Long after he retires, Virat Kohli might sit with his mates and laugh about how James Anderson asked his bowlers to bowl slower to him; ‘170 Tests, and he asked us to bowl slower to him’.
The legacy of Virat and Ravi Shastri’s Indian unit will be this fast-bowling mongrel that they have let loose into the cricketing world.
It all started with that bouncer from Varun Aaron that destroyed Stuart Broad’s lower-order batting ability.
It continues in the fear that I could see in James Anderson’s eyes on the third evening of this Test match.
This fearful period for Anderson played a pivotal role in England losing the plot on the fifth day in the Lord’s Test.
There are passages of play that define a Test match and a series, like the Ricky Ponting versus Ishant Sharma duel in the Perth 2008 Test or the Michael Atherton versus Allan Donald duel in the Trent Bridge Test in 1998.
This Anderson versus Bumrah passage came out of the blue at the end of Day 3. Unlike the other quoted passages, this duel was not a great batsman versus a great bowler. It was a weak batsman versus a great bowler.
It was nevertheless a talisman versus talisman encounter. In terms of the impact, that Bumrah over could well go on to define this series.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
When the English were bowling on the fifth morning, soon after getting rid of Rishabh Pant, they started to look like they were playing for their mate’s honour rather than like a professional team out to win a Test match.
Mark Wood and other quicks peppered Bumrah with a few short balls, but the intensity that we saw in that Bumrah over was missing. It felt like sporadic sniper fire rather than intense artillery about to besiege a town.
Rather than getting rattled, Bumrah and Mohammed Shami continued to get behind the line of the ball and picked off easy runs. At this point, the pitch looked slow, and the match looked like will end in a draw.
When England walked into bat with 60 overs to play and a challenging target of over four runs an over to win, the Indian unit smelt a kill for some good reason. The chatter was ‘get Joe Root out and win the game’.
From the 2018 South Africa series, this Indian bowling attack has been relentless. Lord’s 2021 turned out to be yet another exhibition of how this mongrel unit would tear apart any opposition batting unit given a bit of support by their batting unit.
With only 60 overs to bowl, the Indian pace quartet ran in and bowled fast. The pitch, which appeared to be slow, suddenly started to hurry the English batsmen.
If the ball did not rush the batsmen, the hostile environment that Virat Kohli and his team created for them sure did.
The Indian supporters in the stadium got right behind their team and magnified the challenge that the English batsmen faced at Lord’s.
Joe Root, the lone English warrior, was forced to come in very early with the ball barely two overs old. From ball one, Root looked like he was playing a different match from his compatriots. He timed the ball beautifully, playing his drives and keeping the short ball down with ease.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
However, the reality was very different for Haseeb Hameed and the rest.
The variety of the attack on display is what that broke the English batting. Ishant got the ball to tail into the right-handers, trapping them LBW. Jasprit managed to straighten the ball from wide of the crease, getting the outside edges of Root and others.
Mohammed Shami presented the seam beautifully, nipping the ball both ways. Mohammed Siraj – India’s scrambled and wobbly seam expert – extracted pace, seam movement and bounce from the pitch.
The ball of the second innings was the slow off-cutter that Jasprit bowled to Ollie Robinson. What added magic to that delivery was the context in which Bumrah conjured up this ball.
Jos Buttler and Robinson were putting up a brave resistance until that point, and time was running out for the Indian bowlers.
When Jasprit went around the sticks and moved a few fielders back on the leg side, it looked like Robinson was in for a short-ball barrage. After a couple of short balls, Bumrah bowled this beautiful, slow off-cutter that landed within the stumps and caught Robinson off guard.
Robinson played the ball awkwardly and missed it to be LBW. That delivery reminded many of us of the Jasprit Bumrah slow ball to Shaun Marsh in Melbourne in 2018.
Soon after, Siraj induced an edge off Buttler’s resolute defensive bat, using a scrambled seam ball that held its line rather than coming in with the trajectory of release.
When James Anderson was clean bowled by Siraj, the Indian team completed the heist on a day that started with England hoping to win the match easily.
They came in with a set of expectations and ended up facing a different reality, one that the Indian magicians conjured up with the ball.
If you watched Anderson play the last delivery, you could see that he was expecting a short ball from Siraj.
But the wily Indian delivered a fast, full delivery to peg his off stump back. It was that kind of a day for England.
Bobbo7
Guest
We can agree on the last point
Ian
Roar Rookie
Sadly,I think she did!!! Anyway,what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Very perceptive analysis Jeff.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Then she wasn't good enough for you Ian - had no idea what she was throwing away. :thumbup:
Ian
Roar Rookie
I (sadly!) vividly remember my first attempt to chat up an attractive young lady.It was in pub in South London in the 1980's.Spurred on by my alleged mates I waltzed up to her,looked her in the eye and squeaked " Hi,my names Ian" With a look of total contempt she looked me up and down and said "So".that was the end of that night as I crawled out like the pathetic little so and so I was and went home with the massive hump...Happy days!
Micko
Roar Rookie
I think it's a combination of a poor England side (particularly batting!), but also a good Indian side that has grit and determination now. I think NZ are very good right now, but no doubt some circumstances have favoured them. Outside NZ & England, they need to develop a great spinner to win them matches, so Australia, India etc. Patel might just be that guy. Santner will never win NZ a test series!
Bobbo7
Guest
Does the same criteria not apply to India? They have been belted in NZ and England by NZ. They did not come close in NZ. They're a good side and like all, better at home but I just don't see a team superior to NZ. Picked NZ to win the WTC and they did simply because pound for pound they are a better side. In my view India's batting is overrated. Now Kohli is struggling by his own standards they are not making big runs and really should have been beaten on day 5 by a poor English outfit. It was a great win in fairness but England completely imploded on day 5 and 49 times out of 50 a team in England's position would have won or at least drawn.
Micko
Roar Rookie
NZ haven't played in India in some time, so their "domination" has been in favourable conditions for NZ. When they start beating India in India then that'll show that they've really arrived.
Liam
Guest
Please, that's a spectacular turn of phrase. If you're not allowed to speak rhetorically in an article discussing a game, when are you?
Bobbo7
Guest
Don't agree. On a dust bowl yes, but NZ did beat Pakistan in the UAE where most sides have lost, including Australia. For mine only Kohli, Pant, Jadeja and Aswin would get a game in the NZ side and Kohli looks to have gone down a peg or two from a couple of years ago. NZ have dominated India in recent times
Micko
Roar Rookie
NZ were lucky though with the Final’s venue being in the most favourable nation to being similar to NZ’s conditions. If it was basically held in any other country I think India would’ve won the Final.
Bobbo7
Guest
Despite the great win in a big turnaround this series shows me that NZ are deserved World Test Champions. In reality India should have lost this game on day 5 against an average English side. NZ were dominant against England and outplayed India in the WTC.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yeah, for all his commentary brilliance, Tony Grieg could make you cringe like that. Reminds me of a story Dean Jones told in his autobiography, when he was playing county cricket after his test career was over. He skied a ball, his wife in the stands started jumping up and down screaming “DROP IT! DROP IT!!” … the catch was dropped. The local vicar, closely connected with the team and sitting beside her, lovingly counselled her “Yes dear, I was praying too, but I did so quietly!” I think there’s something in that for all of us, don’t you? :stoked:
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Take the time Jeff. I’m prone to hyperbole but I am feeling for Joe Root at the moment propping them up. And captaining the side
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yes, having a perv was always a benefit of going to attend the cricket! :thumbup: I'll never forget one bit of Nine commentary where Tony Greig couldn't help himself but make some comment about some hot chick on screen. :stoked:
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I think you’re OK with Bairstow and Butler and Stokes is to come back in. 4-7 looks and Curren is better value than his king pair here so even down to 8. No quality at all 9-11 now with Anderson not likely to contribute at all - making bouncing him even worse
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Actually, my test debut at the Gabba as a 15 year old saw me watching days 2, 3 and 4, with Australia beating NZ by 9 wickets not long after tea on day 4. Days 2 and 3 were Saturday and Sunday, and I went with my uncle. On one of those days, there were, only a few metres away from us, a couple of guys in their mid to late 20s I supposed with a woman old enough to be their mother or aunty and the three of them were drinking stubbies from an esky – five years later, when I was old enough to drink beer, it was all plastic cups. The test ended not long after tea on day 4, the Monday. There were a few fights broke out on the hill, fortunately some way from where I was sitting on that same hill … the other thing I remember about that day was two hot chicks, must have been around my age or not a hell of a lot older, sitting some 20-30 metres away from me in tiny little shorts and I imagined I was game enough to go and chat them up … unfortunately I wasn’t.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I’m going to disagree with you re the worst 1, 2, 3 in world cricket. If you can just give me some extended time to research and contradict, would be appreciated :thumbup:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Nah, he was a year younger than me, just a typical loudmouth. Wasn't specifically him being the victim of said escort arrangement, but the arrangement itself...never seen it before! :laughing:
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Was he someone who had been a big bad bully at School Micko ... is that why you found it so hilarious? :laughing: