a popular cricket expert in Britain after having retired from all forms of cricket early this year in the middle of the Ashes series in Australia. Grame Swann was the latest former English cricket great to ask for Cook’s ouster from the England ODI squad. Cook definitely did not appreciate being backstabbed by whom he referred to as a “so-called” friend in anger.
Talking at the press conference after the huge 133 run loss in Cardiff, Cook said, “His remarks were not that helpful – especially from a so-called friend – but he’s entitled to his opinion. But it’s not ideal for me, especially after getting through the summer I’ve had. I have not spoken to him about it. The phone is always open the other way. It’s a little bit disappointing.
“He’s a good friend and has been a supporter and it’s not helpful at this time because I am going to go and captain in this World Cup. We’re going to build up to that and we’ve got a good chance, although obviously if we play like that we aren’t going to win many games of cricket.”
But Cook did not offer any excuse for the humiliating loss: “We weren’t at the races today and I don’t quite know why. It was not a 300-wicket [India’s score]; nor was it a 160-wicket [England’s score]. It’s not the end of the world but it is frustrating. You can’t win every game of cricket, certainly not when you play like that. We will just have to dust ourselves off and play better.”
England can only blame themselves for having selected the completely out of sorts Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan, both of who lacked in confidence, over far better options such as Steven Finn and Harry Gurney. Jordan in particular was awful, giving away too many runs, including a string of wides. It is hoped that the England’s team selection will be better tomorrow at Nottingham.
India are in a happy spot having won the second match of the series comprehensively and giving their long suffering supporters back home something to cheer about. But they would want to maintain the momentum as the last thing they would want at this juncture is a repeat of the Test series, which they lost 3-1 after having gone 1-0 ahead after a memorable win at the Lord’s.
For that India would expect a far better performance from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, who are their premier limited overs batsmen, but neither have got going in the tour of England so far. Kohli’s performance has been abject and he made it worse by getting out for a duck at Cardiff. He really is running out of time to salvage his beaten down reputation.
In a major jolt to the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, who made a well composed fifty at Cardiff has been ruled out of the series because of a finger injury, and will be returning home soon. While Murali Vijay has been called as a replacement, India might as well consider giving a chance to younger players such as Ambati Rayudu or Sanju Samson. Samson in particular is a highly talented 19-year old cricket who has performed spectacularly for his club Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
Regardless, an exciting match beckons, and you may watch it live on Star Sports tomorrow, starting at 2:55 PM.
