“In return for the strong relationship between the BCCI and the ECB, the BCCI has offered the ECB the rescheduling of the canceled Test match. Both the boards will work towards finding a window to reschedule this Test match.”
The above was a part of a statement issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) soon after the scheduled fifth and final Test between England and India at Old Trafford, Manchester, which was called off on Friday due to the COVID outbreak. Indian Camp.
This means that whenever the postponed fifth Test is being scheduled, teams will have to look at it as a one-sided Test as everything will be different from the squad to the looks and conditions of the players, to name a few.
Read also: 5th Test canceled after India ‘unable to field the team’
While India were well prepared to seal the series this time around either 2-1 or 3-1 (of course, not ruling out England’s victory and leveling the series at 2-2, The entire series, except the match at Headingley in Leeds, cannot be said whenever and wherever a postponed fifth Test is expected.
Former India medium pacer and utility batsman Madan Lal is of the view that India should have won the series 2-1, as the teams stood till date.
specifically talking about News18.com Soon after the Test was canceled on Friday, 70-year-old Lal said: “With the fifth Test being postponed, it will be a completely different scenario. There will be a long gap between now and whenever the Test is being rescheduled, and the players don’t know when they are going to play that Test match. You can’t help it because it is a natural calamity and they are taking all precautions, IPL and ICC T20 World Cup are going to happen one after the other.”
Read also: Series still alive as BCCI, ECB looks to reschedule 5th Test
“Indian team is doing well. They will only be worried about the long gap between the fourth and fifth Tests. He had the upper hand in the series. India is not going to benefit from the rescheduling due to the long gap.”
The ones who can change among them may be the workers.
While the core group should remain the same, the likes of injured Shubman Gill will return to the Test rankings. You never know, India may also field Ravichandran Ashwin for the fifth Test.
Ashwin, who was certain to miss the Test to be played from Friday, may feature in the playing 11 later. Or rather, out of form Ajinkya Rahane can work on his shortcomings and be in strong form at that time.
The postponement could also work in England’s favour. While the current series has exposed his batting, leaving Joe Root’s consistency on hold, the same could only be strengthened with his experience in the Ashes later this year in Australia – given the window both boards are working towards. He is posting the Ashes as the England cricket season. Expires and doesn’t start until next year. By then, England may have been in a hurry to get their stars Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer fully fit and going, as well as the highly experienced Stuart Broad.
Lal said: “Everything is going to be weighed. Which team the teams will have, where the Test will be played, will determine the outcome of the Test. It would have been better if the series for India was decided 2-1 as if it were a four-Test series, and the postponed Tests were treated as one-sided. But, you can’t help it because it is a natural disaster. The safety of the player comes first. India were strong contenders to win the series even before the start and persisted. India can also win the postponed fifth Test because India are a good team.
Regardless of the outcome of the series, whenever it is decided, Lal said he is happy with the overall performance of the Virat Kohli-led side in England.
He said, ‘The Indian team was excellent in the entire four Tests. This is a new team. Players believe in themselves. I really enjoyed the series, the fighting spirit he showed, the fightback he gave at the Oval. Had it not rained on the final day of the first Test at Edgbaston and India needed only 157 more runs with nine wickets in hand, India would have won it and the series would have already been 3-1 in India’s pocket. Hats off to the boys, they went for it.”
Lal, an important member of the Indian 1983 World Cup squad, which featured in 39 Tests and 67 ODIs between 1974 and 1987, was particularly pleased to see Indian fast bowlers taking most wickets – England’s 70 in four Tests. 61 wickets out of .
“I have always maintained that if you want to win more Tests, you have to have a good pace attack,” he said. If you get success from the fast bowlers in the beginning, the spinners will always make more of an impact. You need to encourage the fast bowlers. Captains like MS Dhoni and Kohli are looking for fast bowlers. India always had great spinners. Also you have to see that your pace attack has to be effective,” said Lal, who was the match-winning hand in India’s 2-0 series win in the 1986 Test series in England under Kapil Dev.
He added: “Mohammed Shami is very good. Also Mohammad Siraj and Umesh Yadav. (Jasprit) Bumrah has been fantastic. I am also impressed by the famous Krishna, a tall bowler with high-arm action and really dig the ball. Shardul Thakur has proved himself to be an all-rounder. They’ve all done well. The main thing is to go there and work. “
Another characteristic of the Indian team that has impressed Lal, who has taken 71 Test and 73 ODI wickets to his name, is the fighting spirit. “You can see a change in the mindset of the Indian team and most of the foreign teams are liking it. The change I see in Indian cricket is the ability to fight tough situations. Also the tail batsmen are contributing a lot with the bat. Even his 30-40 runs make a big difference.
“If Shardul had not scored those runs, India would not have got the kind of lead they got at the Oval. Or for that matter, an unbroken 89-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Bumrah and Shami in the Lord’s Test (2nd innings). That’s the change I see – tail scoring runs and team advantage.
While India entered all the four Test matches with four fast bowlers and one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja, the absence of highly experienced and skilled off-spinner Ashwin was debated.
Lal said that Kohli picked the team according to the circumstances. “Another thing that I appreciate is that Virat picks the team according to the circumstances. People say and I know Ashwin is one of the best bowlers in the world. But you go with that combination which benefits the team.”
“When you start a Test, you have to make sure everyone contributes. It is not just about playing Ashwin but there is much more to the team. Players trust the captain and the captain trusts his players. This is a very good sign. It’s not about going by reputation. We all know that Ashwin is the best and that is why he made a comeback in the T20 squad for the World Cup. We all know his abilities, but it is the circumstances that matter and the team has chosen according to the circumstances,” he said.
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