England vs India 2018: 3 Things we learned from India’s loss at Edgbaston
England took the upper hand in the Test Series when they eked out a 31 run victory over India at Edgbaston. The image of Ben Stokes trapping Virat Kohli in front of the wicket will be etched in English cricketing folklore for years to come.
The Test match was also England’s 1000th test and they came up with a result apt enough for the occasion. Having batted first, they scored 287. India replied with 274, courtesy a heroic 149 by Virat Kohli.
England’s second essay didn’t go to plan and they lost wickets at regular intervals. They were on a downward spiral until Sam Curran took matters into his own hands and played a devastating counter-attacking innings of 63.
In the final innings of the test, India lost their way and could not muster a good enough crack at the target set in front of them.
Apart from Kohli and Pandya, none of the Indians looked comfortable at the crease. With the 2nd test starting in five day's time, India needs to get their act together or else they would risk falling behind the eight-ball.
The nail-biter at Edgbaston threw up a lot of talking points. Through this article, we would look at three things we learned from the humdinger in Birmingham.
#1 India are no closer to answering their ‘Top Order’ conundrum
The Indian team now finds itself in a fix. The team does not know who their top-order should comprise of, neither does it know the approach it needs to follow.
Murali Vijay’s dismissal indicated that the batsmen were batting with a cluttered mind. The least the top order could do is clear their mind and apply themselves.
In the first innings, Dhawan and Rahul got out to loose strokes, wafting at balls outside the off stump. India came into the test match with their top order, not in the best form.
In order to avoid a capitulation, the team management took the bold call to drop Pujara in favour of the in-form KL Rahul. However, India’s top order failed again, leaving Virat Kohli to do the bulk of the scoring.
India could produce a knee-jerk reaction and replace Rahul with Pujara. However, Rahul should not be dropped on the basis of one performance alone.
The most viable option for India would be to not tinker with the side. It would be better if the existing Top three is given another bite at the cherry and asked to show more intent and application while batting.
However, one thing is clear: if India is to make a comeback and win the series in England, it needs to sort out its top order woes. The earlier they answer the conundrum, the earlier they would taste success.