OK, I give in. Not a quote from Alastair Cook – not in public, anyway – but recognition of my ridiculous-looking prediction of a drawn series between India and England.
My insistence a few weeks ago that there wasn’t much between the two sides is also looking a bit lame, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Cook can point to dropped chances here and there but the innings defeat of England at Mumbai demonstrates that India undoubtedly had the greater strength in depth on their home pitches.
It all started so well. New South African import Keaton Jennings maintained his incredible rise in form this year by scoring a century on the first day of his Test debut. Jos Buttler also chipped in with a rare first-class 50 to take England to 400. Never before had they lost in Asia after making such a total. Of course, all records are made to be broken. Indeed, only two Test sides had ever lost by an innings after scoring 400 in the first innings.
In the event, India’s top four aggregated more than 400 between them, with three century partnerships. Two featured opener Murali Vijay but the star performer was captain Virat Kohli. His 235 from 340 balls was sheer class, not bad for a player who was, just three or four years ago written off as a one-day specialist. This effort, his third ‘double’ of 2016, took his Test batting average above the significant 50 mark. Not only that, but Kohli now boasts an unparalleled 50+ average in all three international formats. Not even AB De Villiers comes close (his T20 performance lets him down badly) and Kohli currently sits in the top three of all the ICC’s individual player rankings.
We shouldn’t ignore the contribution to India’s mammoth 631 all out. They were shambling along at 364-7 when spinner Jayant Yadav came to the crease to join his captain. 59 overs later, he became the first Indian Test number nine to reach three figures, putting in a mighty 241 for the eighth wicket. England would now have to bat a day and a half to avoid defeat, a target which is becoming all too familiar!
There was to be no fairytale ending for Jennings; he fell first ball! Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow did their best but the rest failed miserably, choosing a policy of attacking Ashwin and Jadeja. Huh? When trying to survive 120+ overs?!
Kohli duly collected the Man of the Match award but Ravi Ashwin’s twelve wickets were also eye-catching. Facing this situation, he proved far too wily for England’s stroke-making batsmen. He is also the bowler in form: in the seven Tests against New Zealand and England, he has now snaffled 54 wickets at not much over 20 apiece. For the second year running, he has claimed more than 60. And he has improved his batting somewhat, too.
India made it seventeen Tests unbeaten and five consecutive series victories but I wouldn’t quite place them on the same platform as Clive Lloyd’s West Indians or Steve Waugh’s Aussies. I’d first like to see Kohli’s side replicate their home successes overseas.
As for England, it’s too simplistic to say they picked the wrong bowlers and didn’t “know their best team”. Sometimes you don’t know how series will play out, or anticipate injuries. However, a reliance on the venerable Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad has proved to be a flawed strategy. Even when Anderson played, he only took four wickets, and none at all in Mumbai. No wonder he was so ungraciously prickly.
It’s stating the bleedin’ obvious to claim that Ashwin, Jadeja and Yadav were superior to Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty. Indeed, I presume Ansari only went on tour because of his Asian antecedents and Batty because he also plays for Surrey. I don’t know which other twirlers England could have selected.
Anyway, there’s one more Test to come and – who knows? – England may stage a comeback at Chennai. However, the series is lost and the knives are out for Cook. Unfair. England are pretty dominant at home, and sit second in the Test rankings. It’s quite eve at the top, really. South Africa smash Australia, New Zealand beat Pakistan, Australia wallop NZ in ODIs. It’s good that international cricket is so competitive, and I wouldn’t be astonished if England beat both South Africa and West Indies next summer.
Let’s sit back and enjoy England giving it a go in the deep south or, alternatively, more fabulous displays by Kohli, Ashwin et al.
