Wins for some, defeat for all

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https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/104033/india-tour-of-england-2018-test-series-review-wins-for-some-defeat-for-all-virat-kohli-cheteshwar-pujara-ishant-sharma-cricket-news

 

Officially, worse than 2014. Only marginally better than 2011. For all the competitiveness and bravado Virat Kohli's side displayed on their tour of England, it's the damaging scoreline of 4-1 that will forever be associated with them.

 

 

The truth of course is that 4-1 flatters the hosts. But there is no missing the point that India had its best chance in years to beat England in England. And they missed that mark by a bit, and then some more.

 

 

Here's how their opponents had lined up. Their opening combination seemed like it was there only to make up the numbers, their middle order was swapping roles consistently in order to find the right formula, while their bowling outside of James Anderson and Stuart Broad reeked of inexperience. They had only won one game out of the last nine they had played. At home, they had lost Tests to South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan in recent times.

 

 

Here's how India compared. They had a settled opening combination with even a back up in place. They had an experienced and dynamic middle order. They had two world class spinners and a young prodigy. Their attack was both faster and varied, even with the injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Their only problem was their 'keeper, with Wriddhiman Saha out injured.

 

 

Yet, India proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot and lose 1-4. The conditions were always going to be tough for India in England, but what they should've ensured though is that they had all the bases covered outside the field. They talk often about controlling the controllables. In England, they failed on that count too. They failed to read the pitch properly at least twice, and subsequently failed in team selections. Their injury management could also have been much better.

 

 

Edgbaston was a lesson that the tour was not going to be easy, and India learnt there that they cannot just rely on the performance of a few. Virat Kohli rose to the occasion, and so did the bowlers, but the rest of India's batsmen cut a sorry figure. But in Lord's, India failed even before the match began. Rain was on the horizon, and it was quite clear that spinners would not have a big role to play. India's team management, surprisingly, saw otherwise. England called right and packed their team with pacers, while India went with an extra spinner. No prizes for guessing who came out triumphant.

 

 

In Southampton, they went the other extreme. The pitch wore her most vibrant brown dress, and still India went in with one spinner and one pace-bowling all-rounder. England went with both Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, and again that turned out to be the main difference.

 

 

If pitch reading is a problem, India's strange selection policy has become its chronic disorder. In the very first Test, India strangely asked KL Rahul to play instead of Cheteshwar Pujara at number three. Pujara had not been in great form, true, but had been in England for a while and knew what to expect. India, sadly, did not trust him and brought misery upon themselves. In the next Test at Lord's, in wildly swinging conditions, Pujara showed how much he was worth despite not scoring too much.

 

 

At Lord's, as already mentioned, India made a massive error by swapping the two Yadavs, Umesh and Kuldeep, and were left ruing that as England recovered from Ishant and Shami's spells by hitting back at Kuldeep.

 

 

The issue propped up again after India's win at Nottingham. India chose to go in with the same eleven, and that was despite R Ashwin looking far from fit. He had suffered from a hip injury in the last game, but India felt he was good to go. In the match, Ashwin looked half the bowler he was, struggling to pivot fully or land the ball in the rough consistently. India did not even opt for an extra spinner or a part timer despite seeing the dry pitch. England only needed Moeen Ali to run through India's batting order. Mystery still clouds Ashwin's injury, but it certainly cost India the match in Southampton and the series was out of their hands as well.

 

 

However, there were still victories that can be plucked out, even in defeat. Something that the world, and more importantly your opponent, remembers that you were there. There and making life difficult for them. If anything, this series will be remembered for that.

 

 

Virat Kohli proved to the world that he can play better than most even in English conditions, while Cheteshwar Pujara looks to have put an end to long standing question marks over his overseas dependability. Among the other batsman, it was heartening to see they were ready to give up their natural instincts to try and grind their way to success, even if most of it came a little too late.

 

 

Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and even Shikhar Dhawan to an extent all showed that they are capable of changing their game in order to counter the bowlers. It leaves one thinking if India had had better preparations and plans already laid out coming into the series, they might have put in a much better performance overall.

 

 

The pace bowlers were the absolute stars. Ishant is bowling as well as he has ever done, and looks to have finally repaid all the faith over the years. His roles as the workhorse, the enforcer and the strike bowler were all performed with great effect. Mohammed Shami was not always at his best, but was mostly doing what the team expected. He still might need to get better at bowling with the new ball, but as it was evident in the last game at the Kia Oval, luck was not always on his side. Jasprit Bumrah has turned out to be a real savior even as his young career blossoms. He keeps troubling the batsmen with his angle, and keeps adding to his armoury to get better. India will do well to not burn him out.

 

 

Overall India will come back from the series sensing the big opportunities they missed in England. If they had performed as number one teams are expected to do, they would have probably even won the series 3-2. They, however, lacked the cutting edge that makes them the 'best travelling team'. Kohli said he saw the attitude in the players that will allow them to do that.

 

 

Until then, this will be a series that was won by players like him, Pujara and India's pace bowlers. But as a team, they lost. And badly.

 

[Moochad]

Whoever wrote that article seems a big Pujara fan.