Fresh off a valiant victory at Lord's, Team India were favourites coming into the match, as the pressure on England captain Alastair Cook seemed to have reached a new high. Cook, who was in wretched form coming into this match, had been an even worse captain than he had been a batsman in the last couple of months. Dhoni, on the other hand, had proven to be a mastermind in India's win at Lord's, and undoubtedly his confidence was running high.
There was huge pressure on the home side, with the media heavily criticizing their coach, captain and players before the start of the match. There was also, a massive question mark over Cook's future as the English captain, as he had been the biggest scapegoat for the defeat suffered at Lord's. To cause even more disarray in the English dressing room, ex-English international Kevin Pietersen had publicly come out and said, alongside Piers Morgan, that Cook is not the right man to lead the English side. And finally, to put the icing on the cake, experienced wicket keeper Matt Prior, who had a dreadful two matches, suddenly announced that he needed time off from cricket, similar to Jonathan Trott, forcing England to play with the inexperienced Jos Buttler in a make-or-break encounter. It all seemed to be falling apart for England, right in the middle of the series. Surely India would easily capitalize and firmly secure their grips on the series?
However, things did not go smoothly for India at all in this match. Throughout the course of five days, there was not a single session in which Dhoni could say that his team dominated their opponent. Truth be told, England had managed to outplay India in every department, whether it be bowling, batting or even fielding. But where did it all go wrong for India?
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| Disappointment: Rohit Sharma failed to grasp the opportunity provided to him |
It all went wrong before the match had even started. Firstly, the selectors got it all wrong. Once again, they decided to show blind faith in Shikhar Dhawan, who had nothing to show for the faith that had been placed in him. A long opening stance is very crucial for any team, and with Dhawan opening for India it was ensured that the Indian opening partnership would not last for long. Although he is a good player, his technique becomes his own enemy when playing outside the sub-continent, and so he shouldn't have been playing in this series at all. When a team has other options like the experienced Gambhir or Ajinkya Rahane, it seems ridiculous how the selectors keep insisting on playing Dhawan every match.
Not only did they get the selection of Dhawan wrong, they also surprisingly opted to include Rohit Sharma. At the time, I must admit that the prospect of having an extra batsman seemed the right choice, but pretty soon it became pretty evident that is was definitely the wrong choice. Sharma merely made 34 runs in two innings, and like the rest of the bowlers, did not impress with the ball. The omission of Ravi Ashwin now seems a foolish decision, as he could have made the same amount of runs and also contribute with the bat.
Despite the selection errors, India had a strong team which should have easily been able to challenge the English side. But the most disappointing factor about the performance was the shocking batting. The decision making by the Indian batsmen were absolutely atrocious, as some poked at balls which they shouldn't be messing with, while others got out trying to slog.
The batsmen made Moeen Ali look like a lethal spinner. Hailing from the sub-continent, Indians are known to be excellent players of spin, and so I expected them to make a meal out of the part time off spinner, Moeen Ali. Instead, all of them got too cocky, took him too lightly and paid the price. If you just watch Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the first innings, it will sum up the attitude of the Indian batsman towards Ali's bowling. Alas, India paid the price for not showing Ali any respect, as the player who Sourav Ganguly refused to label as an all-rounder picked up 6 wickets in India's second innings alone.
Along with Ali, a half fit Stuart Broad and James Anderson once again terrorized the Indians. Broad and Anderson put on quite a display of where to pitch the ball during test matches on supposedly a 'flat pitch', something the Indian bowlers could take note of. The pair kept creating chances and kept swinging it past the outside edge, making the fall of wickets inevitable. The tremendous bowling effort by England showed that the pitch was certainly not flat, meaning the Indian bowlers have only themselves to blame for conceding over 500 runs in the first innings.
Furthermore, the little chances that the bowlers did create were dropped. An example would Jadeja's drop at slip in the first innings, after which the English batsmen went on to punish their opposition. The concerning thing about this is that it is becoming a regular habit for Team India at slips now. Gone are the days when Dhoni had the safe hands of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman next to him at slips, and the dropped chances just give us another reason to remember badly we miss them.
Overall, the display put in by India was dismal to say the least. The opening pair, which might I remind you needs to be changed in the next match, put on another short display, while the middle order once again collapsed. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli need to step up their games now, and convert their starts into the big scores that India desperately needed. Rahane was once again the lone warrior in the troublesome middle order of India, showing maturity and composure while wickets kept falling at the other end. Dhoni will need to rethink his strategy and have a long discussion with the selectors before the next match, as Ravi Ashwin needs to be given a chance after both Binny and Rohit have failed to grasp the opportunities provided to them. Shami was once again a shadow of the talented bowler he is, while Bhuvi failed to spark some magic with his seam bowling. It was a disastrous debut for Pankaj Singh, and I don't think that he should be retained in the team for the next match, especially with talented bowlers like Ishwar Pandey and Varun Aaron waiting in the horizon.
Article written by Mayank Tiwary. Twitter:
@VanPerseing
