Indian Cricket’s Troubled English Summer Leaves More Questions Than Answers
Boria Majumdar
Indian cricket’s English summer has finally come to a close. And, may I say, it was a deeply troubled one that has left us with far more questions than answers.
First, the men. India lost eight of their nine matches and went down 2-1 in the ODI series after a comfortable win in Birmingham against England, the world’s eighth-ranked ODI side. They conceded 387 runs while bowling first at Lord’s and continued to leave out Kuldeep Yadav in what was a baffling selection call.
The women endured a disappointing T20 World Cup, which came on the back of a series defeat to England in the shortest format. The red-ball win at Lord’s offered redemption, but it cannot mask the continued failures in T20 cricket. It also raises serious questions about the team’s leadership and the way forward.
Looking back at the men’s T20 series, India’s approach appeared one-dimensional. It was as if they were determined to persist with a rigid template without acknowledging the conditions on offer. Trying to hit every ball out of the park, an approach that works well on Indian pitches, backfired and exposed their vulnerabilities against the short ball. The hype surrounding Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was perhaps excessive, and the England series has raised questions about his technique against short-pitched bowling.
Vaibhav lost his place to Sanju Samson for the final T20I and will need to return to the drawing board to adapt his game for conditions that offer assistance to the bowlers. Abhishek Sharma, Samson and Ishan Kishan were all found wanting, yet this is the group expected to lead India’s T20 future. Shreyas Iyer, too, needs to grow as a leader, and collectively the Indians were well below par.
The ODI series began positively in Birmingham, with the captain leading from the front. The only real positives were the batting form of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and, eventually, Rohit Sharma, who dominated at Lord’s. However, the decision to field four fast bowlers at Lord’s, none of whom had prior experience of bowling with the slope, inevitably raises questions about team selection. Rather than criticising an inexperienced pace attack, it is fair to ask why Kuldeep Yadav, an out-and-out match-winner, continues to be overlooked.
After a poor summer, Gautam Gambhir will have to deliver in Sri Lanka. Failure to do so will only increase the pressure on India’s head coach.
For Amol Muzumdar, the victory at Lord’s came as a timely reprieve. However, red-ball cricket is not the primary format for the women’s team, and in T20 cricket, Amol and his side have consistently fallen short. India have now failed to progress beyond the group stage in back-to-back World Cups, yet the selectors have decided to continue with Harmanpreet Kaur as captain for the Asian Games. Ten years is a long time to lead a side, and it is only fair to ask whether the time has come for fresh ideas at the top.
As an Indian cricket analyst, this was not a pleasant summer to watch. Much like the heatwave that made life uncomfortable, the performances on the field have made corrective action an urgent necessity.
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