No sooner had I re-asserted my prediction of a drawn series that India re-assert their dominance over the rest of the Test cricket world by winning the second fixture in Visakhapatnam. The toss was always going to be crucial as neither side wanted to be batting come the fifth day. Alastair Cook lost on the coin, and so the mountain climb began.
Virat Kohli had no hesitation in batting first, yet when India lost both openers to Anderson and Broad inside five overs, he may have felt a slight twinge of regret. However, by the third session, the pitch was behaving itself and he and Pujara were making hay, putting on 226 for the third wicket. The restored James Anderson had both Pujara and Rahane caught behind before stumps.
England may well have been pleased to dismiss India for under 500 on day two, but they struggled at the crease. Apart from Root, Stokes and Bairstow, the batting looked poor, leaving Ravi Ashwin to claim another five-for and India to establish a 200-run lead.
To their credit, Stuart Broad (4-33) and Adil Rashid (4-82) bowled well second time around, and Kohli’s 81 was by far the highest score. Nevertheless, a target of 405 in four sessions was almost impossible to achieve. Based on the experience of Rajkot, if any pair looked capable of knuckling down and preserving their wickets, Cook and Hameed did. The first wicket didn’t fall until the 51st over. OK, s they had a mere 75 on the board , but that didn’t matter. It was all about survival.
On the final day, the crucial wicket was Joe Root’s, brilliantly set up and despatched by Shami. The spinners did the rest, and England did their impression of a cheap caravan in the teeth of Storm Angus. Eight wickets tumbled in 30-odd overs. The 246-run margin looks enormous, but battling for 97 overs was a creditable performance by the losing side.
However, the weakness of England’s batting was once more exposed. Hameed has shown he has the right stuff alongside Cook, Root, Bairstow and possibly Stokes. Moeen Ali and Ben Duckett accumulated a pathetic six runs between them. While Moeen will surely keep his place for Mohali, new boy Duckett has already been dropped (“withdrawn”).
The choice of his replacement was a horrible one: a hopelessly out-of-form Gary Ballance or a man who hasn’t played a first-class match in a year, Jos Buttler. The latter got the nod. Of course, if you can strike the ball well in T20s, you can strike the ball in Tests. Being aggressive to the spinners may work for a while. But Jos needs to remember that Ashwin et al know how to bowl tight, playing the waiting game. As Curtly Ambrose used to say, they should let the batsman get himself out. Ansari must surely be left out, too, presumably for Chris Woakes, unless Broad’s foot injury is too serious.
Even in the flush of success, India are also strengthening their squad. But not with Dhawan, deemed not to have proved his fitness in the Ranji Trophy this week. On the other hand, Bhuvi Kumar has, and he will surely beef up the seam and swing attack.
India will be favourites but even if England lose again, they can console themselves with one thought: they aren’t as bad as Australia!
