Indian Lessons.

There is no doubt that the pitches in India were very poor for the last three Tests, but both teams had to play on them and ultimately India out-skilled England with both bat and ball. Rohit Sharma scored in excess of 150 in the second Test, while Ashwin was allowed to reach a century. In the final Test, Pant took the game away from England with a brilliant attacking century that included a reverse scoop against Anderson with the new ball.

Pant timed the acceleration of his innings perfectly, just as England’s bowlers were starting to tire. Anderson and a poorly Stokes performed heroically with the ball and almost dragged England back into contention. Alas, their efforts were undermined by the skills of Pant and the inability of Bess to exert any pressure once again. It was painful to watch him offering repeated half-volleys, full-tosses and long-hops to the Indian batsmen.

Bess was clearly bereft of confidence to the extent of having the full blown yips, though he has been poorly treated by England. Having been replaced by Ali for one Test he was then reinstated, with Root claiming Bess had refound his wavering form. Clearly he hadn’t and was feeling the pressure. England definitely made selection mistakes for this Test with circumstances crying out for an extra seamer.

The series has also highlighted the need for England to become more adept at playing on turning pitches, both with bat and ball. So many English dismissals were to straight balls, which should surely be countered by playing the line of the delivery. If the ball turns and finds the outside edge so be it, though most times it will miss. In the bowling department, producing quality English spinners requires the ECB to make it a priority, which in turn means allowing Counties to create turning pitches. Thus not docking Somerset points for having a worn pitch would be a good start!

Obviously there were lessons to be learned from this tour, but it was certainly not a complete disaster. England did brilliantly to win the first Test so emphatically when they are usually slow to start series. The fourth Test was also much closer than the scoreline suggests. Had Pant been given out LBW to Bess when on 35 (he survived on umpire’s call), the match might well have swung in England’s favour, resulting in a drawn series. One could also argue that our current rotation policy did us no favours. Foakes is a quality replacement but obviously doesn’t have the dangerous batting prowess of Buttler, while Bairstow and Ali came into the side with very little match practice.

It will be interesting to see how the current one day series develops and also how India will fare when they come to England. Personally I feel that players have to be rotated at the moment with the schedule as it is. As long as we have a full strength side for the upcoming Ashes I won’t be complaining! Watch this space.