The 2018 tour of England was supposed to be Virat Kohli’s biggest test as India captain. The challenge facing the Indian team before the tour got multiplied by several times after India suffered an innings defeat at Lord’s and handed hosts England a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series. India’s loss at the Home of Cricket was the team’s biggest setback since Virat Kohli took over the reins of the Indian team; it was the first time the India had been beaten by an innings in nearly four years.
To say the Indian team was completely outplayed is stating the obvious. Yes, the odds were completely stacked up against the Indian team; the Indian captain called wrong at the toss, the conditions were overcast every time India were out to bat, repeated interruptions meant the England bowlers got extended spells, the English bowlers made the most of the conditions and the hosts had the better batting conditions.
But you expected the Indian players to put up a fight. After all, the XI who took the field at Lord’s were chosen as being the best from among the millions who play the sport in the country. You expected them to do better than be bowled out for totals of 107 & 130. They were certainly capable of batting for more than 35.2 overs and 47 overs in the two innings.
India’s Selection Gaffe
The Indian team didn’t help their own cause too. On more than one occasion this year, the Indian team management has been guilty of poor selections: at the start of the year in South Africa, and now in both Tests on this tour of England.
Selection is a gut feel – you get some right and you get some wrong. But there are certain selections which cannot be justified – especially if there are obvious signs you decide to overlook. It might appear that one is pointing to faulty selection at the end of the match, but if one were to reflect on the days leading to the start of the Lord’s Test, there were clear signs that a second specialist spinner was always going to be a poor choice. Most definitely, after the entire first day’s play was lost to rain.
England bowled a total of 82.2 overs in the Lord’s Test; the lone specialist spinner in their ranks – Adil Rashid – did not bowl a single over.
Similarly at Edgbaston, India could have been better served by a second spinner. But the team management chose to field three specialist quicks – aided by one seam-bowling all-rounder. Ravichandran Ashwin, the lone specialist spinner in the Indian XI, walked away with seven wickets.
India’s Bankable Batsmen Disappoint
In the days leading up to the Test series in England, it was expected that Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane would be key players in the Indian team’s plans given their sound technique, temperament and prior success in overseas conditions.
However, it has hurt the Indian team big time that both batsmen have done little of note so far in the two Test matches.
The failures of the two batsmen shouldn’t come across as a surprise. The expectations that the two batsmen would be key players for India on this tour were rather misplaced considering their recent form.
Vijay’s Reflexes Slowing?
At Lord’s, Murali Vijay bagged a pair – dismissed by James Anderson in both innings – becoming only the 6th Indian opener to suffer the ignominy. It was the first time in his 124-match first-class career that the Tamil Nadu batsman had failed to score twice in a match.
A close inspection of Murali Vijay’s recent form while playing overseas reveals a distinct drop in performance. Between 2014 & 2015, Vijay averaged 46.56 overseas and was India’s second-highest run-getter behind Virat Kohli. However, in the handful of overseas Tests he has played in the three years since, he averages a dismal 12.27 – getting past the 25-run mark only once in 11 innings.
6 of Vijay’s last 8 dismissals have been either Bowled or LBW to a quick bowler. If one were to read those stats with his age – 34 years and 134 days – the natural conclusion is that Vijay’s reflexes have slowed down and are a factor to him being dismissed in such manner.
Desperate Rahane
In the two Test matches so far on this England tour, Rahane has played strokes one usually wouldn’t associate with him. At Edgbaston and at Lord’s, Rahane uncharacteristically reached for deliveries way outside the off stump and edged to the slip cordon.
Discipline used to be one of Rahane’s strong suits; if he is doing things he normally wouldn’t do, it is clearly a case of desperation or something not quite right between the ears. It isn’t a weakness, habit or muscle memory.
Ajinkya Rahane has not scored a half-century in his last 13 Test innings – which is more than twice his previous longest stretch without a half-century.
This piece is not to convey that Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are past their sell-by-date. Instead it is a reality check ending with a prayer that both players, now, more than ever before, need the backing of the team management, the entire system and more importantly, the support of the fans. Notwithstanding their poor form, both these players – one good knock away from discovering form and self-belief – continue to be integral parts of the Indian team and need to make substantial contributions to the team’s cause if India are to make something of the Test series against England.
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