CHENNAI: As Jamie Smith sent Ravindra Jadeja into the Headingley stands to take England home — with Jasprit Bumrah watching from the dressing room — in the first Test against India, a familiar feeling lingered among the visitors. For the fourth time (second time in England) in the last three and a half years, the Indian bowlers fell flat in the fourth innings, allowing the opponents to chase a total which they felt was enough.
It had happened twice in South Africa and once in Edgbaston in the same year. On Tuesday, it was Ben Duckett and Joe Root who led the way against a Bumrah-led bowling attack. What was more worrisome was that long before the chase concluded in the last session of the match, the fate of the game was sealed. The moment had passed when Bumrah was not able to provide the early breakthrough, India's hopes, slowly, but steadily, slipped away.
However, there is one common trend that has been prevalent since Gautam Gambhir took over. His consistent preference for batting depth over playing five frontline bowlers to make up for the lack of runs from the top-order.
While it didn't matter in India, from the moment they arrived in Australia, Gambhir has sacrificed an extra frontline bowler to add security to a somewhat fragile batting unit.
Across five Tests Down Under, the visitors played a batting all-rounder in Nitish Reddy as their fifth bowler. Even if Reddy struggled to do what was asked of him in the bowling department — no fault of his — India persisted with him. India's fifth bowler, Reddy, delivered only eight percent of the overall number of overs bowled in the first three Tests. Going into the Boxing Day Test, with the series 1-1, India had a chance to press for 20 wickets and take the lead. Instead, they fielded three all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Reddy and Washington Sundar. Both Reddy and Washington batted well, keeping the game alive, their lack of bite with the ball cost the visitors as they sent down only 13 per cent of all the balls. In Sydney, on what was a greenish surface, India went with the same combination only to be scorched again.
That same trend continued at Leeds over the last five days. Shardul Thakur, a bowling all-rounder, was preferred over Kuldeep Yadav in what was one of the driest springs England had seen. End result? An inability to pick up 20 wickets. India failed to defend once again, and it cost them dearly.
When the question about not being able to defend was put forth to the head coach after the game, Gambhir said apart from Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the rest lack experience. "In this squad, there are 3-4 pacers where one has played four games, one has played five, one is yet to make his debut and the other has featured in two. You have to give them time. Before 2022, we had four pacers who had played more than 40 games. In Test cricket, experience matters a lot, especially when you tour. These are still early days and if you judge your bowlers after every game, how will you be able to develop the bowling attack," Gambhir quipped. As much as there is merit to that argument, it begs the question; should the visitors have played an extra frontline bowler?
Gambhir, while conceding that taking 20 wickets is the most important thing, stuck to one of his regular lines of it will come down to the surface. "The first and top-most priority is to take 20 wickets but it also depends on what surface we play on and what combination we want to go with. But yes, 20 wickets are important," he said. Ahead of the Leeds Test, new Test captain Shubman Gill also had said that India would prioritise a squad capable of picking 20 wickets. However, the playing XIs since the beginning of the BGT do not reflect the same.
Now, this isn't to say that it is the only issue because of which India have been losing. But several months ago, ahead of his first Test as head coach in Chennai, Gambhir had said that the best style or brand of cricket is the one that wins. Even he would admit that India have not been able to do that, losing seven of the 11 Tests they have played since. Gambhir and Gill would want to come together and change that at Edgbaston next week. To do that, the first step, perhaps, would be to give Bumrah, Siraj and the others the best chance at taking 20 wickets.
