‘Batters must come to the party at Lord’s’
MUMBAI: A Test at Lord’s always holds a lot of fascination. It’s the marquee game of the English summer—perform well here and you attract attention like at no other venue.
It also throws up its own challenges. The ground slopes from one end of the square boundary to the other, giving it a mystique which has baffled many batsmen and bowlers.
As the action in the Englandindia Test series moves to London, former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar, who always enjoyed batting at Lord’s, advised Virat Kohli and Co not to let any distraction seep in when they go out to bat in the second Test starting on Thursday. The Mumbai stalwart was the first batsman to score three centuries against England at Lord’s, earning the sobriquet Lord of Lord’s. India have a point to prove at the venue this time, having lost a rain-truncated game there in 2018 tamely despite the first day being washed out.
“The thing is that too much is made of the slope, it shouldn’t work on their minds. If you have that (the slope) at the back of your mind (it will affect your game), because the ball also goes away from the slope, and not necessarily cut back. So, one has to keep it simple, play every ball on its merit,” said Vengsarkar.
In the first Test at Trent Bridge, India took the first innings lead before England fought back through a century by skipper Joe Root. India went into the final day needing 157 runs to win with nine wickets in hand but the entire fifth day’s play was washed out. After the draw both skippers claimed they were in a position to win the game. Vengsarkar felt the momentum is with India. “When you enter a Test, it is important that you are in rhythm, then you get the momentum. I’m glad India did well in the first Test, so they can look forward to the Lord’s Test. What is important is the bowlers can take 20 wickets, which is an excellent sign. The only thing is the batsman will have to put runs on the board, then the bowlers will have the runs to bowl with. I am very positive about the series, I hope India win, they look very good. The only thing is the batters will have to come to the party,” said Vengsarkar, who aggregated 508 runs in his four Tests at Lord’s, getting back-to-back hundreds in 1979, 1982 and 1986. In his fourth Test there, in 1990, he got 52 and 35.
From India’s batting point of view, the positive from the first Test was the opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. They confidently negotiated the new ball in both the innings even as the other batsmen struggled against the excellent bowling of James Anderson and Co. In his comeback match, Rahul scored 84 and 26 and Sharma 36 and 12*.
India will again look forward to the two laying the foundation. The former chairman of selectors is very impressed with Rahul. “KL Rahul is a very good batsman, an excellent batsman, he played the ball late and played very well. He should be groomed to be the future India captain. From what I have seen in IPL, he has a calm demeanor, and as a batsman he can only improve. He likes to lead from the front, is a versatile player who can adapt to different positions and plays all three formats.”
Rahul got a chance only because of injuries to Shubman
Gill and then to back-up opener Mayank Agarwal.
Sharma too has shed his hesitancy against the new ball. Since the last Australia tour, he has shown that he has all the time to play any bowler. The frustration for the Mumbai batsman is the inability to convert starts. At Nottingham, he fell for 36 at the stroke of lunch on Day 2, hooking a bouncer from Ollie Robinson down the throat of the square leg fielder.
“Rohit is due for a big one I am sure, and I hope it comes at Lord’s. He is an experienced player and knows what is best for him. He looked solid, entirely at ease. The unfortunate part of his dismissal was that nine out of ten times he would have put the ball out of the ground, but possibly he was done in by the pace and bounce.”
But for the pandemic, Vengsarkar would have attended the Lord’s Test as always, being its life member. “I have fantastic memories of the ground… in 1986 we won a Test at Lord’s for the first time. It was the most satisfying,” he said. “I never miss a Test at Lord’s, at least for the first two, three days... I was very keen but now I am not going because of Covid.”