The Start of a New Era

A test match where a team scored a combined of 835 runs in both innings including 5 individual centuries and a 5-fer.... one would think it would be an easy victory for that team but this was not the case for the Indian team in the 1st test vs England at Headingly. One could solely point out and blame any one of the three departments for the loss but according to me it was a collective failure of all 3 departments in some way or the other.

The Batting Issues:

The 1st innings for India included 3 centurions [Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant] which was a great sign for the team on Day 1.... but things changed on Day 2 when India were cruising on 430-3 targeting a massive 600-650 total and suddenly they were bundled out for 471 with a collapse of 41-7 where apart from the centurions the next highest scorer was KL Rahul with his 42. The other batters and bottom 6 barely contributed despite the likes of a Jadeja, a Shardul and a Karun whereas England in their 1st innings reached a total of 465 with only 1 century by Ollie Pope but the Point of Difference were the 2 half-centuries by Brook and Duckett and also the bottom 6 contributing handy runs with the presense of Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse.

The case was once again same for India in the 2nd innings where the likes of Rahul and Pant scored vital centuries but no one else contributed with the next highest score being Sai's 30 and Karun and Jadeja scoring 20+.India once again crumbled from 333-4 to 364 all out which is a collapse of 31-6 where the were looking set for setting a target of 450 or above which could literally have been a winning total.In the BGT it was Nitish Kumar Reddy who was constantly providing 30-40 runs at the back end and also had a century... so the question lies as to why was he dropped?

Another crazy stat which shows the difference:

Runs by Indian Top 5: 721

Runs by Indian Bottom 6: 65

A massive 656 run-gap which is India's highest in a test with 2 completed innings.

The Bumrah Dependancy:

The inability of Indian bowlers apart from Bumrah and partially Siraj to break long partnerships, create pressure or stick to one line and length is not something to applaud off. 

The 1st innings showed the real example of how India have been over dependant on Bumrah since the BGT. Jadeja did a great job in containing runs and creating pressure by giving runs just at an economy of 3 in 23 overs without getting a wicket which is fine as this is what you expect from a spinner in the 1st innings in English Conditions. Shardul bowled just 6 overs and was introduced very late but of what we saw of him giving runs at an economy of 6.3 shows how incosistent he had been to hit the right lengths... either he would bowl too short or too full .... seldom did he hit the 6-8 m length... The same was the case with Prasidh Krishna who even though got 3 wickets but they came at an economy of 6.4 leading him to conceed 128 runs in 20 overs.Apart from Bumrah it was Siraj who bowled at good lines and lengths and also bowled the most overs allowing other bowlers and especially Bumrah to have short and sharp bursts... a role which was played by Ishant Sharma 4-5 years back.

India were also unable to wipe out the English tail quickly which was quickly done by the England bowlers with their main man Josh Tounge. Another point of difference was the contribution of the 3rd and 4th seamers who performed very well for England getting wickets at a good economy with Stokes picking up 4.

Kudos to Crawley and Duckett who despite being of aggressive nature waived off the starting spells of Bumrah and Siraj in the last innings which layed the foundation of their 188 run partnership... they showed that Bazball is not just being aggressive but its also being sensible and understanding the pulse of the game.

The 2nd innings was also an example of what could be the problems India can face if Bumrah has a wicketless or an off day. Appreciation to Siraj who despite being wicketless continuosly created chances and bowled at great lengths and did not give away much.

Prasidh and Shardul bought India back in the game with their 2 wickets each after the rain delay which was commendable and much needed but they also game away runs at an economy of 6.1 and 5.1 respectively which shows how they gave away 1-2 loose deliveries each and every over releasing all the pressure they created.

Jadeja who picked up the wicket of Stokes was also great using the rough and constantly creating chances which were unluckily not converted by the fielders.

Catches Win Matches:

The biggest point of difference for India was their 8-9 dropped catches with 4 by Jaiswal throughout the match and their 2-3 moments of sloppy and lazy misfields on Day 5.

Its really important for the fielders to support their bowlers in  defending the target put up by the batters and creating pressure on the opposition. India also looked very laid-back at the back-end of the day 5.

Very unlikely that a great fielder like Jaiswal drops catches but in this match he dropped 4.

Effect of Jaiswal's dropped catches:

1st innings:

Duckett on 11 went on to score 62

Pope on 60 went on to score 106 

Brook on 83 went on to score 99

2nd innings:

Duckett on 97 went onto score 149

In a way he gave away more than what he contributed with the bat.

Jadeja dropping a catch is rare but it happened. Pant dropping some nicks created on Jadeja's bowling.

Conclusion:

While there are some concerns like :

1: The contribution of middle and lower order.

2: Catching and Fielding.

3: Backup seamers underwhelming performance and wayward lengths.

This is a young Indian team who recently went through transition but still competed against a solid English team till the last hour of the last day which is the biggest positive that if they work on these flaws they will be better.

Lets back our team and they will surely be much better the rest of the series and also have the ability to win this series in England.