England won the 3rd test handsomely and India were well to say the least, humiliated. They were humiliated twice while batting. All those dreams of winning a series in England after 3 attempts have come crashing down. It wasn’t the defeat that crashed the dreams but the manner of the defeat that really did. It is difficult for India to come back from such a shellacking. As an Indian fan, yes I do want the team to come back and win the series. By any margin but it is easier said than done. England even with a depleted side is now the firm favourites. India, well it requires super human effort from now on to turn the table. Let me review the India vs England third test.
India lost the test right on the first day when they could muster only 78. You do not win many games when you score less than hundred in the first innings. Supporters will point to the fact that England on the same ground, a couple of years ago, won the test despite being bowled out for 67. Remember, it required an extraordinary effort on the part of Ben Stokes to conjure that win. Even then, Australia could have still won that test if only they had used their review properly. India does not have their own Ben Stokes. Leave alone Stokes, India do not even have their own Chris Woakes for the team to conjure a win from nowhere.
Play as many overs as possible
Having lost the game on the first day and having allowed England to lead by more than 350 runs, the only aim that India should have had was to play as many overs as possible. It means in the realms of 170 overs and above. The turnaround between the 3rd and 4th tests being so less, it would have made sense to put millions of miles on the legs of the English bowlers. Mind you, Anderson is 39 and he would not have withstood such a severe workload. It would have meant advantage India in the 4th test.
There is no way Indian bowlers would have come back to bowl which essentially means that the English bowlers would have been much more tired. India batters missed that opportunity. Leave alone playing for time. They didn’t even last beyond lunch on the 4th day. This is what makes the Indian fan so angry with the team.
Will it be the end for Rahane?
Rahane failed in both the innings and Pujara failed in the first. It is unlikely that neither will be dropped. Pujara’s innings was an aberration as he showed on the 4th morning when he again went back to not scoring runs and only playing for time. Padding upto an overpitched delivery. I will not be fooled by his second innings runs. However, I expect this innings to have saved Pujara for the next 20 games and Rahane’s 61 at Lords to have saved him for the same timeframe.
Why did Kohli keep going back to Ishant?
Ishant Sharma was clearly not 100% fit for the game. His runup was slow and his delivery did not have any venom to it. It was a mystery why Kohli went back to Ishant after every break. Everyone could see that Ishant wasn’t at his best. How couldn’t Kohli? Or for that matter, how couldn’t Arun or Shastri? If Ishant wasn’t injured, he certainly had a mental block. Perhaps he wanted to preserve himself for the last couple of tests and failed to concentrate on the current one.
It really is a conundrum how Ishant was allowed to play for so many years despite mediocre performances. Yes, he has improved his wicket taking ability over the last 3 years but it is still just above 3 per test which is more or less his career strike rate. Having said that, the fact that he was allowed to play for so long despite so many ordinary performances, I mean someone at the board must answer. Ishant started as a genuine fast bowler but the credit for turning him into a medium pacer goes to Dhoni. Under Dhoni, Ishant concentrated on bowling line and length and as a result lost his main weapon. Pace. For the last couple of tests, he must certainly be replaced with either Shardul or Ashwin.
Kohli’s wrong team
Kohli picked the wrong team for this game. Period. If he wanted 4 medium pacers, it must have been Shardul instead of Ishant. One of Rahane or Pujara must have been replaced with Vihari or Mayank or even Surya. No team can afford to go into a test with four number 11s. The heroics of Shamrah at Lords seems to have clouded Kohli’s thinking. Did he expect Shami and Bumrah to contribute with the bat every time? If so, he must wake up. Kohli also says that he does not believe in 6 batters.
“I don’t believe in that balance,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference on Saturday. “I have never believed in that balance. Because either you can try to save a defeat or try to win the game. We have drawn games in the past with similar number of batters in the team. So, if your top six or seven don’t do the job, that extra batter is no guarantee of bailing you out every time.”
Fair enough but that does not mean that the tail must be this long. Some have even commented that Indian tail starts as soon as the first wicket falls. Such has been the horrendous run of the middle order.
Kohli is arrogant and adamant
Some part of the total capitulation must be credited to Kohli who because of his arrogance and adamant nature picked bowlers who cannot contribute anything with the bat. With such a long tail, it is bound to affect the way the batters approach an innings. They will always have the long tail at the back of their mind and rather than dictate terms to the opposition, will want to preserve their wicket. With a middle order and a keeper not doing anything of note, this sort of long tail is laughable. Will Kohli learn from his mistakes? Will Kohli be less adamant? History tells us that Kohli seldom does the obvious. He instead goes onto play the same set of players only to prove that he was correct. It does not matter to him that it comes off once in a blue moon.
No answer for Root
This was the 7th test against England and India does not seem to have an answer for Root. Yes, Root has hit a purple patch. He is playing brilliantly. He has already scored 3 centuries on the trot and is looking good to add 2 more. Unless India find an answer for Root, the next 2 tests is going to be more leather hunting. If Ashwin is that man who will get Root cheaply but will not do anything else, so be it.
Pant must not play ahead of Jadeja
Another of Kohli’s stupid decision was to send Pant ahead of Jadeja. Pant does not have the game for these pitches and Jadeja has shown that he is compact. Pant always self-destructs. It does not require a genius mind to send Pant below Jadeja. In all fairness, Pant is batting 2 positions above his comfort level.
Finally, a change in the batting position is required. Kohli must play at one followed by one of Mayank, Vihari and Surya at two and Pujara at three. Yes there is no room for Rahane.