Virat Kohli scored 149 and 51 in the first Test against England. (Source: Reuters)
“Yo-Yo test is not going anywhere, you pass the test, you play for India,” said the head coach Ravi Shastri before departing for UK earlier this year. The Yo-yo test is a method of measuring a player’s fitness level but the way Indian cricket team has fared in this Test match against England at Edgbaston, Mr. Shastri should now be more worried about his side’s temperament of playing Test cricket.
For starters, let’s get Shikhar Dhawan’s catching under the scanner. Standing in the slips, Dhawan dropped three catches in two innings and just laughed off his blunders having no idea of how tricky the situation can become for his side later in the match. The left-hander’s miserable fielding might have been overlooked if he would have been among some runs but he didn’t achieve that either and hasn’t on the tour yet.
Dhawan now has 0, 0, 20 and 13 runs in the practice match against Essex and the first Test match in Birmingham. To accommodate Dhawan, Indian team management went a step ahead in “surprising” their fans as they asked someone like a Cheteshwar Pujara to warm the bench. As a result, captain Virat Kohli who was crafting one of his finest innings at Edgbaston was also scouting a partner to stay with him for a longer time at the crease. Pujara might have been one batsman who could have troubled the England bowlers but it seems that as Bollywood industry is plagued with claims of “nepotism”, Indian cricket is slowly heading towards maintaining “friendships.”
In reply to 297 in the first innings, India were in trouble at 100/5 and if Kohli, who scored 149, wouldn’t have stayed at the crease for a longer time, the margin of this defeat could have been much higher.
Left-hand trouble
Sam Curran picked four wickets in first innings. (Source: AP)
Indian top-order has always been troubled by left-handed fast bowlers. Be it, Mohammad Amir or Alan Mullally, India have struggled to read the line and length of the left-handed seamers. The list has a new name in that of Sam Curran who scalped a four-for in the first innings with dismissals of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. In 1996, Alan Mullally troubled India with his bowling where he took 12 wickets in 5 innings. Amir went through India’s top-order during Champions Trophy 2017 final.
Leaking runs at the end
Indian bowling unit might have had a good outing in Birmingham but their habit of leaking runs at the end once again proved costly. Curran who had put India on the backfoot in the first innings showed his skills with the willow too. He hit a brisk 63 off 65 that certainly changed the complexion of the game as India were handed a target of 194 runs eventually.
India vs England reactions: India fall short of finishing line at Edgbaston
Kohli: A one-man act
Virat Kohli scored his first hundred in England. (Source: Reuters)
Kohli is compared to Sachin Tendulkar for his batting but this is only true if we compare the current Indian team to that of the 90s. Just like the Indian team crumbled like a pack of cards at 1996 World Cup semi-final in Kolkata, a somewhat similar situation was witnessed at Edgbaston too. The only difference was Kohli was losing partners regularly in both the innings but his wicket was the only priced one that England had been making plans for in the four days. Though you can’t really take away the credit from Hardik Pandya who didn’t give away his wicket easily in both the innings and tried to stay at the crease with Kohli. Take Kohli out of the equation – as England did in the second innings – and India failed to go over the line.