The first time that I seriously made an effort to analyze his batting was in the Ashes Series down under when he was sent to bat in at number three. His 60 in the first innings of the Brisbane test showed how dogged and determined he can be against world class opposition. Apart from KP and Collingwood, only Bell was able to counter Shane Warne in that series. He notched up 4 half centuries in that series.
Great innings followed, and finally what I had been yearning for came true. His first ODI ton, a magnificent 126* of 118 balls against India at Rose Bowl, got me more excited than when I had witnessed Tendulkar blast the Pakistanis at the 2003 World Cup. He eventually bagged the Man of the Series award as top scorer, with England wrapping up the ODI series 4-3.
Despite a fairly good tour of New Zealand, where he scored a century in the final test, he managed only 45 runs in the return series in England. What followed was talk about him not being consisent enough at the top level, and rumors with respect to him being dropped made me laugh. I knew he would strike back in the South Africa series.
His 199 in the first test at Lords ranks 3rd in my list of the classiest innings (that I watched on TV LIVE) played by a batsman on English soil, following Rahul Dravid's determined 148 on a deadly Headingley surface back in 2002 and Marvan Attapattu's 185 at Lords back in the same year. I was almost as disappointed as he was on him missing out on a truly deserved double hundred.
Ian Bell, along with Cook, is surely the batsman to watch out for in the future. With the determination of Dravid and the class of ... well, Ian Bell himself, he is bound to become one of the all time greats to have played the game. Even though it isn't Christmas yet, I hear myself singing 'Jingle Bells Jingle Bells Ian Bell all the way ...'
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