Now that the test is lost, I hope that the Indian team in general and Rahul Dravid in particular, understands the importance of a proper tour game ahead of an important test. Not that, India would have won but atleast it would have given the batsmen a proper outing and would have had a much-needed red-ball practice ahead of the test. However, I am quite pessimistic and I do not think that the Indian team or the Indian board will learn from this mistake and will continue with their ways even in the future. A few tests at home against West Indies or Sri Lanka, all will be forgotten and forgiven. As for the loyal fans, we do not have any say and will have to continue to agonise over it. The top and middle-order let India down. I am not defending the bowlers either but they are less accountable.
India would have wished that they had completed the series last year itself. How times have changed?
First credit where it is due. Well done England. India had no chance whatsoever. You have reinvented Test cricket.
The batting coach blames the batting
Vikram Rathour, the Indian batting coach has blamed the batting in the second innings and rightly so.
“The plans didn’t work out,” Rathour said. “I’ll agree that we had a pretty ordinary day as far as batting is concerned. We were ahead in the game. We were in a position where we really could’ve batted them out of the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. A lot of people got starts but really couldn’t convert. We were expecting one of them to play a big knock and have a big partnership but unfortunately it didn’t happen like that.”
A lead of 134 must have ensured that the batsmen start on a positive note. Instead, Gill was out early and Pujara and Vihari, just as they did in the first innings, completely shut shop and never tried to score runs. Kohli’s and Shreyas’s continued poor form did not help and were bowled out for a paltry score. Looking at the pitch and the conditions, the Indians fell short by a minimum of 100 runs and the target should have been closer to 500.
The bowlers were at fault too
Nonetheless, 378 was still a substantial target and it must have been enough for the bowlers to defend. They failed spectacularly. It was not just the inability of the bowlers to defend close to 400 but the manner of the defeat that is unacceptable for the fans. With 1.5 days to go for the game to end, if one had expected that if England are to win, they will win in the last session and that chasing such a tall score, they would have huffed and puffed their way to the win but what transpired on the field was entirely different.
The bowlers were taken on a merry-go-round by England. They won the game so easily that beggars belief. They lost just the 3 wickets and except for one chance of Siraj, Root and Bairstow lived a charming life. Lees & Crawley, who usually get out as soon as play starts shared a 100 run opening stand at breakneck speed. It was not just the batsmen who let the team down but it was also the bowlers.
Now, let me analyse the individual performers.
Shubnam Gill
He is talented. There is no doubt about that. He has got all the shots. No doubt about that one either. He is comfortable both against pace and spin. No doubt about that one either. However, has he got the temperament to succeed at the highest level? That is a huge question mark. This was his 11th test. Though he has four scores of more than 50, he is yet to score a hundred. It is not a cause for concern. He will surely get there oneday but what is of greater concern is that apart from that initial series in Australia, he hasn’t done his obvious talent the justice it commands. He has wasted most of the chances given to him.
With the return of Rohit Sharma and Rahul, Gill will again find himself on the sideline. He must have been aware of that fact but what makes his failure more worrying is that he didn’t even force the hand of the team management to think before dropping him. Now, it will be straight and easy swap once either Rohit or Rahul comes back. A 100 or even a 50 would have put the team management in a dilemma. Gill has only made their task easy.
Perhaps, he must be sent back to Ranji Trophy for a couple of years and rid himself of the T20 game.
Cheteshwar Pujara
Pujara has once again confirmed that dropping him was a wise decision notwithstanding his second innings 66. All of us were highly impressed by the runs he scored in English County Championship. A total of 4 hundreds including a couple of double hundreds and a 170 not out and he was brought back into the team based on sheer weight of runs. The added advantage was that all those runs were scored in England and as such, he was expected to be the main batsman.
Yes, he was moved out of his favourite position and was made to open the innings. Not everyone who plays at number 3 is a natural opener but his form leading upto the game was excellent. Opener or not, he was expected to score runs. When someone is coming back to the team after being dropped based on performance, he will have to take whatever is available. However, his struggle in both the innings has once again proved that irrespective of the runs he scored for Sussex, when it comes to international cricket, he is still the same old Pujara.
Pujara the sloth
Exceptionally slow, devoid of strokes and unable to rotate the strike.
How long will he continue in the same vein? His method is not at all working. It is neither helping him nor helping the team. Yet, he is adamant that he will not change his approach. I still remember his press conference a few years ago in Australia where he said that he cannot score 200 every innings. This despite multiple failures before that.
On the first morning, he alongwith Vihari batted so slowly that the English bowlers settled into a nice rhythm that was enough to unsettle the entire top and middle order. I hope that his second innings of 50 do not save him from the axe. He deserved to be dropped.