England will host India in the third Test of the series at Lord's starting July 10.
“Your captain is not getting runs, and your top order is getting exposed. You don’t have answers to Akash Deep. Your bowling lacks venom, and not much is coming out of Shoaib Bashir either. If you want to continue Bazball, you have to play on flat decks. Are you going to give flat decks? You should give seaming conditions now because your bowlers have a lot of time on the field. But if you have to give seaming conditions, can your batsmen dance? I don’t think they can.”
Well, Test cricket is funny. The team, which was elated after the first Test, now finds itself strangled with problems. Harsha Bhogle once mentioned, “The best thing about Test cricket is that it always gives you a second chance.” This has turned out to be the case for the Indian team, while England are left scratching their heads.
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Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s former off-spinner, recently took to his YouTube channel to analyse India’s emphatic victory in the second Test. The visitors won by a mammoth 336 runs, scarring England and leaving them dazed. While skipper Shubman Gill scored 430 runs in the Test, Akash Deep shone with the ball. He picked up 10 wickets in the Test. India set a target of 608 in the fourth innings. This was a testament to their batting prowess on a wicket that didn’t offer much assistance to the pacers.
It is 1-1, and the series shifts to the Home of Cricket. The hosts are expected to offer a deck with some life in it, after what happened in Birmingham. Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer are expected to be in the scheme of things. While Archer was included in the squad after the first Test, the former was roped in after the second. Atkinson was out due to an injury and is expected to feature in the XI at Lord’s.
However, Ashwin had his thoughts sorted about both teams in the second Test. He went on the decode many aspects of the match, some of which were Akash Deep’s mind-boggling spell, Shubman Gill’s impact, and the way England have gone about their narrative. Let’s have a look at what India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests had to say.
Ashwin believes that England’s primary problem is understanding what Bazball is. He stated that Bazball is nothing but Brendon McCullum’s version of implementing New Zealand’s cricket style into English cricket.
We have seen the way England changed playing their cricket in the longest format after the appointment of Brendon McCullum as Head Coach. He also referred to the fact that the wickets in New Zealand offer moisture in the first hour, after which they tend to become flat. Furthermore, the Kiwis rarely play a five-match Test series, and hence it works for them.
Ashwin used Ben Stokes‘ dismissal against Washington Sundar to narrate that the English skipper isn’t walking the talk. The CSK spinner believes that Stokes should be playing the same way that he expects his teammates to play the game. He also said that if a team is playing on the final day of a Test with a target of 608 ahead of them, one cannot think about chasing that. Ashwin firmly stated that a batter cannot be playing the first line of the ball in a Test match. If one does, it speaks volumes about what the batter is thinking.
“Ben Stokes is a fabulous player. One thing we must remember is the Headingley Test match he played against Australia. But besides that, tell me something else [too]. From a leadership standpoint, you’re telling all your batsmen to go and hit, so you also have to play that way. You are batting before lunch on the final day of the Test match, 608 runs. We will go for 608 runs. This is nothing but absolute harakiri and mockery. You can’t go for 608 runs”, said Ashwin in the interview.
‘Keep them on the field.’ This is pretty much the essence of what Ashwin had to say. He referred to the post-match interviews of every England player after the second Test. All the English players stated that they were tired and that the fatigue was kicking in. Ashwin pointed out that the reason they were tired was that they had to field for 10 sessions after winning the toss. A major reason why that happened was that India managed to keep the hosts out on the field for longer periods.
To add to that, Ashwin also indicated the point that the English players will want some life on the pitch for the Lord’s Test. And once they do that, it will be a fun sight to watch them play against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep. The former off-spinner stated that the English batters cannot stand the test of time and will crumble against this Indian bowling attack. On a more serious note, he went on to state that the Test series is wide open, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see India dominate the series from here.
“In this Test match, when you talked to any England player in an interview, what were they saying? ‘We are tired, our legs are tired.’ Why were they tired, brother? You fielded for 10 sessions after winning the toss. You will even get them out twice in seven sessions, I am saying these people won’t be able to bat for two days.”
Ashwin firmly believes that Akash Deep should have been awarded the Player of the Match. He stated that the Indian pacer was able to deliver the ball from different angles with the same wrist position, which is a testament to his skill. Akash Deep picked 10 wickets in the Test match, which was important from the point of view of the game. Moreover, Ashwin believed that because of his four-wicket haul in the first innings, Siraj was able to get his six wickets.
“This could be a big statement that Akashdeep should have been given [the Player of the Match award], actually, on a surface like that. Akash Deep was delivering the ball from different angles with the same wrist position. Mohammed Siraj also bowls wide of the crease, okay, he bowls close to the stumps, middle of the box. But the problem is that when you bowl from different parts of the crease, your wrist position changes. But with Akash Deep, wide of the crease, middle of the box, close to his stumps, in everything, his wrist is straight with a subtle angular difference, and he also bowls backspin.”
The ability of a fast bowler to generate movement depends on two factors: Wrist position and the seam. And Akash Deep seems to have a third one in his arsenal: usage of angles. The Bengal pacer used angles brilliantly to dismiss both Harry Brook and Joe Root in the second Test at Edgbaston. In the case of Harry Brook, the pacer used a normal angle, but his wrist position made the ball seam back in. Harry Brook had no clue about the ball nipping back in and was left stranded.
The most special wicket was that of Joe Root. Ashwin mentioned how well Akash Deep used the width of the crease. He released the delivery almost from the return crease, which made Root commit to the ball. But, an interesting observation was that Root’s front foot didn’t cover the line of the stumps, because he thought that the ball was angling into him. Instead, the ball held its line and went on crashing into the off-stump. Ashwin mentioned that dismissing Joe Root in that manner is no mean feat, and Akash Deep needs to be lauded as much as possible.
The off-spinner jumped on to speak about the difference between Akash Deep and Mohammed Shami. He mentioned that Shami is undoubtedly a brilliant bowler and has beaten the bat many times in England. But the point of difference is that Shami never used the crease as much.
“I wanted to say the same thing. Shami has always beaten the bat. What’s the difference? Shami is also a fabulous bowler, but he didn’t use the crease that much. He was not comfortably using the crease. Akash Deep used the crease so well and bowled with awareness. But his awareness to keep his wrist stiff, straight, and produce backspin from any point of the crease is a great testament to a fast bowler’s ability to use creativity, and that was the difference in the Test match”, said Ashwin lauding Akash Deep’s efforts.
Shubman Gill went on to pile up 430 runs in the Test. In the process, he broke 34 Test records. Yes, you read that right! Ashwin decoded Gill’s temperament, saying that his strength is his bottom hand. He also pointed out that the Indian skipper has worked immensely on his defense against the ball coming back in, and that it is visible through the way he is defending. Moreover, he also spoke about England’s lack of bowling plans against Gill, and how bowling short to the 25-year-old was absolutely a bad idea, considering the form he was in.
Ashwin made a great point about Gill’s technique. His bat swing comes from the gully instead of the first slip. This is what makes him a fantastic puller of the ball. He stated that this English bowling line-up doesn’t have a plan. They do not possess a way to build pressure. Ashwin feels that Gill’s front-foot defense wasn’t properly tested by the bowlers, and they left a huge void.
“Shubman Gill’s greatest strength is his bottom hand. More force is produced from his bottom hand, and that’s why he square cuts like he doesn’t square cut; he punches the ball on the square of the field and the offside. And his pull shot is also very good because he can get the bat on top of the ball. One thing he has worked on is his bat-and-pad gap. He made a big score in the first innings, and he almost got a 300, well deserved. In the second innings, he didn’t throw his wicket away either.”
India declared their innings late on Day four, leaving England just 19 overs to bat on the penultimate day of the Test. Upon being asked about whether that much time was enough to bowl England out, Ashwin had absolutely no doubts regarding the same. He stated that this England team cannot stand the test of time. They cannot bat for a full day to draw the Test match. He also went on to say that they will throw their wickets away even if they are given two sessions in the Test. Ashwin mentioned that India should target to bat for three days in the next Test and drag England to the ground.
“England will not be able to draw a Test match by playing a full day. This English batting lineup has no chance. Give them two sessions, and they won’t draw; they will get out. There’s no chance apart from Joe Root. Because Ben Duckett can create an impact. Akash Deep is one of the finest bowlers against left-handers in Test match cricket; he will trouble left-handers”, said Ashwin.
Ashwin spoke about the batting of Rishabh Pant. He suggested that Rishabh Pant has one of the best defenses in the team, and he wants the Indian vice-captain to show some restraint when required. Furthermore, he said that Pant should convert his big scores into bigger ones to maximise his potential in the longest format.
Ashwin voiced that his only concern was India dropping a bowler to add another batter in the mix for the third Test. He also suggested the possibility of the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the XI for the visitors, considering his ability to take wickets in any walk of the game.
“I don’t want Rishabh Pant to play like Shubman Gill, but I want that constraint and restraint from Rishabh. I want to see him hit. But I also want him to make a fool of the bowler. You know the plan, don’t fall into that plan; hit something else. I want to see Rishabh Pant batting on 143, and from there, how he makes 200”.
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Ashwin put forth his opinions in a beautiful manner. He wanted India to keep the hosts on the ground for longer periods of time, and Shubman Gill & Co. executed exactly that. England were beaten on the field for more than two days, and fatigue kicked in. Ashwin also suggested that the English have humongous problems to deal with at the moment, and if he were Gautam Gambhir, he would simply sip on his coffee and enjoy his view of London.
England is expected to present a wicket with some seam and bounce. It will be extremely crucial to see how their batters ace the Test if that happens. Moreover, India is coming into the Test with a lot of momentum behind them. Their openers are in fine touch, the middle order is firing, and the bowlers are doing their bit. For India, Jasprit Bumrah coming into the team will be a huge positive for this game. With questions looming over England, can Bazball stand the test of time?
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