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| Image credit: wikipedia.com Image design: Bala Kumar |
Hello Friends,
What do you think of the final scoreline of the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy between India & England? Ecstatic? Disappointed? somewhat satisfied? Could have been better? I am sure all of India was praying for a win for their beloved team on the final day of the final test match of the series which was a really gruelling one. On a hindsight the result seems fair as both the teams fought really hard throughout the series. It was a series of consistent ups & downs in every session of a test match. Both the teams had their opportunities to seal the series but that was not meant to be. What if India would have won the Lord's test and the following two test matches results remained the same? What if the home team would have had another hit over the fence on the morning of the final day of the series? There are plenty of such questions. But the series is over and now it's the time for introspection for both the teams. So what were the headlines of the series? Let's take a look.
A Team Under Fire
Let's start with the visitors. They were ridiculed at the beginning of the series considering their performances in the last two test series followed by retirements of three stalwarts in the form of Ashwin, Rohit & Kohli. Appointment of Shubman Gill as the test captain drew criticism too as his form in red ball cricket was questionable for a while now. The bowling department was called out for lacking firepower except Bumrah. But it is fair to say that the new team India under a young captain & an under-fire coach did reasonably well to answer their critics though some of the decisions remain questionable.
IPL Over Domestic Cricket
Throughout the series there has been one topic that was gaining momentum specially in Indian media. Infact it was doing the rounds for a while now. It was the questionable selection of some of the players in the test team based on their IPL performances. Earlier this year Harshit Rana's selection during the Border-Gavaskar trophy was debatable. This time it was Sai Sudharsan whose selection came under scrutiny. The topic would have gained further momentum had India lost the final test. But for now it might get subdued for a while. But the question remains valid for many reasons. Someone like Abhimanyu Easwaran yet to get a chance in the final eleven despite consistent performances in domestic cricket. In spite of several injuries to first choice players during the series he could not get a chance in this series too. Karun Nair got a chance after grind of years. But whether he will get a consistent run in future is not a certainty. But the debate is valid as only domestic red ball cricket form should be the parameter for national test team selection. That's probably the only way to keep the younger generation interested in playing longer format amidst inclination towards cash rich T20 leagues.
The Flip Side Of Bazball
As far as the home team is concerned they seem to be trying hard to be true to the Bazball style of cricket though they would never accept that. Even in this series too at times they seemed reckless with their batting though their chase in the 1st test was one of the most calculated one in the recent times. Even though it's the decision of the board & team management but the question for them is with this approach of making flat surfaces for batters' benefit aren't they being a bit harsh on their bowlers? Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad haven't played the majority part of their cricket on surfaces like these. Had they played under these kind of conditions their wickets tally probably would have been halved and impact would have been nowhere near what it used to be.
At the same time dishing out flat surfaces has two critical aspects which the home team needs to consider. Firstly even the opposition batters can enjoy themselves on such surfaces once they handle the new ball carefully. That's what exactly happened in this series too where Rahul & Jaiswal mostly provided the team a solid start and then the middle & lower order capitalized on those surfaces. On the other hand when the English team travels abroad they struggle specially in spin friendly conditions of the subcontinent where their batters find it difficult to follow the same style. Their performances in the last tours of India & Pakistan have been a reflection of the same. They have the big Ashes series coming up later this year. They can be assured that Aussies are not going to make their life easier by making such batting friendly pitches. They are yet to win a test series against India or Australia since their adoption of this ultra attacking batting mode. If they can't win the Ashes later this year will they still be persisting with Bazball or getting the same shoutout from fans or administrators like now? We'll wait and see.
Batters' Paradise
India also had a somehow similar kind of problem with their strategy when they prepared rank turners for home tests in the last few years. But they got a proper reality check when the Kiwis thrashed them completely on such surfaces. It would be interesting to see what sort of pitches does the Indian team get when they start their home season under the new captain later this year. As far as this series is concerned full marks to the batting unit. Karun Nair should definitely feel disappointed to miss out on such batting friendly surfaces despite his recent form in red ball cricket or previous exposure to English conditions. Other than that all the batters had a great time smacking hundreds for fun. Someone like Washington Sundar who hardly gets much time in the middle to play a big innings was lucky enough to get to his maiden test hundred. Captain Gill was in a different league altogether scoring four hundreds in the series. This series definitely gave a new lease of life to the batter Shubman Gill.
Bowlers Succeeding The Hard Way
This post can't be completed without the mention of the bowlers in the series. It was a real hard work for the bowlers from both sides to keep grinding on such surfaces. But throughout the series they kept on coming with longer spells and rejuvenated energy levels session after session. Talking about Indian bowlers it was not only Bumrah show. Entire fast bowling unit chipped in as & when required. Siraj had one of the best test series of his career so far ending up as the leading wicket taker of the series. His relentless hunger & passion for the game makes him a special character. His spell on the final day of the series will be remembered for ages. He should be credited big time for their victory in the final test. Interestingly India won both the tests where Bumrah wasn't playing which is a good sign. Aakash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Sundar, Anshul Kamboj, Nitish Reddy all had their moments at some point of time. Overall it was a commendable effort by the team.
Coming to the bowling efforts of the home team they were surprisingly led by their captain Stokes who mostly missed out on bowling long spells in recent times due to injury concerns. But this time in the absence of Anderson & Broad and with a relatively inexperienced bowling attack he had to lead from the front which he did nicely. Rest of the bowlers did their best specially Joffra Archer with some scintillating spells. Woakes the most experienced one in the bowling group didn't have much of an impact as expected. But his heroic act of coming to bat during final test with a dislocated shoulder is yet another example of how much players care for winning games for their country.
Two Captains, Two Characters
Before concluding this post we must talk about both the captains. Let's start with Indian captain. There were plenty of criticism as well as a bit of curiosity too on Shubman Gill's appointment as test captain. Considering his returns as a batter in overseas conditions were not that great, it was a tough ask for the young man to improve his performance as well as manage a team that is going through transition. But to be fair he silenced all his critics with his performance with the bat. As far as leadership is concerned he is still a work in progress. What was good to see was his calm composure on the field. He didn't seem to panic under pressure. BCCI and team management put lot of faith in him while assigning him one of the toughest jobs in the cricketing world. There is no doubt that he will grow with time. But as we all know that being Indian cricket team captain is not just managing players on and off the field or taking critical decisions during the match, there's lot more on the plate. Hopefully he grooms himself to be able to tackle all sort of challenges and sustain for a longer period.
Talking about the home captain, he hardly needs any introduction. Stokes has been a different force altogether since taking up the captaincy duties in red ball cricket. He was at his usual best this series. This time he was back as a regular bowler too delivering longer spells. He along with coach McCullum has taken this team in a completely new direction. Their approach in test cricket has been an eye opener for the rest of the teams. Though they face plenty of criticism as well but it's a fact that they are making test cricket interesting.
It's unfortunate that Stokes missed the final game of the series. There is no doubt that his presence in the middle could have impacted the final outcome. But as a veteran who had been struggling with frequent injuries throughout his career and still prioritizing test cricket he is a roll model for the younger generation. Lot of times questions were asked about his individual contributions as a captain. But not to forget that as a leader it's his job to keep every member of this team aligned to the vision of the team and make them perform. The way the team has responded so far to their newly adopted style it's fair to say that Stokes has got all the respect in that dressing room. His biggest challenge is though going to come in a few months time when he has to get his acts together to regain the Ashes. Probably that's going to be the biggest challenge for Bazball as well.
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