India in England 2018: A Tough Battle of Nerves

With the limited overs matches finally over, the teams, the organisers, the broadcasters and the fans now brace for 90 overs a day format of the game.

Both India and England are now preparing hard for the upcoming 5-match Test series beginning from August 1 at Edgbaston.

In what can aptly be called a major perception clash in the run-up to the number one ICC rankings in Tests, the upcoming Test series should be viewed as a battle of supremacy between England and India. Cricket lovers all over the world are keenly looking forward to the series to begin.

On one side there is England, where cricket was born, while on the other side there is India where cricket flourished and rose to unthinkable heights, though critics argue that India’s number 1 position in Tests is a fluke. The Test series is going to be a litmus test for both the teams. The fans are going to witness an epic contest between Joe Root and Virat Kohli, currently ranked third and second in the Test batsman rankings respectively. Team India would also like to prove its critics wrong.

India last won a Test match in England in 2014 under MS Dhoni’s leadership. There are as many as 9 of those 11 players in the present squad. It remains to be seen whether they have grown wiser, or just older.

During the last four years, both India and England have seen a number of highs and lows. In ODIs, currently, England is the best, while India is the second best. In Tests, India is number 1, while England is a distant 5th.

Currently, the English Test side has been displaying patchy performances. Cricket pundits believe that unlike Australia, India will present England a tough challenge irrespective of the playing conditions offered to them. To score 482 in 50 overs against a weak opposition does not enhance a team’s reputation. Presently, Team England is relishing the forms of two of its batting pillars – Cook and Root. It may be noted that Kuldeep Yadav had dismissed Joe Root twice in the first three balls he had bowled to him, yet it was Root who walked away with the Man of the series award in ODIs.

In serious testing conditions, even today Team India misses the services of its former greats - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - gentlemen to the core. Their mere presence together, the ability to assess and adapt to any condition or surface, proficiency against both pace and spin and a hugely varied range of stroke play with which they scored tons of runs at will were just fascinating to watch.

The composure of Sachin Tendulkar, which a normal Indian fan had become accustomed to, is yet to be consistently seen in any of India's current crop of top order batsman.

The fast bowlers are injury prone because, and, as such, any two of Bhuvi, Ishant, Umesh, Shami, Bumrah, or Shardul have rarely been seen playing consistently together. Each seems to be in the squad only as a replacement of the other.

This is surely not a healthy situation for Team India. Such situations are invariably characterized by brilliant individual performances on different occasions; the unit as a whole never clicks. The think tank must do something.

Every follower of the game knows very well that winning and losing is a part of the game. It’s cricket which emerges as the real winner.

However, when there is little or no fight, the spectator start losing interest and feel betrayed. India suffered humiliating defeats in the last two ODIs which obviously did not go well with the Indian fans.

Over-dependence on Chahal and Kuldeep in bowling and the two openers in batting did not make a fascinating sight for the Indian fan.

For Tests, Pujara seems to be out of form, Rahane is also short on game practice. Bhuvi and Bumrah are injured.

Against such a murky backdrop, Team India is going to begin its Test campaign. It is the media which paints the battle as Kohli vs Root or Yadav vs Jadeja. The true sportsman knows that actually, it is a fight within. The final outcome of the India tour of England 2018 would be known by September 11 or, who knows, much earlier.