The first Test between India and England was a fantastic one. The game was in balance almost until the last moment and both teams had a fair chance to win.
Unfortunately for India though, England just had that little bit extra in their tank to get to the finish line.
The Indian problem was once again related to the batting. The bowling attack did extremely well and in spite of some uninspiring captaincy, managed to bowl the opposition out in both the innings.
The batting struggled once again to stand up to the pressures of Test cricket outside sub-continent. Virat Kohli was brilliant with the bat but did not receive any support from the rest of the batting lineup.
This was not a one-time occurrence, as India faced the same issue earlier this year in South Africa. A series which everyone in India believed the visitors should have won.
The batting lineup has been struggling for consistency outside Asia for a long time and the first England Test was just the proof of the same. India’s last Test tour outside Asia before the South African series was in West Indies.
A series again in which the batting suffered. Ravichandran Ashwin saved India from the blushes twice with two hundreds. The fact that the hosts were lacking experience helped India to crawl out of those holes they dug themselves in.
The Indian team needs more than Virat to win, at least for this series. Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay are probably the most disappointing of the lot. Both the above-mentioned players were part of India’s last overseas leg and scored runs everywhere.
The other problems for India are KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan. Both the opening options have been struggling for form and India don’t have any replacements at the moment. The wicket-keeping spot as well needs a look in. Dinesh Karthik not only struggled with the bat, his glove work wasn’t that great either.
With just a few days between the first two Tests, India cannot do anything drastic in terms of preparation but would need to somehow dig deep to see how they can turn this batting problem around. Cheteshwar Pujara might come back into the team for Lord’s and it will be interesting to see if India gambles with Rishabh Pant in place of Dinesh Karthik.
The opening combination will be interesting as well as all three of them failed in the first Test, so it will be a lottery of sorts as to which combination plays in the second Test.
The bowling attack looked good in both the innings. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit he will mostly replace Umesh Yadav in the line-up. The other position in question is Hardik Pandya. No one is sure what his role is in the XI.
His batting doesn’t give India enough runs and his bowling is non-existent. India has the option of playing either Ravindra Jadeja or Karun Nair in his spot.
India still has a great chance of winning the series and for that to happen the batsmen have to fire. Virat Kohli is the only world-class player in the side and the gulf in class showed in the first Test. The experienced players in the lineup need to step up and if that does not happen, the one man army will struggle to win consistently outside the subcontinent.
India has invested lots of time on players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay, and this is their chance to reprise that faith.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
That is not entirely true. Sachin debuted in 1989 and for about 7 years, he was India's lone warrior on overseas tours. Dravid and Ganguly debuted in 1996 but weren't a force until 2001. Laxman only established himself in 2001, Sehwag's debut was in 2001. India was a one man team till 1999/2000. I still remember India's 3-0 loss to Australia in 1999, when Sachin was the only one to score runs. Rahul Dravid failed badly against McGrath and Warne. Laxman scored a hundred in the Sydney Test but the series was done and dusted then. Sachin was a one man army when India stepped out of subcontinent during most of his first 12 years before the rest picked up the pieces. Kohli is going through even worse scenario but again, it is partly his own doing by backing wrong players due to his likes/dislikes. Sachin did not do that, he just got worst pool of players, playing for India when he was the captain.
Nick
Guest
Don't think this really applied to Tendulkar as he was surrounded by Sehwag, Laxman, Ganguly and of course Dravid who if anything was even more reliable than Sachin. I would agree with on Lara though who could only really rely on Chanderpaul for support.
James
Guest
Just shows the difference that a team has on a batsman. I always felt sorry for Lara and Tendulkar a little as, Lara especially, knew that if they failed there team probably loses. The opposite though was what the West Indies of the 70s and 80s and the Australian batsmen of the 90s enjoyed, it must be so much easier batting when you know that Gilchrist is coming in down the order. England kind of have the same thing, albeit way less impressive, in their one day team. The top 5 really have the freedom to swing away because they bat so deep so there is less pressure on just one guy.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Could not agree more Giri. Kohli knows and the team knows and we all know he can’t do it alone. Let’s face it, no one batsman in history every carried an entire team just on his own, not even Bradman. As I described somewhere at the moment Kohli’s India is a bit like Messi’s Argentina. So yes at least a couple of others must come good at Lord’s and beyond. Rahane didn’t have a choice but to graft it out. Pujara must be given a go to sort himself out perhaps at Dhawan’s expense with rahul opening. Kuldeep should replace Pandya and perhaps Pant replacing Karthik. I know these are wholesale changes for a 31-run loss but India was lucky not to get away with a much bigger loss thanks to Kohli.
Tech home
Guest
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 schedule
Rohit
Guest
As a long time Indian cricket fan my patience is running out. I am 38 years old and have been an avid cricket fan since the 1987 World Cup. In my 30 years of following Indian cricket I have never witnessed India winning a test series in Australia and South Africa and won just once in England in 2007 and maybe once in NZ or not at all. This is inexcusable for a team which has over 1 billion fans and whose players have been the highest paid in world cricket for several years now. The BCCI is by far the richest governing cricket body in the world and provides world class facilities to the players. Yet there is no improvement in overseas test performance from the 1970s and 1980s era when the BCCI was not as rich and the players not as well paid or provided such good facilities. There is no accountability from the selectors in picking the squad and neither is there any from the captain and coach in picking the playing 11 from that squad. MS Dhoni led disastrous overseas test tours year after year and after every series defeat we heard the team management saying the players are learning. All bark and no bite Ravi Shastri was Director of the Indian team down under in 2014 and after Dhoni relinqueshed the captaincy to Kohli and the 2-0 drubbing said the squad was learning and a couple of years down the line will be the best traveling team in cricket. Here we are in 2018 and after predictably losing the first test due to a spineless batting display from almost the same batting line up on the 2014 tour down under unashamedly says that India can still win the series and can be the best touring team. Ajinkya Rahane was touted as the next Rahul Dravid, but his performances don't even compare to the shadow of the former great. He has traditionally struggled to score runs at home and now appears listless overseas and he has been playing test cricket for India regularly since 2018. Ditto Murali Vijay. He showed great patience in leaving a lot of balls alone and scored runs in 2014 in England, Australia and South Africa. His performances have dropped off considerably. Cheteshwar Pujara for all his talked about patience averages in the mid twenties away from home after playing more than 50 tests. Who is responsible and accountable for these players not showing any improvement with experience and actually going backwards in performance? Why is Shikhar Dhawan selected for overseas tours? He has been a walking wicket on seaming, swinging and bouncing pitches. What exactly has changed in his temperament and technique since the South Africa tour that the team management thought he would score runs in England? Who is responsible for his selection? Even assuming the captain was overruled and he was selected in the squad, why play him in the 11? If Ashwin and Jadeja can be regularly dropped in overseas tests for their ineffectiveness, why does the same yardstick not apply to Dhawan? Why was Saha made the first choice keeper when he is a liability with the bat more often than not? Karthik fails in his first test after several years and daggers are out. Karthik did very well as opener in the 2007 series under Dravid in England that India won. Why is he not made to open again and gloves given to KL Rahul who is a competent keeper? Why does KL Rahul who is undoutedly talented and scores big hundreds not given 20 tests on the trot and told the place is his if he just scores runs? Why are the bowlers not told that they must contribute with the bat? Gone are the days when bowlers just bowled. Every test team has bowlers who can handle the bat. In the current Indian test team only Ishant Sharma sticks around and values his wicket. Why is the slip catching so abysmal? Why do these same slip fielders show no improvement at all game after game? Why is the fielding coach not held accountable?
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
The English pitches will more or less remain the same. If England resort to flat pitches, India will outbat England quite easily as Ashwin and Jadeja/Kuldeep will be more threatening on those wickets than Adil Rashid/Moeen Ali. So it is basically a battle between two struggling batting line ups.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
India need to fix the batting and the same is true for England as well. It will be interesting to see if the second test will be as closely fought as the first Test.
bobbo7
Guest
It was the Kohli and Ashwin show. India can improve but I think England can improve more - they did not bat very well either.
Paul
Roar Guru
Pandya would one of the first picked for an ODI or T20 Indian side but your suggestion about Jadeja makes way more sense than Pandya at Test Level. The English curators now know what type of pitches to prepare and assuming they get similar wickets, this could be a great series. If they produce roads, this will only play to India's strengths.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
Well I think the problem is with the batting. I hope something is done regarding the same. Kuldeep probably wouldn't make the X1 in place of a pacer if Bumrah is fit as Shami and Ishant did well in the first Test.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Indian batting lineup may get another chance to redeem themselves. But Indian think-tank should consider including Kuldeep Yadav in place of Umesh Yadav or. Mohammad Shami.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
Thanks Paul. Yes it is strange that India looks more vulnerable in this series. This was the reason I had written earlier that India's batting will give England the edge. England don't have to bat big, but just have to score enough in this games like we saw in the first Test. But if Indian batting clicks then England will be in trouble. Hardik Pandya is a strange case. Virat likes him but I don't think that alone should be the reason for him to play in the X1. He offers nothing at the moment and India will be better off playing an extra bat or someone like Jadeja. Jadeja is a brilliant fielder and will give the team some quiet overs even if he does not pick wickets. Also seeing how badly England played Ashwin, Jadeja might cause more trouble to the English batting like up. I still remember how he dismantled the English batting on a flat wicket in the final Test in India where England had to just survive 2 sessions. Jadeja will get you runs as well.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Giri What an honest and well written article. I've been thinking since the last Test that India is a one man team and you summary seems to suggest the same. I can't see the selectors bringing back Pujara any time soon as he hasn't made a run in County cricket, which makes the lineup very soft. England bowled well but not brilliantly, yet everyone bar Kohli made it seem like they were batting in a minefield. I also wonder why selectors persist with Pandik at Test level. You summed him up really well in your article - not a great bowler who doesn't get a lot of Test runs. On the flip side, England got across the line, in spite of their batting, not because of it. Guys like Buttler, Cook and and Malan really need to step up and perform over the last 4 Tests Its interesting that England, in 5th place on the ICC rankings, are so far behind India, that this series should go 3 or 4 nil to the Indians, but instead, it's India who need ask themselves some serious questions.