India vs England, 1st Test Match at Leeds : Day Five

India vs England : 1^st Test Match at Leeds

Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy

 Day Five :

After four days of scintillating Cricket it was all for the fifth day for the decider. 

Ultimately it was England the winners with their disciplined and never giving up approach till the final moments. On the other hand Indian team on 5th day were clueless at times, Captain unable to rotate the bowlers with proper field setting. The bowlers also missed their line and length except for first few overs on the 5th day. Saga of fielding lapses, dropped catches continued from 1st innings of England and also on the 5th day. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the biggest culprit who dropped four catches in both the innings.

Indian bowling unit took 5 wickets in the 2nd innings however the bite and attack was missing in the body language of the Indian team as was also missing in their bowling arms. Much before the match ended and post tea session, the casual approach of few players on the field was surprising. The laugh and smile on their face was visible which was against the spirit of the game. Even Jaiswal was seen dancing. Isnt it Unbelievable!

No game is lost till the last ball is bowled and till the last minute of the match. 

India had lost the big advantage on 4th day while cruising at 335 for 5 and suddenly losing 5 wickets to reach 364 runs. The score was less by minimum 40 to 50 runs in 2nd innings  similarly a big chance was lost for addition of another 30 to 35 runs on the 2nd day of the Indian 1st innings due to the batting collapse.  

However it was expected from the bowlers to tighten their grip on the last day and defend the total of 371 runs. The weather looking good with no immediate forecast for rains the day started with Bumrah and Siraj looking for the breakthrough. First session of the fifth day was crucial for India to use the new ball and the conditions. This eluded the Indian pacers till the score of 188 runs although there were patches of some good bowling by Bumrah and others but it was very limited. The pace bowling unit were totally disoriented on this crucial day on the other hand the England batters had planned, strategized with special focus to handle and tackle Bumrah and take on others as per the merit of the ball. This was clearly visible the way both the openers were batting, Crawley watchful ever and Duckett was going after the bowlers. It was the professional approach of the highest order and the game plan with discipline and focus brought the win for the home team. With Crawley gone and the next batter Pope also back to the pavilion brought some hope but Duckett getting a life on 98 runs by Jaiswal went after the bowlers and with his elegant batting scored all round the wicket and after scoring a match winning 149 runs of 170 balls put England on the winning track. The job was later finished off by Root, Ben Stokes and Smith in style with Smith scoring a six to finish the game. Sudden rains and play stopped for some time but it could not deter the home team and they continued their scoring spree. It was a great way to be in the game by way of scoring at an average of nearly 4.6 runs per over in both the innings, and this mindset till the last moment have decided the winner.

The game played by both the teams had their moments of glories and upsets but the focus was only to win the test match. Each day brought new dimensions and new hopes if the Day one was for India, England came back solidly on 2nd day, again 3rd day England took the upper hand but India toiled to take advantage on 4th day only to be limited due to weak response from the lower order batters. Contribution by Indian tail enders was limited in both the innings resulting in losing the big advantage which the openers and fellow batters had given to the team. The way England team fought back, session by session after being on the backfoot for the first four days, ultimately proved their worth and answered all such questions by being the winning team.  

"Ultimately Cricket is the winner".

Introspection by Indian team as perceived.

The story of losing the grip with five centuries in two innings, batting collapse with 7 wickets falling for 41 runs in 1st innings and similarly 5 wickets falling for a mere 31 runs in 2nd innings, the disjointed bowling unit barring Bumrah and story of dropped catches, misfielding all combining into this loss of the test match. 

Shubman Gill was also clueless in his field placement, utilising his bowling resources as per conditions and also unable to produce the aggression into the team for fighting it hard and also convert the weakness into strength and threat into opportunity.

Arshdeep, Nitish Reddy and other members who have an edge over the others should be infused with the confidence for change in the team if required based on the conditions prevailing in the next games and grounds. Whether Karun Nair, Sai Sudarshan will be given another chance, similarly review of performance by Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur should be undertaken to really form a winning combination.

Indian team management including Coach and the Captain really need to assess the performance of each player with their merits and demerits as displayed by them while batting, bowling or the most important aspect fielding and take corrective steps with the group of selected players available with them. The next test match starts at Birmingham on 2nd July and with a gap in between the team needs to unite, discuss and strategize with respect to the future games. 

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