India Win T20I Cricket Series Against England: Reversing The Syndrome And On With Experiments!

Thanks to India’s non-stop experimentation we got to see a brand new opening partner, none other than India captain Virat Kohli, with Rohit Sharma, and the duo treated us to one of the most exhilarating batting displays in recent times. Rohit was the dominant partner hitting the ball all around the park in his cracker of an innings of 64 runs off 34 balls with 5 sixes and 4 fours while Kohli played the sheet anchor role perfectly, allowing Rohit go berserk. They piled up 94 runs in just the ninth over, and the momentum thus built never slowed down as Suryakumar Yadav, the sensation of the 4^th T20I match, came in at no.3 and made a quickfire 32 in 17 balls. And then, the run-feast was left open to Kohli and Hardik Pandya both of whom played some incredible hits over the fence to post India’s highest ever T20 total against England, 225 runs to win for the demoralized visitors.

 

The match was almost sealed in favour of India, although England did try putting up a brave front with Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan hitting wild to keep up with the asking rate. However, losing the in-form Jason Roy in the very first over was a huge blow and it was too much for the duo and the following batsmen to sustain the very long chase, and they called it a day at 188/9. India won the match by 36 runs and the Paytm T20 International Cricket Series by 3-2. The highlight of India’s bowling attack was Bhubaneshwar Kumar who crafted an incredible performance of 2/15 in 4 overs with as many as 17 dot balls, and he was the rightful man-of-the-match in a game dominated by batsmen.   

 

We mentioned in our earlier piece about the win-toss-win-match syndrome that seemed to upset India’s cart as Kohli kept on losing the toss. However, in the crucial 4^thT20I match India, after being put into bat, managed to post a competitive target of 186 runs and thanks to some inspired bowling by pacer Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya and a surprise inclusion of spinner Rahul Chahar England failed to chase successfully despite the dew factor that continued to torment the hosts. Therefore, the syndrome was neutralized by India and the Series was leveled. In the 5^th and the decider T20I match last night Kohli lost the toss yet again, and this time it proved to be a good toss to lose because the pitch that was hard and seemed to be full of runs did prove to be so, and the rest is history.

 

Team India had apparently taken this series as an exercise to prepare for the T20 World Cup-2021, because throughout the five games the experiments never stopped: reserve players were tried and allowed to debut, but the respective performances never meant anything for the team management. Ishan Kishan, tried as an opener, registered a brilliant knock on debut in the second match that India won; but he was pushed to no.3 in the 3^rd and dropped from the 4^th match onwards. Suryakumar Yadav was also allowed to debut in the 2^nd game, dropped in the 3^rd and fortunately, allowed to play at no.3 position in the 4^th and 5^th games. However, the KL Rahul-restoration project that was a contradiction in this experimentation scheme continued unabated till the 4^th match when its failure was confirmed. In view of this maze of experimentation it can also be said that India never really cared if they won or lost games/series. For example, in the 4^th crunch game that could have cost them the series India kept on with Rahul, dropped Ishan Kishan and drafted in Rahul Chahar for the first time in the series.

 

Now that India have won the Series all actions seem justified. However, when the team has time-tested openers why should it be necessary to keep trying new options. Shikhar Dhawan played only once and then dismissed; Ishan Kishan played well and dismissed; and now Kohli has an exciting story to tell about opening partnership. Finally, who are going to open in the World Cup? Rohit-Dhawan or Rohit-Ishan or Rohit-Rahul or Rohit-Kohli? Or what about the opening pair in the three-match one-day international series that starts in Pune from March 23, 2021? Similar experiments done in the almost two-year countdown to the World Cup-2019 focused on an enigmatic no.4 position in the batting order cost India the Cup. 

England Vs India T20I Cricket: The Win-Toss-Win-Match Syndrome Between No.1 And No.2 Teams!

At the start of the five-match T20I Series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from 12^thMarch 2021 between England and India, the former was the No.1 team in ICC T20I rankings while the latter was in the second position, and a tough contest was very much in the offing. Interestingly too, both the teams won 7 matches each out of the 14 T20Is played so far between them. But somehow, the win-toss-win-match syndrome has been interfering with the proceedings so far. Thanks to the factors like knowing exactly what total to chase and the night dew the obvious decision on winning the toss has been to bowl first. In the first T20I Eoin Morgan's England won the toss and decided to bowl; the visitors won the match by eight wickets leading the series 1-0. In the second Virat Kohli's India won the toss and as usual decided to bowl; the hosts won the match by 7 wickets, leveling the series at 1-1. And, in the third T20I played on 16^th March 2021 England won the toss again and decided to bowl yet again; the visitors won the match by 8 wickets, leading the series 2-1. With two matches remaining in the series this syndrome is showing no signs of withdrawing.

 

Of course, the two captains and the team managements continue to deny the toss-interplay; well, they have to do so in the larger interest of competitive cricket. Considering it in an objective manner we can only say that the batting-first teams did badly with the bat on all three occasions due to reasons not clearly known: in the first match India managed just 124, perhaps it also meant first-match blues that India has always been used to, and England did not have to exert themselves at all to overhaul; in the second, except for Jason Roy no batsman from England reached the thirties, but they managed to put up a fighting total of 164, and Indian debut opener Ishan Kishan was on a roll along with Virat Kohli who got to business from that match only to win comfortably; and in the third the top and middle orders of Indian batting totally collapsed and only captain Kohli’s rollicking 77 helped India reach 156 which England overhauled easily thanks to Buttler and Bairstow.

 

This Series is crucial for both the teams in view of the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup to be played in India during October-November this year, and both the teams seem to be in an experimental mood with India, as is usual, taking it beyond the line of control. 

For India: first, playing KL Rahul as an opener despite his rusty form and dropping Shikhar Dhawan immediately after the first flop; giving IPL-2020 dasher Ishan Kishan a chance to open in the second match and after his tremendous performance getting him down to No.3 in the third match just to continue with non-performing Rahul and bring in Rohit who had not been playing due to reasons best known to the management; giving a chance to another IPL promise Suryakumar Yadav in the second match in which he could not come in to bat as his team already won and dropping him in the third match; and playing Rishabh Pant in any position that the management feels like. In the name of experiment it is hardly right to disturb performing pairs or to make the batting order totally haphazard. For England nothing has been unusual except for dropping a performing Mark Wood in the second match and taking him back in the third where he again created havoc in the Indian batting order. 

The Syndrome plus the Experimentation seems set on continuing to be the deciding factor in the remaining two matches, if proven otherwise which would be much better for the game. 

India Qualify For The WTC Final Beating England 3-1 In Test Series!

India have crushed England by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and last cricket test match at the Motera, Ahmedabad today and won the Test Series 3-1, thus qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final to be played at Lord’s from 18^th June 2021. India needed to win the Series by at least 2-1 margin and had this match been won by the visitors the Series would have ended in a 2-2 draw in which case Australia would have qualified. There are three priceless innings from the Indians that contributed to this emphatic win at the Motera today. First and foremost, the man-of-the-match Rishabh Pant for his incredible century of 101 in just 118 balls coming in to bat at a time when India had lost 4 wickets for 80 still trailing by 125 runs to England’s first innings total of 205. There was tremendous pressure on him to stick on and at the same time pile up enough runs to help his team come back in the game. Rishabh played against his normal attacking style defending a lot with Rohit Sharma till 121 runs and then taking command with Washington Sundar coming in, slowly opening out to launch his known attacking shots all around the park, and reaching his century with a six. His handling of veteran James Anderson with the new ball had been breath-taking. Rishabh Pant’s innings can be called match-defining as it started building a crucial lead for India.

 

Second, the astute and stylish innings of 96 runs not out by an emerging bowling all-rounder, Washington Sundar, only on his fourth test after a brilliant debut in Australia, giving support to Pant in their most valuable partnership of 113 runs, and then taking over command with Axar Patel for company in the match-winning partnership of 106 runs. Unfortunately, he missed out on a most deserved maiden century.

 

Third, spin-bowling sensation Axar Patel, only on the third test of his career, played a priceless innings of 43 runs, partnering with Sundar for a hundred-run partnership that gave India an unassailable lead of 160 runs. Unfortunately, Axar got run out, missing his half-century and not being able to help Washington get his ton, at the team score of 365 which eventually became the final score as the last wickets fell on that score.

 

Ravichandran Ashwin who achieved the feat of 400 wickets in just 77 tests in the last match at the Motera was deservedly judged the man-of-the-series for his incredible haul of 32 wickets in the four-match series and his astounding century in the Chennai second test. He has also become only the fourth bowler of test cricket for maximum wickets in a series thanks to his 32 in only 4 tests. In this this match he and Axar have evenly divided the wickets, thus each registering a fiver. Axar in fact has had four fivers in his first three test matches with the incredible total catch of 27 wickets. For pacers, Mohammad Siraj chipped in with two wickets in England’s first innings and Ishant Sharma did not need to bowl much.   

 

No England batsman could hold the fort for a much-desired duration except for a half-century by Stokes and 46 by Lawrence, mystery replacement for Archer, in the first innings. Captain Joe Root has virtually become the reverse ‘Root cause’ for defeat, not able to contribute anything of significance in the last three games. In this game England perhaps missed the services of Jofra Archer who was dropped inexplicably in view of the fact Anderson and Stokes captured 7 Indian wickets and that a second spinner was indeed brought in place of Broad whose selection in the last two games had been another mystery. Dom Bess who bowled quite well in tandem with Leach in enabling England win the first test in Chennai got dropped for the next two games, and he could not regain his form after being brought in for this game. England’s second innings was an absolute disaster with the whole team collapsing for 135 runs, just a lone half-century by Dan Lawrence.

 

This match has also definitely given some relief to the new pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium after the raging controversy that emerged as the inaugural pink-ball test here ended inside two days. Now it’s likely to be accepted as a challenging pitch where each playing team must prove their skills and application, because the fourth test went on for almost three days and while England again had the advantage of batting first and could not again capitalize, Indians, particularly the tailenders, showed the pitch to be an easy one in stages, by building a total of 365 that should be considered as massive on this ground.

 

Thanks to this test series win that also marks the 13th home series win on the trot during 2013-21 India has become the top team in ICC Test rankings and is sitting pretty at the top of the table of the WTC, with co-qualifier New Zealand next and Australia on the third position. With excellent youngsters and newfound talents India would be looking at the WTC Final against New Zealand exuding confidence. For the sixth, seventh and the eight batting positions India have players like Pant, Sundar, Ashwin, Axar and others. For the sixth position the form of Rishabh Pant has been revealing now, and his constant improvement as a wicket-keeper augurs very well for the team. Only the famed top-four Indian batting has been a disappointment except for the consistently useful knocks of Rohit Sharma. The forms of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are real concerns at the moment. However, such class cricketers can turn the tide in their team’s favor anytime and instantly. 

Celebration times now for India with cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar's 50 years of his sensational international debut this day in 1971 against West Indies in West Indies making way for India's majestic away Series win. What nicer gift than this win and qualification for the WTC Final in the legend's honor. Not to speak about the brilliant away series win in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this January.