India vs England: 3 lessons Rahul Dravid can take away from the fifth Test
England have been unstoppable in the fourth innings this home season. The hosts continued their dominance with a breathtaking chase to level the series against India in Edgbaston. A target of 378 was always going to be tough but apparently not for England!
Alex Lees and Zak Crawley got England off to a rapid start before Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root took over the run chase. They added more than 200 runs without even breaking a sweat and under a blazing hot sun. On a flat pitch in Edgbaston, the India bowling attack was taken to the cleaners.
An incredible day that leaves us with a chance of making history 🙏
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Rahul Dravid has plenty to think about as this is the third instance this year when his attack has failed to defend competitive totals in the fourth innings.
ENGLAND HAVE DONE IT! 💥
They have comfortably chased down 378, thanks to centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, to beat India by seven wickets and the draw the series 2-2 🔥
#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter https://t.co/HruCXuuc1n
We take a look at three learnings India head coach Rahul Dravid can take from this match:
3.) Use of Ravindra Jadeja
One of the most glaring tactical decisions taken by the Rahul Dravid-led management was to bowl Ravindra Jadeja from over the stumps to the right-handers.
The idea was to bottle up one end and attack with the seamers from the opposite end. However, Jadeja did not quite get his lengths right and there were hardly any balls that kicked off the rough on offer.
This allowed Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, two batters in the form of their lives, to not only play with ease but also employ the sweep as and when they wanted.
India could have used Jadeja differently, deploying him as an attacking option and challenging the England batters to take him down with an in-out field. This approach was neither able to block the flow of runs, nor was it able to threat the wickets of the English batters.
2.) Game allowed to drift with the bat
After the fourth day's play, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour conceded that his side had a pretty 'ordinary' day with the bat.
India resumed the Day 4 257 runs ahead and have seven wickets in hand. Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant looked fairly settled at the crease, but the side collapsed in a heap post lunch and lost seven wickets by adding just 92 runs.
England were left with plenty of time to chase down a target of 378. On a flat wicket and under a blazing sun, Rahul Dravid and company would have wanted a far-better and clearer approach with the bat.
1.) Field placements laked clarity
Jasprit Bumrah was appointed India captain just 24 hours before the match and hence, he could be forgiven for not being tactically sharp. However, the big lesson that Rahul Dravid would have learnt from this game would be how to set fields that block singles and then formulate plans accordingly.
Barring a few overs after lunch on Day 4, there was never really any pressure on England as the field was open and plenty of singles on offer. For all the talk of BazBall, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow never needed to play attacking strokes as the lack of pressure and singles meant they were always in control.
RECORD BREAKERS!! 🦁🦁🦁
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It was a harsh lesson for India, who will need to quickly turn things around.