Image Credit- PTI
India’s spin attack vs England’s young novices was
supposed to be a no-contest coming into this 5-test series given the sheer
lopsidedness of the experience that was on show between the two attacks. Two
Tests into the series, one of them has taken 33 wickets at 33.90, and the other
23 at 38.39.
Given how severely India’s spinners had outperformed
their opposite numbers throughout their ten years of home supremacy prior to
this series, it’s one thing that the averages are thus close to each other. The
fact that those averages are reversed is a whole different story.
In an Indian Test series, the visiting spinners have
outperformed the home spinners collectively for the first time since England’s
2-1 victory in 2012–13. This is a stunning fact in and of itself, and even more
so when you realise that the four England spinners with the most overs this
series are made up of one part-timer and three bowlers who came to these shores
having bowled one Test match between them.
However, England for a fact know that other visiting
teams have also been in this situation before, only to see the ground beneath
them snatched away with brutal and surgical efficiency. England only need to
look back at their last campaign on these shores for context. Add to the fact
that their most experienced campaigner in Leach is ruled out for the rest of the
series, the young trio could be handed a rude reality check.
There’s also good reason to think that luck has played
a big part in England’s results thus far. While India’s batsmen have
outperformed their English counterparts in terms of control percentage against
spin, they have also made far more mistakes. While England’s batsmen have
averaged 12 incorrect shots per dismissal, India’s batsmen have lost their
wicket almost one in every eight erroneous shots.
Long series tend to level out luck, but thus far in
this one, India seems to have contributed to their own bad luck by failing to
convert their control into dominant positions.
None of their top five batsmen were dismissed by the
conventional methods of bowling, LBW, caught by keeper, slips, or bat-pad on
the second day of play in Hyderabad. Instead, a number of their players were
out to attacking strokes against spin. The head coach of India, Rahul Dravid,
identified a particular play sequence as being crucial to their inability to
turn a commanding lead into a lead they could not relinquish. India had a 190
run advantage in the first innings, which was a difficult task to overcome, but
still wasn’t safe from Ollie Pope’s innings of a lifetime.
Into the second Test in Visakhapatnam, there was still
the sense that India was letting scoring runs go unaccounted. Their total was
slightly shy of 400, but five of their top six reached above 20 in their first
innings, and one of them achieved a double hundred. With six wickets remaining
in the second innings, India was 354 ahead of England at one point, but they
again failed to reach their target of 400.
All those shots carried a certain degree of risk since
spinners could occasionally get the ball to stop and bounce strangely on that
Visakhapatnam pitch. It was difficult to determine if each hitter made a poor
shot selection, mishandled a good shot, or just happened to hit a ball that
spun or bounced a little bit more. All together, they painted a picture of a
lineup that, for the second straight game, was unable to capitalise on a weak
offence or bat their opponent out of the game.
India lost a Test match in Hyderabad as a result, and
who knows what may have occurred in Visakhapatnam if Jasprit Bumrah hadn’t done
his trademark moves.
When a batting lineup loses key players, it can occur.
The Indian team appears to have entirely moved on from Cheteshwar Pujara and
Ajinkya Rahane, and Virat Kohli is out of the entire series. Only three of the
top six players had participated in more than 30 Tests when the series started,
and KL Rahul and Jadeja, two of those players, were injured and missed the
second Test. Axar in Visakhapatnam was batting in the top six for the first
time, and Rahul and Gill are still very inexperienced in the middle order.
The Test series in South Africa at the beginning of
the year, which was played on opulent seam-friendly grounds without a single
ball of spin, is the only red-ball cricket match they have played in recent
months. Therefore, it is not surprising that these batsmen have been a touch
rusty when it comes to taking advantage of inexperienced spinners for session
after session, ensuring that runs are scored consistently while minimising
risks such as smashing the ball in the air or sweeping from the stump line.
When watching Indian hitters, fans frequently take
this skill for granted, but like any other skill, it requires regular honing.
In the run-up to the third Test in Rajkot, India is undoubtedly putting a lot
of effort into it in the hopes that their hitters can contribute to levelling
the playing field between the two spin assaults.