Batsmen have no place to hide after sound thrashing
The ability of top-order batsmen to see off the new ball, and once set go on to get a big score is absolutely crucial if visiting teams are to make a match of it playing against England on their home turf.
That is also why the technique and poise of Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid is highly regarded in these parts, where India vicecaptain Ajinkya Rahane explained during the Edgbaston Test that even a set batsman will have to temper his aggression once the cloud cover helps the ball suddenly swing.
All the hand-wringing in England cricket circles about an unusually hot summer gave hopes that weather would help paper over the cracks in the Indian batting. However, rain before the first Test and showers during the Lord’s game turned an expected Indian summer into a nightmare for the visiting batsmen.
VIJAY FLOPS
On the South Africa tour in January, where India ceded the Test series but won the final game at Johannesburg in tough batting conditions, it was essentially Virat Kohli who carried the team.
But India cannot expect to win overseas with a one-man batting army. In Edgbaston, none in the top five, barring the India skipper, showed they can combat swing and seam.
And it has not helped one bit that the team management has constantly shuffled the batting. In South Africa, Ajinkya Rahane, the one man more confident away than at home against spin on slow pitches, was kept out in another failed test with Rohit Sharma.
By the time Rahane was recalled by India under pressure, the series was gone while it didn’t really boost Rahane’s confidence. In England, he has barely looked the confident batsman, who scored a match-winning century at Lord’s in 2014.
Vijay’s failures have compounded India’s woes. The batsman is 34, and it is no surprise that his reflexes are not what they were, while he is also coming back after shoulder and wrist injuries. Besides, he had not played much cricket coming into the series. Still, he is one player with the temperament to play overs and sessions in England.
He did look the part in the warm-up game against Essex, but the incoming balls have got him in all four innings this time.
Vijay has struggled since South Africa. Against the Proteas, his scores were 1, 13, 46, 9, 8 and 25. Add the 20 and 6 in Edgbaston, and the pair at Lord’s. Shikhar Dhawan, the other experienced opener who played in the first Test, looked clueless against seaming deliveries and was dropped for the second Test.
KL Rahul, who had looked supremely confident till the 2017 Australia home series, has struggled for confidence as well as form since South Africa. The youngest of the three openers, India may have to wait for him to find his moorings with three Tests left.
India have compounded matters by the revolving door approach. Pujara was not picked in Edgbaston and Kohli, who scored 149 and 51, didn’t find support at the other end.
Pujara lasted 87 deliveries in the Lord’s second innings, showing at least he is willing to try his damnest. But India will need much more than trying.