The importance of positive body language needs no repetition here. Of course, cricket matches are not won or lost on body language alone, but at times, it is a fair indicator of how a team can suddenly lose plot despite being in dominant position for most of the time in a Test match. This seems to have happened with the Indian cricket team at Edgbaston on the last day of the rescheduled fifth Test against England.
Edgbaston Test: England said India’s hoax and Jasprit Bumrah and Co blinked first
This writer kept a close watch on the Indian team that visited every day, from the time they entered the field in the morning and then left in the evening. difference between India And England was always there to watch from Day 2 to Day 4. While both the teams looked equally upbeat and upbeat on the first day, in the next three days, the Indians were quite excited from the start and were in a very good mood while the English were a bit tentative. , a little uncertain.
With a lot of twists and turns for over four days, you would expect both the opponents to go into the final day with the same mindset and body language that was visible on the first day.
I wish the contrast was staggering. This was not your typical Indian team, the gang-ho gang of yesteryear Virat Kohli Yuga that will always be charged no matter what the status of the match.
It looked like India had accepted the game on the fourth evening itself and the first session was just an unnecessary stretch for them. So much so that, no one even bothered to watch the hopeful fans as they were commuting from different cities, buying expensive tickets and sacrificing work on a weekday. The English camp, on the other hand, was unusually boisterous. Not only that, the reticent Joe Root also greeted this reporter by saying ‘Good morning’ at the entrance.
Read also: Who will figure out India’s Test problems?
Jasprit Bumrah’s inexperience as captain may also have played his part in this defeat. Of course, you cannot blame Burma for this as no one would have predicted that the fast bowler would suddenly be in charge for one of the most important Test matches of the decade. It was strange to see that the captain, who is also the strike bowler of the team, did not use himself much in the last session of the fourth day, where a wicket or two could transfer the momentum.
The reputation of the ‘best bowling attack’ of all time in Indian history was dented as England were bundled out for 109 for 3 and then not taking a single wicket later.
Former England batsman and BBC commentator Mark Ramprakash made an interesting comment that if England were being chased on an ODI approach, why didn’t the tourist try to adopt the bowling methods of the white-ball format? Maybe India inadvertently tried to do so when they spread the ground for Jonny Bairstow and Root, and it cost them in the end.
It was also shocking to see that so many runs were scored on the leg side. Ravindra Jadeja’s ex-leading leg stump line didn’t work and it hurt more as Shardul Thakur was not doing his best for the game.
Still, the bowlers cannot be solely responsible for this defeat. There is no doubt that the Indian batsmen expressed satisfaction after a huge lead in the first innings. The collapse of the batting on the fourth morning was indeed the defining moment of the game. It is great to see that both batting coach Vikram Rathor and head coach Rahul Dravid are so honest in admitting the real reason for the defeat.
Rathore, to his credit, neither panicked nor got agitated over the tough questions in the press conference and Dravid also managed to smile and laugh at some of the tough questions thrown at him on the failures of the batsmen.
And yet, it cannot be denied that the lack of runs by Kohli in this match was extremely disappointing. It’s been almost three years since Kohli scored a century and during this phase, his counterpart and the equally autocratic route has scored 11 centuries. India’s next Test assignment is in Bangladesh and given India’s great tradition of ‘resting’ senior players during awkward moments of taking bold calls, it is possible that Kohli will bat in red-ball cricket against Australia next year. can.
Similarly, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin are in their mid-30s and it will be interesting to see what Dravid and the selectors think about their future. This writer specifically asked about the changes for the future and the coach removed it by showing his rare humorous side by saying that he was switching from one format to another in such quick succession and especially on this tour. , he will wait and see and think about it later.
In fact, it is time for a deeper introspection as the defeat at Edgbaston cannot be easily taken away as since 2020, India have lost series to New Zealand and South Africa (two out of four SENA countries), one (England). ) managed a draw. ) and won in Australia. Meanwhile, they also lost the crucial WTC final in England. The real danger for India is that it is unlikely to reach the final of the second WTC cycle if it results in a draw in the next six matches (two against Bangladesh and four against Australia).
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