The coastal city of Visakhapatnam will be the next port of call for England’s Bazball, which faces a test of endurance and sustainability against an Indian side keen to keep its legacy at home intact against the tides of revolution.
The host city, also known as the ‘City of Destiny’, will be a fitting theatre for England to reprise its delinquent methods against the conformism of India, which hasn’t lost two consecutive home Tests since 2012, the year it also lost its last home series in the format, against the same opposition.
Ben Stokes’ England is proverbially changing the lexicon of cricket, and Joe Root epitomised it at the end of the third day of the first Test, after England had taken a 126-run lead but was still a long shot from pulling off a win.
“Who knows. The most important thing is we try to take the scoreboard out of it,” was Root’s reply when asked what his team thought would be an ideal total to set India.
Conversely, India dwelled too much on the target and its batters were caught in two minds, deserting the refreshing and fearless approach that held them in good stead in taking a 190-run lead in the first innings. Well, that was erased, for the first time in 91 years, and so was the scepticism surrounding the visitors’ enterprise in spin-friendly conditions.
For the second Test beginning here at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium from Friday, England has gone for another roll of the dice in calling 20-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir to make his debut, replacing the injured Jack Leach. Meanwhile, James Anderson, coming in for Mark Wood, is gearing up for his 184th appearance on his sixth Test tour to India.
For India, injuries to KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, its best batters in Hyderabad, will see either Sarfaraz Khan or Rajat Patidar receive a Test cap. If Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid opt for a four-man spin attack, Mohammed Siraj, who only bowled 11 overs in the first Test, could make way for all-rounder Washington Sundar.
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Kuldeep Yadav looks set to step into the breach for Jadeja as the left-arm unorthodox spinner offers a variation that Bazball has yet to come to terms with. Kuldeep’s inability to make up for Jadeja’s prowess with the bat is where Sundar could come into the equation.
However, Siraj has a fifer in the fourth innings of a Test against South Africa in 2019 at this venue to show for, which could help him keep his spot. Moreover, with Leach ruled out, the role of left-handed batters in countering left-arm spin will be limited in terms of matchups.
The relentless nature of Indian cricket means that life comes full circle pretty soon. It wasn’t long ago when the most hotly contested debate was surrounding India’s No. 4 spot at the Asia Cup, in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup. Less than six months later, the team is faced with a similar quandary in the longest format.
For someone whose spot in the team is constantly under the scanner, Rahul has made himself oddly irreplaceable. Though he batted at No. 4 for the first time in Tests in the last game, returning dividends of 86 and 22, he looked India’s most assured batter.
With his injury, and Virat Kohli’s absence, India is left scrambling for answers and must hand someone a debut. For all the talk about India’s bench strength, the truth is that it is still untested. And a high-flying England will be a stern test for Patidar and Sarfaraz, run machines in domestic cricket and centurions in the ongoing England Lions tour of India.
Both batted extensively in the nets on Wednesday and Thursday and didn’t refrain from bringing out the sweep and its other variants.
Though Patidar seems to be the front-runner, Sarfaraz also seems to have impressed the management and received applause of approval from Jaiswal after his final stint in the nets.
Though the stakes are high, Patidar and Sarfaraz will have a good opportunity to open their account as England’s spin attack – comprising Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Bashir – has a combined experience of three matches.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, a rung above the debutants in the pecking order, will be on their toes. Their poor string of scores of late and mode of dismissals in the previous game have set off the predictable platitudes of ‘backing ability over form’.
While Gill has aggregated 142 runs in nine innings since he asked to be sent at No. 3, Iyer has laboured to 160 in 11 innings since a match-winning 87 in Bangladesh in late 2022.
Gill’s technique and tendency to push with hard hands against spin was his undoing in the second innings in Hyderabad, while Iyer was also found reacting to the turn and nicking a catch after pushing forward. Both their dismissals typified India’s timid approach in the second innings, starkly contrasting with how they perished in the first. To change tack, both batters took to the sweeps and reverse-sweeps with abandon in the nets, with Gill playing them with elan.
However, with Kohli likely to return for the third Test, both batters could be imminently jostling for a spot.
While the batting was lacklustre, the bowling in the second innings didn’t inspire confidence. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel will hope for an improved show with the ball. Ollie Pope’s inventive genius threw the spinners off their lengths in the second innings, leading to Rohit spreading the field even as the tail wagged.
With Kuldeep breaking the monotony of conventional finger-spin, and Jasprit Bumrah continuing to cast his magic despite the conditions, they could get a breather and settle into a rhythm.
The Indian batters have been at their punishing best in the nets, even going against the convention of typically advancing or retreating, but whether they can replicate it in the context of a match, without being weighed down by the scoreboard, will be a challenge.
Jaiswal’s strokeful first innings, that resulted in the coinage of ‘Jazball’, had taken the English by surprise. For the Indians, thus, imitation, albeit with conviction and skill, may be the answer to Bazball.
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