As the shadows lengthened at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Mohammed Siraj, India’s No. 11 batter, skipped down the pitch and was stumped by Ben Foakes. As the England players celebrated a famous win, Jasprit Bumrah, the non-striker, let out a roar of anguish. And Bumrah’s emotions perfectly summed up India’s heartbreaking loss. From a position of strength, the home side had somehow slipped to a 28-run loss in the first Test. So, what went wrong for India? Or more importantly, how can the hosts give a fitting riposte to the ‘Bazball’ machine and level the series?
The Pope-puzzle
Ollie Pope, the Surrey batter, put on a stunning exhibition of sweeps, reverse-sweeps and lap shots to disrupt the lines and lengths of the famed Indian spin trio in their own conditions. The initial two sweeps and reverse-sweeps Pope played told a story by themselves. Just after Joe Root was dismissed, Jadeja bowled one slightly outside off and out came the reverse-sweep. Jadeja then went even wider, and this time, Pope employed the sweep from his arsenal to put the pressure back on the bowler.
For starters, Pope has to be applauded for judiciously picking the right deliveries to play those strokes. Incidentally, when Jadeja bowled straighter, Pope cracked the whip. When the left-arm spinner bowled it slightly shorter, he crunched the cut stroke. And he also occasionally combined that with dancing down the track to both R Ashwin and Axar Patel. So, it was Pope who was dictating terms.
By the time he reached the three-figure mark, the Indian spinners seemed to have lost the plot. They bowled quite a few deliveries just outside the line of the off stump as Pope essayed one reverse-sweep after another. That was the period where the match slowly shifted away from India’s grasp. During that phase, Axar also fluffed a chance to give Pope a reprieve.
It is obvious that India have to zoom the ball on the stumps and bowl relatively straighter, alongside hitting the good length area in order to combat the sweep and reverse sweep. It was just that Pope also seemed adept at whipping deliveries that were straighter in line in Hyderabad. He and Foakes also pinched enough singles during their stand. As did Pope in tandem with Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley.
During such phases, it turns into a game of chess. The fielding captain would start to get concerned about the lead. It is all about striking the right balance, where you bring the field up a few times to not just stop the singles but also to tempt the batter to play the big shot. The fielders also need to be a little more proactive. Just to illustrate the point further, Pope was deftly moving around at his close-in fielding position in the second innings. A clear signal that he was anticipating the ball to come to him all the time. And he duly ended up pouching a few catches.
The Shubman Gill conundrum. Who should replace KL Rahul?
Gill, touted as the next batting superstar from India, has been in wretched form in the longest format. Since he compiled a hundred on a flat track in Ahmedabad last year, he has averaged just over 17 in Test cricket. Critics have raised questions about his game against the moving ball. However, in the Hyderabad Test, there was another worrying sign: his game versus spin on a turning track. Gill was largely committing on the front foot or lunging out to deliveries.
Even when the deliveries were slightly shorter in length, Gill had his front foot planted. In other words, India’s No. 3 seemed to be restricting his scoring areas. With that trigger, Gill was also bringing into play two modes of dismissal: LBW and bowled. As Gill was jabbing at the ball, it would also keep the close-in fielders interested. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he was caught by Pope at silly mid-off in the second innings. A fielder at short midwicket could also come into the equation, with Gill having to play across the front pad.
Perhaps Gill needs a break to sort out his issues away from all the cameras and limelight. In all likelihood, he would end up playing in the second Test. Who knows? Gill might even go on to accumulate a game-changing hundred. Although, going by his recent outings in white flannels, not many would be betting on it.
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In a scenario where Shreyas Iyer and Gill are expected to retain their places, India have to choose one out of Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan as a replacement for the injured KL Rahul. Both have their strengths. Be it fast bowlers or spinners, Patidar is renowned for playing a slew of shots. He seems to have that little bit of time on his hands. The crux of Patidar’s game is old school, but he has the mindset of a modern-day batter. A couple of days ago, before the start of the second Test, he also had a long net, practicing sweeps and reverse-sweeps.
The one weakness in Patidar could be his tendency to lose concentration and subsequently throw his wicket away. The swashbuckling batter could counter that hypothesis by noting that his game is based on playing shots. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz can frustrate the opposition with his unorthodox game. One of the highlights of Sarfaraz’s batting is that he picks the length reasonably well against the spinners, allowing him to use the depth of the crease.
He is also a fine player of the sweep, where he bends low to essay the shot. It would be a tough choice for the Indian management. Maybe, as the first one to be called-up to the squad, Patidar would make his Test debut.
Kuldeep Yadav in the mix?
The visiting side’s batters seem to have come prepared to play finger spinners who turn the ball one way. Kuldeep Yadav’s wrist-spin could come into the mix, in the backdrop of Jadeja being ruled out with an injury. He also has a flipper and ramped up his pace through the air. Significantly, his over-the-wicket angle would force the right-handed batters to open up to counter the threat. That angle itself would pose enough problems to the English batters.
The art of playing on a turning track
India’s batters also couldn’t chisel out a path to victory in the second innings of the first Test, while chasing down a target of 231. There is a school of thought that on a turning deck, the batters need to target areas square of the wicket. Long back in 1996, this writer watched a sparkling exhibition of batting from Mohammed Azharuddin against South Africa in Kanpur, with the former India skipper playing plenty of shots square on both sides of the wicket.
What does Rahul Dravid, the current head coach and former teammate of Azharuddin, think about the template? “Using your feet to the left-arm spinner in these conditions is fraught with risk, you probably need to play a little square off the wicket,” he said at the post-match press conference. “As the series goes on, it’s something that we’re going to have to counter.”
In this context, Dravid is right that charging down the pitch on a turning track is quite risky. Even more so in an era where spinners are bowling quicker through the air. The other point to consider is that both Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir – if the off-spinner plays the second Test – are tall and have high release points. So, the two spinners are set to extract some bounce, and it won’t be that easy to play shots square of the wicket against the duo.
Ultimately, India have to adjust their mindset knowing that England are going to stick to ‘Bazball’. On day three of the first Test, it felt like the Indian players were taken aback by their approach. Probably, they took England a bit lightly. India need to be mentally prepared for what England are going to throw at them as they are up against a team who have relentless self-belief.
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