India vs England: 3 reasons why Ollie Robinson could be the next big thing
England, after the first India Test, will be heartened by the emergence and performance of Ollie Robinson. The pacer, who made the headlines for all the wrong reasons on his debut against New Zealand, showed that he can shut out the noise and let the ball do the talking.
Ollie Robinson was earmarked to be successful for a long time and in his second Test match for England, he showed he had it in him to be the bowler for the long run. He outbowled Stuart Broad and Sam Curran and showed that in the years to come, he can take the mantle as the lead seamer of the side.
We take a look at the three reasons why Ollie Robinson could be the next big thing for England:
#3 The big in-ducker
Ollie Robinson kept the Indian batsmen honest and kept them confined to the crease with his immaculate lengths and testing lines. The ball kept landing on a length and hooped back in that forced the batsman to be watchful.
One of the best balls he bowled was to Cheteshwar Pujara, who shouldered arms and the ball nipped back in and crashed into his pads. The on-field umpire gave it out, but it was overturned by the third umpire. This seems to be his stock delivery as he hits the pitch back of a length, forcing the batsmen to make a decision on whether to leave or play the ball.
#2 Metronomic accuracy
His lengths were testing and the off-stump lines were unrelenting throughout the sessions. This ability to keep hitting the lengths irrespective of the situation in the game make him a dangerous bowler and the reason why England have always fancied him.
His speed – usually a shade above 80mph – might not be too expansive, but he looks determined to never deter from his strength areas which is to keep pounding the length and keep asking the batsmen to be bunked in their crease and make decisions.
It would be no exaggeration to say that Ollie Robinson's accuracy prevented India from pressing home the advantage for a major part of Day 3.
#3 The temperament to succeed
Ollie Robinson has been around the England fringes for the last two years. He has been on a number of A tours, he has been part of several bio-secure bubbles during the Covid times before he finally got the chance to don the England shirt against New Zealand at Lord's.
However, immediately afterwards, a series of vile social media posts made by him several years ago surfaced. As soon as the match was over, Robinson was suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.
The bowler confessed that he thought his England career could be over.
"It was tough. Probably the toughest few weeks I've had in cricket to be honest, or in my life, actually. It affected not only myself but my family. But luckily it all came good today," he said.
This is what makes Test cricket so fascinating - it gives players the chance to redeem themselves and Ollie Robinson showed that he has the game to keep him ahead of the curve at all times.
It also shows that England have great depth in their fast-bowling stocks and it shows Ollie Robinson has the tenacity to break away from the noise and let his cricketing skills garner all the headlines.