India vs England: An Opportunity Squandered
Written on July 14th, 2022 by {"login"=>"jcbphc21", "email"=>"f20181005@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"Journal Club", "last_name"=>"BPHC"}The much-awaited clash between India and England had finally arrived upon us, albeit an abnormal delay due to unavoidable circumstances (Covid). The two cricketing giants were all set to lock horns in a match that could potentially unfold a new chapter in the Indian Cricket Team’s history. The Englishmen were trailing 2-1 in the 5-match series, but as the saying goes, they were down but not out! A lot had changed for the English side during the past ten months, may it be the staff or the approach. They were looking to build on their morale-boosting series win against New Zealand, wherein they showcased a completely redefined approach for test cricket. India on the other hand, were in search of a historic test series win on English soil to end their 14-year drought.
The Fifth Test(July 1-5):-
India had already been struck with a huge blow before the ultimate test, as the injured KL Rahul was ruled out of the game. Covid took off from where it left last summer, inducing more complications for the Indian team. Rohit Sharma was also ruled out from what would’ve been his first game as a test captain on overseas soil, all thanks to Covid, rubbing salt into India’s existing wounds. This meant that two of India’s most prolific batsmen were unavailable for the big game. Jasprit Bumrah was handed the responsibility of marshaling the Indian troops to a win. The probability gods didn’t favour India as England’s new skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to field first, which to be fair was an easy choice considering the overcast conditions.
India had a completely new opening pair of Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara coming out to start the proceedings. James Anderson had the perfect conditions to suit his liking, and he didn’t disappoint either as he sent Gill packing for a quickfire 17. Vihari and Pujara tried to withstand the pressure piled up by the English seamers. Anderson continued to make the most of the conditions as he ended Pujara’s tentative stay at the crease. Then came the customary stoppage of play all thanks to the rain, which was followed by a fiery spell by a relatively newer face in the English pace battery, Matthew Potts. Vihari was unable to capitalize on the opportunity as Potts ended his 20-run stay at the crease. Virat Kohli’s poor run of form continued as Potts picked up another. Shreyas Iyer’s short ball weakness was immaculately exploited by Jimmy Anderson as England had India strangling at 98 for 5. Pant and Jadeja had an uphill task of reviving India from this crumbling position. Pant turned up in a crunch situation again, producing one more special knock to add to his blossoming career. He persisted with his counter-attacking approach, smashing English pacers left right and center in the process. Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was given no respite as Pant smashed him for as many as 22 runs in an over en route to a swashbuckling century. Jadeja was playing a vital hand at the other end. Pant fell to Root at 146 as the pair put up a 222-run stand for the 6th wicket. India ended day 1 at 338 for the loss of 7 wickets, with Ravi Jadeja firmly holding one end.
India went on to add a few more runs courtesy Jadeja, who brought up his century amidst the continuous fall of wickets at the other end. India were bowled out for 416, which ideally was a very good total considering the tormenting batting conditions at the start of the first day’s play. Stuart Broad was at the receiving end of a record-breaking over AGAIN! , as Jasprit Bumrah merrily swung his willow to collect 35 runs of Broad’s long over bringing up the record for the most expensive over in the history of test cricket. India came out all guns blazing as they troubled the English openers on multiple occasions. Bumrah, fresh from his unlikely exploits in the other phase of the game, cleaned up Lees at the stroke of lunch leaving England at 16 for 1. There was no one stopping Bumrah as he picked up Crawley right after lunch, setting up a hat-trick ball which was survived by Joe Root. Bumrah added one more wicket to his tally, forcing an edge from Pope straight to the 3rd slip. Captain Bumrah had decided to take the matters into his own hands. The experienced pair of Root and Bairstow tried to steady the English ship on a rain-hit day 2. But it didn’t last long as Siraj took out the former English skipper leaving England at 78 for 4. Shami castled the nightwatchman Jack Leach to bring an end to the second day’s play, forcing England into a worrisome situation.
England had two of their seasoned campaigners Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes at the crease with a mountain to climb. The duo survived the first hour of Indian pace bowling, with Shami bowling his heart out despite having absolutely no support from luck gods. Man in form Bairstow was in no mood to shower any sort of mercy on the Indian bowlers as he counter-attacked his way to an 81 ball 50. Shardul Thakur’s golden arm did the trick as he made amends for his dropped catch, by picking up English skipper Stokes for 25. There was a heated exchange of words between Kohli and Bairstow, which made the latter even more pumped up to get to his century, which he eventually did off 119 balls. Shami got the big fish Bairstow for 106 and Siraj finished with 4 wickets to his name. India secured a handy 132-run lead by bundling England up for 284. India’s start to the second innings wasn’t something they would have wished for. Gill’s streaky stroke play outside off paved the path for his dismissal again as he departed in the first over itself. Vihari let another good start go in vain with Broad picking him up on an outswinging delivery outside off. Kohli started off on a positive note. He was backing himself and trusting his strokeplay as he raced off to 15. English skipper Stokes got the prized scalp of Kohli for 20. The fire and ice partnership of Pujara and Pant was reunited at the crease with an arduous task of steadying India’s innings. We all have seen this before, haven’t we? The pair brought up their 50-run stand with Pujara also getting to his fifty mark before the end of the day’s play.
India had a healthy 257-run lead coming into day 4 of the test match and were in the driver’s seat with a set pair of Pant and Pujara batting unbeaten. The day’s play didn’t start well for the Indians. Pujara gifted his wicket to Broad by uppishly cutting a loose delivery straight to the hands of backward point. Shreyas Iyer fell on a short ball again with Potts being the deceiver this time around. Pant brought up yet another fifty but couldn’t resist his temptation of trying the reverse sweep against Leach to negate the effect of the ball pitching into the rough, giving away his wicket in the process. India’s middle order was tumbling quickly as England were looking to script a turnaround against all odds. Jadeja was unable to replicate his first innings heroics. Skipper Stokes picked up a 4-fer to bundle up India’s tail and set up an interesting chase of 378 in a possible 156 overs. England’s openers turned up at the best time possible, giving them a flying start. This aggressive approach by English openers left Indians bamboozled. Lees and Crawley racked up a 50-run stand in no time with Lees wielding various kinds of unorthodox shots from his book. England were 100 up for no loss at the stroke of the 20th over, playing at an ODI-esque run rate of 5 runs per over. Bumrah provided the much-needed breakthrough by hitting the top of off with an inswinging delivery which was left by Crawley, albeit unsuccessfully. England went in for Tea at 107 for the loss of 1 wicket. Indian skipper Bumrah brought some life back to a deflated Indian side by castling Pope right after Tea for a duck. A runout at such a crucial juncture was the last thing England would’ve wished for. Lees was looking in brilliant touch before he ran himself out in an attempt to snatch a quick single. Suddenly India were completely back into the game with England being 3 down. The most in-form batters Root and Bairstow were battling it out at the crease. The ball was reversing and perturbing Bairstow’s defense and it almost did the trick if it weren’t for Vihari’s drop. This dropped catch was starting to prove very costly as Bairstow had set himself in for another marathon knock. The duo started to toy with the Indian bowlers. Runs were flowing at an unusual pace as both of them reached their half centuries before the end of the day’s play. They had effectively murdered India’s hopes to win this test match through an extremely aggressive and fearless approach.
England needed just 119 to level the series and deny India the opportunity to seal a historic victory. Both the experienced batters were in no mood to let this advantage slip off their hands, as they picked up from where they left. Root was playing some crazy strokes such as reverse sweeping Shardul over the slips for a maximum. Both of them got to their hundreds and maintained the scoring rate to avoid any chance of slip-ups. England stormed to the target within the first session of the day’s play, crushing India’s hopes of a coveted series win.
This five-match series was an emotional rollercoaster for both Indian fans and players. India had the opportunity to make a statement by defeating England at home but the 10-month delay for the final test meant that England had fully rejuvenated themselves, and "Bazball" was in force now. The gap perhaps turned out to be pivotal for England's test rebuild, as they successfully denied India the chance to lift the Pataudi trophy after a 14-year drought. Even during the course of the game, India were always ahead of England may it be session-wise or day-wise. Hardly anyone would've expected England to grab a win from the situation at the end of third day’s play. But England, rather convincingly, motored their way to a 378-run chase as they made it look effortless. This game will live on in the minds of Indian players as a stinging memory as they squandered an excellent opportunity. With the next T20 World Cup soon approaching, India will now embark on a white ball-heavy cricketing excursion.