Ice-cool Gill and Jurel take India to 17th straight home series win
Thoughts on an outstanding series between England's new-age team and an Indian team in transition
India started Day 4 of the 4th test needing 152 runs with 10 wickets in hand. Many optimistic Indian fans thought this was India’s game to lose, but that was more based on the bias of watching Dhruv Jurel and the lower order batting their way back into the game. It’s no secret that India has been a very successful Test side in the previous decade, nearly unbeatable at home (win/loss ratio of 10 at home since 2014), and yet they had chased over a target of over 150 successfully in the 4th innings only once (Gabba 2021) in that period. With the pitch getting more inconsistent, India with a batting line-up where the 2nd most experienced batter (Shubman Gill) has less than 25 test caps, England were still the favorites. That 72-run partnership between Gill and 2 test-old Dhruv Jurel was just outstanding, they played with great patience to close out the series for India with one test still to go.
WHY BAZBALL STILL WORKS
Depending on who you ask, Bazball is either just jargon or the best thing to happen to test cricket. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. The culture set by Brandon McCullum and Ben Stokes appears to be one where players are given the freedom to play to their strengths and fail. They make plans based on the pitch and bowlers and go about executing them without worrying about the result. This isn’t something revolutionary, this is just solid man management (like Gary Kirsten did with the Indian team) but the duo deserves credit for bringing in clarity of thought after the disastrous results previously.
The revolutionary part instead is the fact that every batter, except Ben Foakes, in the line-up has agreed to try and play more shots, force the pace of the game, and put the opposition bowlers on the defensive. There were always one-off players (Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, and Rishabh Pant for example) in good teams who used to bat swiftly and made sure the opposition had to be defensive, but this is the first time, every batter from 1 to 6 has signed up for it. It doesn’t mean that there is no defense or they just slog ball after ball. Instead, they have specific plans that they try and execute. In Vizag during the 2nd test, for example, most English batters didn’t play the sweep square of the wicket due to the extra bounce and instead played the paddle (or scoop) version of the shot.
Similarly, after losing 5 wickets in the 1st session of the 4th test, Foakes and Root decided to bat with the straight bat and avoid the sweep, leading to a formidable score of 350. While England wasn’t able to score freely in the most recent test, this approach makes setting the field quite a challenge for the opposition captain. With most batters playing the sweep on both sides of the wicket, even top-quality spinners like Ashwin and Jadeja have to be very accurate in terms of line, length as well as pace to keep the runs in check (no Indian bowler except Bumrah has an economy under 3 in this series as of now).
There’s little doubt that this Indian attack (barring Bumrah) isn’t at its best but challenging them at home still takes a lot and this team has proven, despite the losses, that the Bazball approach is here to stay and challenge the toughest of oppositions. Of course, none of this changes the fact that English media’s cult-like obsession with Bazball (and crediting Stokes and this management for anything that works) is quite nauseating.
KULDEEP YADAV’S RETURN AND RISE
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been around the Indian setup since 2017 and has more than 250 wickets to his name at the international level. However, in all this time, he has played just 11 test matches and been in and out of the side, mostly due to the presence of the incredible Ashwin-Jadeja duo. Being the 3rd spinner, he is unlikely to win the Player of the Match or Series, but his performances in this series deserve a note.
Kuldeep bowled reasonably well in the 2nd test in Vizag but came into his own in the 3rd test at Rajkot. After England started aggressively scoring 200 runs in no time in reply to India’s 445, India had to come back strong on the 3rd morning. Kuldeep adjusted his line to outside the off-stump (as the hawkeye images below show) and bowled accurately while varying his pace to keep the set Duckett quiet in a brilliant 12-over spell (including 2 wickets) changing the trajectory of the match.
His brilliance continued in the 4th test as Kuldeep showed great application in batting out the 2nd most balls in India’s 1st innings. It allowed Dhruv Jurel to shorten India’s deficit to just 46 from a staggering 134 the previous night. But wait, he wasn’t quite done. In England’s 2nd innings, India desperately needed to keep the visitors within 125-150 runs to have a solid chance on a pitch with inconsistent bounce.
Kuldeep, yet again, stepped up and varied his pace and trajectory to pluck 4 crucial wickets earning the praise of veteran spinner R Ashwin, who said, Kuldeep deserved a 5-for more than he did. Three years into his international career, batters had started attacking Kuldeep thanks to his lower pace and predictable trajectory. His ability to come back from those challenging times, hone his skills, and show improvement will give him and the Indian team a lot of satisfaction.
INDIA’S DEPTH SHINES THROUGH
England’s only main player unavailable for this series is left-arm spinner Jack Leach. While that’s a blow, the Indian camp was dealing with the unavailability of the likes of giants like Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant. To add to that, KL Rahul’s injury after the 1st test, Jadeja’s absence in the 2nd, and Ashwin’s absence on the moving day of the 3rd test made things even more challenging. India’s depth in all departments has been thoroughly tested and apart from Rajat Patidar and Mukesh Kumar, everyone has taken the chances and produced some outstanding performances.
During the 3rd test, apart from Kuldeep’s superb spell, there were two Mumbai batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan who stood up. Although this isn’t Jaiswal’s first series, he has taken his game to another level by putting up 655 runs in the 4 tests so far (equaling Virat Kohli’s tally against England in 2016). Debutant Sarfaraz, a domestic giant who had been waiting for his turn for a while, displayed great strokeplay and belief in both innings to get India into unbeatable positions as India thrashed England comfortably.
A lot has happened since then, but in the 1st session of the 4th test, another debutant Akash Deep stood tall. Yes, the conditions were helpful, but he had to fill the gigantic shoes of Jasprit Bumrah and he didn’t disappoint. His skiddy nature, accurate lines, and the wobble ball were a lot for England to take as they were reduced to 112/5. Thanks to an incredible Joe Root knock and contributions from the lower order, England ended up right back in the match.
In fact, at the end of Day 2, India had a 37% chance of winning the 4th test. They were seriously behind and Dhruv Jurel’s decisive footwork and clear thinking with the support of the bowlers kept India in the game. He then returned to face the hattrick ball in the 4th innings after Sarfaraz Khan had been dismissed 1st ball with India facing an uphill task. Once again, Jurel showed a lot of clarity in thinking and superb shot selection to keep the strike rotating, and alongside Gill get India over the line.
There are often shouts about some domestic players with 3000 runs or 300 wickets not getting a chance for India or even India A, when a player like Jurel gets picked. He has been fast-tracked to the national side after playing just 2 seasons of first-class cricket. The current Indian team management has often (and sometimes rightly) been criticized for its selections. Jurel’s performance is a vindication for the selectors and the team management, they have a knack for identifying one for the future, and the decision to force out older players like Umesh Yadav or Cheteshwar Pujara looks like a solid one as India brings up their 17th straight home test series win.