England vs India 2018: Can Virat Kohli's boys make it 1-2 in Nottingham?
Former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna awardee Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on 16th August 2018 at the AIIMS, New Delhi. He was aged 93. With his sad demise, India not only lost a great visionary, journalist, a poet, a charismatic politician with brilliant oratory skills but also an ardent sports lover. Vajpayee was instrumental in improving India’s neighbourly ties with Pakistan; which seemed unlikely after the Kargil War of 1999.
He advocated peaceful and cordial relations by using cricket as a friendly medium which can bridge the gap between the arch-rivals. Not only did he attend the SAARC summit in Pakistan, 2004 but the Government of India under his able leadership also gave green signal to the BCCI to allow cricket team to cross the border to play a full-fledged Test and ODI series (The historic tour of Pakistan in 2004).
Team India under the then captainship of Sourav Ganguly went on to win both the series 3-2 (ODI) and 2-1 (Test). Prior to the tour, Vajpayee met the Indian team and almost spent an hour with Sourav & co. at his residence. He gifted Sourav a bat with a message inscribed on it. It read, “Khel hee nahin, Dil bhi jeetiye –shubhkamnaayein” (Not just the matches, win hearts too - All the best).
Perhaps, it was the PM’s motivation that ignited the cricketers to defeat a strong Pakistani team led by Inzamam-ul-Haq in their own soil after a gap of 15 years.
Turning the pages and moving ahead to the present era of Virat Kohli in Indian cricket; the team is struggling to put up a spirited fight against the mighty Englishmen in whites. If it was the heroics of Virat Kohli in the first Test at Edgbaston that saved India the blues; the consistent failure of batsmen, reshuffling of opening combination and playing XI continued to haunt Virat’s boys as they were completely outplayed and outclassed in the second Test at Lord’s.
Even the rain interruptions couldn’t help in saving the match as the entire match mathematically lasted less than 180 overs; which means the Indian batsmen threw in the towel pretty easily again. If the British media came out all guns blazing, writing in praise for Virat Kohli (when he decoded the English jinx with his magical knocks of 149 & 51); it was the same media that questioned the techniques and application of other Indian batsmen who so far have failed miserably in four innings. Even the bowlers’ improved yet inconsistent performance with the red cherry couldn’t help India put up a fight in Lord’s, unlike the Johannesburg Test victory.
As pointed out by Voice of Cricket –Harsha Bhogle, India need to set three things right, viz. the opening conundrum, bowlers’ consistency and most importantly the fitness of Virat Kohli who is nursing a sore back. What if the captain isn’t fully fit and has to sit out for the third Test! Immediately a lot of questions pop up: Can Vice-Captain Ajinkya Rahane step-up (like he did against Australia in Dharamshala last year)? Can Cheteshwar Pujara restore the faith bestowed on him at No.3 (more so in the absence of Virat Kohli)? Do we have a proper replacement for an injured batsman in Karun Nair? Should Murali Vijay and KL Rahul be given another chance as openers? How long shall in-form batsmen like Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer sit out warming the benches? Or altogether, can a Rohit Sharma be tried as an opening batsman in whites? Coach Ravi Shastri and Captain Virat Kohli need to sort these out at the earliest else it becomes next to impossible to stage a comeback in the 5-match series where the visitors are 0-2 down.
The bowling gets a boost with Jasprit Bumrah regaining full fitness prior to the Nottingham start. It needs to be seen whether Virat goes in with a 3-1 or 2-2 combination. Worries don’t die down for the number one team in the world, where the captain again has to rethink whether to replace the not-so-impressive chinaman-spinner Kuldeep Yadav with another pacer or a Ravindra Jadeja, who can strengthen the batting line up, coming in to bat at No.9.
Virat & co. can draw inspiration from Sourav’s team of 2002 that won the famous Headingley Test, Rahul Dravid's team that won the Trent Bridge Test in 2007 or the historical tour of Pakistan in 2004 backed by the motivational words of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They can bring laurels with the presence of Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra in the commentary box, who constantly have been guiding Virat’s boys. The Indian captain should look back to the year 2012 when England led by an inspired Alastair Cook came from behind (0-1) to defeat India in India by winning back-to-back Tests in Mumbai and Kolkata to win the Test series 2-1.
The onus once again will be on the overburdened shoulders of Virat Kohli who needs to up the ante in the dressing room, if India needs to make a comeback in the Test series with two Tests down. A little support from other key batsmen can bring India back into the reckoning. Meanwhile, England might be bolstered by the return of all-rounder Ben Stokes, who could not be in the playing XI, even after clearing his affray case hearing. Joe Root can continue with the winning combination until his batsmen are threatened by the Indian pacers led by Ishant Sharma!