CHENNAI: A Test match getting over in three days means some unexpected extra time for cricketers to recuperate and relaunch. For Indians, this break before the final Test can be harrowing, for it may bring back memories of a capitulation that lasted less than 90 overs in two innings.
If they rewind, this talented and not fully tested bunch will find some disconcerting facts. There was no Stuart Broad in the second innings and James Anderson didn’t look as sharp as in the first. England’s third and fourth quicks bowled too short too often on a pitch that had some bounce but no demon in it. For the second time in nine days, Moeen Ali delivered the killer punch.
The 27-year-old made his debut against Sri Lanka in June and despite getting Kumar Sangakkara twice in his tally of three in that two-Test series, he was better remembered for an unbeaten 108 in the match that England lost. After about seven weeks, Ali not only knows how it feels to be on the winning side, he has turned out to be the one who gets the result. The batting that earned plaudits despite losing in South Africa and New Zealand has caved in twice against him. His victims include frontliners, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane twice each.
Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh feels it’s a combination of Ali’s unheralded skills and the inability of the batsmen to survive against a kind of bowling they are expected to dominate. “Moeen is an underrated bowler who has bowled well. He is calm and bowls a positive line outside off stump, where an off-spinner should bowl. You may not be a great bowler, but if your line is positive, you will get rewarded. The way he is bowling, it’s not easy to play or leave him. The ball will turn or go straight. Either way, there is a chance of getting a wicket.”
Former wicketkeeper and chairman of selectors Kiran More thinks Ali has more in his armoury. “He has that outgoing ball. It’s not off spin all the time. Look how they have got out — bowled, caught behind, caught close to the wicket. He gets good bounce too. For a side with problems with the third and fourth seamers, England have found a surprise package in Moeen!”
A part of Kapil Dev’s team that won 2-0 in England in 1986, More adds India made a mistake by not fielding Ravichandran Ashwin earlier, considering the number of left-handers in Alastair Cook’s team and Ravindra Jadeja’s performance with the ball. If Ali has 19 wickets in 122.4 overs, the Indian left-armer has nine from 156 at a strike rate of 104.0.
“At times, left-arm spin becomes easy for left-handers. The way Jadeja has bowled, Ashwin would have been a better choice. That’s where we lack planning. If Moeen gets wickets, Ashwin could have got a few too. Jadeja has tried to restrict. He can be useful in India or in limited-over games. In Test matches, one has to look for wickets. And Ashwin looks every bit a better batsman as well,” said More.
More’s teammate in 1986 and several other series, Maninder points out there is a lesson for India from the Ali show. “Of late, our off-spinners have bowled a stump-to-stump line with a leg slip instead of making the batsman drive. That’s not the line to take wickets. Our boys don’t play quality spinners in domestic cricket and I guess they are practising against that leg-stump line at the nets. It’s possible that’s why they have been found wanting against this line outside off stump.”