England opener slams unbeaten 182 as hosts pile on MS Dhoni & Co's agony on Day Two; Strauss' men finish day on 456/3 helped by visitors' shoddy bowling and inept fielding
England opener slams unbeaten 182 as hosts pile on MS Dhoni & Co's agony on Day Two; Strauss' men finish day on 456/3 helped by visitors' shoddy bowling and inept fielding
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England's batting coach Graham Gooch is known for his tremendous work ethic. The kind of which helped him to put behind a pair on Test debut at this very ground against Australia in 1975 only to end his career as England's highest Test run-getter with 8900 runs two decades later.
Gooch didn't watch
Gooch didn't bother watching his fellow Essex man Alastair Cook at lunch time yesterday. He probably knew that the tall left-hander would end up getting a big score considering the way he started. Gooch was at the nets behind the pavilion working with other batters. No worries for Goochie, who is Cook's mentor!
Yes, Cook did have a fine day, scoring an unbeaten 182 on Day Two of the third Test at Edgbaston yesterday as England were comfortably placed at 456 for three, a first innings lead of 232.
Cook cashed in on the feeble Indian bowling in fine fashion. His crispy cover drives could tempt a cookie manufacturer to rope him in as a brand ambassador and his leg side despatches would land him an endorsement with a courier firm. By the way, Cook is on the label of mineral water bottles of a particular brand. It says much of his flowing style.
The opener has the Indian bowlers to thank for his Edgbaston success. They over-pitched at times which is what he wanted to post his best score of the series. His previous highest was just 12u00a0-- scored in the first innings of the opening Test at Lord's. It would be unfair to say Cook was out of form against the Indians considering this was his fourth hundred in 2011. But yes, he was short of runs against an ordinary attack.
Strauss at his best
Like Cook, skipper Andrew Strauss too enjoyed his best score of the series. He was bowled by leggie Amit Mishra for 87. Kevin Pietersen joined in the fun with 63 before he was trapped leg-before-wicket to Praveen Kumar. The swing bowler now has 15 wickets in the series and he is not done yet.
While that may be the case in the scorebooks, it was shocking display by the World No 1 Test team... listless, inept, harmless, energy-less. If the weather stays good, England will win this Test too and with it, the World No 1 crown. They deserve it. India deserve it too... to end up embarrassing losers of course. The English critics are rightu00a0-- India have not respected their top Test status. Pyjama cricket has left them battered and bruised. India have never had it so bad since the turn of the century. The ghosts of the 0-3 shellacking in Australia during the infamous summer of 1999-2000 return.
Probably, there is worse in store.
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