India vs England | Takeaways : Kohli’s innovative captaincy, and Ashwin’s use of variation

08/03/2018

Virat Kohli put up another fighting performance out in the middle to complement the bowlers’ effort and led India close to a 1-0 series lead. However, it was his attacking captaincy and the incredible bowling performance by Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin that made for a fascinating viewing.

Virat Kohli blends Ganguly and Dhoni’s captaincy and how!

Remember 2001? Oh, THAT lovely match! It was the performance that has already passed into legend thanks to efforts of the Indian trio of Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, and Rahul Dravid. While Harbhajan’s hat-trick and the Laxman-Dravid partnership stole the show, one thing went under the carpet was Sourav Ganguly’s unfaltering belief in his team and the persistence. And, more importantly, the leg-slip.

Ganguly decided to station himself at leg-slip and much to his dismay, he even dropped a catch off Harbhajan Singh to give Steve Waugh a life just at the stroke of tea. However, Ganguly put a trail for attacking field set in that game. The legacy, like all successful ones, was passed down to MS Dhoni who was obsessed with it as well. Although Mark Taylor slammed the technique on air, it certainly didn’t bother MS Dhoni, who kept the leg-slip on throughout India’s tour of Australia in 2012 to confuse Aussie batsmen.

So it was only fit that the legacy was passed down another generation. It clearly reflects an attacking mindset and Virat Kohli, today, used the trick to great effect. Ashwin bowled fuller and straighter balls and used his variations to get enough drift to make the batsmen think. The ball that moved into the right-handers made them uncomfortable, and the only option available for that was scoring was flick or leg-glance. But, worrying for England, the uneven bounce worked in Ashwin’s favour and eventually, Joe Root, while trying to glance it, was caught by KL Rahul. The plotting that goes on behind the scenes just proves why Kohli is the right man to follow a series of great Indian captains.

Ashwin - England’s new nemesis for summer?

The fact that Ravichandran Ashwin is a modern day great is a well-established fact, but somehow, like many spinners of the country, he has acquired the “bad tourist” tag to his name and unfortunately, the judgement is quite fair as well. While he has an average of 22.78 in India, that goes to 30 on the road, which doesn’t make for a good viewing. However, champion bowlers come into their own when thrown into the deep end and Ashwin proved that in the first innings by grabbing a four-fer. But, he outshone his own performance in the second essay and proved his worth in the Indian Test set-up.

So, what brought about the change in his bowling that he managed to bury the demons of the past? Honestly, the wicket didn’t have a lot of turn to offer and it was a track that offered him as less as 2.4° of turn, as per Cricviz data analysis. It must be remembered that Ashwin has been able to extract as much as 4.3° of turn in his career, which makes it clear that his prime nature was completely neutralised by the conditions that Edgbaston had to offer in both innings.

In the second innings, Ashwin managed to change his pace considerably and thanks to that, he was successful in getting the most out of the fresh surface. In the match, he also bowled with an average speed of 87.59kph - the fastest he’s bowled in a Test match for over three years. The ball that got the better of Alastair Cook was the second straight one the left-hander faced in the game - the first one got him out in the first innings. Before those magical deliveries, the variety of pace, line, and length made sure that Cook had no sighters to defend and it magically worked for him.

Looking at his performance in the game, England now can only hope that he doesn’t keep this form all throughout the summer, otherwise it will be difficult for the English team to keep up the home legacy of the last 10 year alive.

Ridiculed Ishant silence the critics, once and for all

If one thing one can associate with Ishant Sharma, for everything that the man does, anyday is he can be mocked. Maybe for crossing the line - both the crease and the behaviour time and again - or making those faces that would make Ram Gopal Varma interested in him for a villain role in his Hindi movies or just by being Ishant Sharma. It doesn’t matter he had delivered one of India’s best victories overseas, nor it matters that his pace and bounce has been India’s hope for the last few years outside of the sub-continent. Ishant Sharma knows that the public perception has been against him ever since and it hardly matters to him.

However, Ishant knows one thing. When the captain trusts him to go with his instinct, he can deliver and intimidate the opposition with equal measure. Remember Lord’s 2014. When MS Dhoni needed someone who could hit the pitch hard to exploit the uneven bounce, Ishant had his tail up. He dished out the bouncers, as is his wont, and led the charge to put India 1-0 ahead in the series. What happened after that in the series is a discussion for another day, but Virat Kohli certainly believed that this is the guy who could win him this series. After Ashwin’s magic, Kohli allowed Ishant to go all-out in his approach from the get-go and the pacer vindicated that hope.

When he came round the wicket, that made him easier for him to use that normal outswinger to perfection against the left-hand batsmen, which created an awkward angle due to Ishant’s front-on action. He has managed dismiss two right-handed batsmen as well by holding the line against the angle from over the wicket. It was an excellent demonstration of pace bowling and arguably even better than his performance at Lord’s.