India vs England | India’s keys to end a decade of English heartbreak

07/31/2018

The pre-series press conferences have always been about chatter and punching jibes, but when Alastair Cook and Ajinkya Rahane will face the press, it has to be a normal one. But will it remain the same for the next seven weeks? Or India will find a way or two to silent the critics?

Virat Kohli will have some questions to answer once the Test series starts tomorrow in Edgbaston, but for sure, it will not be an easier proposition. However, India will have some clear-cut formulas to counter the English threat and here you go.

Rule #1

If India’s last tour to England is anything to go by, Virat Kohli is a weaker batsman when the ball swings away from him. In extremely conducive English conditions in 2014, Kohli’s attempt to play cover drives cost him time and again as he edged James Anderson four times, and once each to Stuart Broad and Chris Jordan. A lot has changed since then, but what has remained as it is Kohli’s struggle to counter the away-going deliveries. In the South Africa series and Sri Lanka series, he added that extra shuffle to his stride which helped him counter the outswingers a bit, but Vernon Philander and Suranga Lakmal nipped the ball back in to catch Kohli plumb in front of his stumps. These small issues can cost the Indian skipper when the ball is new and that’s why Indian top-order has a clear-cut job to protect him.

Since Kohli became India’s new No.4 after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from international cricket, India have lost their second wicket at roughly the end of the 27th over. In 2014 tour to England, the corresponding number for the team was 21st over and in Australia, it was 29th. And you know what happened. While Kohli averaged 13 in England, that rose to an incredible 87 in Australia. So, it is paramount for the top-order to make the ball old by sticking around, albeit that does mean a lesser amount of runs.

At No.5 will bat Ajinkya Rahane, India’s premier overseas specialist. India's only win in their 13-Test run in England and Australia in 2014 and 2015 came on the back of a Rahane century on a green seamer at Lord’s. Once Rahane finds the ball old, one can almost always count on him.

Rule #2

Kohli was breathing fire. So were Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. India’s home dominance in 2016 and 2017 had a common theme attached to it. However, an often overlooked factor that contributed to India’s success was the contribution of the lower-order batsmen. Virat Kohli’s propensity to pick five bowlers in the team forced India to play the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and spin-bowling all-rounders R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at Nos. 6, 7 and 8 respectively and as it turned out, the trio lived up to the billing.

To the lower-order batsmen's credit, India averaged a very impressive 34.52 per stand for Nos. 6 to 9 in this period and that included nine century and 23 half-century stands. India had their lower order to thank for decisively changing the fortunes of the matches in Kanpur and Kolkata against New Zealand, in Mumbai against England, and in Dharamsala against Australia.

Dinesh Karthik coming in for Saha could bolster the lower middle order big time and the team management will also be relying on the likes of Ashwin and Mohammed Shami to deliver to the best of their potential so as to drag the score forward.

Rule #3

Remember the stand of 198 runs between James Anderson and Joe Root in the Trent Bridge Test of 2014 which took the game away from India’s grasp? Anderson played excellent reverse sweeps, upper-cuts, and flourishing lofts over mid-on to wow the audience. India seemed to have learnt a lesson or two from the incident and India's home run between 2015-17 saw the side most effectively nip out opposition lower-orders. The average stands for wickets six to nine since April 2015 is the lowest against India and no one would disagree with the fact how brilliantly that helped the Virat Kohli-led team.

While DK or Rishabh Pant, whoever will be included, will strengthen the batting, it leaves them a bowler short. Depending on the team combinations, England could throw a 6,7 of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. India have first-hand experience struggling to nip the tail in the 2014 tour and this puts them in a catch-22 situation. In the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and co have their task cut out for the Edgbaston Test.

Rule #4

Gone are the days when England used to field four proper pacers in the form of Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, and Andrew Flintoff in a single match. For the longest time, England have to be overtly reliant on the duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two leading wicket-takers in England's Test history, to deliver success. While the duo has been an extremely important cog for England over the years, the team has lacked a proper third seamer in the team.

As a matter of fact, since the Ashes whitewash of 2013-14, England have handed debut caps to as many as 10 fast-bowlers for the third seamer's position without any considerable success. If one player can claim to nail down the position with some amount of success, it is Chris Woakes. Apart from Woakes, Steven Finn, Jake Ball, Craig Overton, Mark Wood, and Toby Roland-Jones were called up to the team, but ended up either being injured or was sidelined due to the lack of good performances. Sam Curran, who made his debut against Pakistan in June, and Jamie Porter, Essex’s county hero last season, called up to the Test squad for the first time and can give Woakes a run for his money. However, the lack of experience at the highest level means India has an upper edge over them.

So, if India can attack the third seamer incessantly - be it Mark Wood or Porter or Curran or Woakes - Joe Root will have to continuously bring in either of his star bowlers to the attack. And considering both are grappling with injuries at the moment, India will be able to tear them once they get tired. A clear cut plan now available for them - leave as many balls outside the off-stump possible to Broad and Anderson and don’t take chances against them from the beginning.

Rule #5

If England’s recent records are anything to go by, they are one of the worst Test teams at the moment and it is not only because of their shambolic away performances. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, England have lost 10 out of 30 home Tests which includes four Test losses in the last 10 games.

One of the major reasons that can be attributed to the performances can be Middle-order's exposure to the new ball. However, England have been facing severe opening problems since Andrew Strauss' retirement in 2012. Since then, they've tried 12 different opening combinations with Alastair Cook and none has been able to make the spot his own. Due to that, the middle-order, more often that, has to face the new ball which cost England big-time.

To go that, Joe Root, England’s answer to Virat Kohli, has failed to convert his starts to big scores and despite crossing the fifty-run mark in Tests more than anyone else since 2012, his conversion rate of 38% ranked joint-15th among 23 batsmen who had ten or more such innings. India need to ensure that Cook and Root don’t get to a big score and by doing that, they can at least wish to do an encore of what they did in 2007.