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London, August 8: Sitting pretty on their 1-0
lead after the victory at Trent Bridge, India will be looking to
end a 21-year-long drought of a series triumph in England as
they square up against the hosts in the third and final cricket
Test at the Oval here tomorrow.
Even as the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul
Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble will be
looking for their crowning glory moment in England - being part
of a victorious Indian team - in the evening of their respective
careers, they need to take care of a jinx that has been plaguing
the side in recent years.
Too often in the past, India has taken a lead
in the series only to allow the opposition to turn the tables on
them.
If a dream win in Adelaide against Australia
in 2003 was followed by a soul-shattering defeat in Melbourne in
the very next Test, India's first ever Test win in Pakistan in
2004 at Multan was followed by a nerve-racking defeat at Lahore.
More recently, India squandered a huge opportunity in South
Africa early this year when, after beating the hosts at
Johannesburg in the first Test, they promptly lost the next one
at Durban before losing the series in Cape Town.
"We have to be consistent. We have to back
our good performances by some more good performances. We will
celebrate this win, but at the same time, we will keep our mind
focused on the final Test and on what we need to do there",
Indian captain Rahul Dravid said. "We will be taking a lot of
confidence from the Trent Bridge Test and will try our best to
win the series. We know England will come back hard at us and we
expect a tough game," Dravid said. Then again, if the Indians
are looking to set the record straight and register their first
series victory in 16 years, England too have a proud home record
to protect in what will be a do-or-die Test for the.
England has been unbeaten at home in the last
six years and there's little doubt that they will be going for
the broke in terms of attitude. This sets the stage for an
exciting climax in the final Test of the series that has been
full of suspense, thrill and drama. England were not only denied
a victory in the first Test at Lord's by rain gods but were also
caught off guard by the Indians at Trent Bridge. It was a
perfect Test match for India in terms of both planning and
execution.
If the bowlers did a fine job in restricting
England in the first innings, the entire Indian top order fired
collectively to put up a big tally before Zaheer Khan inspired
his colleagues bowling with a vengeance, thanks to the jelly
beans prank that misfired badly, to finish with a nine-wicket
haul.
Dravid will thus be expecting his team to
rise to the occasion and author a perfect finish to what will
then be a memorable English summer. Again, if the extra swing
has been worrying the batters on either side, the conditions at
the Oval will ensure good bounce and carry. It's a wicket where
both the batsmen and the bowlers can fancy their chances.
Of course, spinners will come into play on
the last two days, which is also why there is every reason for
the Indians to feel confident going into the Test. Perhaps the
only cause for concern for the Indians would be the form of S
Sreesanth who has not only been struggling with his form but his
poor behaviour on the field also meant that he was docked fifty
per cent of the match fee. However, he has the faith of his
captain and a chance to redeem himself in this crucial Test.
Dravid himself has been short of runs by his
own high standards and he too will be hoping to get it right in
a game which means a lot not only to him as captain but also to
his colleagues. With the pitch curator, Bill Gordon, predicting
400 to be the par score, India's big guns would only be too keen
to make a mark in their last outing in a Test in England.
Already, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Kaarthick, Tendulkar, Ganguly and
Laxman have shown what they are capable of. And they just need
to extend their good form in what will be a big occasion for
them.
As for England, Michael Vaughan might be
blaming poor weather at the Lord's for a fine mess that his team
finds itself in but he cannot deny that his team was caught
napping when the Indians came back hard at them at Trent Bridge.
(Agencies)
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