Hello Friends,
Recently concluded test series(after the cancellation of final match) between India and England has created lot of buzz in the cricketing world more due to the unexpected cancellation of the final test match in Old Trafford. The series was expected to be an entertaining one for the cricket lovers and it certainly entertained all of us with some high quality individual as well as team performances throughout. As both the teams were gearing up for the series finale, an unexpected covid-19 scare in Indian camp forced them to pull out at the last moment which led to varied opinions among cricket pundits. At the end of the day nothing is more important than the players' and support staffs' health. It has been a tremendous effort by both the teams to exhibit such high quality performances even when the world is still trying to recover from Covid related trauma. Coming back to cricket it was an extraordinary effort by the Indian team specially the bowlers who gave it their all in a hard fought series. Credit to the Indian bowlers for not only delivering match winning spells but also for scoring crucial runs during crunch moments leading to a 2-1 result in favour of their team. There have been many moments, incidents, magical bowling spells as well as inspiring centuries during the span of four test matches. Some of them which make an excellent example of individual as well as team leadership are going to be featured in our today's post. Let's play.
Tale of a long tail
For a long period Indian team has been criticized for the inability of their bowlers to contribute with the bat. It has been a challenge for them across formats. Specially in red ball cricket contribution from lower order could prove handy. Indian bowlers chose this series as the right platform to answer their critics. Contribution with the bat from the bottom four has a big impact in the final score line of the series. There have been quite a few innings during the series where Indian tail enders(Might not be the correct word anymore I guess) have scored crucial runs but the partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the Lord's test match needs a special mention as that partnership impacted the result of that particular test match as well as the series immensely. England bowlers looked tired as well as frustrated by the counter-attack by Indian lower order batters. Kind of fighting spirit Bumrah and Shami showed in the 2nd test match is something that is going to inspire teams in future. Both of them exhibited extreme resilience against a potent attack that was trying to demoralize them with bouncers and sledging. But nothing was sufficient to deviate both the Indian speedsters from their target. They fought hard to sail through their team during a tough phase. During their partnership English bowlers completely lost their focus and could hardly bowl in the right areas. Test matches are all about sharp focus. One bad session and the opponent team can be all over you. That is what happened with the home team in that match. It was a great example for all the leaders to remind them how important it is to keep their team focused. Joe Root probably could have done better in that situation as a captain.
When the going gets tough the tough gets going
 |
| Pujara batting against England |
If India has been a superpower over the last five years in test cricket lot of credit needs to be given to a stable experienced batting lineup. Batters like Kohli, Rahane, Rohit, Pujara, Rahul have performed exceptionally time and again to take India to famous victories. It's a great sign when young players can look upto so many stalwarts of the game in the team. At the same time we need to remember that even the best in the business too faces low phases when the returns are not upto the expectation. These are the times when even those established players too need support of their colleagues or seniors. We live in a country where success is celebrated as grandly as failures are criticized. Recent form of Rahane and Pujara hasn't been that great. But few bad performances don't make them bad players overnight. They are proven performers at international level and there is hardly any doubt that they will come back stronger. Not to forget Pujara's resilience and Rahane's exceptional leadership in India's victory over Australia earlier this year. Still they get criticized for few unsatisfactory performances. How unfair is that!
This series hasn't started on a good note either for both of them. But it's their mental toughness to fight and conquer the world that keeps them going. Despite all the criticism they were focused on their job. Off late Pujara came back with couple of important innings for the team. Not to forget the gritty partnership between them in the Lord's test match that gave India the chance to push for victory. Even though Rahane didn't look convincing in most of the matches , it is hard to believe that he doesn't have it in him to make a comeback. No doubt that quality batters like Rahane and Pujara will make a strong comeback sooner than later. What is needed is a bit more patience and compassion towards the greats of the game who have been instrumental in bringing the team where it is today.
Hitman 2.0 arrived
 |
| Rohit Sharma |
It is not easy to achieve equal success across formats in international cricket. That is why players like Virat Kohli, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith receive so much accolades because of their multi format heroics. At the same time there are players who have achieved great success in one of the formats but haven't been able to replicate the same in other formats. Rohit Sharma is one of the modern day greats who has achieved enormous success in white ball cricket but hasn't been the same impact player in red ball cricket for quite some time especially in overseas conditions. Looking at his success at the top of the order in white ball cricket he was elevated to the role of an opener in test cricket too. Hence this series was the ultimate litmus test for him to prove his mettle. His performance at the end of the series shows that he had prepared himself well in advance for the challenges in bowler friendly conditions. This series saw a completely different version of Hitman who modified his game as per the need of the conditions. Such an outstanding example of individual leadership where a proven performer doesn't hesitate to go that extra mile to help his team & convert him to a better player. This change in playing style also shows his eagerness to perform and achieve similar success in test cricket. His partnership with K L Rahul at the top gave India the stability throughout the series inspite of an average performance from the middle order. His century in the 4th test match was a well deserved one after quite a few impressive knocks in the previous matches. After a long time Indian opening pair looked solid and confident in overseas conditions. Hopefully the combination of an improved Rahul and Hitman 2.0 brings more joy to Indian fans in coming days.
Marathon man keeps running
 |
| James Anderson |
Age is not a big factor in competitive sports like cricket as long as players are performing at the required level. At the same time your hunger and passion for the work you do keeps you younger. There is no better satisfaction than being eager to keep learning & succeeding. England pace bowling spearhead James Anderson seems to be the ideal student of this theory. He kept proving that age is just a number if you have the zeal to learn and grow. His hunger to perform at the big stage time and again can be the most important lesson for any youngster. The term complacency doesn't exist in the dictionaries of great achievers. Even after achieving so much over the years Jimmy's passion for the game and winning matches for his country is beyond comparison. Bowling long spells, performing at the crunch moments, competing with the best batters of the opponent teams... nothing has been changed for the English great till date. He has been instrumental in leading a less experienced bowling attack throughout the series. England has been consistently hit by injury concerns to their key bowlers in last few months. That left them with no option than to field a lesser experienced bowling attack led by Anderson. He kept guiding young ones like Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton during the crunch times. His role is now not just being wicket taking bowler but also to be the on field mentor to the entire bowling group. He seems to be enjoying this role thoroughly. There is no replacement for experience and Jimmy's consistent success at the top level is a testament to that. English cricket is so fortunate to have someone like him in the group.
Root factor
 |
| Joe Root |
Talking about this series and not mentioning Joe Root's performance will be unfair. He has been in the form of his life this year so far. He ensured that he continues to lead the batting group in a tough series like this. England batting has come under scrutiny specially after their disappointing performance in test series in India and the home test series against New Zealand. But Root has been a class apart amidst the consistent disappointments of the rest of the batting group. In fact it won't be exaggerating to say that he stood like a rock between India and victory throughout the series. The series score line could have been different had he got the required support from the rest of the batters. Needless to say that it was not easy for him being the captain of the team and simultaneously single handedly taking the responsibility of leading the batting efforts. Even though he has been criticized for not being at his best during some of the crunch moments as a captain, his efforts are still commendable. As a leader you get used to criticism when your team is not doing good. At the same time it takes a lot of courage for a leader to back his team amidst severe criticism. Root was quite phenomenal in backing the same group of players. Though the immediate results were not as satisfactory as expected, but his backing of the younger players is definitely going to bring fruitful results in near future. After loosing quality players like Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer he decided to take that additional responsibility as a leader. Irrespective of the final score line Root has definitely been an inspirational leader in the series.
Stay tuned for more exciting cricketing actions in this space.
Image Credit:
Sibeshmodak, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
flickr.com/Mike Prince
NAPARAZZI / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Brian Minkoff-London Pixels, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Social Media Connect