The England white-ball series

England are in India to play a series of white-ball games. This is more likely to honour certain commitments to the broadcasters who must have been promised a specific number of games every year. Nevertheless, they are in India and looking at the how the games went, either India were too good for England or England is here but their hearts and minds are not. Nonetheless, I would like to ask the BCCI, what is the point of this T20 series? One can say that these games are in preparation for the much bigger tournament, that is the Champions Trophy. Now, Champions Trophy is in the ODI format whereas India is engaged with England in T20 format. Ofcourse, three ODIs are also planned but why play T20 before an important tournament? The England white-ball series is strange is many ways.

Anyway, there is no point in cribbing about the schedule. Hence, let me visit the games itself. England underwent a transition that only a few teams managed in their cricketing history. After they were unceremoniously ousted from the group stage at the 2015 World Cup, they completely changed the way they played ODI cricket. Bazball is a term that has been introduced quite recently but England adopted that style of play in 2015 itself. Eoin Morgan was the architect of aggressive batting throughout the innings. So much so that, Morgan even talked about topping 500 in ODIs. They came close, till 484 but could not cross the barrier.

England lost their way

Eversince Morgan retired, England has lost their ability. They still want to continue with their approach but somehow, it never reached the heights during the Morgan period. The inability to qualify for the semi-final in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the early exit in the West Indies in the T20 World Cup, far too many losses over the last several years, England have hit a spot from where they are unable to wriggle themselves out.

The current series against India is along the expected lines. India in India is a tough proposition. More so, for England. They always lacked decent quality spinners to trouble India. They may still hold their own on absolute flat tracks but on slow tracks, they cannot be seen anywhere. India utilised England’s lack of good spinners to the hilt. Realistically, India must have won all the 5 games. They lost the one game that they should never have lost. Adil Rashid is not a bowler at the highest level. It baffles me as to what do England see in him. One performance that are few and far inbetween is not what is expected of him.

Anyway, Rashid is not someone India will lose sleep over. This Indian team with young and fresh blood, who have been this brand of cricket for a very longtime, is always going to be too tough for England. Man to man, India have the players who are superior to any England can offer. Which is the reason it incident in the 4^th game made for a sore spot.

Dube incident

Harshit Rana is in no way a like-for-like replacement for Shivam Dube. More importantly, Dube wasn’t concussed. Yes, he was hit on the head and if he felt any discomfiture, the Indian team was eligible for a concussion sub. By the looks of it, Dube wasn’t concussed at all. He played the next couple of deliveries well enough and walked away without any discomfort. Yet, what prompted the Indian team management to announce Rana as the substitute? Where they worried that with England having won the 3^rd T20, they needed that extra bowler to be able to win? Did that mean that the selection itself was wrong? To the average viewer, it looked plain cheating.

Rana is a pure bowler and Dube a bits and pieces cricketer. It just does not wash to replace Dube with a pure bowler.

Gavaskar lambasted the move in his column

“In the Pune game, Dube batted right till the end after having got hit on the helmet earlier, so clearly, he was not concussed. So, allowing a concussion substitute itself was not correct. Yes, there could have been a substitute in case he had strained a muscle while batting, but that would have been only for fielding and he could not have bowled.”

Ashwin was of the opinion that Ramandeep Singh was a better like-for-like replacement.

Gambhir is under serious pressure to show some wins. A couple of resounding defeats against New Zealand and Australia has left him in a precarious situation. A defeat in this series, his spot will come under even more bother. Was it his idea to make Rana as the substitute? He sure needs few wins and quickly at that.

Varun Chakravarthy

Proved to be the difference between the teams. England were unable to pick him and it was a shame that his best performance of the series, did not register a win for India. Nevertheless, he has improved tremendously. There is a growing clamour to include him in the Champions Trophy squad. His fielding and batting will certainly go against him in ODI. Also, he has not been playing ODI even at the first class level. He could be given all the 3 ODI games against England and decide based on that. However, in T20, he is here to stay. Axar Patel, Kuldeep and even Jadeja will be on the teamsheet after Varun. That was his impact.

Wrapping up the England white-ball series

With the ODIs still to be played, this series will probably not register in the minds of the England supporters. They have always believed that cricket began and ended with Ashes. Rest of the games are mere sideshows.

Other India England blogs