British media slams India for ‘killing’ Mohali Test
“It is to everyone’s credit that the series took place at all, and without off-field incident but it was a shame that, in the quest for individual glory, India killed the second Test by batting on after lunch on Tuesday. Test cricket has little hope of regaining a passionate following with such skewed priorities,” a write-up in Daily Telegraph said.
The match ended in a tame draw after India decided to hand Gambhir and Yuvraj the chance to score centuries but both the batsmen failed to reach triple figures as Gambhir was caught off Graeme Swann for 97 and Yuvraj was run out for 86.
“The fact that neither Gautam Gambhir nor Yuvraj Singh reached their respective milestones underlined the Indians’ myopic thinking. Other teams will argue they would have done the same thing. That does not make it right. In this performance-obsessed world, cricket is far too bound up with statistics,” Simon Hughes wrote.
Meanwhile, The Independent said that although Indian cricket has progressed by leaps and bounds, their thinking resembles that of 1960’s and will do no favour to the game in the 21st century. “What India had was a 1-0 lead in the series and they did not see there was any obligation to take a semblance of a risk which might make that vulnerable,” the newspaper said.
“In 1981-82 India won the first Test against England and ensured the next five were draws by slow batting, slow over rates and slow pitches — it is also one which will do it no good in the 21st century.
According to the newspaper, India should have instilled doubts in English cricketers’ mind by showcasing Chennai Test attitude.
“What should India have done? Backed themselves as they had did in Chennai. Taken the game to England and instilled further doubt in their opponent’s minds as the breath of fresh air that is Yuvraj Singh at last did in the evening,” it said.—Agencies