England vs India 2014 - 2nd Test: Ifs and buts

India completed its first away winafter a gap of 15 matches extending over 3 years bybeating England by 95 runs in the 2ndTest at Lords. Many things went according to MS Dhonisplans resulting in a historicwin and England were at the receiving end. Here, let us have a look at some of the important performances/phases or external factorsthat might have completely changed the outcome of the match at Lords.

#1 What if Ishant Sharma was dropped after poor warm-up games?

The lanky bowler did not bowl any inspiring spell in the two warm-up matches India played against Leicestershire and Derbyshire. He was clearly struggling with his run-ups and was not able to generate pace on the ball to a greater extent. He bowled 7 no-balls in 9 overs (2/64) in the first match and 11 no-balls in 19 overs(0/59) in the second.

Pankaj Singh, Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey were on the wings and even though chances were minimal, the result at Lord’s might have been different, if not for his short ball burst on day 5.

#2 What if Joe Root was not given out/DRS was used?

In the first innings, Root had batted well for his 13 and looked good for more when umpire Bruce Oxenford ruled him out leg-before. Ravindra Jadeja’s arm-ball had hit the bat first, before deflecting onto the pad and that was clearly visible on Hot Spot.

First innings centurion Ajinkya Rahane too suffered the similar fate in the second innings as umpire raised his finger when England appealed after a bouncer took off from the forearm guard and not the glove.

These are important decisions that affected the game in a big way and Decision Referral System (DRS) might have overturned them.

#3 If Gary Ballance was caught for 32

Neither MS Dhoni nor Shikhar Dhawan went for the catch when Ballance edged Stuart Binny while he was on 32 in ENgland’s first innings. The ball went in between the keeper and first slip and the left-hander added another 78 runs when he was finally dismissed.

#4 What if India did not field Stuart Binny?

In any case if you did not follow the match, let me introduce to you Stuart Binny – the fielder! Retaining his place in the side, courtesy, his match saving innings of 78 at Trent Bridge, the Karnataka all-rounder batting at No.8 was given out leg-before off a delivery that hit him above the knee roll in the first outing.

In the second day, he bowled 2 spells of medium pace 7-0-24-0 and 3-0-21-0. He never bothered the scorers thereafter. His miscued shot in the second innings that lobbed up for Alastair Cook at mid-off will be at the back of his mind for a long time. A specialist batsman or bowler would have been handy.

#5 What if Rohit Sharma/Ravichandran Ashwin played?

Let me not go into how the artistic stroke-maker would have fared, as you can give no guarantee for his mindset, but, on the other hand, Ashwin’s inclusion would have completely changed the perspective of the game. We might not have witnessed extended spells to any of the fast bowlers and instead some loopy off-spinning deliveries on the greenish pitch.

You can never predict what would’ve happened exactly but I’m damn sure Alastair Cook and other lefties would not have enjoyed facing a tall spinner who does extract bounce off the surface.