English Winter
It’s not common that the Indian cricket season is ignored . This time it was a superlative performance in the Olympics that pushed it to the back of our minds , but we are back into the thick of things with the second test match between India and England underway .
The first match ended in a 5 day draw , and was actually a lot closer than what one would expect the score line to suggest . Bumrah finally found his lost form to help scuttle the English batting line up for a mere 183 , while scoring 278 on the backs of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja .
What came next was a pure masterclass act by Joe Root . Coming at 46/2 , the game was about to go sideways , but Root stuck in there and anchored what I feel can safely be called a captain’s innings. He scored 109 runs , helping England post 303 and setting India a target of 208 runs . While India entered the last day at a comfortable pace of 52/1 , it poised to be an exciting match , for the last day would surely favour the strong English bowling attack . But alas , the last day was a complete washout , with Indian fans left dejected that they could not start the series with a win , and English fans convinced that the weather stole a victory from them .
This match at Trent Bridge has set a sort of rhythm to the series , showing supremacy of pace bowlers in these conditions and the importance of setting up a good innings on the pitch while batting to set up a fighting score.
And what we see during the second test is precisely that. India opted for a 4 way seam option with a flexible choice of Jadeja , while Moeen Ali was called in as England’s sole spinner . India was forced to bat but put a grand total of 364 with Rahul continuing his form with 129 score and Rohit Sharma adding 83 . This augurs well for the Indian team , for both our openers look to be in great touch , but the same cannot be said for our middle order , who look shaky , both in terms of the ever shifting combinations of batsmen and their overall form . This was well amplified in the WTC finals and our second innings of this test , as our openers got out for cheap and only Rahane could rein it in .
England was poised to take a big lead courtesy of Root’s giant 180 not out , but our bowlers managed to rein in the rest of the English batsmen to control the score from ballooning out of control . In contrast we ended the the 4th day at a lead of 154 but having lost 6 of our wickets .
Due to the length of the first two innings , even if it does not rain , it seems like another draw , quite similar to the 1st test . It seems we would be heading to the third test with all to play for , and it will be one to watch out .I have confidence in this Indian team and their drive to win , but England is no pushover , especially on their home turf . The most important takeaway from this series will most likely not be our wins , but the solidification of our core test squad for the next WTC cycle . Until next week !