Subhayan Chakraborty at Old Trafford Stadium
England finished Day 2 with 225/2 with Joe Root (11 off 27) and Ollie Pope (20 off 42) relatively new at the crease. India would have hoped for a better start on Day 3, however, it was the same story for the Indian bowlers as they sprayed it around to allow Root and Pope to stitch a mammoth 144-run stand. After a poor Day 2, with the ball 42 overs old, one would have hoped for higher intensity and better plans from the visitors on Day 3, but it was not meant to be as England posted 544/7 with a lead of 186 runs.
During Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj’s opening burst on Day 3, Pope and Root kept on bagging regular boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking at a brisk pace. With Anshul Kamboj bowling military medium pace, he became an easy picking for the English batters. England enjoyed a wicketless first session. Washington Sundar, dealing with a blow to his right thumb after a nasty bouncer from Brydon Carse on Day 2, was brought into the attack pretty late and did the job by removing Pope and Harry Brook. India would have sensed a comeback but the lack of intensity, despite the twin strikes, was baffling. The players did celebrate the wicket but that was it. The intensity didn’t pick up. The conversations between the players were missing.
The bowlers continued to spray it around which allowed Root and Ben Stokes to again stitch a 142-run stand, in which Root kept on piling run after run to complete his 38th Test ton. He also became the second highest run-scorer in Tests, now only behind Sachin Tendulkar.
“We were fantastic in the last two Tests, but we had a bad day yesterday, we were on the back foot. We had plans, but at the end of the day, you can have a plan, but it is about executing those plans for a longer period of time,” Morne Morkel said in the press conference.
What was surprising to see was that there was no plan B by the Indian bowlers against the English batters. When Pope, Root and Stokes kept on ticking on the scoreboard, neither the Indian captain or bowlers tried to innovate. No short-ball ploy, no leg slips, no short forward leg, no yorkers – there was nothing that the bowlers were trying. The shoulders were down, the stump mic didn’t catch any chirping from the slip cordon or the wicket-keeper besides the first 15 minutes of the game.
“That is something that we’re definitely also trying to get our heads around. On a flat surface, you need a little bit of energy behind the ball. I think that’s definitely one of the factors for us so far in our bowling innings … You need that little bit of energy on the ball on good surfaces where the ball at times is not doing as much,” Morkel said.
When India lost to New Zealand 0-3 at home, Rohit Sharma’s body language was questioned a lot. While Shubman Gill is still in his early days as Test skipper, he will need to find that extra fire in his belly when things don’t go according to the plan. For the Indian team, if they let their shoulders drop even further, then England will pounce on it and seal the series without any fuss.
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