Changes to be made for India before the Third Test
Similar headlines from Lord's, India have been bowled out by England once again, this time in 47 overs. England won by an innings and 159 runs which happened to be India's biggest loss at Lord's. Before the start of the test series, much was expected from this Indian side especially after an improved performance in 2014 (compared to 2011), especially with the past experience that most of the Indian players had in England. Nine players out the eleven who played in the recently concluded Lords' test match have already played one or more test series in England, but Indian team's struggle in England continues.
The point that I am trying to convey by the phrase, 'the struggle continues' is that India has won just 6 test matches in England since 1932.
So what has been the difference between the 2014 test series and this series till now?
In 2014, especially in the first two Test matches (only during first two test games India were dominant, and in the remaining three games the Indian team was swept by England), the top order contributed especially Murali Vijay, he scored 317 runs in the first two matches which include one century and two fifty-plus scores. In this series so far the top three has not contributed, the top three has scored only 118 runs in four innings. India were 22 for 2 in the second innings of the first test,10 for 2 in the first innings of the second test and 13 for 2 in the second innings of the second test, so losing two wickets early will put extreme pressure on the middle order. This exposes the middle order to the hard and new Duke ball.
What needs to change for India to change their fortunes
The battle that will decide the fate of the upcoming matches is the battle between the World class swing bowling attack of England against the Indian batting lineup. All the Indian top order players are technically sound players. The issue is not with the technique it is with how confident they feel facing the moving ball. Confidence brings positivity. Being positive at the crease is very important especially (in typical English conditions) when the ball is moving. Irrespective of the formats the thing that ultimately matters is who( which team) scores more runs, scoring runs is all that matters. Especially in overcast seaming swinging English conditions one good ball from nowhere will get you out it may the first ball of the innings or some 256th ball of the innings it doesn't matter if you are set or in good form that one good delivery will get you out. So no one knows how long a batsman can last but during their stay at the crease, the batsmen have to make sure that they are positive and ready to go. Being positive does not mean to go after every ball, respect the good ball and put the loose balls away especially the ones that are full and the ones on the pads.
Talking about positivity let's decode the best innings in test series so far :
Sam Curran who scored a match-winning innings in the second innings of the first test. In that innings, he remained positive and was putting loose balls away and took the attack to England especially when England were in deep trouble at 86/7.
Virat Kohli was the lone warrior for India in the first test. In first innings of that test, he scored 149(225) at a strike of 67. He scored 82(98) after India lost their eighth wicket.
Ashwin was India's highest run-getter in both the innings for India. He scored 62(86) in the match which includes a not- out. He has 9 boundaries in the match.
Chris Woakes the player of the match at Lords' scored 137(177) at a strike rate of 77.
So the above-mentioned players were successful because they remained positive in the crease and scored runs quickly, the lowest strike rate is 67 in the above mention innings, whereas the Indian top order especially in second innings of Lords' test scored just 35 in 19 overs and lost 3 wickets too Indian top order was too defensive, they neither scored runs nor kept wickets intact in the second test. Anderson had match figures of 9/43 in the lords' test. This shows that the Indian batsmen never went after him, this, in turn, helped him to consistently bowl in the same area and was rewarded for being consistent. The Indian top order in the second innings just kept defending balls after balls, they even defended off volleys never tried to put them away.
Hardik and Ashwin batted positively and it worked, the duo scored 55 off 69 balls which includes 9 boundaries. I would like to mention a particular instant in the second innings of the lords' test when Anderson bowled a short and wide delivery outside off stump to Ashwin and Ashwin tried to hit it over point region but ended hitting it to three man and got a boundary , the very next ball Anderson drifted in down Ashwin's pads, due to the intent that Ashwin showed the previous ball Anderson tried to compensate the next delivery but ended up overcompensating and drifted down the pads of Ashwin. So if a batsman puts a bad bowl away, it will make the bowler think and will put him off his length and the bowler will eventually play into batsman's hands. So Indian batsmen being positive at the crease will be key to India's success in England.
Author's Envision:
I would like to see Dhawan, Pant, and Bumrah if he is fit else, Umesh Yadav to be on the Indian side for the third test. The reason for choosing Dhawan and Pant is that they both are attacking left-handers. Dhawan has a strike rate of 68 in test matches, he will provide the much-needed aggression at the top, he has performed in England in white ball cricket, test cricket is different but at least he has more experience and some runs in England irrespective of the formats. Pant is a free-flowing batsman who likes to score runs, he is a fearless batsman as well. If he gets going then bowlers like Anderson and Board who don't have the same pace as they had early in their career and who don't have many variations like the other modern day bowlers (as they have not played limited overs for a while now) to keep Pant guessing, if he gets going they will be put under pressure and will make them try something erratic. These two are left-handers too this will definitely put the bowlers off their length if the batsmen keep rotating the strike, this will definitely not allow the England bowlers to hit the same length over after over as they did in the last test when we played 10 right-handers.
Even with all these changes, things will be tough for the Indians especially Indian batsmen if the overcast conditions prevail and if the wicket in Trent Bridge remains similar to what we got in Edgbaston and in Lords'. As Virat Kohli said in the press conference India should try to win the third test and think about Southampton and in oval later.