Indian bowlers were smashed around all over the park by England Lions batsman on Saturday. After they were slumped to 149/5 they manage to get close to 300 marks due to wayward line and length by Indian fast bowler. Specially Zaheer Khan (7-0-59-0) and Munaf Patel (9-0-60-1) who had hit all around the park by England Lions batsman. Despite stand-in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's optimism, India's bowlers need to get their act right ahead of the seven-match One-Day cricket series against England starting here on Tuesday. Although, England Lions skipper Vikram Solanki had some comforting words for his opponents, saying, "They're coming off a great Test series and it takes a different approach to bowl in One-Dayers," the fact remains that Zaheer Khan was struggling to get his rhythm right while Munaf Patel was even worse as he sprayed the ball all over and was taken to the cleaners by Luke Wright whose adventurous strokeplay left everyone impressed. Then again, having conceded 296 runs, the Indian batters were denied a chance to flex their muscles due to inclement weather. "Naturally, we were disappointed that the batsmen did not get a chance. But we have some good batsmen and that will show in the One-Day series," said Dhoni, who was excited looking ahead to the forthcoming series. "I think it's going to be a good series because England are a good side, and performing well against them is always going to be a good challenge for us," he said. Now the scene is set to for a very good seven match ODI series against England which begins with the Day/Night encounter from Tuesday. |
