Border Gavaskar Trophy: Team India A National Museum?

In whole of my ‘aware-of-cricket’ life I’ve never seen my home team in such a pitiable state—in absolute doldrums, no directions pointing anywhere, no will of any sort, a complete absence of a ‘management’ and no team building efforts—since the 0-3 drubbing by New Zealand on home turf till the present moment down under, except, of course, the lone wonder in Perth. Therefore, I’m rather drawn fatally to an arguably merciless mindset of comparing Team India to a national museum. The reasons thereof are very easy to detect: all the preciously historic set pieces are still on a grand display irrespective of if people of a cricket loving nature do grace those with generous footfalls or not; the timings and the duty hours are fixed irrespective of the ‘weather’ conditions as the controllers continue to feel that they must ‘learn’ from mistakes; and that some of the old pieces are only being adjusted here and there without giving any thought to bringing in new and newer pieces of interest or even the time-tested older pieces that have been put unceremoniously in the backburner.

In easier cricketing terms I mean to say that a few of the veterans of Team India are irreplaceable or un-droppable thanks to their gloriously historic past; they keep on pushing the team to defeat after defeat and yet the ‘managers’ still consider them too precious for any ‘unworthy’ action. Members of the team or of the management defy common sense as they think some of the previous decisions were mistakes to be unlearnt: the team under the most successful bowler won the toss, elected to bat and won the Test in an unbelievable way, and then the set-piece skipper coming back after attending to domestic duties to lead the team again still won the toss, elected to bat again and lost the match in a grand way; and since in both the occasions Team Indian batting faltered and tottered to pathetic totals the set-piece skipper felt, perhaps inspired by the managers, that those were grave mistakes, and therefore, he elected to field first on a perfect batting strip at the Gabba after winning the toss yet again. Thus encouraged and enabled, Team India has allowed ‘Headed’ Australia to pave the way for another thumping win as the hosts knew the visitors’ recurring batting accounts, leaving the patriotic fans with the only option of praying for the rains to continue.

No doubt, the set-piece skipper does have a glorious past as an aggressive opener; but since he failed repeatedly against New Zealand and since another in-and-out veteran, promoted to the opener’s slot, played fairly well the apparently cowering captain demoted himself to a much lower order which was magnanimously described by self-interested experts/commentators/mediapersons as ‘selfless’, and that terrific act to no avail. The ‘managers or selectors or coaches’ got totally befuddled as to who in the reserve should be brought in place of whom: one spinner was dropped after the Perth Test despite him playing relatively well and a veteran spinner was given the charge in the Adelaide Test, and then, that spinner was also dropped despite him playing relatively well and another veteran having a glorious past has been given the responsibility in the ongoing Brisbane Test who has so far gone wicket-less. Several other players including those who are much younger as well as promising and also those time-tested older ones we spoke of above have been treated helter skelter for no fault of theirs.

The signals from the Perth Test have been totally lost on the obfuscated skipper/veterans/managers/coaches or the mandarins. A young vibrant team led by an inspired achiever delivered a terrific win, reliving the memories of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy when a new skipper led a young vibrant team to a memorable Series victory after the set-piece skipper left the team in a lurch to attend to domestic duties. Perhaps, the museum pieces in the team and the new coach have joined hands in a huge mutual collaboration to keep their respective positions safe and secure, and maybe therefore, the new coach has been seen throwing stones in a dark blind alley in gay abandon.

And all the experts/commentators/mediapersons back in the country, called India, continue to be utterly conscious of a possible absence of perks/benefits/packages/tours in the near future with the upcoming bonanza of the IPL-2025, if they decide calling a spade a spade. Brace!

Please Don't Hype Rishabh Pant!

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has rewritten the history of another Indian cricket great Yuvraj Singh. No doubt about that, and cricketers and fans now call him the miracle player. While Yuvraj fought and conquered a rare form of cancer and made a brave comeback to cricket, Rishabh fought and conquered a near-fatal car accident in 2022 and made an astounding comeback to cricket in 2024. Not only did he come back but has been playing tremendous cricket in the IPL-2024 and then now in the first Test against Bangladesh with a superlative attacking century, apart from keeping wickets.

Amid the well-deserved international acclaim came the comparison with MS Dhoni--some cricketers saying he has broken Dhoni's record in terms of the number of Test centuries in less than half of the matches Dhoni took to score. Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has righteously pointed out that comparison with the legend is unwarranted at this stage. We fully endorse his view and request all to desist from hyping this terrific young player and just allow him to go on playing spectacular cricket on the field. Despite his achievements he's still a learner, in view of his tremendous potential for the future of cricket. Breaking a few records doesn't make one great, it's the test through the years that finally puts him/her in the top position. MS was not just a wicketkeeper, he was the Team India captain, establishing Indian cricket in the new aggressive order, the Finisher made India win many matches/Series and those invaluable knocks need not necessarily include tons. To be very specific, Pant will take much more time to match Dhoni's wicketkeeping abilities and reflexes. In short, such comparisons are totally not the need of the hour.

Besides, we have to examine what happened in the past. Rishabh had begun very well in 2017-18, particularly in the away Tests in England, and he was so overhyped that he got selected for Team India in the World Cup-2019 when a blazing Shikhar Dhawan unfortunately got injured, and despite India having the most experienced keeper-batsman-captain in the team. And what happened? The puzzled selectors had to look the other way as Team India happened to accumulate as many as four wicketkeepers in the playing eleven, leading to disastrous consequences.

Shortly afterwards when Dhoni cleared the way for the overhyped, the same began to falter on the field and the search for a wicketkeeper continued unabated. During 2021-22 Rishabh Pant roared back to form with incredible Test performances against Australia in Australia. And he got back to being hyped again in the media. What happened next? He nearly finished his cricket career in a car accident. That he's come back in full bloom, as we said earlier, makes him a great resilient spirited human being, and definitely not a subject for the hype.

Incredible, miraculous, performing human beings do emerge on earth, but their path is always fraught with dangers thanks to fellow beings' envy, jealousy, egos and of course, over-attention amounting to hype, because of all of which misfortunes keep on happening to them.

Therefore, leave Rishabh Pant alone with his aims and dreams, and allow him to go on mesmerizing us with his spectacular antics on the field, thus bringing glory to the country and to the beautiful game of cricket. We wish him a tremendous future ahead!

Test Cricket: Finally India Get a D(e) Jure(l) Wicketkeeper-Batsman!

During this England Tour of India-2023-24 things have really happened in the five-match Test Series. All the matches have produced results within four days each and there was no one-way traffic as both the teams fought tooth and nail to win. The first Test in Hyderabad that England won by 28 runs and the 4^th Test in Ranchi that India won by 5 wickets proved to be nail-biting suspense dramas. In between the Indian debutants shone bright in the Third Test in Rajkot that India won by a record margin. One of the debutants, Dhruv Jurel, went on to shine the brightest in this 4^th Test, his only second. On the second day at stumps of the 4^th test match this writer had left you stating that if India conceded more than 100 runs to England it would most likely prove fatal for the hosts. Dhruv Jurel changed that story in its entirety and scripted a brand-new chapter (in fact, this writer did hint on a coincidental partnership like that of England): with his team reeling at 219/7, still trailing by 134 runs, Jurel resumed on the third day and added 73 precious runs with Kuldeep Yadav, and still didn’t give up, adding more crucial runs with the debutant pacer Akash Deep. Thus he not only reduced the deficit to a number below hundred, but brought it down to below fifty which virtually took the edge off England’s potential lead, leaving the visitors to fight it out anew in the second innings. Jurel was the last wicket out for a tremendous 90 runs in 149 balls which witnessed four sixes and six fours with his team finishing at 307, conceding just a 46-run lead to England.

After Ravichandran Ashwin’s fifer and Kuldeep Yadav’s four wickets destroyed England scuttling them out for just 145 runs with Zak Crawley scoring the highest individual score of 60 followed by the second highest of 30 by Jonny Bairstow, India needed 192 runs to win which looked rather easy, made easier by the way Rohit and Jaiswal began—they finished the third day at 40 without loss and then on the  fourth day carried on the opening partnership to 84 runs at which stage it seemed India was cruising to seal the Series. However, any total of more than 150 runs on the fourth day on a turning pitch is never easy. With England spinners Bashir and Hartley in action from both ends anything could’ve happened. And the India wickets did tumble—from a position of strength they were tottering at 120 for 5 at which stage, again, the match could’ve gone to the English way with their aggressive captain Ben Stokes giving out everything for a win to stay alive in the Series.

Dhruv Jurel changed that, one more time. He found a strong companion in the form of another youngster of promise, Shubman Gill, who got his act together this time. Both of them kept on inching toward the target in a determined way, combining defence with cautious aggression and never delving into the proverbial shells. Nothing worked for England after that, and the duo achieved the win for their team with an invaluable unbeaten partnership of 72 memorable runs—Gill remaining not out on 52 and Jurel not out on 39 runs. India sealed the Test Series taking an unassailable lead of 3-1 with the fifth and the last Test starting from 7^th March in Dharamshala.

Dhruv Jurel was named the Player of the Match—a title only in his second Test. And for India, they have finally found a solid wicketkeeper-batsman of future after searching for one since MS Dhoni retired and then after Rishabh Pant unfortunately had a serious accident that put him out of action for a long time during which the Indian selectors tried on various options: from the likes of Sanju Samson to KS Bharat, not to speak of the sporadic KL Rahul episodes. Dhruv Jurel fits in nicely with all the requirements—his classy keeping and catching behind the stumps, his technically sound batting and a suitably calm temperament with his three innings so far being signs of things to come.  

Dreams that do indeed come true for so many of us human beings thanks to their relentless pursuits: Dhruv Jurel hailing from the modest family of a retired army havildar father and a homemaker mother in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, his mother reportedly selling her jewelries for the fulfilment of her son’s dreams, and Jurel achieving a place in Team India at the age of just 22; very similar to that of Sarfaraz Khan who also has very humble beginnings and who had really to fight hard all the way to find himself in the national team, how can we forget the tearful scenes with his father and his wife in the stadium of Rajkot during the third test! Enliven up your dreams, Young India! Amen!

India Struggling Under England Spinning Spell! Ranchi Test, Day2

England spinners, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, have made India struggle, once again after Hyderabad, and put the home team in a precarious position on the second day of the 4^th Test between India and England in Ranchi today. Bashir who replaced Rehan Ahmed is the chief damager, capturing four very important scalps that are Yashasvi Jaiswal (73), Shubman Gill (38), Rajat Patidar (17) and Ravindra Jadeja (12). This was followed up with gusto by the match-winner of the First Test, Tom Hartley who consumed one of the two debutant match-winners of the Third Test, Sarfaraz Khan and then dismissed R Ashwin whom the team dearly depended upon to hang on for the day and thus anchoring a partnership with Jurel, the second successful debutant of the Third Test. The two English spinners took absolute control of the proceedings after James Anderson removed captain Rohit Sharma cheaply and in just the third over of the India reply. Like in the previous outing a partnership was blooming between Jaiswal and Gill, but was cut short by Bashir getting Gill LBW at the team score of 86/2 (partnership restricted to 82 only). After that the Indian wickets started tumbling at regular intervals: 112/3 (Patidar), 130/4 (Jadeja), 161/5 (Jaiswal), 171/6 (Sarfaraz) and 177/7 (Ashwin). The inexperience of the team lay exposed this time.

Well, you can’t expect the youngsters to fire every time and take the team out of crisis or get it to a winning position every time. The captain, even though he did contribute a century in the previous test, must be determined to carry on and at least contribute a moderately good score; the same applies to the relatively more experienced Gill who failed to anchor the partnership in spite of Jaiswal going great guns at the other end; it’s okay to give another chance to Rajat Patidar who has been failing since the selectors were kind enough to include him in the playing eleven, but then the selectors should’ve first checked the availability of the relatively more experienced batsmen in the reserve—like for example, the axed Shreyas Iyer who doesn’t at all deserve a permanent deletion; and more disastrously, you can’t afford to drop your main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah with the Series still undecided, particularly in the absence of the other strike pacer Mohd Shami.

If the would-be deficit is more than a 100 runs India would still face a huge challenge even if England manages to score only around 150 runs in their second innings; simply because as per the Hyderabad and other similar experiences on ‘home’ turfs where the ball turns, keeps low, induces vicious reverse swing and capitalizes on the pronounced uneven bounce, the home team invariably finds the pitch unplayable in the fourth innings. Now, the Indian spinners not at par with their counterparts of yore, it’s up to any good spinner of any visiting team to exploit the pitch for their teams better than the home spinners. Therefore, in a way, a Test match gets pre-determined by the toss—win it to win the match and vice versa. This also induces this writer to make an explosive statement: while nothing is wrong in making slow-turning pitches in here just like the way Australia or England or South Africa put up green turfs in their backyards, you cannot hope for your home team to win the toss every possible time; it makes you wonder if that was the case when they prepared the Ahmedabad pitch for the World Cup-2023 Final, hoping the home team to win the toss as they were consistent doing so during the tournament and then take the suitable call? If this speculation, howsoever ungrounded it may be, attract ire from some this writer would only welcome them to elucidate the issue further.

This writer agrees fully with England captain Ben Stokes on what he said after the last two consecutive defeats: he said the option of the ‘umpire’s call’ should be eliminated from the DRS rules. Rightly so, because the DRS has evolved to eliminate human mistakes and errors in judgement. Earlier there used to be ‘benefit of the doubt’ in LBW decisions expressed by the third umpires when the ball seemed to be just and only just touching the top or the sides of the off or the leg stumps and when it couldn’t be conclusively proved if the ball edged the bat or not. But now in such cases the DRS allows the ‘umpire’s call’, meaning if the umpire gave it Out originally then it has to be Out and vice versa, thus completely ignoring the ‘benefit of the doubt’ factor. If ‘err to human’ is true we cannot say the machines are bulletproof. Yes, like Ben said, ‘the umpire’s call’ should be taken out of the DRS and the entire decision should be left for the digital examination to decide, of course, if they could be convincing and conclusive. At the same time Ben Stokes was apparently benefiting today from the same clause he wanted removed!

A slight twist of good fortune for India at stumps today. Like the England seventh wicket partnership contributed more than 100 invaluable runs for the team with bowler Robinson notching up his highest Test score (58) in the company of Root from stumps yesterday to today morning session, the India seventh wicket partnership has so far contributed 42 runs as bowler Kuldeep Yadav is fighting it out with Jurel to end the day at 219/7, still trailing by 134 runs. The size of the lead to be conceded by India is very much going to decide the outcome of the match either in England’s or in India’s favor. However, should India crash to a defeat in the next two days, the behavior of this writer should not be labelled as ‘typical of an Indian supporter’, because during the next two or three days this writer happens to have some other engagement and may not be able to jot down the proceedings here, whoever wins or loses! Enjoy!

England Change Over from Bazball to Root Cricket! Ranchi, 4th Test, Day1

Although it wouldn’t be wholly correct to say that the visiting England team has lost the last two Tests thanks to their solid adherence to Bazball cricket, they apparently, trailing 1-2 in the five-match Series, did or had to change their tactics on the first day of the 4^th Test match that began in Ranchi today. To add to their ‘positive approach to Test Cricket’ they won the toss today choosing to bat first, and therefore, they decided to surge ahead with that aggressive cricket, the openers—Crawley (42) and Duckett (11)—keeping the run-rate nearly at five-an-over. One more debutant for the inexperienced Team India, pacer Akash Deep, replacing a roaring Bumrah for whatever reasons of ‘rest’ the selectors may have decided, however, got both of them out quickly including the danger man Ollie Pope for a duck in between them, and thus captured three scalps reducing England to 57/3, an ominous start batting first.  Nonetheless, Jonny Bairstow carried on with Bazball scoring 38 in 35, and maintaining the about-5 team run-rate. Unfortunately for him, the Indian spinners got active then and on a pitch that the English captain Ben Stokes reportedly condemned even before match began struck two vital blows—Ashwin dismissing Bairstow while Jadeja got Stokes for just 3 runs. Perhaps, Stokes, the co-founder of Bazball in association with Coach Brendon McCullum, was in a great dilemma about carrying on with Bazball or not wasting two or three overs in the process and before he could take the final call Jadeja consumed him.

In the meantime Joe Root was slowly spreading roots in the ground. He perhaps convinced his partner Ben Foakes (47 in 126) of the all-important changeover, and therefore, they began a phase of ‘Root cricket’ which has helped them stage a recovery with a partnership of 113 runs, when the team run-rate was just above three—a clear sign of traditional Test cricket. As the spinners were being defended quite easily by the ‘rooted’ cricketers India captain Rohit brought in Mohd Siraj who was Bazball-hit in his opening spell, and under ‘Root cricket’ he got a very well-set Foakes caught. Maybe Rohit capitalized on kind of a double changeover-woes for the visitors—first Bazball to Root Cricket and then onerous spin to sudden pace. Siraj continued to bowl furious sending Tom Hartley (13) too to the pavilion with England at 245/7 in 76^th over (run-rate reading 3.25 an over).

Why are we sort of ridiculing the Bazball approach? Well, this writer has earlier indicated that this kind of approach may not at all be good in the typical Indian pitches and should not be followed for the sake of it. Besides, there was quite a lot of international brouhaha over Bazball with former stalwarts questioning it or even cracking jokes about it. A few of them say that aggressive Test cricket is actually nothing new—teams like Australia among others having already demonstrated it on numerous occasions—and naming it Bazball now England cannot claim all the credit! Therefore, we also thought what could really go wrong if we too added in our contribution! All in the spirit of the glorious game, you see! Democracy must thrive at least in this beautiful gentleman game, if not in the countries that produce-enact it!

By the way! What are the crowds (in the picture above) celebrating for?  Definitely not for abandoning Bazball? Because, cricket fans, now fatally exposed to the irresistible charms of the shorter formats of cricket, would always love quick aggressive cricket! To put it more seriously, we also have welcomed result-oriented entertaining Test Cricket on numerous former occasions. However, Indian cricket fans don’t need no reasons to celebrate! I think I said earlier, in most probably in the IPL context, that Indian fans burst into merriment of the most boisterous order the moment the telecast cameras turn on them! Wonder of wonders! Even the most tensed-up suspenseful nail-biting faces dissolve into cheering bouts as the cameras explore and focus on them!

Joe Root, most deservedly, notched up his 10^th Test century, taking 219 balls to do that which is immensely traditional and this time helping England immensely too. Ollie Robinson, the replacement for Mark Wood, gave solid support to Root in evolving a crucial partnership in the last hour of the day. And they remained not out at stumps—Root on 106 and Robinson on 31 runs—a very important unbeaten partnership of 57 runs at the team score of 302 runs. The England supporters on the ground clapped emphatically as England reached the 300-run mark, because they like all of us know that scoring 300 in a day is very healthy—Bazball or no Bazball. The enthusiastic India cricketers, trying hard for an overkill perhaps, shouted ‘how’s that’ so much so intensely that their captain landed up exhausting all their reviews, and then the shouting turned hoarser as they knew they had none now to fall upon. Rohit took the last resort of Jaiswal as the bowler in the last over to break the partnership, but to no avail. In a Test in India anything above 300 is always considered good batting first, and England has crossed it with 3 wickets remaining. How well the batsmen of the most inexperienced Team India would reply is the all-important question for tomorrow even as the odd ball is already keeping low, and the England spinners have been very good in this Series so far. Definitely, this 4^th Test is set up!

The Most Inexperienced Team India Blasts Away the English Bazball! India Beat England by 434 Runs!

Arguably the most inexperienced playing eleven India had ever fielded in the international Test playing arena, has blasted away the much-talked-about Bazball approach to cricket that England adopted under their aggressive coach Brendon McCullum and an equally aggressive captain Ben Stokes in 2022, beating the visitors by the biggest-ever margin in terms of runs (434) in the last session of the fourth day of the Third Test between India and England in Rajkot today with India leading the five-match Series 2-1 now. The Indian selectors had reportedly included two debutants in the top seven of the playing eleven as far back as in 1999, and in 2024 for the third test match they had to do so by including debutant Sarfaraz Khan as a batsman and Dhruv Jurel as wicket keeper-batsman and a rookie batsman Rajat Patidar, apart from the other youngsters of great promise like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. This crucial decision had to be taken with the continuing absence of the two stalwarts Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and the indifferent forms of Shreyas Iyer and the two wicket-keepers already tried in the first two tests. Therefore, fingers were crossed with the most inexperienced team in action and the traditionally tremendous batting depth of Team India slowly and almost inevitably remaining only on paper. On the other hand, even though the English bowling attack has not been much of a threat to India the Baz-positivity was ringing in the air and England must’ve definitely smelt the victory scent to go up in the Series. But what a match it turned out to be!

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss which was always good in Indian pitches, and inevitably opted to bat first. Perhaps due to the overnight due the Rajkot pitch that looked perfect for batting had some moisture and taking full advantage of that Mark Wood proved nearly unplayable, capturing the dangerous Jaiswal and the sober Gill. Tom Hartley, the mainstay spinner of England in this tour of India, who was introduced early did further damage reducing India to 33/3. The inexperienced line-up was looming large and a collapse looked very much a possibility. However, Rohit (131) played like a captain this time and forged a huge partnership (204 runs) with the most experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (112) who was moved up the order— and India were ‘out of the Wood’.

With the fall of Rohit, fourth down, in came the first debutant Sarfaraz Khan. Having a tremendous record in domestic cricket the 26-year-old never looked nervous or tentative and played brilliantly with fours and sixes all around the park. Another big partnership was evolving much to the detriment of England, but as a lucky break for them Sarfaraz was run out in a horrible mix-up with the experienced Jadeja at 99 making the former the sacrificial goat. Out at 62, Sarfaraz departed dejectedly and cried in the pavilion even as Rohit made his anger known publicly. Jadeja then stole that single to make to his 4^th Test century. On the second day the second debutant Dhruv Jurel (46) started rebuilding the innings with solid support from the veteran spinner all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin (37). Thanks to a spirited cameo from the Indian strike pacer Jasprit Bumrah (26) India finished at 445, a much respectable total under any circumstances.

Very true to the result-oriented and positive Bazball philosophy the English openers scored fluently all around the park till Crawley (15) fell at the team total of 89; Ollie Pope (39) added to the batting mayhem; and of course, Ben Duckett raced to his century in just 88 balls and remained not out on 133 in the company of Joe Root at stumps on the second day with England at 207/2 in 35 overs—almost 6 runs an over which is unthinkable in a Test match. It proved again the fact that the pitch had no demons in it at all and that England were very much in with a chance to at least save the match if not win.

However, what transpired from the start of the third day was a lesson in tight and aggressive bowling, particularly by Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja who all seemed to be bowling to an attacking plan masterminded by the captain. Except for Duckett who made 153 no other English batsmen could stick out for long and the whole team folded up for 319—losing 8 wickets for just 112 runs and conceding an unexpected bounty of 126-run lead for India.

The Indian second innings belonged to Yashasvi Jaiswal almost in entirety. He notched up his century in a dominant T-20 style, then retired hurt at the end of the third day, resumed today, the fourth day, and made it a double hundred—his second back-to-back double century in two Tests and thus becoming only the third Indian cricketer to do, after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli. Gill played a master innings of 91 runs and got run out unfortunately. An unbeaten partnership of nearly 200 runs evolved between Jaiswal (214 in 236 balls not out) and Sarfaraz Khan (68 runs in 72 balls). Suddenly, the pitch became a T-20 ground and the two mavericks defied all orthodoxy reserved for the classic Test format. Jaiswal’s 12 sixes matched the highest sixes in a Test innings held by Wasim Akram. The mayhem could’ve continued had Rohit not declared at 430/4 giving England the well-nigh impossible task of making 557 runs to win.

The England second innings was a horror story—the highest individual score being 33 made by Mark Wood. The run-out of Duckett which was extremely inexplicable started the rot and the mad rush toward defeat. The England innings folded up for a paltry 122 in just 39.4 overs, giving India the 434-run win and it was all over at the fag end of the fourth day today, contrary to all expectations. The weak and aimless English bowling attack was pathetically matched by a batting display that totally lacked in any kind of application. Veteran James Anderson being hit for consecutive sixes by a 22-year-old reminded me of the rampaging acts of a young Sachin Tendulkar in the early nineties. Alas Bazball! England needs much introspection to do before the fourth test begins from 23^rd February, 2024, in Ranchi. 

Amusing Superstitions in Watching Cricket!

When we were school students the Television was not there in our regions, and so, nothing about ‘watching’ cricket. Those days we caught up with the radio whenever India were playing, I remember lying awake the whole night till daylight, particularly when the matches were going on in the West Indies; and those were only the five-day Test matches as the shorter formats were also unknown except for our gully or home cricket being always limited-overs encounters. And we were free of any superstitious beliefs because listening didn’t necessarily involve them. It’s only when we started getting blessed with the live telecasts (early eighties in India) and began watching our favorite players in action that such superstitions began to emerge. Perhaps watching it live made the exchange of vibes or thoughts between us and the players possible with what you call the body language behaviors of both sides affecting the prospects, somewhat. And in came the superstitions, beliefs or say superstitious beliefs and biases/prejudices that mostly govern the rabid ‘home-side’ supporters. That day I was watching a Test match between India and England when all the memories regarding those rushed back, after a long time.

The first and foremost belief/superstition/prejudice was: based on circumstantial evidence we were of the firm opinion that when India were batting, the moment we got up from our seat and went out for some time or even went for a leak very much inside home one or two Indian wickets fell invariably—we cursing ourselves for the indiscretion while coming back to watch the horrid results. This ‘belief’ began to act so severely in our minds that we sat stuck to our seats till India finished their innings—in the process holding up biological needs, ignoring mother’s directives and other related issues that never failed to cause a lot of irritation around. However, we were sure that such ‘waves of irritation’, though essentially negative in nature, were not going to impact our batsmen adversely. And exactly the opposite was true, again based on ‘forensic’ evidence, when the opposition was batting—meaning if we sat stuck as in the Indian innings no wicket would ever fall and if we got up for a break one/two wickets fell invariably. So, during those periods we used to move around like free birds!

Although I don’t know much about astrology or astronomy and less about numerology, the numbers began to dominate our beliefs/superstitions/prejudices at a later stage, and unfortunately that streak still continues, at least in my personal case, notwithstanding the momentous fact that by now I am an ‘elderly, wise and experienced’ individual! How do we get the ‘concepts’ about all those special numbers? Well, maybe we’re influenced by some elaboration, talks, discussions or internet ‘insights’ over the years! For example, the number 13 is always beheld as the unluckiest number, even though numerology may say a lot of good things about it.

My ‘forensic’ evidence always shows that whenever an India batsman, particularly in case of the stalwarts like Virat or Rohit (not to speak of the greats of yore), reaches the individual score of 13 he succumbs to that piece of sheer bad luck, most often than not! It applies to the team score too, in fact, all other numbers that I’m going to talk about apply to both individual and team scores and that of the opposition players/teams as well. While I sit on as if thunderstruck when my favorite player fails to evade number 13, I sit up with delirious anticipation when players of the opposition do so! As per my ‘evidence’ the number 63 and 111 are even more dangerous and near-fatal! When a cricketer or his team reaches 63 some great tragedy is about to befall them, its effect being more ominous if he or the team stays on that score for one or two balls more or till the next over. Ditto for the number 111! And when both the episodes of 63 and 111 happen for a team, that team is bound to lose the match, as per my evidence again! And these are applicable for all playing teams.

You’d hardly believe me that once in a holy place I refused to take a very nice double-room offered by a good hotel, because the room bore the 111 number! And I caused undue hardship to my poor wife as she had to trudge along with me in search of a new hotel! But what to do? Maybe I thus prevented some absolutely hazardous bit of misfortune befalling us both if I had okayed the room. I know this much that astrology always suggest measures to get rid of probable misfortune and like the protective spirits/angels who are always with us to safeguard our journey of life as against the evil ones that want to harm us at every possible excuse. Such ‘Good Vs Evil’ battles are being constantly fought over every one of us like a balancing act, including the cricketers that some of them of their teams may be enabled to escape from the numbers as mentioned.

Although I cannot help but being number-conscious I don’t capsize to their hold of my mind, and I always hope for a clean way out. Now, number 4 is considered to be influenced by Rahu, number 7 by Ketu or number 8 is supposed to be governed by Saturn and the summation of numbers that result in these numbers; but they don’t always harm you, they may in fact do tremendous good to you if you happen to be looked upon favorably by the concerned planets. I don’t want to go for more explanations or justification or whatever. The moot point is that these number games or most of the superstitious beliefs we hold as far as cricket is concerned are always amusing and even humorous. Besides, who has the time nowadays to sit glued to TV sets (or even head-phoned mobiles for that matter)! Because you have to work, nah? Our cricketers earn millions of bucks all the time, and this obvious fact makes us lesser mortals work harder, right? So, as I mentioned I was amused that day by those memories. You should be too!

Two Memorable Tests and Two Young Matchwinners: Joseph and Hartley!

Shamar Joseph, 7/68

We have been treated to two nail-biting test matches on the same day (yesterday being the fourth day of each), the 27^th of January 2024, which is, to say the least, is terrific news for the future of Test Cricket, coming right after the two-day humdinger between India and South Africa in Cape Town. In both the Tests the host nations, Australia and India respectively, lost to the visitors on the day as mentioned, largely thanks to the captivating bowling performances of two young bowlers—fast bowler Shamar Joseph for the West Indies and orthodox spinner Tom Hartley for England. While Joseph was playing only his second Test, Hartley made his Test debut; both of the age of around 24, being born in 1999. Both of them captured 7 wickets each on the fourth day as the host nations were chasing the targets set. The Australia-West Indies test match was the second and last of the two-match Series played in Brisbane with the Aussies leading 1-0 while the India-England match was the first of the five-match Test Series in Hyderabad. In both the matches the first three days witnessed ups and downs. Electing to bat first at the Gabba the West Indies batted fairly well putting up 311 runs in the first innings with Starc and Hazlewood capturing six scalps; Australia replied with 289/9 conceding a marginal lead, thanks to Alzarri Joseph and Roach taking 7 of the wickets; known for their historical batting collapses the West Indies fell for just 193/9 in the second innings, setting a moderate target of 216 runs for the Aussies to get. As a further setback for the visitors Shamar Joseph got injured while batting after Tea on the third day; while no fracture was detected in his toe he was in great pain and was nearly ruled out for the fourth day.

Australia resumed batting at overnight 60/2 on the fourth day and seemed to be cruising at 113/2, needing just 103 runs to get with Steve Smith in full command and 8 wickets standing. And in came the limping Shamar Joseph and created history. Despite his injury he bowled mightily, reaching 150km per hour. Immediately he uprooted the stumps of a set Cameron Green for 42, then he clean bowled Travis Head for a duck, and then Marsh, Carey, Starc and Cummins on the trot. After Alzarri Joseph captured the 9^th Aussie wicket in the form of Lyon, Shamar crafted a historic win for his nation by dislodging the stumps of Hazlewood as Smith remained not out at 91, unable to force the winning runs. The West Indies won by 8 runs and delivered another Gabba defeat to the mighty hosts since India did to them in 2021. This is also a tremendous boost for a struggling cricket-nation, the West Indies, to stage a revival. Matchwinner Shamar Joseph ended the Series with a total of 13 wickets, helping his team to share equal Series honors with the hosts.

Tom Hartley, 7/62

The fourth-day drama, meanwhile, continued in Hyderabad as India started chasing the rather tricky target of 231 runs, set by England who defied the Indian spinners in the second innings to amass 420 runs, thus overcoming a huge deficit of 190 runs. Electing to bat first England made only 246 thanks mainly to the Indian spinner trio—Ashwin, Jadeja and Patel. India replied majestically with 436 runs. In fact, the hosts enjoyed the upper-hand and were in command of the match throughout the first three days. The morning session of the fourth day changed that with the England sheet-anchor Ollie Pope going on rollicking to amass 196 invaluable runs and also managing to get good contributions from the tail-enders including a sound 34 by Tom Hartley. In view of the fact that the pitch was deteriorating with the ball turning, bouncing and yet keeping low, the failure of the Indian spinners to utilize it fully was a bit perplexing, and this gave some sort of hope too for the Indian chase of 231 runs with the home crowds roaring in support. Besides, the England bowling was not much to write home about—Hartley punished heavily in the first innings, Wood and Leach not remarkably effective and only Root was showing some spin promise. However, the England spinners had different ideas this time around and were raring to go, Hartley in particular.

Joe Root opened the bowling attack as his spin was quite impressive in the first innings. Since the first over, the Indian batsmen, the supposed masters of spin, got hooked and intrigued, unable to take advantage against any of the spinners. After a relatively good start of 42 runs with Rohit stroking well the phenomenon of Tom Hartley emerged on the scene. First, he had Jaiswal (15) caught behind by Pope and then he consumed India’s expected mainstay Shubman Gill for a duck, reducing India to 42/2 now. Rohit fell next at 39 to Hartley and India at 69/3. Root then joined the show and captured the prize scalp of KL Rahul (22) while Hartley took Patel at India 107/5. The run-out of Jadeja, arguably the best fielder of the team, was a disaster for India and Leach made it worse by taking the scalp of the last recognized Indian batsman Shreya Iyer. India were tottering at 119/7 then, and it was all but over. Hartley proved consistently heartless for India as he cut short the growing partnership between Bharat and Ashwin, the last hope for the frustrated fans, by consuming both of them. Nine down now, Mohammed Siraj suddenly enlivened up the fans by making a few lusty shots around. Hartley ended that too having his 7^th catch in form of Siraj. England won by 28 runs as India folded up at 202 runs—a sensational win beating India in India and being the first visiting team to reverse a deficit of 190 or more.

Under the aggressive captaincy of Ben Stokes and with his team leading 1-0, the five-match Test Series is set to be gripping and absorbing. The next Test starts from 2^nd February in Visakhapatnam. In the remaining Tests too, there are no big metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai or Bengaluru as venues, and this, I think, further heightens the unpredictability and excitement of the Series. It could be anybody’s game in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi or in Dharmsala. Again, good for Test Cricket. More than hundred thousand people enjoyed the match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

India Vs South Africa Test Cricket: Cape (Town) Fear Conquered!

India becomes the first Asian cricket team to win a Test at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, thus breaking its 7-attempt jinx and conquering a longstanding fear. However, the dream of conquering the Last Frontier in Test Cricket still remains unfulfilled for India with Rohit Sharma being only the second Indian captain to be able to draw a series. In the two-day wonder that unleased in Cape Town yesterday, the second test match between India and South Africa in the 2-match Test Series, India beat the hosts by 7 wickets today just one hour after lunch and had drawn the Series. It was the strongest possible reply to the first test where India was totally outplayed with South Africa registering an innings win. The 6-wicket burst from Jasprit Bumrah cut short South Africa’s fightback as they began the day at 62/3 and restricted them to 176 all out, giving India a target of only 79 runs to win. You must have wondered at the start of the Series what Yashasvi Jaiswal was doing in the team as an opener, because he has emerged only as a specialist short-format batsman and to replace a performing regular opener (Gill) was something you, like this writer, must have found indigestible, that too after the endless quest for an opener from the likes of KL Rahul onward, and also the perplexing indecision regarding selecting Surya Kumar Yadav for the World Cup-2023 ODI team even though that lay very much within the short format. Perhaps the selectors wanted to try a left-hander which had become rare commodity in Team India’s top half of late. But anyway, the selectors got vindicated to ecstasy! On a treacherous wicket even the 79-run target looked ominous and a player like Jaiswal was just the need of the hour: a brave hitter who could entirely damage the opposition with his initial burst. And that was exactly what he did today after lunch—he made 28 in only 23 balls and did permanent damage to the hosts’ expectations with Rohit steadying the other end till the end.

In the first innings as South Africa won the toss electing to bat first the 6-wicket burst from Mohammed Siraj did them in for a paltry 55 runs in their own land, in their own ground, looking shell-shocked as to how a pitch, prepared and curated by their own people, could be so unpredictably brutal to they themselves, and this created a curious situation, very similar to that Ahmedabad pitch which proved to be an equally unpredictable nightmare for the top-form local boys. Or maybe in both cases.

Facing an incredible opportunity to try take a massive lead and conquer the Fear by forcing a big win India started well with good contributions from Rohit, Gill and Virat. And then the match delivered the second shocker which in fact became a world record: from a position of 153/4 India collapsed to 153 all out, that is to say, they lost the last six wickets for zero addition to the total, including the likes of KL Rahul and Jadeja. The match was back to square on, although all happening during the first day itself. South Africa added three more wickets to the day’s tally, and this created the third wonder of the match which too almost became a world record: 23 wickets fell in a single day and this ‘achievement’ is only next to that of 25 wickets that fell in a match more than a century ago, 1902, to be exact.

As for the fourth wonder of the match, Aiden Markram has become the first batsman to score an incredible century (106 in 103 balls) in the second innings while all other batsmen failed to reach a score of even 20 odd runs in either innings of the match. The final wonder of the match: this becomes the shortest test in cricket history by the number of balls delivered with just 107 overs bowled and lasting for one and half day.

This memorable test match is good for Test Cricket in yielding exciting results, even though ideally a test should last at least three days, like in Australia mostly. The match is also particularly good for the Indian captain Rohit Sharma who had had to undergo excruciating pain in that pitch-marish World Cup-2023 Final at home, and again after the devastating defeat in the first test match against South Africa. It is also to be noted that he has got the result without the services of Shami and Pandya, and Test specialists like Pujara, Rahane and all, or maybe the latter are no longer required. Pandya, already made captain of Mumbai Indians replacing the India captain, could possibly be fit only during the IPL. Well! For the IPL, every bought player have to be fit at any cost!

Cricket: SKY, Pandya and the Formatted Hassles!

The World Cup-2023 Final still remains a nightmare, a bad dream that refuses to go, in the minds of most of Indian cricket lovers: their home team on home grounds crashing to a humiliating and a listless defeat in the grand finale after winning all the ten games leading to it. Well, for most of the sober cricket lovers win or defeat is always a part of any game and it’s never an issue to be distressingly sour or angry about; but the problem was that their home team couldn’t offer a creditable fight against Australia that they defeated in the very first game of the event and also in the previous matches in a bilateral series and had gone down like a pack of schoolboys as if trying to understand or find what’s the game of cricket all about. And that rankled, and still does. Expectedly, the fans or the organizers started crying hoarse about the pitch being doctored unnecessarily or mistakenly even though it belonged to their own country and to the supposedly biggest stadium of the country never blaming their favorite stars. For me it was the Kohli-Rahul partnership, perhaps the slowest in recent years concerning any country in the one-day format, that put the match beyond India’s reach, beyond any intended fightback and most unfortunately, beyond their bowling attack which was undoubtedly the best in the World Cup. And that brings the Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) factor into focus.

Of course, he was not selected for the playing eleven and there was no indication of that happening. Till the pivot of the new Indian team, Hardik Pandya, got injured and was ruled out of the tournament. Since Pandya is considered to be one of the great emerging all-rounders in world cricket, his replacement was not easy—the team management had to think about both the batting and the bowling possibilities. They finally made the decision to bring in Mohammed Shami to replace him in bowling and as Shardul Thakur, as a supposed all-rounder, had been doing precious nothing in those four matches SKY was also brought into the playing eleven. That Shami, the victim of arguably the most horribly wrong decision in team selection, made history afterward is not our point here. We want to discuss the SKY factor, and then Pandya.

Bringing someone into the playing eleven during the biggest event of cricket means that the team management really trusts his abilities. No doubt, SKY has been going through a lean patch in recent months, but still he was a tremendous force to reckon with on his day. In the matches that followed SKY was not fully in his elements as an electrifying batsman, and the management should’ve replaced him again if they lost trust and confidence in him. If they hadn’t indeed lost the trust in him, they would’ve definitely allowed him to play the Final in his usual place; but they didn’t.

For the first time in ten games the batting order was changed and Ravindra Jadeja was sent in ahead, when, after laboring continuously in his excruciatingly slow partnership with Rahul, Kohli managed to complete his half-century and then fell. Jadeja only succeeded in putting the final nails in the Indian coffin. When finally SKY stepped in it was already too late. But then, as the Final-nightmare lingered on SKY was made captain of the T20 Team India which somewhat meant they still trusted him for the shortest format. However, trusted cricketers normally play all the three formats and normally as well succeed in all formats too. But not with Surya Kumar even as there was no news of Pandya getting fit. So, we still don’t have an answer to the trust-riddle concerning SKY.

While conceding to the fact that Pandya was sorely missed in the Final, it was also clear that India under the captaincy of Rohit was all set to win the World Cup-2023 without Pandya. But the selectors cum the management, following sincerely the somewhat clichéd objective of making way for the new-generation Team India, continued to believe in Pandya as the future captain of India which made it clear that the SKY factor was only a stop-gap arrangement for them, with the T20 World Cup coming up next year. Nonetheless, Rohit who was unanimously hailed as the most strategist Indian captain during the World Cup is more or less set to lead India in the T20 World Cup too, unless he happens to retire from that format which is probable after what Mumbai Indians did to him. And that again brings in the Pandya factor.

In a move that was somewhat anticipated the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians bought Hardik Pandya and afterward announced that he’d replace Rohit Sharma as the captain. In a cash-rich tournament we cannot expect the loyalty ingredient at all, and therefore, Pandya had no apparent qualms leaving Gujarat Titans that he led to a debut Championship-2022 victory and again led it to the 2023 IPL Final. It was also probable that the captaincy promise was a part of the transaction, and if so, that was highly unjust. Normally a successful India captain gets rewarded with more responsibilities like MS Dhoni who still leads the Chennai Super Kings and who is much older than Rohit. Besides, Indian cricket icons, much older than Rohit had been made franchise captain in the initial IPL years. Fans as well as playing and veteran cricketers are divided on this decision. Personally speaking I feel that it is a humiliation for Rohit who, under his leadership, made Mumbai Indians Champions five times since 2013, and that he should no longer play under Pandya, nor for the franchise. In this context his announcement of retiring from the T2O format seems imminent.

Since long years I’ve been advocating the idea of having three specialized captains for the three formats. In spite of making so many captains in recent years the picture is still the same: maybe Rohit still for the Test format, KL Rahul or Pandya or whoever for the ODI and Pandya for the shortest format who, after all, is set to consume the captaincy in all three formats in near future. Hassles, contradictions and what not! That’s Indian cricket! 

Team India Franchises on a Winning Spree: Is This For Real?

It has to be termed as a good positive sign in view of the ICC World Cup T20 coming up later this year and the ODI ICC World Cup coming next year that Team India, of late, has been winning in the shorter formats consistently. After Team India-Bumrah franchise lost the leftover 5^th Test against England the various franchises have been blooming in the following matches in the shorter formats. Before the 5^th Test Team India-Pandya franchise had triumphed over Ireland quite easily; then Team India-Rohit franchise won both the T20I Series and the ODI Series against England with the same margin of 2-1; next, Team India-Dhawan franchise swept the 3-match ODI Series against the competitive and spirited West Indies on the latter’s turf 3-0; and at the moment Team India-Rohit franchise has taken a lead of 1-0 in the 3-match T20I Series against the West Indies routing the hosts in the first T20I match. Before this winning spree Team India-Pant franchise managed to draw the ODI Series against South Africa back home. The problem here is as to why exactly we’re using the word ‘franchise’ for the true-blue national team. This, of course, can be interpreted as ‘in the glorious spirit of the IPL franchises’, because after that mind-blowing deal the IPL had accomplished in terms of revenues Indian cricket as well as international cricket are bound to undergo a paradigm shift from ‘proud national cricket’ to ‘businessmen’s franchise cricket’.

 

We’re not saying this out of any outraged hurts or feelings, we’re saying this based on hard facts. The surprise announcement of retirement from ODI cricket by England Test captain Ben Stokes immediately after the hosts lost the ODI Series 2-1 to India brought the ‘burnout of players’ syndrome into deep focus. This syndrome has quite a lot of validity behind it. After the Pandemic-induced break for well over a year the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to rush through as many pending tournaments/bilateral series as possible and the cricketers started complaining of continuous ‘bio bubble’ fatigue which also has a lot of humanitarian validity. Besides, some exceptionally capable cricketers play cricket in all formats for their respective national teams and therefore they are the worst hit in this ‘burnout’ syndrome.

 

As far as Indian cricket is concerned the supposedly prompt counter to the ‘burnout’ issue had been in operation well before the Pandemic; naturally because the IPL was raging here since times immemorial. The exceptional players or the superstars who must figure in all formats of the game plus obviously the IPL were being ‘rested’ or ‘put in the unfit or injury list’ quite regularly. However, there is a glorious exception to rule here: superstar players must not be ‘rested’ at any cost for the two months when the IPL franchises chalk out the encounters. This is now being further accentuated by the fact that the IPL, as the second-highest earning sports tournament of the world, is going to last for around two and half months from next year and the formation-in-line of various other T20 Leagues in many countries across the globe including South Africa, Australia, UAE and others the replacement of ‘national cricket’ by ‘franchise cricket’ has to become immensely imminent.

 

Therefore, the ‘burnout factor’, accentuated by the mushrooming T20 Leagues, has become a vexed international phenomenon. Former India coach Ravi Shastri and famed ex-cricketer of Pakistan Wasim Akram have in fact bluntly asked the ICC to cut down drastically on the bilateral fixtures, and if possible, to eradicate the ODI feature from international cricket schedule altogether. While they are being very righteous about the enveloping ‘burnout crisis’ they miss the basic point that the ODI Cricket World Cup still commands more interest than any other T20 or other tournaments. They also justify that this is absolutely necessary to preserve Tests Cricket, supposedly the original and the traditional format of the game. Unfortunately, cricket mandarins of this kind would be the last to be genuinely concerned about the future of Test Cricket.

 

Coming back to Indian cricket, we’ve already seen that the emergence of the Team India franchises cannot be prevented for practical reasons. Former India captain and the horribly cum consistently out-of-form Virat Kohli has been getting the much needed ‘rest’ very frequently along with the most delicate superstars like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami and others. Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed regular captain in all formats, has been exemplary as far as the ‘rested’ or ‘injured’ factors are concerned, and as a result of that various stand-in captains have been emerging in Indian cricket, very regularly too. And therefore, the inevitable ‘franchise’ phenomenon. Shikhar Dhawan was left in the wilderness for a long time without any suitable justification, but had to be brought in now for the ‘franchise’ issue.

 

Now, the Indian franchises are winning the matches cum series, but not India as such. ‘Bench strength’ and ‘experiments’ are the buzzwords now. No issues, it’s always good to have multiple choices. Some players like Deepak Hooda, Samson and many other youngsters are playing exceptionally well. But the problem is about the final eleven that was going to figure in the forthcoming World Cups. The ICC has been judiciously providing many T20 bilateral series to enable the national teams prepare well. But, when the key players are ‘rested’ from these preparatory matches and they come back to oust the promising and practicing youngsters from the playing eleven in the World Cups what would happen!

 

For example if KL Rahul, the regular stand-in captain in the shorter formats, comes back from a long injury break whom he is going to replace? Further, if Virat Kohli is given a permanent rest it would augur well for the final eleven in World Cups, because if he comes back too without any match practice he would oust another cog of the winning combinations and his performance in the eliminating matches would also be highly unpredictable. Why veteran Dinesh Karthik is being played in the final T20 eleven, coming to bat after Jadeja or Axar Patel, is another pertinent question. Or does it matter anyway how the India final eleven perform in the international tournaments? Other countries are joining in the chorus too for sparing their ‘national’ players to play and earn big money in the franchise leagues!

 

If only the T20 Leagues are given preference over the ICC fixtures we’ll always be the first to protest. National and International cricket cannot be sacrificed for the money-spinning entertainment shows like the T20 Leagues. But it’s going to be a battle where the genuine cricket lovers are going to be the most likely losers. This is definitely unfortunate, but what can we do when confronted with the ‘popularity’ and the ‘money’ associated with the short-cut cricket! Our hopes in the new coach Rahul Dravid, the Wall in Indian glorious Test cricket, have been a huge disappointment thus far, sadly.

England Chase Down A Record Total, Draw Test Series 2-2 Against India!

In a befitting climax to their incredible winning run of fourth-innings chases against New Zealand, clean sweeping the Series 3-0, England have successfully chased down a never-before total of 378 runs set by India to win the 5^th Test match against India in Birmingham today by 7 wickets. As in the previous chase in the third Test against New Zealand that England won by 7 wickets it’s none other than that rollicking duo of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow who has crafted a magical unbeaten partnership of 269 runs, in just about 54 overs, once again here to overcome the highest ever total in the fourth innings against any side in their Test cricket history. For that matter, India too had never before failed to defend a 350+ run target in a Test match. Root and Bairstow had been crucial in all of the test victories against New Zealand along with Ben Stokes, Overton and Ollie Pope giving company at times. Joe Root has notched up his third century in the four successful chases including this one, apart from other 50+ scores, and is declared the Player of the Series vs. India for having scored the highest individual runs (700+) in this five-match Series, beating the earlier record held by Virat Kohli. And of course, the hosts have the last laugh as far as the decision to field first is concerned, thanks to the positivity of Captain Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum.

 

Jonny Bairstow has picked up his fourth ton in as many matches including two successive centuries in this match—his 106 glorious runs in the first innings that restricted India’s possible lead considerably and the match-winning 114 not out today. In both of his innings Bairstow has kept the scoreboard moving with a very healthy strike rate throughout, in a perfect display of controlled aggression. In hindsight, his dropped catch by Hanuma Vihari when he was only on 14 could emerge as the costliest lapse of the match on India’s part. Otherwise, the duo batted freely all along since last evening when they made the victory target look almost a formality for the fifth and the last day today, accomplishing the 378-run mammoth target in only the 77^th over and not allowing India to entertain any chance of having a date with the new ball.

 

For England the openers Lees and Crawley also contributed in the innings that mattered most, building up a 100+ partnership in quick time last afternoon with Lees being the aggressor and Crawley the patient anchor on the other side. There had been a somewhat flurry of wickets as England slid from 107 for no loss to 109/3; however, the Indian bowlers could not take advantage of the situation and the Root-Bairstow duo made the proceedings extremely one-sided, excruciatingly for the devout Indian fans out there on the stands of Birmingham and before television sets across India.

 

There’d hardly be any ifs and buts for India in this incredible display of batting prowess by the Englishmen. Had the Indian top order contributed many more runs, say 200 more, the English batsmen would’ve overhauled that too the way they went about batting, making a new record in World Test Cricket history perhaps. But the fact remains that except for Pujara in the second innings the Indian top order failed again. In a team without the services of their regular opener duo—KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma—the former Indian captain Virat Kohli was expected to fire at least in one of the innings; but the greatest cricketer of the modern times seems have forgotten the art of hitting tons or half-tons or even good useful knocks, entirely.

 

The other worrying factor is that the spirited Indian bowlers of the first innings failed to defend a huge total of 378 for the first time in its Test Cricket history; their bowling in the second innings looked pedestrian with not a single bowler making any mark on the English batsmen. The bowlers extracted more swing in England’s first innings, but failed entirely to do so in the second. In India’s second innings too England bowlers utilized the pitch very well where the ball seemed to be keeping low at times, and their solitary spinner Leach too bowled effectively to capture a wicket; whereas the Indian counterpart Ravindra Jadeja failed to make any impression. Captain Stokes captured all the last four Indian wickets in a terrific spell of intelligent bowling. Maybe the increasingly sunny weather completely dried up the moisture in the pitch and finally made it a haven for batting on the 4^th and 5^th day for the hosts. But, as we said, nothing really matters whey you’re treated with that kind of superlative batting.

 

Now, it’s over to the games in the shorter formats, the three-match ODI Series and the three-match T20I Series between the two teams with the first T20I scheduled on 7^th July 2022 and the ODI Series to start from July 12.