The issues plaguing the Indian team in Test cricket
Consider an aspiring student preparing for his competitive exam. The student is very strong in one aspect of the paper but at the same time weak in the other. To strengthen the weak aspect the student shifts his whole focus on that particular area considering that he will be able to score in his stronger zone in the final exam. Now, what happens during the paper? The student dramatically fails in the stronger one and gets through the weaker part.
Ghost of the past
The students in conversation here are the Indian batsmen and the aspects are swing and spin bowling. The so-called “masters of spin” have failed yet again in their own art of handling the spin bowling. Be it during the tour of England in 2014 or the current tour of England, the batsmen have considerably failed against the spinners. Even the match against England in Southampton was a case of the ghosts of the past affecting the present of the current Indian team. The visitors were made to look vulnerable against Moeen Ali last time in 2014 and this year was no different.
It is true that to play in England, the touring batsmen have to learn the lesson of playing swinging red cherries especially when the batsmen hails from the sub-continent. But at the expense of stumbling against the spinners? Very hard to admit that India has certainly done the same. Even the legendary spinner Shane Warne said that- “I have to say batsmen of today are not playing spin bowling that well and that includes Indians”. He further reasoned his clause by saying- “It has probably to do with T20 where they look to smash them all the time. The batsmen are losing the subtlety of playing spin, going back into the crease, manipulating the field for a single, the way Dravid, Mark Waugh or Tendulkar used to do. Now it’s either block it or hit it”.
Truly, the batsmen are losing the subtle art of playing spin bowling. And it seems more bizarre when the Indian batsmen are topping this list of failures. The Indian batsmen have fallen prey to something they call as their so-called “strength”. For someone like Ali, who does not consider himself a proper off-spinner, getting a nine-wicket match haul (known to play spin well) is a very big achievement.
Lack of fire-power
India had England down for achievable scores in Southampton in both the innings yet they were not able to pounce on the advantage. The team is certainly revolving around its skipper. If he plays, the team plays else the team stumbles down like a house of cards. Though the notable thing from this Test match is that in the first innings, Cheteshwar Pujara fired. He scored 132 not out, and what a brilliant innings that was! That innings not only kept him alive in the team but also kept the game in the balance. Then there was a 101-run stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli in the second innings, which kept the hopes of the Indian fans and the team existing in the game. Nevertheless, a team never chases a target in a Test match when it is down to 22/3; and when the last wicket partnership is the third highest in the whole partnership scorecard, then the problem is clear that the rest of the batsmen are not doing what they are supposed to do.
A blessing with a disgrace
Whenever India travelled overseas the only prayer the fans made was to have a bowling attack that can relentlessly take the 20 wickets in a match. And to their delight, the gods answered their prayers. In all the away Test matches India has played this year, the bowlers have responded well and were able to take 20 wickets every time they had the ball in their hand. To take 80 wickets in 4 test matches in England against England is really commendable. The bowlers have looked good; Ishant Sharma has shown maturity, Jasprit Bumrah has become a new mystery for English batsmen, and though Mohammad Shami is moody, but when he is in the groove the batsmen are made to dance to his tunes.
In spite of this, for once, India’s lead spinner in the series was disappointing. “As far as Ashwin is concerned, he should be a bit more patient. He has to understand five wickets won’t come every day and he has to find ways to do well in conditions that don’t suit him, " Shane Warne said when asked for his take on the Indian spinner. The lone Indian spinner has lacked the patience and was constantly chopping and changing his deliveries which created less pressure on the batsmen.
Even during the commentary Graeme Swann constantly said, "To deliver the ball in the omelette(the rough) the spinners need to use their body more so that they can drift the ball as much as possible to have more purchase from the English pitches.” However, with an open-chest action, Ravi Ashwin was not able to drift the ball more often than Moeen Ali did in the match. Maybe it was because Ashwin was unfit and that was the selection call that Virat Kohli and the management had to make. Was he fit enough to win you a Test match?
Team selections a worry
Moreover, there has been a lot of scrutiny over the team selections Virat Kohli has made in the past. Keeping the pitch reports and previous encounters in an account, the Southampton pitch always has more than something to offer for spinners from the middle of day two yet Virat Kohli opted to go with his primary 4-1 pacers to spinner line-up. The Indian skipper did not pay any heed to the fact that the opposition for a change is going to have two spinners in their line-up for the decisive Test match. In a Test match where the rough was created outside the right-handers off-stump; Ravindra Jadeja was seen warming the bench in favour of under-utilized Hardik Pandya.
Furthermore, the Indian skipper has been under the hammer on his choice of team selections, he was questioned before in South Africa earlier this year, where he decided to have Rohit Sharma over Ajinkya Rahane and then in the first Test match in Edgbaston where he went for KL Rahul instead of Cheteshwar Pujara. Also in London, where he opted for two spinners in the Lord's Test match with the need of the hour shouting for pacers. In addition to all this, he also sent Kuldeep Yadav back to India in exchange for two batsmen before the final two Test matches where the pitches at The Oval and The Ageas Bowl favour a spinner than a pacer.
“Kuldeep is very good. It’s a shame that he has been sent back to India. He should have played this Test and the next one at the Oval where it spins. With a bit of wrist spin and a bit of mystery, he would have had a lot of success", - Shane Warne added. Howbeit, who cares for mystery and success when the current set-up demands instant results!
The final say
With a target to restore some parity in the last match at The Oval, there could be a lot of changes in the team - may be some new faces may get chances over the experienced ones but with series down to 3-1, the only question that comes to the mind is whether Virat Kohli gets his combinations right and more so will the team perform as a unit or will the losing streak away from home continue to haunt the No.1 side of the purest format?