Reckless batting in Test cricket is a worrying sign

5 August, the final day of the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Chasing an improbable 397, England found themselves in hot water. Eyeing a deadlock, the hosts had already lost the first-innings centurion Rory Burns cheaply.

Latest Test recruit Jason Roy had successfully negotiated the menacing opening spell from speedster Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon so far, and was expected to continue batting sensibly and hopefully steer England to a respectable stalemate. But contrary to the demands of the situation, the unrivaled powerhouse in white-ball cricket had other ideas.

In an abrupt rush of blood, the frenetic Roy recklessly charged down the track to try and wildly hoick a regulation off-break from Lyon - only for the spinning delivery to breach through his defense and clatter the timber.

The moment made the fans cringe, giving them no legitimate explanation about the thought process behind the absurd decision, and raised eyebrows throughout the cricketing fraternity. Roy's dismissal opened the floodgates as the spin wizard bagged a six-wicket haul to help Australia rewrite history and erase their 18-year-old winless drought at Edgbaston.

Nathan Lyon

The case of Roy isn't the only instance of a batsman trying to force his domination against the red cherry to their demise. Numerous players who are considered stalwarts in limited-overs cricket, have failed to produce equally consistent performances in the longest version of the game.

Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, KL Rahul, Martin Guptill, Shikhar Dhawan, Eoin Morgan - the list of contemporary white-ball specialists who have under-achieved in Test cricket is quite long. For swashbucklers who yearn to tee off from the onset in brisk-paced fixtures, the see-ball-hit-ball theory more often than not proves detrimental in the grueling Test arena.

KL Rahul is another prime example of a white-ball superstar who is a red ball-victim

Unlike the flat decks provided in colored-clothing affairs which are tailored for run-scoring, pitches in Test cricket assist movement and grip off the surface. In order to flourish in such conditions, a batsman is required to display watertight technique, accompanied by resolute patience and unshakable mental toughness.

Irrespective of the ever-increasing emphasis on counter-attack, modern batsmen also need to grind out runs and curb their natural flair to some extent. Batsmanship needs to be driven by the requisites of the scenario, in order to maintain the equilibrium between the bat and ball for the growth of Test cricket.

Following the inception of the Word Test Championship, the best in the business would need to be up for the mightiest challenge in the traditional format, where egos are deflated and temperaments probed in brutal fashion.

It would be interesting to see whether the belligerent pinch-hitters are able to make the required changes to their approach now that there's even more at stake in the longest format. If they don't, we will continue seeing implosions against quality bowling the way we did in the first Ashes Test.

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