Cricket, India: A history (2021)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. Additional information may please be sent as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
England: away series
Test matches
First test: curtailed by rain
Dwaipayan Datta, Aug 9, 2021: The Times of India
The weather gods decided that there shouldn’t be a clear winner to a Test match that swung from one end to the other for the first four days. Not a ball was possible through the fifth day of the first Test between India and England at Trent Bridge due to persistent rain and by tea, the umpires decided to call it off.
India had a fair chance of going 1-0 up going into the fifth day and captain Virat Kohli was disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to strike first in a five-Test series. Incidentally, India’s last fixture in Nottingham before this -- the 2019 World Cup league match against New Zealand to whom they ultimately lost in the semis -- was also washed out.
Despite the fact India couldn’t go 1-0 up, there were a lot of positives for the team. Captain Kohli made it clear the best thing about the first Test was the fact that they have forged “a template” for the series. “Adaptability is important, but this should be the template for the series,” Kohli said. The four-pacer theory, which includes bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur, and one spinner who can be effective with the bat (Ravindra Jadeja) could mean that world’s top spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may have to spend more time outside the playing XI.
Mayank Agarwal’s injury with a couple of days to go for the Test may prove a blessing in disguise for the team because KL Rahul was asked to open. The Karnataka player, who was in the squad as a back-up middle-order batsman, grabbed his opportunity and showed great temperament to score 84 in the first innings against some quality swing bowling. “At this level you have to make the most of the opportunities that you get. I am happy that I could do what was expected of me and I hope it continues,” Rahul said.
The Indian tailenders also made important contributions away from home. In the first innings here, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj added 49 runs which could have been crucial if rain didn’t intervene. “It was the last three weeks of hard work that is paying off,” Kohli said about his tailenders chipping in.
Bumrah hadn’t looked at his best in the last few Tests that he had played. He seemed to have lost the outgoing delivery to the right-hander and that made him look predictable even in the World Test Championship final. But Bumrah got that delivery to work right from the start and it paid him rich dividends as he picked up nine wickets. “It’s a delivery that I perfected in 2018. For some time, I might have lacked the confidence to execute it properly. But during the break I worked on it and it came out well in this Test,” Bumrah said in a TV interview.
In the absence of allrounder Hardik Pandya, it was crucial to find a replacement. Shardul looked good with the ball, taking four important wickets. He didn’t succeed with the bat but the team management believes he will be up for it going forward.
India wins 2nd test
Nitin Naik, August 17, 2021: The Times of India
From: Nitin Naik, August 17, 2021: The Times of India
From: August 17, 2021: The Times of India
Only one team had declared the third innings of a Test after lunch on the final day and won: It was New Zealand who beat Sri Lanka at Kandy in 1984.
On a manic Monday at Lord’s, India became the second as they beat England by 151 runs to take a 1-0 lead. They had no business to win, though. Not after the position they were in when the day began, with them being six down and just 154 ahead. But then this team knows how to turn adversity into opportunity.
Left to chase 272 in 60 overs, after India declared their second innings at 298/8, England looked like they would hold on to a dramatic draw. They had recovered from 90/7 to 120/7, with only 55 balls left and Buttler and Robinson looking good.
But Jasprit Bumrah, after bowling some rapid overs, produced a magical slower one to fox Robinson and trapped him LBW to break the stubborn stand that had lasted 10.3 overs. An inspired Mohammed Siraj, who bowled lungbursting spells in both innings, then had Jos Buttler caught behind and two balls later, castled Jimmy Anderson from the round the wicket to bowl India to a famous win. It was India’s third Test win at Lord’s after 1986 and 2014.
Siraj had earlier dismissed Moeen Ali and Sam Curran off successive balls as Kohli looked for inspiration in his bowling group on a wicket that was flat and slow.
The Indian skipper was at his expressive best on Monday, goading the bowlers, sledging the rivals, chatting with the umpires and making a plethora of faces that an emoji factory would be proud of. He even caught two smart catches, including the big one to dismiss his counterpart Joe Root for 33, immediately after tea.
But he also dropped Buttler off Bumrah at first slip when the English wicketkeeper was on two and for a moment it looked like it would come back to haunt him. But India just kept striking and had too many heroes to make the telling difference. While the bowlers made headlines on Day Five, it was KL Rahul’s ton and Rohit’s 83 after being inserted on a green pitch that set up India’s 364.
Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara kept India alive with their century stand on Day Four. On Day Five, the visitors had already taken giant strides towards victory when Bumrah found the edge of in-form England skipper Root for 33. That wicket came immediately after the tea break, which was taken when Jonny Bairstow was trapped LBW off the last ball before the interval by the consistent Ishant Sharma.
Headingley: India loses by an innings
Ehtesham Hasan, August 28, 2021: The Times of India
From: Ehtesham Hasan, August 28, 2021: The Times of India
Contrary to popular expectation, the end came swiftly for India on Day 4 of the third Test against England at Headingley.
The visitors, dismissed for 278 15 minutes before lunch, lost eight wickets for 63 runs to lose by an innings and 76 runs with more than a day to spare. The five-match series now stands at 1-1 with two more Tests to go.
India’s fate rested in the hands of their three most experienced batsmen — Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane — who collectively have an experience of 261 Tests between them. But then vagaries of cricket never cease to amaze.
On a bright and sunny day, ideal for batting, England pacer Ollie Robinson dismantled the famed Indian middle order, piece by piece.
The morning belonged to the 27-year-old seamer, who finished with figures of 5-65, his second fifer of the series, overshadowing his senior partner James Anderson.
The 6ft 5in quick has put behind a tumultuous start to his international career by delivering when most of the regulars are unavailable due to different reasons. Robinson was barred for eight matches by the ECB earlier in the season for his ‘racist and sexist’ tweets posted back in 2012 and 2013.
For India, a lot depended on the kind of start Kohli and Pujara — the two overnight batsmen — would have provided against the second new ball.
The England bowlers, however, set the tone with three scoreless overs, to begin with. The first to go was Pujara, who was deceived in length by Robinson. The Saurashtra batsman had left most of the balls prior to that, and as he looked to let another go by, but the nip-backer thudded onto his front pad.
The bowler quickly convinced captain Joe Root to go upstairs when onfield umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled it not out.
But with no shot offered, the decision went against Pujara who missed out on his first Test century since 2019. Incidentally, this was the sixth time Pujara (91) was dismissed without adding to his overnight score.
Kohli survived a few anxious moments against Anderson to reach his 26th Test half-century with the help of a couple of fours off Robinson. But then again, he poked at a Robinson delivery outside the off-stump to his counterpart Root at first slip.
The writing was well and truly on the wall for India.
Ajinkya Rahane gave Anderson his first second innings wicket in a long time when he pushed at a wide ball to Jos Buttler and Rishabh Pant, not for the first time, nicked Robinson to Craig Overton at third slip.
Pant has scored 87 runs from five innings and the nature of his dismissals in this series have raised serious doubts over his ability to bat at No 6 while facing the Dukes ball.
Ravindra Jadeja did try to muscle way his through with a 25-ball 30 before edging one to Buttler off Robinson. “To bounce back in the fashion, we have done is the most impressive thing. The bowling on the first day was amazing, then the way the openers played and the substantial partnerships we had,” said a beaming Root in the postmatch presentation.
It was a special moment for the England skipper who led from the front with a fluent 121 to set up England’s win. This was his 27th win as captain and he has bettered his mentor Michael Vaughan’s record of 26 Test victories.
Asked if England’s revival had been a surprise, Root replied: “It might be for you but it’s not for me because I know the talent we’ve got and what we’re capable of.”
England home series
India’s success stories in T20Is
March 22, 2021: The Times of India
INDIA’S SUCCESS STORIES IN T20Is
SURYAKUMAR YADAV AS NO. 3
The Mumbai player looked natural in that slot and his ability to take on bowlers from the moment he walked in showed he is cut out for the big stage. He never allowed the tempo to drop, despite knowing full well that a failure might dent his hopes of being a long-term international player.
ISHAN KISHAN’S DAZZLING DEBUT
Another Mumbai Indians player who looked ready to play in any slot. Looked completely at ease during his explosive and match-winning 57 as an opener in the second game. He can also be an additional wicketkeeping option.
RETURN OF BHUVNESHWAR
The canny pacer has been bothered by injuries of late, but all that seemed a thing of the past. He was equally brilliant both in Powerplay and the slog overs and a Man of the Match effort in the deciding run-fest was an apt reward for his performances.
SHARDUL’S STRIKES
The CSK player has the ability to deliver what the captain wants. He has the happy knack of taking wickets at crucial stages — the dismissals of Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan in the fourth match and Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow in the fifth in one over was an indication.
RETURN OF HARDIK THE BOWLER
The team management’s persistence to get Hardik back into bowling shape has paid dividends and he was able to complete his quota in most games. His intelligent change of pace kept the England batsmen on their toes and the three wickets were a bonus.
India’s rank in the world
March 6: India no.1 in tests
March 6, 2021: The Times of India
From: March 6, 2021: The Times of India
From: March 6, 2021: The Times of India
India finish on top of ICC World Test Championship standings, courtesy 3-1 series win over England
DUBAI: India finished on top of the league phase of the ICC World Test Championship standings after crushing England by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test to pocket the series 3-1.
"That victory against England means India finish the league phase of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship with a fine view from the top of the table," the ICC tweeted.
A confused England batting line-up struggled against Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as India made it to the inaugural World Test Championship final.
India finished the league phase with 520 points, which includes 12 wins, four losses and one draw.
In the ICC World Test Championship final scheduled to be held at the iconic Lord's in June this year, India will face New Zealand.
New Zealand finished in the second spot with 420 points, including seven wins and four losses.
Australia finished third with 332 points ahead of England and Pakistan.
Pace attack
As in Aug 2021
From: August 18, 2021: The Times of India
See graphic:
The performance of India’s pace bowlers Vis-à-vis England As in 2021
Sri Lanka: away series
ODIs
Colombo: India wins
Gaurav Gupta, July 19, 2021: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, July 19, 2021: The Times of India
The way Ishan Kishan danced down the track to lift Dhananjaya de Silva down the ground for a six off the first ball he faced in ODIs, before cutting the spinner for a four off the next delivery, reflected the mindset of India’s IPL-fuelled gen-next, which believes in an ‘attack first’ policy. Powered by a captain’s knock by Shikhar Shawan, who slammed his 33rd halfcentury (86 not out, 95b, 6x4, 1x6), a 33-ball explosive half-century by ‘birthday boy’ ‘keeper-bat Kishan (59 off 42 balls) and a 23-ball 43 blitzkrieg by opener Prithvi Shaw, India scored a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the opening ODI at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
After Kishan and Shaw’s fireworks, Dhawan finished the job with Manish Pandey (26, 40b, 1x4, 1x6) and Suryakumar Yadav (31 not out, 20b, 5x4), another ODI debutant for India on the day, chipping in. Dhawan, who went past 6,000 ODI runs, deserves praise for the way he shed his normally aggressive approach to drop anchor at one end, enabling Kishan and Shaw to score at a fast pace.
Arriving at Shaw’s fall, Kishan, carted eight fours and two sixes, to smash the second-fastest fifty by a batsman in his first game in ODIs, keeping the momentum of India’s chase going ballistic. Using his feet and dancing down the track repeatedly, Kishan, was especially harsh on the spinners. If Shaw’s innings was all about timing and placement, Kishan’s knock was about brute power. Continuing his blazing form, Shaw cracked nine sweetly-timed fours to help India race away to 58 in five overs in pursuit of 262. It was almost as if he was enjoying a ‘net session,’ stroking the ball in a sublime manner. Perhaps rattled by a blow to his head off a bouncer by Dushmantha Chameera, Shaw seemed to have lost his concentration, as he threw his wicket away, spooning off-spinner Dhananjaya to long on.
Earlier, No 8 Chamika Karunaratne stroked an unbeaten 43 off 35 balls to help Sri Lanka finish at 262 for nine after the hosts chose to bat first. Too many Sri Lankan batsmen failed to capitalize on their starts— skipper Dasun Shanaka (39), Charith Asalanka (38), Avishka Fernando (33), Minod Bhanuka (27) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (24) were all guilty of not carrying on after getting set. Prompted by the conditions, India played three spinners, and all of them did well. The match marked the return of the leg-spin duo of Yuzuvendra Chahal and Kuldeep — a pair fondly known as ‘Kulcha.’ Reunited in an ODI for the first time since the World Cup game against England at Edgbaston in 2019, they picked four wickets between them.
India wins second ODI, series
Gaurav Gupta, July 21, 2021: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, July 21, 2021: The Times of India
Before this match, Deepak Chahar was known as a swing bowler. After Tuesday night, he would be known as an allrounder, who can swing a match India’s way with his bat. In a knock which will certainly make a case for his inclusion in India’s T20 World Cup squad, Chahar, whose top ODI score was 12 before Tuesday, slammed 69 not out (82b, 7x4, 1x6) batting at No. 8 to help India chase down 276 in the final over and pull off an unlikely three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the Premadasa Stadium. As expected, the visitors sealed the series, with the final game on Friday now of academic interest.
Having been reduced to 193 for seven in the 36th over, India looked to be losing the game, before Chahar added 84 for the eighth wicket in 87 balls with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19 not out, 28b, 2x4) to get victory from a hopeless position. Towards the closing stages, Chahar was hit by cramps, but the Rajasthan bowler, who took two wickets with his knuckle balls earlier in the day, didn’t let that stop him from taking his team home, as he smashed Kasun Rajitha for a four to mid-wicket off the first ball of the last over. Realising that India just needed someone to stay at the wicket, Chahar batted with a wise head, not taking any unwarranted risk.
Before Chahar’s heroics, India’s charge was kept alive by Suryakumar Yadav (53, 44b, 6x4) - who scored his maiden half-century in his second ODI - and Manish Pandey (37, 31b, 3x4), who was unlucky to be run out at the non-striker’s end as the ball ricocheted off Sri Lankan skipper Dashun Shanaka’s hands. While Sri Lanka put in a spirited show, their misery continued. It was India’s ninth consecutive win in a bilateral series over the hosts.
Earlier, Charith Asalanka (65, 68b, 6x4) and Avishka Fernando (50, 71b, 4x4, 1x6) hit half-centuries, while for the second consecutive time, Chamika Karunaratne (44 not out, 33b, 5x4), batting at No 8, produced a brilliant cameo to help Sri Lanka score 275 for nine in 50 overs. Defending the total against an in-form Indian batting line-up, Lanka thrived on the fingers of leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who took the key wickets of Prithivi Shaw (13), skipper Shikhar Dhawan (29) and Krunal Pandya (35, 54b, 3x4). The hosts’ gamble of introducing Hasaranga in just the third over paid off handsomely as Shaw (13), looking dangerous again, was castled while going for an expansive drive. Hasaranga later trapped Dhawan (29) lbw before taking his third wicket in the 36th over, cleaning Krunal’s stumps with a beauty.
India’s hero in the last game, ‘keeper-bat Ishan Kishan was out for just one this time, inside-edging a ball onto his stumps while trying to smash Rajitha on the off-side. Allrounder Hardik Pandya spooned Shanaka to mid wicket for a two-ball duck. Shaw took three consecutive fours off Rajitha in the first two overs— two superb straight drives followed by a typical flick to midwicket, but lost his wicket while trying to be too adventurous.
On a rare day for Indian cricket when two Indian teams were playing in two different parts of the world on the same day for perhaps the first time ever, leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal and seamer Bhvneshwar took three wickets each.
After openers Minod Bhanuka (36, 42b, 6x4) and Fernando (50, 71b, 4x4, 1x6) gave Sri Lanka an excellent 77-run start in 80 balls, Chahal struck twice in two balls in the 14th over.
Sri Lanka wins 3rd ODI
Gaurav Gupta, July 24, 2021: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, July 24, 2021: The Times of India
Riding on half-centuries by Avishka Fernando (76, 98b, 4x4, 1x6) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (65, 56b, 12x4) and a superb show by their spinners, Sri Lanka eked out a three-wicket consolation win against a spirited India - who were playing five debutants for the first time since 1980 - in the third and final ODI on Friday at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
While the ODI scoreline finished 2-1 in India’s favour, Sri Lanka will take some heart from their first win over India in 10 ODIs at home- it was the first time they beat the Asian giants on their home turf since July 24, 2012! It should boost them going into the opening T20 International between the teams.
A superb effort by leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (3-54) and his fellow debutant, left-arm seamer Chetan Sakaria (2-34), kept India in the game, as the Lankans lost a flurry of wickets towards the close. However, the bowlers didn’t have enough runs to defend.
India were also left to rue a spate of chances they spilled in the field.
After Gowtham, another debutant, had Minod Bhanuka (7) sweeping to Sakaria at square leg, Fernando - who slammed his second halfcentury on the trot which saw him become the series’ top run-getter (159 runs in three games@53.00) - and Rajapaksa added 109 in 105 balls to put the hosts in control. The partnership ended when Rajapaksa was caught brilliantly by Gowtham at deep backward square-leg off Sakaria.
The Saurashtra seamer then caught de Silva off his own bowling, foxing the batsman with a trademark back-of-the-hand slower one. Hardik Pandya also took a wicket, but went for 43 in five overs.
Earlier, India slipped badly from a strong position, losing nine wickets for 123 runs as Sri Lanka’s spinners triggered a tremendous fightback to skittle out the visitors for 225 in 43.1 overs after the game was reduced to 47 overs to each side post a rain interruption With Prithvi Shaw (49, 45b) and Sanju Samson (46, 45b) going great guns, India were cruising at 102 for one in the 16th over, before spinners Akila Dananjaya and Praveen Jayawickrama took three wickets each on a pitch aiding turn to leave the visitors tottering at 195 for eight in the 33rd over. A dogged 29-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar enabled India to reach 225.
While the batsmen showed poor application against spin, what would disappoint coach Rahul Dravid more is that three batsmen - Shaw, Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (40, 37b,) - fell in the 40s. Also concerning is the poor form of Hardik Pandya (19), who missed the line of a turning delivery by a mile to be out lbw to Jayawickrama.
India wins 4th ODI
Gaurav Gupta, July 26, 2021: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, July 26, 2021: The Times of India
Bouncing back from their defeat in the final ODI, India outplayed Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the opening T20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
A superb half-century by the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (50, 34b, 5x4, 2x6) and a 46-run knock (36b, 4x4, 1x6) by skipper Shikhar Dhawan helped India put up 164 for five as Sri Lanka put in a decent performance with the ball after electing to field first.
However, a shoddy performance by the bat, bar Charith Asalanka, who smashed a quickfire 44 (26b, 3x6, 3x4) on his debut, saw the hosts crash to 126 all out in the 19th over. Asalanka showed some fight as he struck a few big blows, but once paceman Deepak Chahar had him caught at deep mid wicket and then castled Wanindu Hasaranga in a double-strike in the 16th over, India had the game in the bag.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked four for 22, the pick of the Indian bowlers was leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal, who bowled 10 dot balls while giving away just 19 runs in four overs. The way he castled a bamboozled Dhananjaya de Silva with a ‘jaffa,’ which pitched near leg stump but went on to kiss the off stump, was excellent, displaying the high quality of this world-class bowler.
As expected, India gave a maiden international cap to ‘mystery spinner’ Varun Chakravarthy, who showed a bit of promise while taking one for 28 in four overs.
Earlier, pacer Dushmantha Chameera and leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga bowled superbly, taking two wickets each as Lanka took the pace off the ball in damp conditions to keep India in check.
Surya shines
Meanwhile, ‘Surya’ continues to go from strength to strength. Having just been named the ‘Player of the Series’ in the ODIs, the Mumbaikar carried on with his sizzling form, smashing the Lankan bowlers to all parts of the ground as he added 62 for the third wicket in just 48 balls with Dhawan to help India shrug off the losing the wickets Prithvi Shaw, who went for a first ball duck on his T20I debut, and Sanju Samson (27, 20b, 2x4, 1x6). The only worry for India would be another poor show by allrounder Hardik Pandya, who failed to force the pace in a laboured 12-ball 10 in the slog overs and went for 17 in two overs, picking up a wicket.
‘Sky’ seems to be on top of the bowling from word go these days. On Sunday, his second half-century in his first four T20I innings had all his trademark shots which make him such a dangerous batsman in limited overs cricket. A ‘helicopter style’ flick over mid wicket, a cover drive, a scoop displayed his class, but the shot that stood out was a sweep that saw him go down on one knee to pick up a Chamika Karunaratne delivery from outside the off-stump to the square leg fence.
World Test Championship
Ahmedabad: India wins series 3-1, enters WTC final
K ShriniwasRao, March 7, 2021: The Times of India
From: March 7, 2021: The Times of India
From: K ShriniwasRao, March 7, 2021: The Times of India
'See graphics:
India vs New Zealand, Ahmedabad- test match, India wins series 3-1, enters WTC final
Scoreboard, India vs New Zealand, Ahmedabad- test match, 2021
Temperatures have been soaring here to such an extent that even the Sabarmati flowing from right next to Motera can’t keep things cool anymore. After grinding it out for close to 262 minutes between Friday and Saturday in these conditions, and facing 174 balls, the very impressive Washington Sundar was left stranded at 96, four runs short of what would’ve been an excellent century.
As badly as that would have hurt, Sundar can instead take respite from the fact that his innings eventually helped India win the fourth Test by an innings and 25 runs and pocket the series 3-1 to book their much-deserving place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final later this year. India now lead the WTC table with 520 points after playing six series and winning four of them, while New Zealand, having played five series and won three, have 420 points.
Coming back to the Test, it was painful to watch Washington take the long walk back to the dressing room after he ran out of partners. His 106-run partnership with fellow-spinner Axar Patel – India’s second-highest in this Test after the 113-run stand between Pant and Washington – had all but taken the game away from England.
On a track where he batted with effortlessness against pace and spin, England crumbled to bits in 54.5 overs. The pitch cannot be blamed this time. It was just poor batting. The batsman in Patel too joined the part alongside Washington. His 97-ball 43 was a patient knock that allowed both batting partners to settle down well in the early half of the day and take the toll on England. By the time England walked out to bat, even the gatekeepers at this newly constructed stadium knew they wouldn’t be working early morning on Sunday. Barring Joe Root’s rickety 30 and Dan Lawrence’s 50, none of the English batsmen went past 15. Crawley 5, Sibley 3, Bairstow duck (golden), Stokes 2, Pope 15, Foakes 13 – fell like nine-pins. Each dismissal, the result of an error caused by a relentless and skilful spin attack. Coach Ravi Shastri heaped generous praise on his team and said the eventual score-line did justice to how India have played Test cricket over the last couple of years, also adding how the entire Indian camp would now look forward to the Test Championship final.It’s been an arduous journey for this team and the coaching and support staff, staying inside bio-bubbles without any contact with the outside world for close to three-and-half-months and facing serious challenges on and off the field.
“These are tough times. We’ve not seen anything like this since the second world war. They’ve overcome all challenges to be here and achieve this. It’s been simply magnificent,” Shastri told match broadcasters after the game. To bring about their series performances to a perfect culmination of sorts, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel — both bowlers having got to England’s nerves the last two weeks – walked away with five wickets each in the second innings. Ashwin, in the process, recording his 30th five-wicket haul.
Pant for his brilliant, game-changing century and some remarkable wicketkeeping, and Ashwin for his 32 wickets and 189 runs, were named the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series.
India loses World Test Championship final to NZ
Partha Bhaduri, June 24, 2021: The Times of India
From: Partha Bhaduri, June 24, 2021: The Times of India
From: Partha Bhaduri, June 24, 2021: The Times of India
And in the end, under the bright Southampton sky, there was only gloom for India as a deserving New Zealand basked in the glow of being crowned first-ever world Test champions.
It was a tense, nervy affair throughout with the ball dominating, but the safe bats of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor eventually guided this golden generation of Kiwi cricketers past a paltry yet tricky target of 139 and to an 8-wicket win, the team’s first ICC title since 2000, also against India in Nairobi.
The runs didn’t come easy after R Ashwin cracked the top order open, but the target was too small, the Kiwi resolve too great and the overs available, ironically after two days of washout, simply too many. Bumrah dropping Williamson, and Pujara dropping Taylor at slip, were late reminders of India’s miserable day.
India simply couldn’t bat long enough. The fact that Virat Kohli’s men lost inside four days of actual cricket will give them pause ahead of the long English summer. The Kiwis clearly had the edge in these conditions and started as favourites, but hindsight can be a merciless beast.
The lack of match practice in England hurt them but shouldn’t India have played an extra batsman in Hanuma Vihari? Should Mohammed Siraj have got a game? What could the batsmen have done to upset the rhythm of the relentless Kiwi pacers?
Importantly, how can Virat Kohli silence his inner demons against the sizeable abilities of Kyle Jamieson, who bowled 84 balls to India’s captain in the WTC cycle, gave away 30 runs and dismissed him thrice, including twice here?
When will the Indian middleorder (Nos. 3, 4 and 5 averaged 24 in this Test) rediscover form? Can opener Shubman Gill, who averages 12.66 from his last 7 innings, turn it around soon? And how many times will Nos. 9, 10 and 11, who average 21 since 2018, the worst in the world, be required to make contributions with the bat overseas?
The answers will arrive in due course but it will rankle this proud Indian team, which has towered over the rest of the Test pack for a few years now, that this was their game to save on the sixth morning. They faltered, providing only an erratic exhibition of batsmanship, full of either circumspection or injudicious strokeplay.
Only Rishabh Pant’s out-of-thebox survival tactics, stemming from a bizarre mix of bravado, adrenaline and sheer anxiety, offered hope. Dropped by Southee at second slip on 5, Pant walked brazenly into Wagner’s deliveries and tried countering the bowler’s sustained short-ball barrage with reverse pulls and unique ramp shots. It was an original approach but not the calm touch India needed and it was never meant to last.
Add a couple of dismissals against the run of play, bats hanging out to dry, and it is clear why India folded for 170 in their second innings. Their hesitancy was testimony to the Kiwi attack’s rare ability to plant the seed of doubt in the batsmen.
Kohli, anxious about the nip-backer from Jamieson, was first beaten repeatedly by deliveries which held their line, later inducing the loose shot to a wide one angling away. Kohli’s caution was understandable, since from the start of 2018 he averages only 22.35 against balls deviating into him, and he batted a long way down to negate the LBW. That he fell fishing would have infuriated him.
Pujara, meanwhile, didn’t commit to a defensive shot and there was another strange, soft dismissal for Rahane.
Plans will be redrawn ahead of the England Tests. For the moment, India have slipped when it mattered, leaving them to wonder what could have been if this WTC Final had been staged at home. No one, after all, remembers who came second.
