India vs England | Winners and Losers ft. KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Pakistan fans
BCCI
After a narrow, yet encouraging, loss in the first Test, India put up a shambolic display at Lord’s to give England a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. While Dinesh Karthik is sure to get the axe after his dismal display, it was Pakistan fans’ chance to settle the scores with their counterparts.
Winners
Pakistan fans
The last time Pakistan have won a Test series in England was in 1996 when Wasim Akram led the team to a 2-0 victory over the Michael Atherton-led England. Since then, various Pakistan teams have had their moments under the sun, but none has been able to break the English code. However, on the last two tours to the British nation, the performances by the Pakistanis were tough notch as they drew both the series and with elan.
In an Asian nation’s last tour to England in May, they put up a strong performance to take series lead at Lord’s despite seven of their players in the playing XI were playing a Test in England for the first time. And when Pakistan set out for England, many Indian fans claimed on Twitter that the fresh wickets and the early summer weather conditions would assist pacers to move the ball prodigiously and Pakistan batsmen weren't capable of countering the English bowlers in those conditions. However, what they did was establishing a template for the Asian teams and India were supposed to follow that to bring success this time.
On the other hand, amidst all the talks of “no excuses” and “we do, not tell”, India have showcased a performance worth forgetting. Considering, there was no fightback and no intention to make themselves better against the moving ball, Pakistan fans may have the last laugh as India’s series loss looms large.
KL Rahul
One might wonder, how come an opener who has scored a total of 35 runs in four innings at an average of a tad under 9 can be a winner. Yes, that’s the way the Indian cricket operates now. Murali Vijay, on this England tour, has been able to score a total of 34 runs in six innings - including the match against England A and Essex - and that is bad enough for one to easily conclude that the time has come for the 34-year-old to draw curtains to his India career. While he added the “much-debated” shuffle to his batting in South Africa, he failed to move his head properly and the feet movement was almost gone.
After Kohli played
Losers
Dinesh Karthik
It was supposed to be the series that would define Dinesh Karthik’s career. A player always touted for bigger things, but always behind the eight ball, he came to England as a replacement for Wriddhiman Saha and with the happy memories of his 2008 tour where his majestic performances as an opener helped India secure a series win in England after 24 years. It was his chance at redemption and giving a second wind to his red-ball career. However, if anything, it has turned out to be a disaster for the Tamil Nadu cricketer.
With a series of scores that read 0, 1, 20, and 0, Dinesh Karthik has not only let the team down when the team needed him the most, he has let himself down as well. He was lackadaisical behind the stumps and let England get as many as 11
Cricket fans
If there was one man standing between England and the series loss, it is Virat Kohli - the lone ranger at Edgbaston and the protector of the team’s fragilities. Had it not been his persistent effort to take the team out of the rut in the first game, the Test would have ended in three days. The fact that India had already lost Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah to injury, any sort of fitness issue for the skipper was the last thing that the fans would have wanted.
However, as things go, Kohli suffered a back strain on Day 3, which kept him out of the field in the post-tea session and when he came out to bat yesterday, it was clearly evident that he was not in the best of conditions. He was also finding difficulties in walking in the post-match presentation which signals that he is under severe problem that may jeopardize India’s hopes of making a comeback in the series. Indian fans can only hope that it is not dangerous enough to keep him out of the Trent Bridge Test.
