Boria Majumdar in Leeds
In the end it was a fascinating Test match with England holding their nerve. India, who many thought will be pushovers in Leeds, fought till the end and skipper Shubman Gill kept rotating his bowlers around to stay in the hunt.
While India batted superbly and fought hard, the one thing that really let the team down in this Test match was fielding. On the last day also, India let the centurion Ben Duckett off when he was on 98. Yet again it was Yashasvi Jaiswal. He went on to make 149. Add the five catches dropped in the first innings and you know how important these lapses have been in the context of the game.
It is not just the catches. India conceded at least 50 runs on the field because of fielding lapses. Time and again, loose runs were conceded. Be it Karun Nair at short-third, who literally overran the ball, or Shardul Thakur at mid-on, who slipped and just waited a few seconds more to concede three, or Prasidh Krishna, who alone conceded four or five boundaries, India’s effort left much to be desired. In a tight game where every run and wicket matters, this is where India will be left ruing the missed opportunities.
There were also been occasions where half chances weren’t converted. Be it Sai Sudharsan in the first innings or Rishabh Pant in the second, these chances are key to winning Test matches overseas.
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Eventually, it boils down to one word. Discipline. India had their chances and weren’t disciplined enough. From 430-3, they could have scored 500-plus with a bit more discipline and application. They folded up for 471. In the England innings, the five dropped chances meant the lead was brought down to just six. Again in the Indian second innings, the lead could have surely been 400. The late-order collapse meant the target was 371.
And then the final day. When you want to see intensity and discipline of the highest order, India were sloppy. The misfields meant the pressure was off and the Siraj reaction at the Duckett drop summed it all up. He was exasperated and upset. Deep down, he knew that it was an opportunity lost and not the first one.
England were not at their best in this game. And yet, they managed to get over the line. For India, the batters perhaps punched above weight in these conditions. And that’s where the worry is. They can’t really get better. Where India will have to up their game by at least a few notches is with the ball and more on the field. Shardul will surely give way to Nitish Reddy and I will not be surprised if Nair also makes way for a wicket-taker like Kuldeep Yadav. Had he been there with Jadeja today, he could surely have exploited the rough against the English middle and lower order.
India have shown they can fight. But they need to believe that they can push home the advantage as well. Time and again they could have taken control. Time and again they allowed England to come back. Discipline — that’s what it was eventually about. And discipline is not about skill set that you don’t have it. It can surely be improved upon and that’s what Gautam Gambhir and the management will have to work on in the next week leading up to the second Test in Edgbaston.
Also Read: IND vs ENG: Rishabh Pant Reprimanded for Showing Dissent During First Test at Headingley