Even Zimbabwe or Bangladesh would have fared better in England

Tags: South Africa tour of Zimbabwe - 2014, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Published on: Aug 19, 2014

How should an Indian cricket fan react to India's disastrous performance in the just-concluded five-Test series in England?

How should an Indian cricket fan react to India's disastrous performance in the just-concluded five-Test series in England? With disgust, disappointment? Or should they take heart from the fact that India at least won a Test in England, at Lord's? After all, back in 2011, they were blanked 4-0 in spite of the presence of stalwarts like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. However, on that occasion, at least they managed to cross 200 frequently. This time the benchmark for Indian batsmen was even lower -- they somehow scraped past the 100 mark before stumbling to 94 in the final innings of the last Test at The Oval.


In many ways, their effort on Sunday at The Oval symbolised the lack of confidence in the Indian batting line up. The deficit was huge, and India were never going to be able to save this Test. Still, none of the Indian batsmen made even an iota of effort to try and stand up to the English attack. There was no pride in their game, even though they were representing the country, which is an honour very few get. Just a couple of days after the final Test began on India's Independence Day, The Oval Test was done and dusted. Even the patriotic occasion could not bring about a competitive spirit in India, which has been completely lacking over the last three Tests.


Clearly, England had everything in their favour going into the final Test. But, couldn't India have shown a better competitive streak or at least made an effort to show that they were trying to compete? The way India batted on the opening day at The Oval, it was as if they had conceded the match after being inserted into bat on a damp pitch. The fact that MS Dhoni got 82 out of a total of 148 was a reflection of the team's spineless batting effort. The conditions were difficult, but by no means unplayable. It is not an exaggeration, even Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would have performed better than India.


Once again, the likes of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara let India down at The Oval. There were so many expectations from them when the series kicked off, but by the time they stepped out for their final innings at The Oval, it was clear that they were unfinished products as far as Test cricket is concerned. Even more disappointing however were the performances by Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane. They were the two batsmen who were in some kind of form at the start of the series, but by the time the team arrived at The Oval, even they had given up. Their meek dismissals at The Oval displayed their lack of commitment to the side.


With the batting not firing, the bowlers weren't expected to perform a major turnaround, but the likes of Varun Aaron did try their best. Unfortunately, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, one of their bowling stars in the earlier Tests, had lost his sting, and looked completely ineffective. The five-match series definitely exposed his fitness limitations. As for Ishant Sharma, his return from injury wasn't very impressive. One couldn't expect him to deliver straight away, but it is also true that England did not repeat the mistakes they committed at Lord's. Finally, Ravichandran Ashwin should have no ego problems taking some tips from Moeen Ali on how to bowl in England. He, and the entire Indian team, need to learn some serious lessons.


--By A Cricket Analyst

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