THE SPIN DOCTORS WILL SEE YOU NOW
India could inflict series whitewash
In the messy aftermath of England’s three-day defeat by Bangladesh, the last thing they want to hear is that the Indians are looking forward to having them.
Broadcasters Star Sports have adopted the twitter hashtag ‘ scoretosettle’ to tee up the five-match series against alastair Cook’s side, who right now look in no fit state to repeat their 2-1 victory in India four years ago. and Star are banging the drum from a position of profound confidence.
Some wondered if Sunday’s early finish might encourage England to bring forward their arrival ahead of next week’s first test in Rajkot.
the itinerary, however,, was unchanged, whichh is probably sensible. after ter drawing 1-1 with test st cricket’s ninth-ranked d team, the prospect of taking on the no 1 side is not something the tourists will want to consider before they have to.
a couple of lazy days s in Dhaka can rarelyy have felt so welcoming.ng. Yet the intrusion of reality, eality, when it arrives, could be prolonged and painful.
Back in 2012- 13, Cook had Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar at his disposal, plus a batting unit that had learned some harsh lessons about playing spin the previous winter in the UAE.
now, England’s slow-bowling options are distinctly less cuttingedge, even prompting criticism from Cook and coach trevor Bayliss after the second test defeat. Which was fair enough: defending them would have sounded ridiculous.
It’s true that Moeen ali performed well, taking 11 wickets in the series at 22. But Gareth Batty, adil Rashid and Zafar ansari combined to claim 13 at 33. as a quartet, they leaked 3.65 runs an over.
Compare that with Mehedi hasan, the 19- year- old Bangladesh off- spinner playing in his debut series — 19 wickets at just 15 each, with an economy rate of 2.71.
‘Mehedi was very accurate,’ said Bayliss. ‘Whereas we’d bowl a couple of good balls, then let the pressure off with a half-tracker, a hahalf-volley or ball down ththe leg side. ‘It’s a learning process and one the guys are ttrying to get right.’
With the likes of Virat KKohli, ajinkya Rahane aand Rohit Sharma lylying in wait for EnEngland’s slow bowlers, they will have to get it right sooner rather than later. But that is only half the problem. the other Indian elephant in the room is what will happen to England’s batsmen when they encounter the off- breaks of Ravichandran ashwin and the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.
ashwin, in particular, is in the form of his life, having taken 101 test wickets at 16 each since June 2015 to rise to the top of the world rankings. that includes an almost absurd 12 innings hauls of five or more, and four match hauls of 10, all from 15 tests.
On turning tracks against South africa a year ago, he collected 31 wickets at 11, while Jadeja — whose wicket-to-wicket line could benefit from the Indian board’s long-overdue decision to trial the DRS against England — managed 23 at 10.
these are the kind of statistics more commonly associated with junior school cricket. the danger for Cook’s team is that they will resemble boys against men.
after a year and a half in which English cricket has prided itself on aggressive batting, the greatest shame of all on the third afternoon in Dhaka was that — Cook, Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes apart — they folded like a wet blanket.
Duckett’s wristy gifts guided them to 100 without loss and the chase of 273 looked on. Less than two hours later, they were all out for 164 — as sobering a collapse as any in their 140-year test history.
If England allow ashwin and Jadeja to operate unchallenged, they could be in for their third 5-0 whitewash, following two in australia, in the last decade.
and it will concern Bayliss and his coaching staff that it took a 22-year-old in only his second test to show the way. Duckett’s confidence had been low after three failures and a bad drop at deep midwicket earlier in the day.
he resolved to sweep, slog-sweep and reverse-sweep his way out of trouble, scattering the field and putting England on the front foot.
‘ that’s the way to go,’ said Bayliss. ‘ You’ve got to back yourself and try to score runs. that puts the pressure back on them. It was the difference between the two sessions.’
England should take note. they are already mumbling in private about a schedule that has left them with seven tests in under nine weeks. the last thing they need is for the tour to collapse in a heap of prods, pokes and passivity.