India were bowled out for 78 in the 3rd test against England at Headingley. This is second such instance in the last 10 tests when the entire team weren’t able to cross the 3 figure mark. Was this because of poor team composition? Were the team over confident? Did the usual suspects fail to perform once again? Should India have bowled first having miraculously won the toss? The answer to all these questions is an emphatic Yes. Let me analyse the horrible atrocious Indian batting.
Let me first analyse the team composition
The team for this test remained unchanged from the one that won at Lords. This was the first mistake. It seems that Kohli and the management did not realise that the Lords test was won not because of any extraordinary batting performance. For that matter, not even a decent one. Remove Rohit and Rahul, the batting card looked quite poor. Pujara, Kohli and Rahane weren’t able to do much with the bat. Yes supporters will point to the runs that Pujara and Rahane scored in the 2nd innings. They will argue that their innings not only saved the game but ensured that India were on the ascendancy which eventually helped Bumrah and Shami to bat freely.
This cannot be further from the truth. India were well placed at the end of the first day but the capitulation on the 2nd day ensured that India were short by atleast 100 runs. Pujara who has completely forgotten how to score and Rahane who is blowing his own trumpet when no one would, is still allowed to be part of the playing 11.
One if not both must have been dropped for the 3rd test. There is sufficient batting reserve and one of them must have played. You would never know. Perhaps that batsman may have changed the game.
The stupidity of 4 number 11s must stop
For the 2nd successive game, India went in with 4 number 11s. Ishant, Bumrah, Shami and Siraj. Any bowling side that looks at this lineup will be so happy that all they have to do is get the top 5 and the rest will fold. It is another matter that the Indian middle order too is playing like tailenders. Even the great West Indian and Australian sides never had this lengthy tail. Warne and Gillespie for Australia, Marshall and Holding for West Indies were more than capable of holding their own.
These Indian bowlers are not in the same class and yet Kohli thought it to be prudent to play all the 4 of them. The fact of the matter is that these players hardly inspire any confidence. It will definitely play in the minds of the rest of the team. They will know that the team has a long tail and hence, they will need to be much more careful. It will confuse the minds of the batters and they will miss out on scoring opportunities and will look to survive. This is a wrong way to approach batting.
Rohit Sharma who is usually a free scoring batsman was stagnant throughout his innings. He just didn’t know what to do. Whether to bat as he normally does or should he wait in the hope that someone will support him at the other end? In the end, he did neither and got out rather tamely. The batting must have been strengthened with the inclusion of either Mayank or Vihari. If Kohli required 5 bowlers, with either Ashwin or Shardul. Will Kohli swallow his ego and learn? It remains to be seen.
Nasser Hussain, the much respected commentator has nailed it
“Now India are going in with four No 11s. It cannot be the way to go in England — you can always lose a couple of early wickets, as they did on Wednesday, and your No 8 in Shami has to start looking for his pads,” he added.
Should India have bowled first?
Surprisingly, Kohli won the toss but blundered with opting to bat. Not because past scores on this ground suggested to bowl first but looking at the cloud cover and thinking about the long tail, perhaps Kohli must have opted to bowl first.
How long will Pujara and Rahane be tolerated?
It is now confirmed that both Pujara and Rahane are spent forces. They do not have anything to contribute to the team anymore. They have been virtual passengers over 5 years now. Coupled with Kohli’s struggles, there just isn’t space to accommodate 2 more. Michael Vaughan says,
“Pujara looks all at sea. Looks like he has lost his mind, lost his technique. Looks to me like he is playing purely for survival. And Jimmy found the outside edge of Pujara. And then it’s just pressure. The ball was swinging around nicely.”
What Vaughan says is true. He just does not have the strokes any more to score runs. He has actually forgotten how to score and is rather intent on survival. Pujara hopes to scores runs rather than wanting to score runs. When a batter reaches this point, it is time for him to go. As for Rahane, his failures are far too many and far too wide and it is just a miracle that he is still tolerated. I just hope that the Mumbai lobby is not behind his continuous inclusion.
The strange case of Ishant Sharma
There is a growing belief that Ishant Sharma has improved his bowling tremendously over the last 5 years. I too thought that he has. However, the statistics seems to show just the opposite. From 2016, Ishant has taken 110 wickets at around 26 per wicket. However, he required 35 tests to take 110 wickets which is just above 3 per test. This is more or less the same as his career aggregate. In effect, Ishant hasn’t really improved.
Hopefully, better sense will prevail. Shastri and especially Kohli will swallow their ego and select the best combination. If it means 6 batters so be it. If it involves Ashwin or Shardul so be it or dropping Ishant, so be it.
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