Oval Test: Some Stray Thoughts

By John Cheeran
First comes Anil Kumble.
India are on the brink of a famous series win at the Brit Oval today, with England requiring 444 more runs in 90 overs, for a series-levelling win.
Things can go wrong sometimes terribly. Skipper Rahul Dravid knows that much and his classic 12 in the second innings when he shut out all risk and there by all scoring shots (scoreboard says Dravid did not score for 96 balls at a stretch) is evidence enough of a new determination not to mess up things.
India’s second innings travails at the Oval are not new. What worries us today is that will Indian bowlers suffer a panic attack if Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen up the ante?
In this context, Kumble’s first Test century attains greater importance. India’s dominance in the Oval Test stems from the fact that lower order batted much more doggedly, and with élan, than their illustrious predecessors.
Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman did not do justice to the pitch at the Oval and they had left the task of consolidating the gains to the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. None had expected Kumble to score more than 20s and 30s. But suddenly Kumble found how easy was scoring runs. He just threw his bat round and ball just rolled to the boundary.
As India are determined to stop England from logging 444 from 90 overs focus will be firmly on Kumble, this time to do wonders with the ball.
Skipper Dravid will find none more trustworthy and committed than this veteran leg spinner to apply breaks to England second innings and if possible, ambush their ambitious run chase.