A few weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about how England has been, or rather, should be the final frontier for this Indian cricket team under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and coaching of Ravi Shastri and his band of support staff — all of whom have done a tremendous job over the last few years in taking Indian cricket to unprecedented heights.
But the occasion was also no less for such talks to take place. India were gearing up to take on New Zealand in the final of the inaugural edition of Cricket World Test Championship — an event which was thoroughly dominated by Kohli’s team for about two years but the one in which they also suffered a heavy, humiliating defeat on the final stage.
The eight-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the summit clash was the most recent assignment of international standard for Kohli’s team, which will now be taking on England in an intense five-match Test series for the Pataudi Trophy, starting on August 4 at Trent Bridge.
And it needs no reminding that India have lost, rather have been drubbed, in all of the three series that they played against England in their backyard in the last decade.
And it will also be difficult to pick which was more hurting defeat — a 4-0 humiliation of world champions India in 2011, or in 2014 when they lost the series 3-1 despite taking the lead in the series, or in 2018, when their best batsman Kohli scored nearly 600 runs in a losing cause of 4-1.
The staunchest of Indian cricket team supporters argue that the series in 2018 could have gone either way given that India fought better and harder than any of their preceding two series. While that is true, the score line of 1-4 cannot be ignored since the context would be lost with the passage of time and memories will wane.
The start to this final frontier, if it is really the one for this Indian cricket team, was indeed a horrible one since they were outplayed by New Zealand in all departments in a heavily rain-truncated match to lose it inside three-and-a-half days.
The team’s exploits and achievements Down Under in Australia, where they have emerged victorious on two consecutive occasions — a rare, historic feat for any team across generations from Asia — should keep them in good stead and feed them with plenty of confidence and firepower if they are to perform better against England.
Can India win in England?
Honestly, this is a question which only time can answer. It is not that India cannot win in England — they have won a few matches here and there — but consistency and fighting it out the crucial hours and passages of play is where they have lost matches in the past.
In England, India have shown signs of petering out especially when the home team is making a fightback or a comeback of sorts, something that was proven time and again in their previous series by rookie all-rounder Sam Curran. If India can hold themselves together and not retreat from the platform or the advantage point for which they have worked so hard for, the story can be entirely different.
India have all the firepower in their ranks to win against England. This team has shown it not just once, but twice in Australia that even the toughest of frontiers can be conquered.
For what it is worth, it would also not harm India to draw a lot of confidence from the Australian team led by Tim Paine and follow their path and methods from Ashes 2019.
What is India’s strongest factor?
Without any doubt, it is the bowlers who truly carry the advantage and the venom that this Indian cricket team has, especially when they are playing overseas. About a decade ago, the Indian team was blessed with plenty of batting talent but not enough bowling to back them up. But right now, if the batsmen can do their job properly, bowlers will certainly back up and deliver what they are supposed to and Indian cricket team would look entirely different.
Jasprit Bumrah should be the biggest concern for India given the fact that he struggled for both rhythm and wickets in the limited number of red-ball matches that he has played so far. Not all not long ago, Bumrah was a certainty, an automatic selection in the team, but it should not be the case anymore.
Mohammed Siraj has turned out to be an excellent find for India. The right-arm fast bowler has shown that he can follow the bowling plans to the T and deliver in crucial moments which ultimately helps the team’s cause. He comes across as a player who is both desperate and hungry for success and should be teaming up with the likes of Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami in the pace attack.
While Ravichandran Ashwin did bowl a few overs in the Cricket WTC final and Ravindra Jadeja was certainly under-bowled, it would still make sense for India to select the best players for the opening Test given that these two men can make the batting order look longer. Remember, no one beyond these two can bat in this Indian team. Also, among the two, Jadeja is someone who deserves to play every single match for India across formats.
Batting has, and can let India down
There is absolutely no doubt in saying that batsmen have let India down time and again, with the Cricket World Test Championship final being the biggest occasion among them. It is not just the techniques that come under scrutiny, but some of them have shown poor temperament at times which has led to the downfall of the team more often than not.
Kohli has made plenty of runs all around the world, even in England in 2018, but his overall average of 35 in the Old Blighty keeps this Indian batting attack on their toes. His trusted lieutenants in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane average less than 30 in Test cricket in England whereas the only opener certain for the Test series, Rohit Sharma, has played only one match for anything to be judged. This is how the core of Indian batting looks.
India have time and again denied that they have problems again short bowling but New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson exposed their flaw in two separate meetings for the other opponents to take notice. Along with this, the Indian batting order also struggles against the moving ball as there is no one in particular beyond Kohli who can leave the ball judiciously and be extremely disciplined when odds are stacked against.
Rohit showed tremendous application and promised as an opener in the two innings of the Cricket WTC final, something which should keep India in good stead come August 4 at Trent Bridge.
But it remains to be seen who is selected as the new opening partner for India, given that Shubman Gill is ruled out of the tour and his back home. Certainly, one among KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will get the nod, with odds favouring the former since he scored a century in the tour match in Durham against Select County XI.
India have carried plenty of options to pick from, given that coronavirus pandemic restrictions and standard operating procedures of governments and cricket boards make it impossible for new players to get in right away. The episode involving a bunch of Indian players in Sri Lanka has left both Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw stranded for a while in the island nation, delaying them from joining the touring party in England.
This series marks the beginning of the second edition of Cricket World Test Championship and a lot will be at stake, certainly their pride and reputation in India’s case, who will be desperate to return with a better result this time around.
